eid Pet oa Find your chart Level: © O IELTS focus ‘Vocabulary and expressions useful in Task 1 of the ‘Academic Writing paper. Preparation Copy and cut up a set of cards. If there are more than 12 in the class, duplicate enough extra graph cards for each student to have one. Method Part A: speaking stage 4 Put the description cards up around the walls of the classroom. 2 Draw attention to Task 1 of the Academic ‘Writing paper. The task usually consists of some data expressed in the form of a graph, chart or table which candidates must describe ina style appropriate for a tutor or examiner. This should be at least 150 words, and candidates should spend about twenty minutes ‘on this section. 3 Give each student one graph card. Their task is to walk around the classtoom, and find the description that goes with their card, 4 Collect in the graph cards. Give them out again, making sure that nobody has the one they had before, and including any that were not used before, then repeat stage 3 above. Repeat this process as many time as desired. Option Students do the activity in pairs rather than individually. Key (On the page, each graph is next to its description.) Cars a, coal b, oll c, wheat d, electrical goods «textiles f, steel g, fruit and vegetables h, bottled water i, computers j, timber k, paper | Part B: writing stage 41 Collect in the graph cards once again and redistribute one to each student, again making sure that each receives a card which he/she has not had before. 2 Students write IELTS-style descriptions of the data expressed in their graphs. In the exam this should be 150+ words, but in this activity it should be 30 to 40 words. 3 The class then circulate once again, leaving their graph cards on the desk and finding the description cards that match what they have written. Elicit how different or similar their ‘own versions are. In addition to introducing and practising Useful language for this section of the exam, this activity also practises reading skills. ‘ested by the Reading module.Acader Writing Task 1 Find your chart Cars Imports rose steadily during the first half of the year, while exports declined slightly. From July onwards, both imports and exports remained reasonably steady, although exports fluctuated slightly towards the end of the year. Coal Imports rose sharply from January until the end of June, while exports increased only slightly. In the second half of the year, exports declined but imports continued to rise, not levelling off until the end of the year. oil After a short period of fluctuation, imports rose steadily throughout the year. Exports, on the other hand, declined dramatically, although they recovered slightly towards the end of the year. Wheat Both imports and exports fluctuated in the first half of the year. From July onwards, imports rose steadily while exports continued to fluctuate until October, when they suddenly began to fall. J FMAM J Imports JAS OND Exports ssstseneeAcademic Writing Task 1 Find your chart Electrical goods Exports fell dramatically in the first half of the year, but recovered slightly and remained stable from late October onwards. Imports fluctuated, especially in the first three months of the year, but the general trend was upwards. Textiles Imports increased slightly during the first six months of the year, then fluctuated before starting to fall sharply in October. Exports, however, remained reasonably stable throughout the year. Imports rose steadily until the end of June, then levelled off. Exports fell dramatically throughout the first half of the year. They recovered in July, but started to fall again towards the end of the year. Fruit and vegetables Imports rose sharply, fell back slightly, then reached a new peak in July. From then onwards they declined steadily. Exports remained stable for most of the year, but declined slightly from November onwards. J J J FMAM J Imports ——_ FMAM 4s Imports FMAM™ 4s Imports JAS OND Exports vevsvseee JAS OND Exports, JAS OND ExportsAcademic Writing Task 1 Find your chart Bottled water Exports were stable throughout the first half of the year, then declined gradually until November, when they began to recover slightly. Imports increased until late July, levelled off, then rose very slightly at the end of the year. Computers After a slow start, imports began to rise dramatically, reaching a peak in July. From then onwards, they declined steadily. Exports fluctuated throughout the year, but the general trend was downwards. Imports fell slightly at the beginning of the year, but then began to rise dramatically, not slowing down until the final quarter of the year. Exports were stable until July, then entered a period of fluctuation which lasted for the rest of the year. Paper Imports increased steadily until July, then declined gradually for the rest of the year. Exports fell sharply at the beginning of the year, but recovered and from June onwards were reasonably stable. FMAM J Imports FMAM J Imports JAS OND Exports JAS OND Exports vecesae Describing Level: © @ IELTS focus ‘Vocabulary and expressions useful in Task 1 of the ‘Academic Writing paper. Preparation Each pair of students will need one worksheet A, cone worksheet B and (if required) two copies of the follow-up worksheet. Method Part A: speaking stage 4 Draw attention to Task 1 of the Academic ‘Writing paper. The task usually consists of some data expressed in the form of a graph, chart or table which candidates must describe ina style appropriate for a tutor or examiner. ‘This should take about twenty minutes, and should be at least 150 words. 2 On the board, draw a graph similar to those in the activity. Brainstorm the class on ways to describe the data. 3 Organise the class into pairs, and give an A and a B worksheet to each pair (they should not show each other their worksheets at this stage). They then proceed as directed by the worksheets. Ask the class to write the new words and phrases they have learned into their notebooks. trends Part B: writing stage Give each student a copy of the follow-up ‘worksheet. Brainstorm the class on five or 50 possible topics for the graph (for example, ‘sales of newspapers over the last five years, ‘average earnings over the last fifty years’ etc.) Each student then chooses one of the topics or comes up with one of their own, draws a graph of their own invention, and writes a description of it. (Note that each student will need to put a time period along the bottom of the graph, for example, 1950, 1960, 1970, or March, April, May, June ete.) They then take it in turns to dictate their descriptions for their partners to draw. IELTS skills This activity introduces and practises useful Ianguage for this section of the exam and also practises listening skills tested by the Listening module, especially Part 4.Academic Writing Task 1 Describing trends IELTS focus In this part of the exam, you usually have to write about data in the form of a graph, chart or table. Read the description to your partner. She/he must complete the chart on her/his worksheet. If your Partner doesn’t understand part of the text, use other words to describe your chart. Then reverse roles. i ‘The programme wes being watched by 6 million viewers at the beginning of January, but the figure had halved by June. It then rose gradually, ending the year at 35 million. mA mals ° BARRELS OF OIL PER DAY aw ‘The number of visitors to the zoo fluctuated, but the general trend was upwerds until the end of September. Visitor numbers then dropped sharply, ending the year at half theie Septernber pe: House prices had been level since 1960, but plunged in the early seventies, From the mid-seventies they picked Up graduelly, then suddenly soared in the mid-eighties. ‘They remained steady for @ decade, then dipped slight before rocketing again in the late nineties. 920" 1940 1970 " 1990 Defence spending had been in steady decline throughout the sixties and seventies, but took off in the early eighties, nearly doubling in the space of five years. From then ‘onwards it continued to grow, but st a slower pace, until the late nineties. The trend then reversed, and the figure started to fall gradually. wo’ 60" 60 70" ' 90Academic Writing Task 1 Describing trends IELTS focu: In this part of the exam, you usually have to write about data in the form of a graph, chart or table. Listen to your partner partner's? Then reverse roles. nd complete the chart on her/his worksheet. Is your graph the same as your a CN LPR PL eure] {0 eB wan” apa "way gun” sue “AUG” seP"ocT "Nov" Dee il imports rose sharply to pesk st 2 million barrels a doy in early April, They then steadily foll back to 1.5 million but suddenly rocketed in September, reaching a new peek of 2.5 million in lete October. The figure then fell ‘again, but from November onwards stabilized at just under 2 million, z00 VISITORS V MAM a a a's Sales of new cars began the year low, but rose dramatically atthe end of the first quarter. They continued to rise steadily although there were some fluctuations towards the end of the year. Toro {900 Tes0| Exports fell dramatically throughout the thirties, but then increased almost as rapidly as they had fallen, hitting peak in the late sixties. They then dropped very slightly before stabilizing, although In the early nineties there ‘was slight dip followed by a swift recovery and a further period of stability 1970 -1980~=~—«1990, nwo The birth rate increased steadily throughout the ninctoon, twenties and thirties, but by 1950 had gone back down ‘to mid-twenties levels. It picked up again in the fifties, ‘then remained stable until the mid-eighties. From then onwards it fluctuated, but the general trend was downwards (elthough since the end of the nineties it has started to show signs of a slight increase.)Academic Writing Task 1 Describing trends Em IELTS focus In this part of the exam, you usually have to write about data in the form of a graph, chart or table. Complete the chart below. Then write a descri Then take it in turns to read your description for your partner to draw. Now listen to your partn nd complete the chart below.Charts and tables Level: @ @ IELTS focus Vocabulary-building for this part of the exam. Preparation ‘Make one copy of the gap-fill worksheet per student, and copy one pair of crosswords per pair of students, Method 41 Working alone or in pairs, the class completes the gap-ill worksheet. Feed back the results. ‘The worksheets must then be put out of sight. 2 Organise the clas into pairs, and give each pair an A and a B crossword. Student A defines a word to Student B to write into her/his grid. Then Student B defines a word, and so on. 3 Ask the class to write new vocabulary into their notebooks. Option With classes already reasonably familiar with the vocabulary, omit the worksheet stage, or use it as consolidation after the crossword activity. Key (gap-fill worksheet) Bar chart: 1 average 2 approximately 3 subsequent 4 stable 8 exceeding 6 halving 7 altered 8 decline 9 onwards 10 upward Table: 1 period 2 hovering 3 fluctuated 4 trend 5 peak 6 plummeted 7 rocketed 8 stoadily 9 Meanwhile Follow-up activity: Vocabulary quiz 11 Organise the clas into two or more teams. Each team must prepare six questions on vocabulary from the activity. For example, “What's another way of saying ‘fll very quickly’?” (‘Fell dramatically’ and ‘plummeted’ are both acceptable answers). 2 When the questions have been completed, the activity handouts must be put away. Then ‘Team A ask Team B a question. Then Team B ask Team Ca question, and so on. 3. Award one point for a correct answer, and keep the score on the board. IELTS skills ‘The worksheet section aims to input vocabulary useful in this section of the exam. The speaking section practises that vocabulary and also practises speaking skills as tested in the Speaking module, especially Part 3Academic Writing Task 1 Charts and tables Complete the texts using arg cei aoa : approxi fluctuated stable trend Peer ea fees ee dectne ee ee ete CAR JOURNEYS INTO THE CITY CENTRE Average number of 10,000 journeys per day ilresitens Hi Won-residents 1 Parking meters ca introduced into city centre. 2 Westgate Street and Park Lane closed to traffic 1996-1997 1998 | 1999 42000 2001 2002 32003 2004 2005 ‘The graph shows the number of car journeys into the city centre made by residents and non-residents over a ten year period. In 1996 an 1. 2oowrnmnnesnen hal that number were made by non-residents. Over the 3... .» of just under 10,000 journeys per day were being made by residents, while .. three years, resident journeys remained reasonably 4. .o . while non-resident journeys increased each year, 6. 8,000 per day in 1999. In early 2000, parking meters were introduced into the city centre, and this had the effect of virtually 6. resident traffic, although non-resident traffic decreased only slightly. By the end of 2002, the number of resident journeys had not 7. significantly, but non-resident journeys had risen to their 1999 level. At this point, Westgate Street and Park Lane were pedestrianised. This resulted in a dramatic 8... in non-resident traffic, and a slight decrease in resident traffic. From this point 9, , resident traffic remained more or less at the same level, while non-resident traffic resumed it 10. rend, reaching nearly 5,000 journeys per day in 2005. CHANNEL 7 NEWS VIEWING FIGURES | illions of viewers per day) Sire ee a ei) (Te tome ‘Ipm 13 13 14 13 13 12 12 13 13 1.2 1.3 14 Sa Gomi] «2 | aa [ao [se [ae |aa [a7 [aa [ao | as [az | sa taopm| 22 | s« [as [a7 |ae [oa [2a |v [aa [20 | 27 | 20 Tom oz far [aw [aa fas [eo | oa fos ‘The table shows the average daly viewing figures for Channel” News over @12-MOMth Aisne TH figure for the tpm News remained fay stable, 2. _ a acount, tho 6pm News began the year at 8 milion. I'8.-nnnny butte genera & a and it ended the year at 3.4 million. The figure for the 9.30 News gradually increased from 3.2 million viewers per day in January to a6..... nunmnaees OF 3.8 million in May. However, this month saw the introduction of the 11pm. News, and the figure forthe 9.30 News 6 hiting a low-point of 11 milion in August. Inthe same period, the figuee forthe tipm news 7. {rom 4.2 millon to. milion. At this point, the trend reversed. From August onwards, the figure for the 9.30 news greW Bae 9. reaching 3 million by the end of the year. the figure for the 11pm News declined sharply, and in December fell below the 1 million mark.Academic Writing Task 1 Charts and tables Qa Define the words in your half of the crossword for your partner. All the words are connected with the worksheet you have just completed. TELTS focus In this part of the exam, you usually have to write about data in the form of a graph, chart or table. You have to write a minimum of 150 words, and the style should be appropriate for giving to a tutor or ‘examiner.Academic Writing Task 1 Charts and tables a Define the words in your half of the crossword for your partner All the words are connected with the worksheet you have just completed. IELTS focus In this part of the exam, you usually have to write about data in the form of @ graph, chart or table. You have to write a minimum of 150 words, and the style should be appropriate for giving to a tutor or examiner.