Preparing to write an essay | English | Quizalize & Oak National Academy

Starter quiz

Put the smaller questions that need to be addressed in order to answer the essay question 'What makes the polar regions important and why should we do more to protect them?' in a logical order.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  What are polar regions?
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Why are they important?
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  What do they need protecting from?
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  How are they currently being protected and what more could we do?
What is the main threat facing the polar regions?
- climate change leading to ice melting ✓
- mining for metal
- over-fishing
- too much permafrost
Which of the following are consequences of polar ice melting?
- more reflection of heat into space
- sea-levels rising ✓
- less reflection of heat into space ✓
- fewer habitats for polar bears ✓
Which of these statements are true?
- The polar regions have warmed more than other areas. ✓
- Earth is cooler now than it's been in 100,000 years.
- Polar sea ice is increasing by 10% every 10 years.
- Historically, the Arctic Ocean has been frozen all year. ✓
Match each organisation or agreement to what it does to help protect the polar regions.
- Antarctic Treaty
  
  ⇔
  
  made countries agree not to own Antarctica ✓
- Arctic Council
  
  ⇔
  
  brings together Arctic countries ✓
- Greenpeace
  
  ⇔
  
  campaigns for a ban on oil drilling in the Arctic ✓
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
  
  ⇔
  
  campaigned for a ban on hunting polar bears ✓
Which of the following actions could individuals take to reduce emissions?
- voting for parties that will take action ✓
- eating less meat ✓
- increasing the use of disposable items
- increasing the use of public transport ✓

Exit quiz

Match each smaller essay question to its simple answer.
- What are polar regions?
  
  ⇔
  
  Antarctica and the Arctic ✓
- How are they important?
  
  ⇔
  
  they help regulate the climate ✓
- What do they need protecting from?
  
  ⇔
  
  climate change leading to ice melting ✓
- How are they currently protected?
  
  ⇔
  
  some government agreements ✓
- What more could be done?
  
  ⇔
  
  quicker action to tackle climate change ✓
Which of the following points are we likely to make in an essay addressing the question 'What makes the polar regions important and why should we do more to protect them?'?
- The polar regions are very unique. ✓
- The polar regions help to keep the climate under control. ✓
- The polar regions are my favourite part of the world.
- The polar regions are threatened by climate change. ✓
- Not enough is being done to protect the polar regions. ✓
Which of these ideas would likely come first in our logical argument addressing the question 'What makes the polar regions important and why should we do more to protect them?'?
- The polar regions help regulate the world’s climate.
- The polar regions are Antarctica and the Arctic. ✓
- Not enough progress to tackle climate change is being made.
- The polar regions are threatened by climate change.
Which linguistic features are being used here? 'As a consequence of this, Britain’s woodlands are vital: if they were not present, Britain’s animal and plant life would be gravely threatened.'
- fronted adverbial of cause ✓
- formal fronted adverbial
- adverbial complex sentence ✓
- colon to introduce an explanation ✓
Which punctuation might be missing from the following sentence? 'Sherwood Forest an area of woodland in the East Midlands is linked to the legend of Robin Hood.'
- commas ✓
- a semi-colon
- a colon
- brackets ✓
What type of connection has been made between the ideas in the following passage? 'Governments have agreed to reduce emissions; however, more action is needed.'
- contrast ✓
- 'adding on'
- cause and effect

Worksheet

Loading worksheet ...

Presentation

Loading presentation ...

Lesson Details

Key learning points

A logical argument should run through an essay, leading towards a conclusion.
We should be confident in setting out this logical argument in its entirety before we begin to write.
Within an essay, a range of linguistic features and punctuation will be used to connect ideas.
These linguistic features can be used to show cause and effect, contrast and 'adding on'.
Often, different linguistic features can be used to connect the same ideas.

Common misconception

Pupils may try to include the full details from their research notes in their oral rehearsal.

Emphasise that the purpose of the first task is to practise giving a summary of the whole argument, not to give all the evidence that supports it.

Keywords

Logical argument - an argument that follows a series of steps that lead clearly towards a conclusion
Conclusion - the outcome of a series of ideas or the end-point of a piece of reasoning
Linguistic features - language structures that are used within a text in order to connect ideas together
Punctuation - the marks used in writing to connect ideas, demarcate parts of a sentence and clarify meaning