IELTS Lesson Plan
IELTS Lesson Plan
IELTS Lesson Plan
This lesson plan accompanies Cambridge IELTS 10 Academic Listening Test 4, Section 1, Questions 1-
10.
Lesson Goals
1. To introduce and develop strategies for note completion type tasks in IELTS Listening
2. To improve predicting skills using contextual and co-textual clues
• Tell the students you are going to read out two short texts and 1 min T-S
then ask them some comprehension questions about them.
• Without any preamble, read out the first short text (Resource 1) 2 mins T-S
and then ask the questions that follow. Allow students to then S-T
suggest answers.
• Read out the context for the second text (Resource 2) followed 3 mins T-S
by the second short text itself and finally the questions that
follow as before.
• Conduct whole class feedback (Resource 1-2 Answers). Ask 4 mins S-T
students which of the two texts was easier to understand and
respond to. Ask why this might be the case (Answer: the second
text has context which can be used to predict some of the
content even if students are not familiar with the actual
vocabulary used (e.g. ‘at the bell’). NB: You may need to teach
the word ‘predict’.
A variation on the above is to use two pre-recorded
conversations that might be of interest to your students. Only
give the students context for the second one. In both cases ask
the students basic comprehension questions after an initial
listening and then discuss which of the two conversations was
easier to understand.
• A creative extension for this activity is to put students in pairs 15 mins S-S
and get them to write out a very short dialogue between two then S-T
speakers similar to the one they have listened to, but with a
different context. Ask for volunteer pairs to act out their
dialogue in front of the class. The rest of the class has to guess
the context of the conversation (e.g. who is speaking, where
they are, what they are speaking about).
We picked Molly up at this woman’s house, but she didn’t look very happy. She cried all the way
home in the car and when we arrived back home she refused to move. We were quite worried about
her and phoned the woman to explain the situation, but she didn’t seem to care. She told us Molly
had always been like this.
Comprehension Questions
Who is Molly?
Resource 1 Answers
Who is Molly? Actually a dog
What was the problem with her? She was nervous about moving to a new home
When I arrived I was very nervous. There was a lot of noise and more people than I had ever seen
before. Mrs Collins was very kind and asked me if I was ok. She introduced me to two girls, Katie and
Lola and before long I felt much better. I was having so much fun that at the bell I didn’t want to go
home.
Comprehension Questions
Resource 2 Answers
How did the speaker feel in the beginning? Nervous
What was the name of her teacher? Mrs Collins (the school context suggests Katie or Lola are other
children)
How did the speaker feel at the end of the day? Happy
THORNDYKE’S BUILDERS
Example
Name: Edith 1
Address: Flat 4,
2 Park Flats
(Behind the 3 )
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Questions 7–10
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TE S T 4
S E C TION 1
MR THORNDYKE: Thorndyke’s.
EDITH: Good morning. Is that Mr Thorndyke?
MR THORNDYKE: Speaking. How can I help?
EDITH: I’ve got quite a few things which need painting and fixing in the flat and I
wonder whether you’d be able to do the work.
MR THORNDYKE: I’m sure I’d be able to help but let me take down a few details.
EDITH: Yes, of course.
MR THORNDYKE: Well, firstly, how did you hear about us?
EDITH: It was my friend May Hampton … you did some excellent work for her a Example
couple of years ago. Do you remember?
MR THORNDYKE: Oh, yes, that was in West Park Flats, lovely lady.
EDITH: Yes, she is.
MR THORNDYKE: And what’s your name, please?
EDITH: It’s Edith Pargetter. Q1
MR THORNDYKE: Edith … can you spell your surname, please?
EDITH: It’s P-A-R-G-E-double T-E-R.
MR THORNDYKE: Double T, right. And do you live in West Park Flats as well?
EDITH: No, actually it’s East Park, Flat 4. Q2
MR THORNDYKE: Oh, right, that’s over the road, I seem to remember – quite difficult to get
to.
EDITH: Yes, it’s at the back of the library. Q3
MR THORNDYKE: Right, I know. And what’s your phone number?
EDITH: 875934 but I’m out a great deal in the afternoons and evenings.
MR THORNDYKE: So would the best time to ring you be in the morning? Q4
EDITH: Yes.
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MR THORNDYKE: Fine. I’ve made a note of that. Can I just ask, I’ll be in a van and I know
parking’s rather difficult round your flats. Where would you recommend?
EDITH: Well, I always tell people in larger vehicles to park by the postbox on the Q5
other side of the road from the entrance.
MR THORNDYKE: Good, thanks.
EDITH: And will you be able to give me a full itemised quote?
MR THORNDYKE: Oh, yes, I’ll list all the jobs separately with individual prices. Q6
EDITH: That’d be a great help.
MR THORNDYKE: No problem.
S E C TION 2
Welcome to Manham Port, where a thousand years of history are brought to life. All the
family can enjoy a day out at Manham: visit our copper mine, see models of the machinery
it used, have your photo taken in nineteenth-century costume, experience at first hand how
people lived at different stages throughout history, and especially how children studied,
worked and played.
The port of Manham is located in beautiful and peaceful countryside, on a bend in the
great River Avon, and developed here because it’s the highest navigable point of the Q11
Avon – boats can go no higher up this river – and proved a handy place to load and
unload cargo to and from the sea, which is over 23 miles away. A small port was already
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TE S T 4
LISTENING
Section 1, Questions 1–10 Section 3, Questions 21–30
1 Pargetter 21&22 IN EITHER ORDER
2 East A
3 library E
4 morning/mornings 23&24 IN EITHER ORDER
5 postbox B
6 prices C
7 glass 25 D
8 cooker 26 F
9 week 27 G
10 fence 28 B
29 E
Section 2, Questions 11–20 30 C
11 B
Section 4, Questions 31–40
12 B
13 A 31 C
14 A 32 B
15 C 33 C
16 trains 34 metal/metals
17 dark 35 space
18 games 36 memory
19 guided tour 37 solar
20 ladder/ladders 38 oil
39 waste
40 tests
If you score…
0–11 12–27 28–40
you are unlikely to get an you may get an acceptable you are likely to get an
acceptable score under score under examination acceptable score under
examination conditions and conditions but we recommend examination conditions but
we recommend that you spend that you think about having remember that different
a lot of time improving your more practice or lessons institutions will find different
English before you take IELTS. before you take IELTS. scores acceptable.
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