Solutions

1 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Maze: actions and consequences
PROJECT SUMMARY
• 21st Century Skills: Collaboration: problem solving
• Key Competences: 7 Linguistic communication,
5 Social and civic competence, 3 Cultural awareness and
expression
• Useful language from the units: 1A personality adjectives,
compound adjectives, 1B past perfect simple and past
perfect continuous, 1G extreme adjectives, 2A describing
feelings, 2B comparison, 2D infinitives and -ing forms, 2E
preposition + noun phrases, 2H provided that, providing,
on condition that, even though, even if, 3A gestures and
expressions, 3B modals: present and future, 3D modals in
the past
WARM-UP EXERCISE
To help students engage with the topic, ask them to discuss the
following questions in pairs or small groups. What decisions do
you expect to have to make in the next two or three years? Which
ones are the most important? Conduct class feedback.
STEP 2  PREPARE
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham trained as a doctor and was also
in the British Secret Service, but is most famous as a fiction
writer. He produced most of his works during the 1920s and
1930s.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was President of South Africa from 1994
to 1999. Before becoming president, he served 27 years in
prison for actions he took while protesting against apartheid
(discrimination against black people in South Africa). He is
known as a political campaigner.
Theodore Roosevelt
At 46, Roosevelt was the youngest American president in
history. He led the country into the ‘progressive era’. At this
time, there was a lot of reform intended to help average
citizens to have a fairer life. He is famous as a historian,
soldier, conservationist and reformer, and his face is one of
the four presidents on Mount Rushmore.

STEP 1  UNDERSTAND THE TASK • Students read the first box carefully and make a decision
based on the information given. Check that they understand
• Ask students to read the task.
host family and au pair. Tell them not to look at boxes 2 and 3
• In pairs, students look quickly at the decisions maze on
at this stage and remind them that there is no correct answer.
the next page. Tell them that they only need to look at the
design of the maze as a whole and skim read box 1. You don’t
• In pairs, students discuss their decisions and find out if they
made the same choice. Ask them to discuss their reasons for
want them to read the full maze or to start answering the
making the choice.
questions at this stage.
• Students then move to the next box (2 or 3), read the scenario
• Students discuss questions 1–4 to help them understand the
and make a choice. Try to keep the class working at the same
general theme of the project.
pace so they’re all making a decision at the same time. As
• Elicit answers to check their understanding.
before, they read and make a decision for themselves, then
• For question 1, they’ll probably say that they have seen similar
check their partner’s decision.
quizzes, flowcharts and mazes in magazines and even in
English coursebooks. The format is similar to what they need
• You could point out one of the decisions in box 2 and one of
the decisions in box 3 both have the same consequence and
to do for this project. Often these are simply for fun, e.g.
lead to the same point (box 4). This shows that even though
What celebrity are you most like? Are you good with money?
you might make a different decision, you can end up in the
How fit are you?, etc.
same situation having taken a different route to get there.
• Questions 2 and 3 check that they understand what a
Students could reflect on the idea that it’s OK to go back on a
psychometric test is and its purpose.
decision if it doesn’t work out.
• Question 4 helps them to start thinking about decisions
and consequences, and to find out what they believe about STEP 3  ANALYSE
decision-making. There are no right answers, but encourage
• In pairs, students think about the different options which
students as you monitor and in feedback to try to explain
have been given in the maze so far and think critically about
their reactions to the quotes. There is further information
whether they made the best decisions. You could teach them
about the people below if students are interested to learn
the expressions with hindsight and looking back which are
more.
appropriate for this kind of reflective activity.
JK Rowling and Harry Potter • Encourage them to use the key phrases for discussing
The quotation is from JK Rowling’s second book about the decisions. Ask them to tell each other what they think of
young wizard Harry Potter. It is said by his headmaster, the decisions they made and what they could have done
Dumbledore, in response to Harry’s worried question about differently.
whether he shares the evil wizard Voldemort’s powers. • Monitor and help students as necessary.
• When they have finished discussing, elicit some of the
students’ reflections.

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 1  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  1
 Solutions

1 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Maze: actions and consequences

STEP 4  CREATE STEP 6  SELF-EVALUATION

• Put students into pairs and ask them to read the task. • Ask students to copy statements a–d. Then they decide
Check that they understand that they need to write the individually how well they can do each thing. Point out that
consequence of the decision taken, i.e. the situation which number 4 is very positive and number 1 is the least positive.
the reader now finds themselves in. They then need to think • You can also use the key competences evaluation rubric
of two possible options. to evaluate how well students have done in the key
• Monitor carefully as they write the situations and assist competences associated with this project
where necessary. This is a very free task and, especially with a • You could then conduct a class discussion on what the
less mature class, you may need to make sure their ideas are students found easy and difficult about doing the project and
appropriate and guide them in choosing content. what they might do differently if they did the project again.
S
 tudents could do the first draft on the worksheet and
then, if computers are available, produce a professional,
printable version of their maze. There is free software
available which can be searched for using search terms
such as decision tree or decisions maze.
• To keep the class on track, give time limits as they work to
help them produce all three boxes with the six options at a
similar rate. Encourage fast finishers to check the accuracy of
their grammar and spelling.
• As an optional extra activity, students could continue with
one more step in the maze by adding an extra column, either
in class or for homework. It is up to them to decide how many
options there are in this column.

STEP 5  PRESENT
• Redistribute the mazes, swapping them between pairs so
that each pair has another pair’s maze to do. Emphasise that
they will need to work together to do the maze, discussing
the situation and possible consequences of the decision
they have to make. You could elicit discussion phrases such
as I think we should …, If we …, then …, What do you think
will happen if …?, etc. Remind them that they may need to
compromise sometimes in order to make a decision. Point out
that there are no right or wrong decisions.
• When they have done the maze and have an outcome,
put the two pairs together to show each other how they
navigated the maze, compromises they had to make, the
decisions they took and to reflect on whether they were the
best ones. Remind them of the key phrases in Step 3.
• Ask them to think about the psychometric aspect of this kind
of maze. In this maze, what do their choices say about their
character?
• Finally, ask students to read the extension. This encourages
students to think critically about the content of the maze
they have done, appreciating the good aspects and thinking
about anything they would have done differently. Remind
students to be constructive, specific and kind in what they
say about each other’s work. Groups of four can give each
other feedback directly about the two different mazes.
Otherwise, you might need to ask pairs to work together and
then select what you feel is constructive to share with the
class. (This helps them consolidate what they have learned in
previous levels about giving feedback.)

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 1  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  2

2 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes
Application email: summer camp
PROJECT SUMMARY
• 21st Century Skills: The world around me: expressing
identity
• Key Competences: 2 Learning to learn, 4 Sense of
initiative and entrepreneurship, 5 Social and civic
competence
• Useful language from the units: 4A holidays and holiday
accommodation, holiday activities, describing places,
4B future continuous, future perfect and future perfect
continuous, 4C travel collocations, 4G making a selection,
5A relating to people, verbal interaction, 5B negative
structures, 5D articles and quantifiers, 6A food and health,
nutrition, 6B and 6D the passive, 6E compound adjectives,
6A (recycle) obligation and prohibition, 6H comment
adverbs
WARM-UP EXERCISE
Write summer camp on the board and ask students: What does
this make you think of? They may not have experience of this
themselves, but have possibly seen films where children go off
to summer camp. There is further information about summer
camps below if students are interested to learn more.
Summer camps are popular in the USA and take place
during the summer school holiday. They are for children and
teenagers, with adult supervision. Campers can just attend in
the daytime and go home to sleep or, commonly, they attend
residential camps and stay in cabins or tents. It may be the
first time they have stayed away from their parents. Summer
camps often involve outdoor activities: walking, cooking on
an open fire, canoeing, climbing, etc. There are also specialist
camps to learn languages, music, or other subjects, or even
to lose weight. Summer camps are famous in the USA, but
are also common in Russia, Finland, Croatia, Australia, China,
South Korea, France, Italy and some other countries.
STEP 1  UNDERSTAND THE TASK
• Ask students to read the task. Put students into pairs to
discuss what they are going to do for this project. Check their
understanding.
• Focus their attention on the photos in the advertisement.
Ask them to brainstorm ideas for questions 1 and 2. After a
few minutes, conduct class feedback. At this stage, you don’t
need to help them understand too much about each job as
they will find out more in Step 2.
• For question 2, elicit some of the questions they have about
UK camps and about the jobs. If they have not thought of
many, you could prompt them with areas to think about:
accommodation, pay, working hours and free time, training,
qualifications, information about the campers, etc.
Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 2  Teaching Notes
Solutions
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
You have to write an email to apply for a job at UK Camps. This
is an individual writing task. You should include which position
you wish to apply for, relevant experience, skills, personality
traits and interests and the contact details of one referee who
is over 18.
• adventure activity instructor / assistant: lead or help with
outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing, climbing, etc.
• group mentor: responsible for the day-to-day health and
well-being of a group of children. Be with them during
meals and other group times, listen to their worries and
problems, tell them off when necessary.
• catering assistant: help in the kitchen, prepare food, clean
up after meals.
• language coach: teach your native language
• administrative staff: work in the camp office, deal with
paperwork, emails, answer the phone, order supplies
• excursion leader: take groups of children on trips outside
the camp environment, e.g. museums, theme parks,
historical sites, etc.
• housekeeping staff: cleaning duties, laundry, etc.
STEP 2  PREPARE
• Explain or elicit that the pieces of text come from an internet
forum.
• Ask students to read the questions and check their
understanding. It is realistic that they will want to read all the
forum posts individually first, but encourage them to skim for
gist. When you are sure they have had enough time, put them
into pairs to discuss which job each forum post relates to. (NB
there are six posts but seven jobs, so one of the posts refers
to two jobs. You could tell them this or leave them to work it
out.)
• Remind them to think about the final questions: Do these
posts answer your questions? Is there anything else you would
like to know about UK camps?
• As a whole class, elicit their ideas. (They may now start
thinking more deeply about working hours and time off, pay,
meals, duties and responsibilities, camp location and camp
accommodation.)
ANSWERS
1  administrative staff  2  catering assistant  3  group mentor 
4  language coach and excursion leader  5  housekeeping staff
6  adventure activity instructor / assistant
STEP 3  ANALYSE
• In this step, students think about the different jobs and
decide which they would prefer to apply for and why.
• Students read the task and complete it in pairs. Encourage
them to use the key phrases in their discussions. If you think
it’s necessary, you could drill these phrases to ensure natural
pronunciation. Monitor and help students as necessary.
PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  1
 Solutions

2 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Application email: summer camp

• Monitor carefully. Encourage fast finishers to say which jobs • As an optional extra activity to practise critical thinking skills,
they would really not like to apply for and give their reasons. ask students to make judgements about the quality of the
This will give them more practise using the key phrases, application they have read. What might they do to increase
especially the last three. the chances of this applicant getting an interview? Remind
• When they have finished discussing the jobs, elicit some of them of earlier projects where they learned about giving
the students’ decisions and reasons. feedback: be constructive, specific and kind. Judgements
could be based on criteria such as:
STEP 4  CREATE • clarity and organisation
S
 tudents work individually to produce a high-quality • information content
application email for the job they have chosen. • grammar and spelling
• With a weaker group, you may wish to give them extra help • tone / register
with application writing before they begin. Elicit that they
are going to write an application to be emailed. Ask: Does STEP 6  SELF-EVALUATION
this make it any different from an application letter to be sent • Ask students to copy statements a–d. Then they decide
via post? (Not in this case – they need to recognise that the individually how well they can do each thing. Point out that
level of formality is still neutral to formal and they’ll need the number 4 is very positive and number 1 is the least positive.
normal conventions for opening and closing a formal letter of • You can also use the key competences evaluation rubric
application.) to evaluate how well students have done in the key
• Ask students whether they need to use paragraphs (yes, of competences associated with this project.
course) and elicit how many paragraphs and the content of • You could then conduct a class discussion on what the
each. (Suggestions: separate paragraphs for experience, skills, students found easy and difficult about doing the project and
personality, interests, plus an introduction to explain the what they might do differently if they did the project again.
reason for writing and also a conventional closing paragraph
or sentence.) You could elicit these conventions if you are
unsure they know them e.g. they are not given a name to
write to, so they will need to begin Dear Sir / Madam and
finish Yours faithfully.)
• Give them plenty of time to write their applications. Monitor
and assist where necessary. Encourage fast finishers to
think about whether they have said all they could to ‘sell’
themselves to this potential employer. If necessary, remind
students that in an application letter, we do not generally
include questions that we have about the job. We ask them
during the interview process.
• Make sure they check the accuracy of their grammar and
spelling. With a mature, supportive group, you could ask them
to check each other’s work for any mistakes.

STEP 5  PRESENT AND DECIDE

• Put students into different pairs.
• Ask them to swap their application emails and read each
other’s. They then pretend to be an interviewer for UK Camps
and write five questions that they would ask this specific
candidate at interview.
• Elicit some of these questions from the class, together with
reasons why they would ask these specific things.
S
 tudents could conduct brief Skype interviews, taking the
roles of interviewer or candidate. This could be fun, but
is also real-world practice and students can be reminded
of the importance not only of their English, but also their
body language and facial expressions.

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 2  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  2

3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes
Competition entry: making a difference
PROJECT SUMMARY
• 21st Century Skills: Collaboration: decision making
• Key Competences: 1 Digital competence, 3 Cultural
awareness and expression, 6 Mathematics, science and
technology
• Useful language from the units: 7B reported speech, 7D
reporting verbs, 7E nouns and dependent prepositions,
7G introducing examples and extra information, 8A
global issues, 8B second and third conditional, 8D mixed
conditionals, 8E verb patterns, 8G expressing an opinion,
9B emphasis, 9G justifying your opinion and expressing a
tentative opinion
WARM-UP EXERCISE
Ask students to think of any charities or campaigning
organisations which aim to have a positive impact on the world.
What do they do? Are they successful? What do the students
think of them in general?
STEP 1  UNDERSTAND THE TASK
• Ask students to read the task. Put students into pairs to
discuss what they are going to do for this project and why.
Check their understanding. You could check they know the
meaning of donation and charity if necessary.
ANSWER
Students have to create a presentation lasting 5–10 minutes
to send to Inspirational Ideas. They can then win a donation of
€20,000 to help solve an issue.
• Give them plenty of time to think about good presentations
they have seen or given and complete the spider diagram
with their ideas. They can add extra spokes to the wheel with
other aspects of giving presentations. Monitor carefully and
prompt if necessary.
• You could elicit ideas to make a spider diagram on the board
together as a whole class. Students could come up to the
board to add ideas.
STEP 2  PREPARE
• This is the stage when students start to think of possible
issues they could make a presentation about. Tell them to
divide a page in their notebooks into three vertical columns
for them to make a note of local, national and global issues.
You could show this on the board and if necessary, give or
elicit one or two examples for each column (e.g. local: lack
of facilities for young people, litter in a named local park or
river; national: pollution in the big cities, loneliness of elderly
people; global: destruction of natural resources, poverty).
• Students spend up to five minutes making notes individually
of the issues they think of. Encourage them to think of at least
two in each column. With a weaker group, this stage could be
done in pairs and the next stage in groups of four.
Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 3  Teaching Notes
Solutions
• Put students into pairs (or groups of four) and focus their
attention on the key phrases which will help them to
compare and talk about their ideas. Remind them that they
don’t have to agree about which issues are more or less
serious. Monitor carefully and guide conversations away from
any very serious or contentious issues, if necessary.
• Encourage stronger pairs or groups to expand their
discussions to include how the issues might be addressed or
solved.
STEP 3  ANALYSE
• Ask students to read the model presentation for gist, choose
which photos match the issue and then give the presentation
a title. They can do this alone and compare answers, or work
together in pairs. You could encourage stronger students to
think of their own title.
• Elicit answers from the students. There is no correct answer
for the best title, but they should give reasons for their
choices (e.g. it’s clear, it’s powerful, it’s funny, it’s original, it
includes key information, it is attention-grabbing, etc.) Photos
relating to this presentation are 1, 3 and 7.
• There is further information about microbeads below if
students are interested to learn more.
Environmental charities such as Greenpeace and The
Marine Conservation Society have campaigns against
plastic microbeads. They and other organisations have
created a ‘Good scrub guide’ to educate people – it shows
the ingredient words to look for on your products. Some
countries including the USA, Canada and the UK are
considering banning microbeads.
The checklist focuses students’ attention on the quality of
the model presentation in relation to different aspects. Give
students plenty of time for this in-depth analysis. You could
refer fast finishers back to units 7, 8 and 9 of the Student’s
Book to look for structures they have studied which have
been used in the presentation.
When they have finished discussing, elicit some of the
students’ decisions and reasons. For point 3, (is there enough
information about how they will use the money) the answer
is no. You could brainstorm other ideas for making good use
of the money: educating the public – social media, website,
posters, giving talks to local people, organising a petition or
protest, practical action, e.g. buying equipment to deal with
a problem, paying for expert help, etc. The most appropriate
choices of how to act will, of course, depend on the specific
issue chosen.
PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  1
 Solutions

3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Competition entry: making a difference

SUGGESTED ANSWERS STEP 5  PRESENT AND DECIDE

Yes, the purpose and topic are clear and there is a good • Students view all the presentations. Ask them to read the
amount of information. instructions first so that they know that they will be asked to
The students researched the issue by talking to their friends. choose their two favourites and explain why.
(This might not be sufficient to win €20,000.) • You could elicit what they are looking for, according to the
There is limited information about how they will use the task, i.e. imagining they now belong to the Inspirational Ideas
money and what difference it will make. organisation: a well-described issue and explanation of why
Some of the vocabulary is high level, e.g. they have a it’s a problem, together with clear ideas for how €20,000
devastating effect on wildlife. Other parts are rather basic,
can be used to make a difference, including who will take
e.g. They cost around the same in the shops. The tone is semi-
action, what action they will take and why, what they hope
formal which is appropriate in this case.
to achieve and when. This follows the SMART model: Specific,
There is an introduction and a conclusion, but the presentation
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-related.
is much too short. (It should be 5–10 minutes.)
• Students can give their presentations using any available
STEP 4  CREATE technology, including projecting images or video on the
interactive whiteboard.
• Ask students to read the instructions carefully. Give them
the opportunity to check any of the instructions with you.
• As an optional extra activity to practise critical thinking
skills, you could conduct feedback as a whole class or in
Remind them of the different formats they can choose from
small groups. Monitor carefully to catch examples of critical
for their presentation.
thinking where students have reflected on the quality and
• You should monitor their choice of issue carefully and also
effectiveness of presentations well, giving relevant reasons.
their choice of presentation format. A good aim would be to
You can praise these when rounding off Step 5. You could also
have a variety of issues and presentation formats within the
point out that if the competition were real, presentations
class.
would be more likely to win the cash donation if they
• Give them plenty of time to create their presentations. Assist
offered Inspirational Ideas very specific plans about how the
any who are struggling. Encourage fast finishers to check
money would be spent and how exactly this would make a
their work for mistakes and to refer to the checklist in Step 3
difference. The issues chosen might even take second place in
to ensure it is a good quality presentation.
the way the competition was judged.
T
 here are many options for using technology in the
project.
STEP 6  SELF-EVALUATION
• If you have internet access, students could research their • Ask students to copy statements a–d. Then they decide
issue more fully, including finding appropriate images.
individually how well they can do each thing. Point out that
• If presentation software is available, e.g. PowerPoint, number 4 is very positive and number 1 is the least positive.
students could use it to make their presentations
• You can also use the key competences evaluation rubric
(embedding images and/or video as appropriate).
to evaluate how well students have done in the key
• Students could record their presentations on cameras competences associated with this project.
or hand-held devices. They could then be played to the
• You could then conduct a class discussion on what the
class on the interactive whiteboard or students could
students found easy and difficult about doing the project and
watch them individually or in pairs on the same cameras
what they might do differently if they did the project again.
or devices. This option allows students to practise
presentation skills such as body language, facial expression,
gesture and use of voice.
• Allow time specifically for practising if students are doing oral
presentations.

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 3  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  2