Solutions

1 Advanced 21st Century Skills Project

Negotiation: The Bookworms
21st Century Skills Collaboration: making decisions
Key Competences 7 Linguistic communication, 5 Social and civic competence, 1 Digital competence
Useful language 1A remembering and forgetting, 1B question forms, 1E phrasal verbs (1), 1G introducing reasons and
from the units explanations, marking a change of topic, 2A aspects of stories, literary forms, adjectives to describe books,
idioms and set phrases: books, 2B conditionals, 2D inversion of subject and verb, 2E compounds,
2G expressing opinions, 3A idioms: relationships, 3D comparative and superlative structures, 3E metaphors
and similes, 3G talking about advantages and disadvantages, negotiating

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND THE TASK   Work in pairs. Read the task. What are the benefits of joining The Bookworms?
Can you join if you aren’t in a book group?

K
TAS   According to one survey, reading more is the second
most popular New Year’s resolution. Reading is a great
way to relax, so it’s brilliant for your health too. It might
be a solitary activity, but that doesn’t mean you have to
be lonely! Discussing a book as a group helps you to see
it from a different point of view. We are The Bookworms
and our aim is to support book groups just as book groups
support and encourage their readers.
If you’re in a book group, sign up for membership of our
online forum. If you aren’t in a book group, start one! As a
member, you’ll be able to download e-books for free, enter
competitions, attend exclusive author meet-and-greets,
get recommendations for your group’s next book choice,
and chat and meet like-minded people. All we ask is that
members meet together, read a minimum of four books
a year and post either a synopsis or full review on our site.
Go to www.The_Bookworms.com for more information.

STEP 2: ANALYSE   Read the conversation between

members of a new book group. Identify the
problems they seem to be facing. How would you
solve them? Write some notes.
In a small group, discuss the problems and
your solutions. Use the key phrases and other
discussion phrases you know to help structure
your discussion.
KEY PHRASES
Zach OK, so we’ve said we’ll get together and start a book group, but I’m
a bit worried that we aren’t going to find the time to a) read the
books and b) actually meet!
Katie Great, let’s give up before we’ve even started then!
Zach No, I didn’t mean that. But seriously, we need to think about how
this is going to work. I think perhaps you should chair this meeting,
Alex, since the book group was your idea in the first place.
Alex Right, that’s fine. Well, how long does it take to read a novel in
English?
Katie Off the top of my head, I’d say a month for one book should be OK.
Would you go along with that?
Alex Well, bearing in mind that we’ve all got exam revision to do this
term, I’d say if we allow six weeks, that might be more realistic.
Ava Yes, and we’ll need to be flexible if someone wants to read
something heavy-going.
Katie Or just a really thick book!
Alex Fair enough. I think that suggestion probably goes for everything
really, seeing as we haven’t even started yet. We can’t set too
many rules in stone at this point. We’ll get started and see how
things turn out.
Zach I agree. But then again, we do need to decide how books are going
to be selected. I mean, the simplest way is probably just for each of
us to suggest one and then we take a vote.
Ava But there might be a member of the group whose choice is never
picked.
Katie And what if we don’t see eye to eye on the genre, or if we find a
book is really tedious?
Ava Or if we just can’t get into it for some reason, what do we do then?
Zach There’s a part of me that thinks, to be on the safe side, we should
just focus on bestsellers or books which have got good reviews.
Katie But the disadvantage of that is we are already limiting ourselves
as to what we can choose from.
Alex OK, listen, these are all good points. But I can’t help thinking that
we can iron some of these issues out once we’ve got started. So
how about we just try to find a book we can all agree on to start
with and take it from there?

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1 Advanced 21st Century Skills Project
Negotiation: The Bookworms
STEP 3: PREPARE   Read the following
write-up of a book and answer the
questions as fully as you can:
a Would you say it’s a synopsis or a
review?
b Is it positive?
c Does it give you enough information to
make a decision about whether to read
the novel or not?
d Does the writer make any personal
recommendations?
e What do you think of the quality of this
write-up?
STEP 4: CREATE   In pairs, brainstorm
authors and books which you have
enjoyed or others have recommended.
Make a shortlist of authors or books
you’d like to research.
Go online and read about the books on
booksellers’ pages. Try to find reviews of
the books too. Choose a book.
Write a synopsis or review of the book
you’ve chosen. Be careful to avoid giving
away too much of the plot or ending!
STEP 5: PRESENT AND DECIDE   As a group,
read and discuss the book write-ups.
Discuss the book options fully and
choose two books as your first book club
selections.
You could use some of the key phrases
from Step 2 in your discussions.
STEP 6: SELF-EVALUATION   Copy the statements into your notebook and score yourself from 1–4.
a I can think critically about possible problems in setting up a regular group meeting and discuss
solutions with my peers.
b I can read and respond to a write-up of a book.
c I can produce a detailed book synopsis or review.
d I can engage in and contribute fully to a negotiation which leads to a specific conclusion.
Solutions Advanced 21st Century Skills Project 1
Solutions
Divergent by Veronica Roth
A friend used the adjectives unforgettable
and compelling when recommending this
Young Adult novel, so I readily agreed to
give it a go. I wouldn’t say that dystopian
fiction is really my favourite, but this book
surpasses other examples of the genre and
I have to admit that I couldn’t put it down.
The world of Divergent is divided into
five groups known as factions. Basically,
the members of each faction display the same characteristics, which
are clear from the names: Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity and
Dauntless. Unsurprisingly, the principal theme of the book is belonging
and conforming to type, which teenagers can relate to. This hinges on
the premise that when you reach the age of sixteen, you have to choose
your faction and either stay with your family or abandon them to join a
different one.
Beatrice, known as Tris, is the small but gutsy central character who we
accompany as she endures the horrifying initiation rites of her chosen
faction. And through Tris, we discover what the term Divergent implies
and how she has to suppress certain aspects of her personality and
try to blot out her feelings. But if I told you more about that, I might
give away too much of the plot. Suffice to say that no sooner has Tris
decided on her faction than her troubles begin. She’s been used to a
life of blending in with others and suddenly her survival depends on
standing out and being brave in the face of adversity.
At this point, I should mention that there are many gruesome combat
scenes and the writer doesn’t hold back in her descriptions of the
fighting and bloody aftermath. Had I known this beforehand, I might
have been in two minds about reading it.
On the plus side, there are other memorable scenes such as the nail-
biting zip-wire ride from the top of a hundred-storey building which is
so well-written you could almost imagine being there yourself.
The portrayal of the different protagonists is another excellent aspect.
Tris is just one of a number of well-drawn and believable characters,
two of which stood out for me: Eric and Four. These are the Dauntless
leaders whose knowledge of each other goes back a long way and
whose mutual animosity is key to the storyline and the events of the
final pages.
At nearly 500 pages long, Divergent isn’t a quick read but in my
view, this book is definitely worth the effort as it is a fast-moving
fantasy which really grips your imagination. However, it is not for the
squeamish or faint-hearted.
4 very well
3 well
2 needs practice
1 not very well
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1 Advanced 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes
Negotiation: The Bookworms
PROJECT SUMMARY
• 21st Century Skills: Collaboration: making decisions
• Key Competences: 7 Linguistic communication, 5 Social
and civic competence, 1 Digital competence
• Useful language from the units: 1A remembering
and forgetting, 1B question forms, 1E phrasal verbs (1),
1G introducing reasons and explanations, marking a
change of topic, 2A aspects of stories, literary forms,
adjectives to describe books, idioms and set phrases:
books, 2B conditionals, 2D inversion of subject and
verb, 2E compounds, 2G expressing opinions, 3A idioms:
relationships, 3D comparative and superlative structures,
3E metaphors and similes, 3G talking about advantages
and disadvantages, negotiating
STEP 1  UNDERSTAND THE TASK
• Ask students to read the task and put them in pairs to answer
the questions.
• Elicit answers to check understanding. Ask further questions
to check they know what to do for this project: What do you
have to do as a member of The Bookworms? (be part of a book
group who meet together, read a minimum of four books a
year and post a synopsis or full review online). Check students
know the meaning and pronunciation of the noun synopsis
and that the difference between this and a full review is that
a review contains your opinion as well.
ANSWERS
The advantages are that you can get free e-books, enter
competitions, meet authors, get book recommendations, chat
and meet like-minded people. You have to be in a book group
to join.
STEP 2  ANALYSE
• Students work individually, reading the conversation to find
the problems that the book group has. Encourage them
to make a note of each problem and to think of a possible
solution for each one. Time spent thinking now will probably
lead to deeper discussions.
• Put students in small groups of three to five students to talk
about the problems and solutions. Ask them to look at the
key phrases before they start as these can help them with
their discussions. You could refer them to the key phrases in
the Student’s Book to remind themselves of the full range of
phrases they can use.
• Monitor discussions and assist where necessary.
• Here are some ideas for some optional extra language work:
• Ask students to find the expressions ‘set in stone’ and ‘iron
out’ and work out from context what they mean.
• Ask students to find phrases which introduce opinions,
change the subject, etc. Ask them to think about how
they would say the same thing in a more formal business
Solutions Advanced 21st Century Skills Project 1  Teaching Notes
Solutions
situation. This helps them to relate the project to a
real-world example and practise changing register from
informal to neutral / formal.
Here are some examples from the text, with more
neutral / formal equivalents
• Bearing in mind that … Taking into consideration that …
• I’d say … In my opinion, …
• Fair enough. That is a valid point.
• But then again, … But on the other hand, …
• What do we do then? What course of action do we take?
STEP 3  PREPARE
• In this step, students read a write-up which can provide a
model for their own work in Step 4.
• There is some vocabulary which may be unknown. Write
initiation, faction, suffice, animosity and squeamish on the
board. Ask them to apply knowledge of word formation to
identify whether each word is a noun, adjective or verb. Then
write the following definitions / synonyms on the board
and ask students to read the write-up, using the context to
work out the meanings and match them up. Check answers.
(Answers given in brackets.)
• a strong feeling of opposition, anger or hatred (animosity
– noun)
• a small group of people within a larger group whose
members have different beliefs to those of the larger
group (faction – noun)
• the process of becoming a member of a group, often by
taking part in a ceremony or doing tasks (initiation – noun)
• to be enough (suffice – verb)
• easily upset at the sight of something (squeamish –
adjective)
• Ask students to read the write-up again and answer the
questions as fully as they can. Then put them in pairs to
compare their answers.
• When they have finished comparing, elicit some of the
answers from the class.
ANSWERS
a It’s a review because it doesn’t go through the main points
of the plot and it also includes the writer’s opinion.
b It’s positive – the writer thinks the book is good, though it’s
a dark and long book to read.
c Students’ own answers. (It gives information about
characters and some plot details.)
d Yes. The writer’s recommendation is to read the book (but
bear in mind that it is unsuitable for some readers.)
e Students’ own answers. (The vocabulary and structure
are both high level, e.g. inversion: Had I known, … . It is
also quite structured, starting with general background
information, more detailed information about characters
and events and then a conclusion with a recommendation.
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 Solutions

1 Advanced 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Negotiation: The Bookworms

STEP 4  CREATE STEP 6  SELF-EVALUATION

• Students work in pairs and share knowledge of authors and • Ask students to copy statements a–d. Then they decide
books to research online. Well-known bookselling chains in individually how well they can do each thing. Point out that
the UK and the US include Waterstones, Blackwells, Foyles, number 4 is very positive and number 1 is the least positive.
Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The site www.lovereading.co.uk • You can also use the key competences evaluation rubric
might also be useful. to evaluate how well students have done in the key
• The aim of the internet research is to choose one book (each, competences associated with this project.
not in pairs), which they will then write about. Monitor their • You could then conduct a class discussion on what the
research if possible to check their choices are appropriate. students found easy and difficult about doing the project, and
You also want to avoid them simply copying reviews from the what they might do differently if they did the project again.
internet – you could encourage them to take notes, or to cut
and paste some information from the sources they’re using.
• Give sufficient time for the creative task. If there is little
available technology, they can simply create a written
synopsis or review.
Students could use the tech tools available to produce
their synopses / reviews, including an image of the
book cover if they wish. If there is a school website,
these could be uploaded in order to be available to all
advanced learners.

STEP 5  PRESENT AND DECIDE

• Bring students back into their small groups from Step 2.
Focus their attention on the discussion phrases once more
and highlight that you’d like them to use phrases like these in
their groupwork.
• This stage is about reading or hearing other students’
reviews / synopses and using this information to discuss and
make an informed decision about which books to choose for
the book group.
• They should also be encouraged to apply the questions in
Step 3 to the synopses and reviews within their group as a
purely language-related exercise. Remind them to be kind, be
constructive and be specific in their comments to each other
and monitor this peer feedback as closely as possible. You can
focus on instances of particularly good feedback by giving
specific examples with the reasons why you’ve chosen them
and praising the students responsible for them.
• At this point you can promote the book group idea as a real
club – encourage the groups to read one of the chosen books
and meet to discuss it. Point out that they’ve already gone
some way to organising the book group in their discussions
in Step 2. Perhaps they could even start a forum called The
Bookworms on the school website or their own YouTube
channel, posting videos where they talk about the books
they’ve read and make recommendations.
• If students are reluctant to read in English, you could assign
one book to each student and set it as a long homework task
for the term, finishing in a written or recorded response to the
initial synopsis or review of the book created in this project.

Solutions Advanced 21st Century Skills Project 1  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  2
 Solutions

1 Advanced 21 Century Skills Project Negotiation: The Bookworms

st

Key Competences Evaluation Rubric Student’s name: Class:

KEY COMPETENCE 4  EXCELLENT 3  GOOD 2  ADEQUATE 1  NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

7 Linguistic communication
In step 2, the student identifies the
problems in the conversation. In step 3,
the student answers the questions fully
and, in step 4, produces a book review
or synopsis including language from
the previous steps. In steps 2 and 5, the
student also incorporates the key phrases
into the discussion.

5 Social and civic competence

The student works well in pairs: in
step 1 by discussing the benefits of
joining The Bookworms; and in step 4
by brainstorming ideas. The student
also participates well in groupwork: in
step 2 by discussing the problems and
solutions; and in step 5 by discussing the
book write-ups.

1 Digital competence
In step 4, the student demonstrates
digital competence and a confident
use of the internet as a research tool in
order to find appropriate books and book
reviews. The student shows an ability to
compare and contrast different online
reviews before making a choice.

Solutions Advanced 21st Century Skills Project 1 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­