Solutions

2 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project

Application email: summer camp
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 4A holidays and holiday accommodation, holiday activities, describing places, 4B future continuous, future
from the units 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

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND THE TASK Work K

TAS  Looking for a summer job where you can have fun and use your
in pairs. Read the task. What do you
have to do when you apply, and what
information should you include? Answer
questions 1 and 2.
1 Look at the photos. What does each
job involve? Brainstorm what you think
you have to do for each of the positions
advertised.
2 Do you have any questions about
working for UK camps in general or
about specific jobs? Make a list.
English? We have opportunities for adventure activity instructors and
assistants, excursion leaders, group mentors (responsible for the well-being
of a small group of young people), language coaches (selected languages),
catering assistants, housekeeping staff and administrative staff at our
2–6-week summer camps in the UK. Payment variable depending on
position and experience. Need to be able to relate to young people aged
8–16. Apply in writing. Email applications to application@UK_camps.co.uk.
Don’t forget to state clearly which position you wish to apply for. Give
details of relevant experience, skills, personality traits and interests
together with one person (over 18) we can contact for a character
reference. Shortlisted applicants will have a Skype interview.

Summer Holidap y catering

activity cam assistant

group mentor

y
adventure activit nt
ta
instructor / assis
language
coach

administrative housekeeping
staff staff

excursion
leader

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 Solutions

2 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project

Application email: summer camp

STEP 2: PREPARE Read comments on a forum by students who have worked for UK camps before. What role
did each person have? Compare your ideas with your partner.
Do these posts answer your questions? Is there anything else you would like to know about UK camps?

It’s a fun way to earn some money. All transport and
1 4
meals were included and the food was surprisingly varied
with some good healthy options. But obviously, you’re there
to work and there’s no time to take it easy. I chose to work
in the office, you know, answering the phone, responding to
emails and that sort of thing. It was challenging in an English-
speaking environment – really good for my language skills,
of course. But I also had to help out with the activities too,
and everyone has to get involved in keeping the place clean
and tidy, especially on arrivals and departures day . In the
phrase ‘working holiday’, I’d emphasise that it’s mostly work!
My friend taught Spanish and did a few
other jobs like putting up tents and lighting
campfires, and then she had the rest of the time
off. I went on trips off-site with groups of kids –
quite fun, but exhausting. It isn’t easy keeping an
eye on fifteen excited children at the zoo, so I got
quite stressed at times. Because we were usually
out all day, I got so little free time that I just spent
it sleeping. So do your homework and find out
exactly what you’ll be expected to do. I went home
at the end of the summer for a much-needed rest!

The best thing was the camp location.

2 Greatest experience of my life! By the time your summer
is up, you’ll have met brilliant people who’ll probably be
friends for life and you’ll have done things you never would
have done back home. Where else are you going
to learn to provide food for 60+ people? And I mean do it
properly – I thought it would be processed food and fizzy
drinks, but in reality all the meals were made from scratch
with fresh ingredients – nutritious and tasty as well. And
of course it’s all got to be prepared in a minuscule camp
kitchen. Pretty impressive really.
3 Do you really like kids? I mean, really? You’ll be
looking after some cute ones, but others will get on your
nerves and you’ll be responsible for them for weeks. It’s a
strange position because you’re taking on the role of a parent
or a big brother or sister. I didn’t enjoy telling the kids off. I
guess I thought they’d look up to me! One night, we had fun
making up ghost stories to scare each other and at the end
of camp, several kids cried and said they were going to miss
me and would never forget me.
5 Not only was it in amazing, unspoiled
countryside, but there were also two other camps
in the same area. Once the kids were in bed, we
could get together with staff from other camps
and hang out. It was fun to be with people on
the same wavelength. And it didn’t matter that I
spent most of my days cleaning and putting paper
towels in the toilets and things like that.
I’d say make sure you know what you’re
6
in for – I’m talking about accommodation.
When you’ve been out kayaking in the rain with
twenty high-spirited kids who throw you in the lake
at the end of each session, you want to be able to
get warm and dry! Luckily for me I was in a cabin,
but my friends in tents at another location had a
really wet and miserable time.

STEP 3: ANALYSE Work in pairs. Discuss the different jobs
in Step 1 and choose the one you would apply for. Think
about why you would be good in the position. Use the key
phrases to help you explain the reasons for your selection.
KEY PHRASES
STEP 4: CREATE Work individually to write your application
email. Include the information required in Step 1 and use
your ideas from Step 3.
STEP 5: PRESENT AND DECIDE Give your application to
another student. Read their application email. Think of
five questions you would ask them at a Skype interview
which would help you decide whether to give them the job
they’ve applied for.

STEP 6: SELF-EVALUATION Copy the statements into your notebook and score yourself from 1–4. 4 very well
a I can make choices and explain my reasons for choosing. 3 well
b I can read and analyse comments and reviews on an internet forum. 2 needs practice
c I can write an application email for a summer job. 1 not very well
d I can read a job application email and respond to it.

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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.
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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
 tudents work individually to produce a high-quality
S • 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.
Students 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.

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 Solutions

2 Upper-Intermediate 21 Century Skills Project Application email: summer camp

st

Key Competences Evaluation Rubric Student’s name: Class:

KEY COMPETENCE 4 EXCELLENT 3 GOOD 2 ADEQUATE 1 NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

2 Learning to learn
At all stages the student takes the
opportunity to improve study skills by
note taking and recording new and/or key
language. In step 6, the student reflects
on and evaluates their ability to make
choices, analyse material and to write an
application letter, and in doing so shows an
interest in taking responsibility for learning.

4 Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship

The student volunteers questions about
working in the UK in step 1 and in doing
so shows curiosity. In step 3, the student
personalises the task and reflects on
his/her own qualities and skills and then
captures these ideas in an email in step
4. In step 5, the student is proactive in
thinking of five suitable questions for the
Skype interview.

5 Social and civic competence

The student is participative and supportive
in all the pairwork activities. In step 2, the
student expresses interest in UK camps and
an understanding of the various roles at UK
camps. In step 3, the student offers opinions
and exchanges ideas about their suitability
for the positions. In step 5, the student
demonstrates real interest in their partner’s
application email and this is evident in the
choice of questions.

SOLUTIONS Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 2 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­