Online Course Programme

9 April – 7 June, 2024

The course lasts for 8 weeks + 4 months after the course you have access to all the materials.

You can cover the material at your own pace and come back to any unit when you want.
Zoom classes are live and interactive. They are recorded and you have access to the recordings of all Zoom sessions.

Live Zoom once a week on Fridays (1st session is on Tuesday) at 10.00-11.30 Moscow time

All classes are in English.

Week 1

IELTS ABCs
Writing Part 1 Graphs

Pre-Course Tasks:

You complete full Listening and Reading tests and then check your answers. You’ll be given access to the tests by your trainer.

Ideally before you start Unit 1 you should complete full IELTS Listening, Reading and know your band score for these parts. Being in your students’ shoes are quite useful. Plus, you can then tell your students that you’ve done a mock IELTS test and know what they are going through.

Tasks:

Analysing Band Descriptors
Online Knowledge Checks/Quiz Shows
Practising grading Task 1 answers using the band descriptors as a guide
Watching webinars

Live Zoom 1: 09.04 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: General IELTS Information; Reading and Listening, Writing and Speaking; Exam strategies, computer-delivered test vs. paper-based test; tricks and traps.
Part 2: IELTS Academic and General Writing Task 1 tasks requirements and tricks.

IELTS ABCs

Test formats: computer-delivered test vs. paper-based test, IELTS Life Skills, IELTS UKVI
Typical tasks in Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking
Practical issues: use a pen or pencil, can I take a watch? Who are the examiners?
Appeal Procedure and what to tell your students about it?
IELTS course books and supplementary materials: detailed input on all major books
Reliable IELTS online resources: input on websites, apps, free courses, Instagram accounts, IELTS movers and shakers, YouTube channels

Writing Part 1 Graphs

IELTS Academic: all graphs types and what is expected of students to do in each graph
IELTS General: different types of letters and the tasks requirements
How to describe various graphs: addressing the task, structure, linking, vocabulary/grammar
How to write letters: addressing the task, structure, linking, vocabulary and grammar
Methodology: how to help students with graphs; lesson tasks and activities; which course books to use?

Week 2

Writing Part 1 Assessment Graphs + Letters

We’ll cover the assessment criteria and analyze the official band descriptors thoroughly to understand the differences between the bands. You’ll learn how to use the band descriptors while assessing graphs/letters and will practice marking various papers comparing your assessment to the examiners’ comments.

Tasks:

Analysing Band Descriptors
Online Knowledge Checks/Quiz Shows
Practising grading essays using the band descriptors as a guide
Watching webinars/videos

Live Zoom 2: 12.04 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: Writing part 1 Assessment: Writing Assessment; how to understand IELTS band descriptors? How to assess graphs/letters? What’s the difference between 6.0 and 6.5? 7.0-8.0?

Writing Part 1 Assessment Graphs + Letters

Writing Assessment Criteria: understanding band descriptors and how to use them; differences between bands and what is expected at different levels
Atypical Answers: understanding why candidates don’t achieve their desired score because of negative features in their answers
Writing Assessment Method: how to assess students’ Task 1 answers? Step by step guide; How to deal with atypical answers and which Bands can be rewarded?
Assessment practice: grading graphs and letters, then comparing them against the official grading; understanding how the public Band Descriptors are applied and practicing using them while grading

Week 3

IELTS Writing Part 2 Essentials
IELTS Essay Assessment

We focus on how we can help our students to write effective essays. This includes helping them out with planning, recognizing various essay questions; structuring the essay well, writing an introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion effectively; supporting the main ideas and including examples.

We’ll cover the assessment criteria and analyze the official band descriptors thoroughly to understand the differences between the bands. You’ll learn how to use the band descriptors while assessing essays and will practice marking various essays comparing your assessment to the examiners’ comments.

Tasks:

Doing online research
Watching webinars, quizzes, reading articles
Completing IELTS listening and reading tests
Digesting IELTS Writing and completing the tasks from units 2-3

Live Zoom 3: 19.04 at 10.00-11.30

IELTS Writing Part 2 Essentials

Task requirements and tricks
Typical questions and what is expected of students to do for a decent score
How to write IELTS essays: addressing the task, structure, linking, vocabulary and grammar

IELTS Essay Assessment

Writing Assessment Criteria: understanding band descriptors and how to use them; differences between bands and what is expected at different levels
Writing Assessment Method: how to assess students’ essays? Step by step guide; examples of marking
Assessment practice: grading essays, then comparing them against the official grading; understanding how the public Band Descriptors are applied and practising using them while grading
How to help students with essays: how to teach an effective essay lesson? Essay worksheets

Week 4

IELTS Listening Essentials
How to Teach Listening

Tasks:

Doing full IELTS Reading
Watching webinars, quizzes, reading articles
Digesting IELTS Writing assessment and more practice with grading

Live Zoom 4: 26.04 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: IELTS Listening: tasks, tricks, tips and typical errors; strategies, dos and don’ts; what should you teach them about listening?
Part 2: How to Teach Listening: how to plan and teach an effective online/offline IELTS listening lesson? Lesson stages; dos and don’ts; teaching life hacks. IELTS games and activities to spice up your classes

IELTS Listening

Listening Scores
Listening life hacks
Paper based listening vs. computer delivered tests
Listening resources, books and online tools
How to stage a listening lesson?
Entertaining games and activities to use in your listening classes
How to help students with spelling in Listening

How to Teach Listening

IELTS teaching online and offline; easy to use online tools
Lesson Planning: Listening Stages and Procedures
Handouts and Worksheets you can use with your students in your IELTS classes
Which books to use to add variety to your IELTS classes?
IELTS Teaching Challenges: how to work with mixed levels? What to do with homework? How to engage students? What to do with lower levels?

Break
29.04 - 12.05

May Holidays
NO classes
You can access all the materials and complete the tasks from the previous units.

Week 5

IELTS Reading
How to Teach Reading

Tasks:

Analysing Band Descriptors
Online Knowledge Checks/Quizzes
Practising grading speaking tests using the band descriptors as a guide
Watching webinars / videos / IELTS Speaking Course

Live Zoom 5: 17.05 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: IELTS Reading: tasks, tricks, tips and typical errors; strategies, dos and don’ts; Doing the most challenging reading task types + the method
Part 2: How to Teach Reading: how to plan and teach an effective online/offline IELTS reading lesson? Lesson stages; dos and don’ts; teaching life hacks. IELTS games and activities to spice up your classes

IELTS Reading

Common text types and tasks; sub-skills which you should develop
Reading life hacks
Doing T/F/NG + the method and effective strategies
Doing headings and multiple choice tasks
Paper based reading vs. computer delivered tests

How to Teach Reading

How to Teach Reading
IELTS teaching online and offline; easy to use online tools
Lesson Planning: Reading Stages and Procedures
Handouts and Worksheets you can use with your students in your IELTS classes
Which books to use to add variety to your IELTS classes?

Week 6

IELTS Speaking Task Requirements
IELTS Speaking Assessment

Live Zoom 6: 24.05 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: IELTS Speaking tasks requirements
Part 2: IELTS Speaking Assessment, how to understand Speaking band descriptors? How to assess speaking? What’s the difference between various bands? Speaking Assessment practice

IELTS Speaking Task Requirements

Current IELTS speaking questions and insights from examiners
What is expected of students to do for a high score
Typical errors
Speaking dos and don’ts
IELTS Speaking Parts and Life hacks

IELTS Speaking Assessment

Speaking Assessment Criteria: understanding band descriptors and how to use them; differences between bands and what is expected at different levels
Speaking Assessment Method: how to assess students? Step by step guide; examples of speaking answers (recordings/videos)
Assessment practice: grading speaking, then comparing it against the official comments; understanding how the Band Descriptors are applied; practising using them while grading
How to help students with Speaking: how to teach Speaking? Speaking classroom activities/worksheets

Week 7

IELTS Teaching, Games and Activities

Live Zoom 7: 31.05 at 10.00-11.30

Part 1: Teaching: how to plan an IELTS course/lessons. How to teach IELTS Writing and Speaking, Lesson stages; dos and don’ts; teaching life hacks
Part 2: IELTS games and activities

IELTS Teaching, Games and Activities

IELTS teaching online and offline; easy to use online tools
Lesson Planning: Writing and Speaking Lesson Stages and Procedures
Handouts and Worksheets you can use with your students in your IELTS classes
Which books to use to add variety to your IELTS classes?
IELTS Teaching Challenges: how to work with mixed levels? What to do with homework? How to engage students? What to do with lower levels?
Planning an IELTS course: sample pacing schedules for various courses with handouts
Using IELTS check lists to make sure you covered all exam task types: all IELTS tasks checklist and Speaking Topics checklist
Planning your 45-minute IELTS lesson, receiving advice from your trainer