Ielts Vocabulary to Describe Charts and Graphs

Practising IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Contents
A. TEACHERS’ NOTES ...........................................................................................................2
A1.

Lesson Plan..................................................................................................................2

A2.

Classroom Handout 1...................................................................................................6

A3.

Classroom Handout 2...................................................................................................7

A4.

Suggested homework/self study activities....................................................................8

B. GUIDANCE FOR FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES.......................................................................9

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Part 1
A. TEACHERS’ NOTES
Description
Time required:

60 minutes

Materials required: 

One copy per student of Classroom Handout 1 & 2

Aims:



To introduce and practise vocabulary to describe charts and graphs in Part 1 of the Academic Writing test

A1.

Lesson Plan

1. Warmer: In pairs the students answer the following questions:
“What type of music do you like?”
“How do you buy and listen to music?”
“How are your choices in music different to your parents or people of other generations?” Timing 3 mins
2. Give out A2. Classroom Handout 1 to each student.
Focus the students on the graph. In pairs or small groups, the students discuss the graph and any general trends they can see.
Timing 3 mins
3. On their own, students complete exercise a)
(Answers)
VERBS

NOUNS

go up

go down

remain steady

Increase

decrease

stay the same

Rise
Climb

fall drop increase rise climb

decrease fall drop

Timing 6 mins

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
4. Draw the attention of the students to the graph in Classroom Handout 1.
Ask the class what happened between 1995 & 1996. went down
Sales decreased fell dropped

Possible answers:

a decrease
There was a fall a drop

in sales

Write the possible answers on the board. Draw the students’ attention to the difference in structure when using the noun.

Next, ask the class what happened to sales between 2000 and 2001.
Answer: the same as between 1995 & 1996
Ask the class if the falls between 1995 & 1996 and 2000 & 2001 were the same.
Answer: No. The fall between 2000 & 2001 was bigger.

Explain to the class that the verbs and nouns only describe the direction of the movement of the graph. Ask them what they can use to add more information to the verbs and nouns.
Answer: Adverbs and adjectives.
Timing 15 mins

5. In small groups, the students complete exercise b) on Classroom Handout 1.
Monitor and help the students as appropriate.
(Answers)
ADVERBS ciamalrtdlay yasginincftil myratdeloe gihtllsy

dramatically significantly moderately slightly ADJECTIVES dramatic significant moderate gradual slight Timing 10 mins

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Part 1
6. Write the five adverbs on the board. Invite any students who feel they might know the answers, to come and draw a line next to each word to demonstrate the degree of movement it describes.
Suggested answers:

dramatically

significantly

moderate slightly Point out to the class that the adjectives and adverbs have been presented in the order of the degree of change. i.e. the smallest amount of change is at the bottom of the list and the greatest at the top.
Timing 5 mins

7. Write the following two sentences on the board
Sales fell dramatically by 100 million in 2001
There was a dramatic fall in sales of 100 million in 2001
Elicit from the class the different structures used with verbs and nouns. Point out


that the adverb comes after the verb, whereas the adjective comes before the noun 

the use of the word ‘by’ before the amount of change when using a verb



the use of the word ‘of’ before the amount of change when using a noun

Timing 10 mins

8. Individually, the students write two sentences to describe what happened in 1998.
One sentence using a verb and adverb, and the second sentence using an adjective and noun.
Monitor the students and correct as necessary.
Suggested answers: Sales went up/increased/rose/climbed moderately by 50 million in 1998.
There was a moderate increase/rise/climb in sales of 50 million in 1998
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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
Individually, each student writes five or six sentences to describe all of the activity on the graph.
As they are writing, monitor the students and correct as necessary.
Timing 10 mins
9. Each student swaps their sentences with another student.
The students check each other’s work to make sure that the facts, grammar and spelling are correct.
The students then feed their corrections back to each other.
Timing 7 mins
10. Share any particularly successful answers with the whole class.
Timing 3 mins
11. The teacher sets the homework. (see A4. Suggested homework/self-study activities).

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Part 1
A2.

Classroom Handout 1
Album Sales in Millions

800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

go up decrease remain steady stay the same

go down increase drop

rise fall climb

a) Place the verbs in the box into the correct column in the table below. Then wherever possible, convert the verbs into nouns.
VERBS

NOUNS

go up

b) Unscramble the letters in the table below to find the adverbs. Then convert the adverbs into adjectives.
ADVERBS
ciamalrtdlay yasginincftil myratdeloe gihtllsy ADJECTIVES dramatically …………….
…………….
…………….

…………….
…………….
…………….
…………….

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
A3.

Classroom Handout 2

1.

3.
The factor by which sales have changed over time
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Album downloads

Single downloads

Album Cds

Singles CDs

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Part 1
A4.

Suggested homework/self study activities

1. Students write 10 sentences describing the information on A3.Classroom Handout 2.
Remind the students to try to
 use a variety of verbs and nouns to describe the trends
 include linking words
 modify the verbs with adverbs such as slightly, dramatically, significantly, rapidly, considerably, etc
 modify the nouns with adjectives such as; slight, dramatic, significant, rapid, considerable, etc.

2. In the following lesson students swap their written homework with someone else in the room. The students then read the text in front of them and give feedback on the correct use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and the accuracy of the information given. Remind the students that they should not give opinions or invent data in Academic
Writing Task 1.

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Practising IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
B. GUIDANCE FOR FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
1. Get students used to the idea of describing information displayed in graph/chart form first generally, then looking for any exceptions to the general trend while using the verb & adverb, adjective & noun combinations.
You can find graphs to use in class in
 business coursebooks
 the internet - search for “graphs” and select images
 the internet – many news websites (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk) have a lot of articles using graphs

2. You could ask your students to find graphs on the internet at home, print them and write some sentences about them.
Remind them to always bring a copy of the graph with their writing so the graph can be used for checking their writing.

3. Get students used to the idea of reading each others’ written work and giving each other feedback.
Make sure that you focus the students’ attention on a particular area or areas.
 Don’t say, “Correct this piece of writing”
 Do say, “Check the information is accurate” or “Check that the verbs have been used correctly”

4. If your students are higher level and more experienced, they could try using the
Writing Band Descriptors for IELTS Task 1 to give each other feedback. See http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT1.pdf © UCLES 2011. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/terms

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