Are you struggling to make essay writing more engaging for B2 and C1 exam students with fun writing activities? Often, the challenge with teaching writing lies in making learning these skills enjoyable. That’s where creative writing activities like this one come into play. We’ve developed a dynamic activity called the consequences essay-writing game, designed to spark creativity and improve writing skills in a collaborative way. This game makes essay writing enjoyable and helps students construct well-linked arguments using common linking words.
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Why should you do fun writing activities?
In both B2 and C1 levels for Cambridge exams, writing an essay is obligatory. It comes up in Trinity and IELTS exams too. When writing essays, you are expected to express your ideas clearly and logically, making good use of a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. The essays should be well-organised, with clear introductions, development of ideas, and conclusions. Linking words make sure that the essay flows and that the ideas are coherent.
So how can you do this in a fun way? With the consequences game, the writing is collaborative. Each student takes turns to continue an essay that another student or group started. The twist is that they can’t read the whole essay to know what was written before. This is a common creative writing task used to write stories, but it can be easily adapted. Each section of the game starts with a different linking word, so students are exposed to the useful language while having fun at the same time.
This type of fun writing activity helps to break up the monotony of potentially uninspiring writing lessons. Students will engage more with the task and care about their writing more. As an added bonus, it’s best when done collaboratively, so students will be using their speaking skills throughout the duration of the task also.
How the consequences game works
The game begins with several different essay topics. Each topic comes with a unique introduction and linking words. Then follow these steps carefully:
- Read the introduction.
- Continue the essay by writing the first paragraph.
- After writing each section, fold down the previous section so that only the most recent section is visible.
- Pass the essays to the next person or group.
- Take turns writing sections of the essay, using the provided linking words to maintain cohesion.
As the game progresses, players build upon each other’s contributions, but without knowing how the essay started, it can lead to entertainingly disjointed essays. Encourage imagination and silliness for added fun.
After completing the essay, you can review and discuss the final product, analysing the effectiveness of their linking words and the cohesiveness of the essay.
The materials
This consequences game revolves around five topics, each with a set of linking words to guide students in creating compelling essays:
- Climate change: Starting with the introduction, “Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, affecting every aspect of the planet’s ecosystems.”
- Social media: This topic begins with, “Social media has revolutionised the way we communicate, but its impact on society still needs further analysis.”
- The future of work: With the introduction, “As automation and artificial intelligence continue to advance, the future of work is going to experience significant transformations.”
- Education: Starting with “Educational methods, which play a crucial role in shaping individuals and societies, are continuously evolving.”
- Art and culture: Beginning with, “Art and culture are not only entertainment. They also influence the values and dynamics of entire societies.”
By incorporating these topics into the consequences game, students learn to express their ideas with typical topics found in advanced language exams.
For more insights on using linking words effectively in your essays, don’t forget to check out our other linking words post on Breakout English.
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