• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Style, tone and word choice (ACT English); Formal register and tone). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. A scientific abstract: "We think maybe the drug might possibly help some patients a bit, perhaps." Which revision is appropriately cautious but not wordy? (Perhaps, maybe, the drug could possibly help. / We think maybe the drug might possibly help some patients. / The drug definitely cures all patients. / The results suggest the drug may benefit some patients.) → The results suggest the drug may benefit some patients.Prompt: Who is the audience and what is the purpose?
2. An email applying for a summer job. Which closing is most appropriate? (That's all. Bye. / Cheers, hope I get it lol. / Get back to me ASAP, yeah? / Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to hearing from you.) → Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to hearing from you.Prompt: Who is the audience, and what is the purpose?
3. A travel article aims to evoke the atmosphere of a night market: "There were a lot of people and some food." Which revision best achieves the writer's goal? (The market had people in it, plus food. / People were there. Food was there too. / There were many people and also some food items. / Crowds jostled between stalls where skewers hissed over glowing coals.) → Crowds jostled between stalls where skewers hissed over glowing coals.Prompt: Who is the audience and what is the purpose?

• Show two openings to the same piece of writing and ask which makes them want to read on.
• Share the objective: Adapting register and tone to audience and purpose. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Purpose: an email to a company complaining that a product broke after one week. Which sentence suits the audience and purpose best?
• Step 1: Effective writers adapt register — formality, vocabulary and tone — to their audience and purpose.
• Step 2: Firm, polite and specific is most effective for a complaint.
• Step 3: So the answer is: I am writing to report that the headphones I bought on 3 May stopped working after one week, and I would like a replacement or refund.
• Answer: I am writing to report that the headphones I bought on 3 May stopped working after one week, and I would like a replacement or refund.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Is the proposed answer correct? Purpose: the opening of a formal report to the council about traffic outside your school. Which opening suits the audience and purpose best? → This report sets out the results of a two-week traffic survey outside Hillside School and recommends three safety measures. (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → yes, it is correctPrompt: Who is the audience, and what is the purpose (request, inform, persuade, entertain)?
2. Purpose: ask your head teacher for permission to start a climate club. Which opening suits the audience and purpose best? (Hey Miss! Can we do a climate club pls? / Climate club. Yes or no? / To whom it may concern, I demand that the school immediately creates a club. / Dear Ms Rahman, I am writing to ask whether a group of Year 12 students could start a lunchtime climate club.) → Dear Ms Rahman, I am writing to ask whether a group of Year 12 students could start a lunchtime climate club.Prompt: Who is the audience, and what is the purpose (request, inform, persuade, entertain)?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Purpose: a short article for a science magazine for 11-year-olds explaining black holes. Which opening suits the audience and purpose best? (Black holes, lol. / Imagine something so heavy that not even light can escape its pull — that's a black hole! / To whom it may concern: black holes. / Black holes are regions of spacetime exhibiting gravitational effects so strong that no particles or electromagnetic radiation can escape.) → Imagine something so heavy that not even light can escape its pull — that's a black hole!Prompt: Who is the audience, and what is the purpose (request, inform, persuade, entertain)?
2. Is the proposed answer correct? Purpose: a short article for a science magazine for 11-year-olds explaining black holes. Which opening suits the audience and purpose best? → Black holes are regions of spacetime exhibiting gravitational effects so strong that no particles or electromagnetic radiation can escape. (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → no, it is not correctPrompt: Who is the audience, and what is the purpose (request, inform, persuade, entertain)?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.