• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Easily confused words: complement/compliment, imply/infer, elicit/illicit…). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? The bus remained stationary for twenty minutes. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Say the sentence with each option. Which meaning does it need?
2. Choose the correct word. I'm not ___ to trying new food. (averse / adverse) → aversePrompt: Say the sentence with each option. Which meaning does it need?
3. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? What are you trying to imply? That I'm lazy? (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Say the sentence with each option. Which meaning does it need?

• Show an interesting word in a sentence and ask what it might mean from the clues around it.
• Share the objective: Tricky word pairs: credible/credulous, flaunt/flout, disinterested/uninterested…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Choose the word that is correct in formal English. The heat in the stuffy exam hall was ___.
• Step 1: Advanced writers distinguish near-identical words precisely; examiners notice when they don't.
• Step 2: 'Torturous' = causing great suffering.
• Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The heat in the stuffy exam hall was torturous."
• Step 4: So the answer is: torturous
• Answer: torturous
• 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 this sentence correct in formal written English? The child's ingenuous question showed she had no idea it was a secret. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: These pairs look alike but mean different things. Define each one before choosing.
2. Choose the word that is correct in formal English. The professor's ___ manner made her seem distant, though she cared deeply. (reserved / reversed) → reservedPrompt: These pairs look alike but mean different things. Define each one before choosing.

• 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. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Her ingenious design used folded paper to make a cheap, strong shelter. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: These pairs look alike but mean different things. Define each one before choosing.
2. Choose the word that is correct in formal English. The instructions were ___: they could be read in two ways. (ambiguous / ambivalent) → ambiguousPrompt: These pairs look alike but mean different things. Define each one before choosing.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-11.