• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Words from myth, literature and history (herculean, quixotic, boycott…)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which word or phrase matches this description? an independent-minded person who doesn't follow the group (from Samuel Maverick, a Texas rancher) (maverick / mentor / galvanise / boycott) → maverickPrompt: Recall the story behind each word: the hero, the god, the place or the person.
2. Type the word or phrase (in English) that matches this description. a long, eventful journey (from Homer's epic about Odysseus) → odysseyPrompt: Recall the story behind each word: the hero, the god, the place or the person.
3. Which word or phrase best completes the sentence? Cleaning up the river after the flood was a ___ task that took volunteers all summer. (laconic / mercurial / herculean / quixotic) → herculeanPrompt: What idea does the sentence need: effort, few words, harshness, idealism, temptation, protest, weakness…?

• Show an interesting word in a sentence and ask what it might mean from the clues around it.
• Share the objective: Borrowed phrases: status quo, bona fide, faux pas, zeitgeist…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which phrase matches this description? the existing state of affairs (Latin)
• Step 1: English borrows many phrases from Latin, French and German; they are common in academic and journalistic writing.
• Step 2: status quo: the existing state of affairs (Latin)
• Step 3: So the answer is: status quo
• Answer: status quo
• 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. Which phrase matches this description? a favour given in return for something (Latin) (faux pas / raison d'être / zeitgeist / quid pro quo) → quid pro quoPrompt: Spanish speakers often recognise the Latin ones: status quo, de facto, vice versa.
2. Type the phrase (in English) that matches this description. the spirit or mood of a particular period (German) → zeitgeistPrompt: Spanish speakers often recognise the Latin ones: status quo, de facto, vice versa.

• 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. Which phrase best completes the sentence? The problem is not technology ___, but how we choose to use it. (ad hoc / vice versa / per se / de facto) → per sePrompt: What idea does the gap need: genuineness, the current situation, freedom, a mistake, an exchange…?
2. Which phrase matches this description? the spirit or mood of a particular period (German) (zeitgeist / fait accompli / per se / quid pro quo) → zeitgeistPrompt: Spanish speakers often recognise the Latin ones: status quo, de facto, vice versa.

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