• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Inversion for emphasis: Never have I…, Not only did she…; Syntax for effect (GCSE/AP)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Choose the correct form to complete the emphatic sentence. Never ___ such a beautiful sunset. (seen I have / have I seen / I have seen / I saw) → have I seenPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
2. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Seldom is a team come back from four goals down. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
3. The city never sleeps; its lights burn, its engines growl, its people hurry. What is the effect of the three parallel clauses after the semicolon? (The rule-of-three rhythm conveys the city's constant energy. / They suggest the writer dislikes lists. / They change the tense to the future. / They make the city seem empty and calm.) → The rule-of-three rhythm conveys the city's constant energy.Prompt: Think about how the sentence makes you read: faster, slower, with more emphasis?

• Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
• Share the objective: Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? It was not the price but the quality that worried us.
• Step 1: Cleft sentences split a simple sentence into two parts to spotlight one element: It was Maya who… / What we need is…
• Step 2: The cleft contrasts and focuses on 'the quality'.
• Step 3: So the answer is: the quality
• Answer: the quality
• 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 part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? What we need is more time. (more time / need / what / we) → more timePrompt: In 'It was X who/that…', X is the focus.
2. Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHY the match was cancelled: "The match was cancelled because of the snow." • It was because of the snow that the match was cancelled. • It was the match that was cancelled because of snow. • What was cancelled was the match. • The snow, it cancelled the match. (It was because of the snow that the match was cancelled. / It was the match that was cancelled because of snow. / What was cancelled was the match. / The snow, it cancelled the match.) → It was because of the snow that the match was cancelled.Prompt: Put the element you want to emphasise straight after 'It is/was…', or at the end after 'What… is/was'.

• 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. Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHEN the shop opens: "The shop opens at nine." • The shop, it opens at nine. • What opens at nine is the shop. • It is the shop that opens at nine. • It is at nine that the shop opens. (The shop, it opens at nine. / What opens at nine is the shop. / It is the shop that opens at nine. / It is at nine that the shop opens.) → It is at nine that the shop opens.Prompt: Put the element you want to emphasise straight after 'It is/was…', or at the end after 'What… is/was'.
2. Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? What the scientists discovered was a new species of beetle. (a new species of beetle / what / discovered / the scientists) → a new species of beetlePrompt: In 'It was X who/that…', X is the focus.

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