IELTS Lesson Plans

What this lesson is for

They already have the four-paragraph shape from the opinion essay, so structure is not the work here. The work is content: producing two developed causes instead of four thin ones, and then producing measures that visibly answer those causes. Almost every weak script fails in one of two ways, and both are fixable on the page: causes written where problems were asked for, and a solutions paragraph that has drifted off to a different subject. Stage 2 fixes the first. Stage 3 fixes the second, and is the centre of the lesson. If you run short of time, cut Stage 4, not Stage 3.

Materials

Board space. The pattern board from Stage 1 stays up all lesson.
This page on every student device, joined to the room.
A clock. Every writing task here is timed and the times are called aloud.
The dashboard open on your own screen from Stage 2 onwards — you read their answers live and correct from them.

Procedure

Stage 1: What a problem and solution essay is (25 min)

Interaction: whole class, then individual

Goal: they can see the four paragraphs, and they can say which half of the question each middle paragraph answers.

Write this question on the board and leave it there all lesson:
In many countries, the amount of rubbish people throw away is increasing. Why is this happening? What can be done about it?
Ask the room for one reason why, out loud. Take three or four. 2 min
Two questions, not one. Underline the two halves of the question in different colours. Say it plainly: there are two questions on the board, and an essay that answers only one of them cannot pass. Ask which half most students forget. (The first. They rush to solutions.) 3 min

Two halves, read them both. Put the wordings up. Ask one question: what is the same in every row? The answer you want: there are always two questions, so there are always two middle paragraphs. What each half asks for is what changes. 4 min

The question can ask	Body 1 must contain	Body 2 must contain
Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?	causes	measures
What are the reasons for this? How can people research this?	reasons	a method, not measures
What problems does this cause? How could the situation be improved?	problems	measures
Why is this the case? Do you think this is a positive development?	causes	a judgement, not measures
Why might this be the case? What could be the disadvantages?	causes	disadvantages, not measures

The line to say: body 2 does whatever the second half literally asked for. Today that is measures, and today is the hardest version, because the measures have to answer body 1 one for one. But look at the last two rows before you leave: a student who has learned body 2 is always solutions will write measures for a question that asked whether the development is a good one, and lose half the marks for task response.

Where this comes from: across Cambridge 12 to 21, only one Task 2 question in forty asks for solutions, and eight are two-part questions whose second half is something else. Do not tell them the statistic. Do make sure the habit you build today is read the second half, not write solutions.

Point at the question marks: every row has two, because the exam writes the two halves as two separate sentences. Count them out loud. Two question marks means two middle paragraphs, and a student who reads the pair as one question will answer half of it and cap their task response at band 5.

Draw the pattern board. Leave it up all lesson. 4 min
Send them to Worksheet 1. Read the model essay aloud once while they follow it on the screen. 5 min
They tap the seven answers on their own, then check together. 7 min

THE ANSWER              250+ words · 40 minutes · 4 paragraphs

   INTRODUCTION   2 sentences
      1  the situation in your own words
      2  the answer in outline:  my causes, and my measures

   BODY 1   TWO causes (or problems)     cause 1  ·  cause 2
   BODY 2   TWO measures, SAME ORDER     for 1    ·  for 2

   CONCLUSION     1-2 sentences
      the causes and the measures together, different words

Check questions

How many questions are on the board? (two)
Which paragraph answers the second half? (body 2)
How many causes do I need? (two, both explained)
Can I put a new measure in the conclusion? (no)

What good looks like: everyone gets paragraphs A to D right, and most can say which half of the question body 1 answers.

Watch for: students who label body 1 “problems” when the model asks why. Send them back to the question on the board, not to the essay.

Stage 2: Finding causes: two, not four (30 min)

Interaction: whole class, then individual

Goal: they can tell a cause from a problem, and they can take one cause and make four sentences out of it instead of naming four causes and explaining none.

Cause or problem? Two columns on the board, WHY IT HAPPENS and WHAT IT DOES. Take the rubbish topic and ask for one of each. Give the test out loud: a cause comes before the situation, a problem comes after it. Draw an arrow through the middle so they can see the order. 5 min

   CAUSES            THE SITUATION           PROBLEMS
   why it happens    ───────────────►      what it does

   packaging         more rubbish          landfill sites fill up
   cheap to replace                        plastic in the sea

Send them to Worksheet 2. Six statements, cause or problem. They tap on their own. 6 min
Read the dashboard before you take feedback. Numbers 3 and 5 are the ones that split a class. Find two students who disagreed, and ask each to say before or after? Do not give the answer until both have answered.

Two, not four. Go to paragraph B of the model and cut it up on the board. Two causes, two sentences each. Then write four thin causes underneath it in a list and ask which one the examiner can mark. The rule: a cause you cannot say two sentences about is not a cause you should use. 6 min

Move	Sentence from paragraph B
Cause 1 · name it	The clearest cause is the amount of packaging that manufacturers now use.
Cause 1 · explain it	Almost every item in a supermarket arrives wrapped in plastic, and food that was once sold loose is now sealed in trays, boxes and film, all of which is thrown away the moment the product is opened.
Cause 2 · name it	A second, less obvious cause is that we have grown used to replacing things rather than repairing them.
Cause 2 · explain it	Electrical goods in particular are now so cheap, and repairs so expensive, that a broken kettle or printer is simply put out with the rubbish and a new one ordered the same afternoon.

Point out: neither explanation uses for example. Both explain by saying how the cause works: what people actually do, step by step. That is what a developed cause looks like.

Put the two questions they will write on today up on the board, and the phrases for naming a cause and naming a problem. Then give the two groups that do the explaining. 3 min

To do this	Say
Carry a consequence forward	X leads to … · X results in … · …, which in turn … · …, with the result that …
Put a reason inside a problem	This stems largely from … · The reason this matters is that … · …, and because [reason], the effect is felt most by … · What makes this worse is that …

On the second row: a reason is allowed inside a problems paragraph, but only underneath the problem. Give them the test: cross out the reason sentences. If the paragraph still answers the question, they were development. If it does not, they have written a causes paragraph for a problems question.

Worksheet 3, part A. They pick one of the two questions and fill the four boxes: cause 1, explain, cause 2, explain. Ten minutes, called at five. 10 min

NAMING A CAUSE      The clearest cause is ...
                    A second, less obvious / equally important,
                       cause is ...
                    This is largely the result of ...
                    Much of the blame lies with ...

NAMING A PROBLEM    The most serious problem is ...
                    A second, and equally damaging, problem is ...
                    The clearest consequence of this is ...
                    This creates particular difficulties for ...

EXPLAINING EITHER   two sentences, and they say HOW:
                    who does what, and what happens next

NOT WORTH USING     anything you cannot say two sentences about

Check questions

Does a cause come before or after the situation? (before)
Does a problem come before or after? (after)
How many sentences must each cause have? (at least two)
Is four causes better than two? (no, it is worse)

What good looks like: two boxes with a named cause in one sentence, and two boxes underneath that say how it works rather than repeating it.

Watch for: an explain box that restates the cause in other words. Ask who does this, and what happens next? Those two questions produce a real explanation.

Stage 3: Matching solutions: the centre of the lesson (30 min)

Interaction: whole class, then individual

Goal: every measure they write answers a cause they have already named, and they can see on the page when it does not.

Show the drift. Read paragraph B of the model again, then read this out as if it were paragraph C: The government should build more recycling centres, and schools should teach children about the environment from an early age. Ask one question and wait: which of my two causes does that answer? Let them find that the answer is neither. Say the name for it: drift. 4 min
Do not skip the wait. The sentence sounds good, and that is exactly the point. Students write it because it sounds like an IELTS answer. They have to hear it fail against their own causes before the rule means anything.

Now read the real paragraph C and put the pairs in a table on the board. Say the rule: same order, and the words of the cause come back in the measure. 5 min

Cause (body 1)	Measure (body 2)	The words that tie them
Manufacturers use too much packaging.	Tax the packaging, so supermarkets pay for every tray and wrapper.	packaging
We replace things instead of repairing them.	Refund part of the cost of a repair, as several European countries do.	repair

The test to give them: underline one word in your cause, and find that same word in your measure. If it is not there, the measure is answering a different essay.

The second model. Send them to the second model, which is the problems wording rather than causes. Read both middle paragraphs aloud. One question: which problem does the bus lane answer, and which one does the charge answer? Then point at the order: same pair, same sequence. 5 min
Worksheet 4. Six measures, and they choose which of the two causes each one answers, or neither. Tap on their own. 6 min
Read the dashboard, then correct from it. Two of the six are drift. Put one of them on the board and ask the class to rewrite it so that it does answer cause 2. Take the best version out loud.
Worksheet 3, part B. Back to their own causes from Stage 2, and now the two measures underneath them, in the same order. Ten minutes, called at five. 10 min

BODY 2   the measures, in the SAME ORDER as the causes

MEASURE 1   name it     The most effective measure would be to ...
            explain     who does it · what changes because of it
MEASURE 2   name it     A second step would be to ...
            explain     who does it · what changes because of it

BETTER      In order to [restate the cause], governments should ...
            The obvious answer to [restate the cause] is ...
            these two put the cause back in for you

WHO ACTS?   governments · schools · companies · individuals
            name one.  "Something should be done" is not a measure.

THE TEST    one word from the cause must appear in the measure

Check questions

Which cause does measure 1 answer? (cause 1)
Can I write a measure for a cause I did not name? (no)
Must I say who does it? (yes, name the actor)

What good looks like: you can lay their body 1 and body 2 side by side and draw two straight lines between them without the lines crossing.

Watch for: the government should raise awareness and people should be educated. Both are drift with a suit on. Ask educated about which of your two causes, and what would they then do differently?

Stage 4: The introduction and the conclusion (25 min)

Interaction: whole class, then individual

Goal: two sentences at each end, and nothing new in either. They have this shape from the opinion essay, so this stage moves fast.

Put the model's introduction and conclusion side by side. Ask what is the same and what is different. Answer: same two causes and two measures, different words. 5 min

	The model essay
Intro, sentence 2	In my view the main causes are excessive packaging and the low cost of replacing things that break, and governments will have to act on both.
Conclusion	In conclusion, we throw away more because more is wrapped and less is worth mending. Taxing packaging and subsidising repair would deal with both, and I believe governments should act on them together.

The difference from the opinion essay: sentence 2 here is not an opinion, it is a map. It names the causes and the measures in outline, so the examiner knows the shape of the essay before reading it. Say that out loud, because they will otherwise write a position statement out of habit.

Give the openers and the ban list. Nothing new: no third cause, no extra measure, no but it depends. 4 min
Worksheet 5. The same question they wrote their bodies on. Introduction first, then the conclusion that matches it. Six minutes each. 12 min
Tell them to read their own introduction and conclusion one after the other and count the words that are the same. If a whole sentence is the same, they rewrite it. 4 min

INTRODUCTION   1  the situation in your own words
               2  the map:  causes + measures, in outline

               "In my view this is mainly the result of X and Y,
                and both can be addressed."

CONCLUSION     In conclusion, ...
               the same causes and measures, different words
               NOTHING NEW

What good looks like: the causes and measures in the conclusion are the same two pairs as in body 1 and body 2, and the wording is not.

Watch for: a conclusion that adds a third measure, usually education. Cut it in front of them and ask if anything is missing. Nothing is.

Stage 5: Teacher check, the clock, homework (15 min)

Interaction: whole class

Goal: they see their own matching corrected in front of the class, so the last thing they take home is the rule from Stage 3.

You read, not them. Open PS · Causes and measures on the dashboard and put it on the screen. Take three students, and for each one read body 1 and body 2 aloud and draw the two lines. Say which pair matches and which one drifts. Nothing else. 8 min
Pick the three before you start. One clean match, one drift, and one where the measure is right but the order is swapped. That last one is the most useful of the three and the easiest to miss, so choose it deliberately while they are still writing in Stage 3.
One question to the room, not to an individual: whose measure could you move into a completely different essay without changing a word? That is the definition of drift, and it is the sentence to delete. 3 min
Put the 40-minute clock on the board and set the homework. They now have all four paragraphs, so the first full essay is homework, not classwork. 4 min

 0-5    PLAN     cause 1 · cause 2   →   measure 1 · measure 2
 5-35   WRITE    intro · causes · measures · conclusion
35-40   CHECK    two lines, and they do not cross

If you are running late: do step 1 with two students instead of three and skip step 2. Do not skip the homework instructions; the two essays are where this lesson is actually learned.

Homework

Essay 1, 40 minutes: In many countries, the number of people who are overweight is increasing. Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?
Essay 2, on another day: In many cities, young people are finding it harder to afford somewhere to live. What problems does this cause? How could the situation be improved?
In both: two causes or problems in body 1, two measures in body 2 in the same order, and a conclusion that names the same two pairs in different words. Underline one word in each cause and find it again in the measure.
Revise the lesson and redo any task you answered incorrectly.
Writing videos for Task 2 in the workbook.
Complex sentences: five new sentences for each structure, using cause and result language — leads to, results in, so that, by -ing.
Topic vocabulary: the next topics, about 100 words on each, using at least five words or phrases from the list.
Listening and reading: the next mock on learne.org with no break, then transcribe the most difficult section of the same test. Analyse every wrong answer.
Ongoing: speaking practice, shadowing, Blue Murphy three units on your own mistakes, three posts.

What to read on the dashboard

Worksheet 1 marks itself. Anyone who got 5 or 6 wrong has not separated the two halves of the question yet.
Worksheet 2 is the fastest diagnostic in the lesson. A student who calls a problem a cause will write the wrong body 1 in the exam, every time.
Worksheet 3 is the one to read properly. Put part A and part B side by side and draw the two lines. Crossed lines mean the order is wrong; a line with nowhere to land means drift.
Worksheet 4: numbers 3 and 6 are the drift items. Anyone who accepted them will accept their own drift too.
Worksheet 5: check the introduction names two causes and two measures, and that the conclusion names the same two pairs.

Worksheet 1: the model essay

The question: In many countries, the amount of rubbish people throw away is increasing. Why is this happening? What can be done about it?

A   (1) It is true that households in most countries now throw away
    far more than they did a generation ago. (2) In my view the main
    causes are excessive packaging and the low cost of replacing
    things that break, and governments will have to act on both.

B   The clearest cause is the amount of packaging that
    manufacturers now use. Almost every item in a supermarket
    arrives wrapped in plastic, and food that was once sold loose
    is now sealed in trays, boxes and film, all of which is thrown
    away the moment the product is opened. A second, less obvious
    cause is that we have grown used to replacing things rather
    than repairing them. Electrical goods in particular are now so
    cheap, and repairs so expensive, that a broken kettle or
    printer is simply put out with the rubbish and a new one
    ordered the same afternoon.

C   Both of these can be addressed, but only by governments.
    Packaging is a cost that manufacturers pass on to the public,
    so it should be taxed: if supermarkets had to pay for every
    tray and film wrapper they used, loose fruit and refillable
    containers would appear on the shelves within a year. The habit
    of replacing rather than repairing needs the opposite
    treatment, an incentive rather than a penalty. Several European
    countries now refund part of the cost of a repair, and the
    effect has been to make repair shops viable again in towns
    where they had disappeared.

D   In conclusion, we throw away more because more is wrapped and
    less is worth mending. Taxing packaging and subsidising repair
    would deal with both, and I believe governments should act on
    them together.

                                            276 words  ·  band 9

Part A. What does each paragraph do?

Paragraph A

Paragraph B

Paragraph C

Paragraph D

Part B. Three more questions about the same essay.

5. Sentence 2 of the introduction does what?

6. How many causes are in paragraph B?

7. The measures in paragraph C are in which order?

Worksheet 2: cause or problem?

The situation is: more and more people are becoming overweight. A cause comes before the situation and explains why it happens. A problem comes after it and says what it does to people. Which is each of these?

   CAUSES            THE SITUATION           PROBLEMS
   why it happens    ───────────────►      what it does

1. Fast food is cheaper and quicker than cooking at home.

2. Hospitals are spending far more on treating diabetes than they used to.

3. Children spend their free time on screens rather than outdoors.

4. People take fewer days off work when they are fit and healthy.

5. Employers lose working days to illness among their staff.

6. Most people now travel to work by car rather than on foot or by bicycle.

The test: put the statement and the situation in order. Which one had to happen first? If the statement did, it is a cause. If the situation did, it is a problem.

A second model: the problems wording

The question: In many cities, traffic congestion is getting worse. What problems does this cause, and how could the situation be improved? This one asks for problems, not causes, so body 1 changes. Body 2 does not.

B   The most serious problem is the time that people lose. A
    commute that should take twenty minutes can take an hour in a
    large city, and that hour is taken from the same people every
    morning and every evening; over a working year it amounts to
    several weeks of a person's life spent sitting still. There is
    also the damage done to the air. Vehicles queuing with their
    engines running are the largest single source of the pollution
    that city dwellers breathe, and rates of asthma among children
    living beside main roads are noticeably higher as a result.

C   The lost time can only be recovered by taking cars off the
    road, which means making the alternative genuinely faster.
    Cities that have built bus lanes separated from the traffic
    have found that once a bus visibly overtakes the queue of cars,
    drivers begin to change of their own accord. The air needs a
    second measure aimed directly at it: a charge for driving into
    the centre. London introduced one in 2003, and the volume of
    traffic entering the zone fell immediately, taking the worst of
    the pollution with it.

   PROBLEM 1  lost time        ──►   MEASURE 1  separated bus lanes
   PROBLEM 2  polluted air     ──►   MEASURE 2  a congestion charge

Look at the two arrows. They are parallel, and they do not cross. That is the whole test. Problem 1 is answered first, problem 2 second, and each measure repeats a word from the problem it answers: time, then air.

Worksheet 3: your two causes, then your two measures

Choose one of these two questions and use it for the rest of the lesson.

	The question
Question 1	In many countries, the number of people who are overweight is increasing. Why is this the case? What can be done about this problem?
Question 2	In many cities, young people are finding it harder to afford somewhere to live. What problems does this cause? How could the situation be improved?

Which question did you choose?

Part A: body 1

CAUSE 1   name it     The clearest cause is ...
          explain     two sentences.  HOW does it work?
                      who does what, and what happens next

CAUSE 2   name it     A second, less obvious / equally important,
                         cause is ...
          explain     two sentences

IF YOUR QUESTION ASKED FOR PROBLEMS, NOT CAUSES
          name it     The most serious problem is ...
                      A second, and equally damaging, problem is ...
          explain     X leads to ...      ... , which in turn ...
                      X results in ...    ... , with the result that ...
          a reason?   This stems largely from ...
                      What makes this worse is that ...
                      Only under the problem, never instead of it.

If you cannot write two sentences about it, do not use it.

Cause 1 — name it, one sentence

Cause 1 — explain it, two sentences

Cause 2 — name it, one sentence

Cause 2 — explain it, two sentences

Part B: body 2

Before you write: scroll up and read your two causes again. Measure 1 answers cause 1. Measure 2 answers cause 2. Name who acts — a government, a school, a company — and use one word from the cause in the measure that answers it.

MEASURE 1   name it     The most effective measure would be to ...
            explain     who does it · what changes because of it
MEASURE 2   name it     A second step would be to ...
            explain     who does it · what changes because of it

BETTER      In order to [restate cause 1], governments should ...
            The obvious answer to [restate cause 2] is ...
            these two put the cause back in for you

BANNED      "Something should be done."
            "The government should raise awareness."
            "People should be educated."

Measure 1 — for cause 1. Name it, one sentence

Measure 1 — explain it, two sentences

Measure 2 — for cause 2. Name it, one sentence

Measure 2 — explain it, two sentences

Now test it. Write the one word that appears in both cause 1 and measure 1, and the one word that appears in both cause 2 and measure 2.

Worksheet 4: which cause does it answer?

A student wrote these two causes for the question about rubbish:

CAUSE 1   Manufacturers wrap almost everything in plastic packaging.
CAUSE 2   People replace broken things instead of repairing them.

Now decide what each of these measures actually answers. Two of them answer neither, even though they sound like good IELTS sentences.

1. Supermarkets should be charged a tax on every plastic tray and wrapper they use.

2. Manufacturers should be required to make spare parts available for ten years after a product goes on sale.

3. Schools should teach children about the importance of protecting the environment.

4. Shops should be obliged to sell fruit and vegetables loose, so that customers can bring their own containers.

5. The cost of a repair should be partly refunded, so that mending a kettle is cheaper than replacing it.

6. The government should build more recycling centres in every large city.

Why “neither” is the useful answer: those two sentences are not wrong about rubbish. They are wrong about this essay, because the writer never named the cause they answer. A measure is only worth marks when it lands on a cause you put on the page yourself.

Worksheet 5: the introduction and the conclusion

Same question as Worksheet 3. Write the introduction first, then the conclusion that matches it. Six minutes each.

INTRODUCTION   1  the situation in your own words. Do not copy.
               2  the map:  my two causes  +  my two measures

CONCLUSION     In conclusion, ...
               the same two pairs, in different words
               NOTHING NEW    no third cause · no extra measure

Introduction, sentence 1 — the situation in your own words

Introduction, sentence 2 — your causes and measures in outline

Conclusion

The rule to leave with: two causes, two measures, in the same order, and every measure repeats a word from the cause it answers. If a measure could be moved into somebody else's essay without changing a word, delete it and write one that could not.

Appendix: the boards

BOARD 1 (Stage 1) stays up all lesson
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
In many countries, the amount of rubbish people throw away is
increasing. Why is this happening? What can be done about it?
▲ ▲
first question second question

INTRODUCTION 2 sentences
1 the situation in your own words
2 the map: my causes, and my measures
BODY 1 TWO causes (or problems) cause 1 · cause 2
BODY 2 TWO measures, SAME ORDER for 1 · for 2
CONCLUSION the same two pairs, different words

BOARD 2 (Stage 2) causes are not problems
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CAUSES THE SITUATION PROBLEMS
why it happens ───────────────► what it does

packaging more rubbish landfill fills up
cheap to replace plastic in the sea

NAMING A CAUSE The clearest cause is ...
A second, less obvious / equally important, cause is ...
This is largely the result of ...
Much of the blame lies with ...
NAMING A PROBLEM The most serious problem is ...
A second, and equally damaging, problem is ...
The clearest consequence of this is ...
This creates particular difficulties for ...
EXPLAINING IT two sentences that say HOW:
who does what, and what happens next
X leads to ... ... , which in turn ...
X results in ... ... , with the result that ...
A REASON INSIDE This stems largely from ...
A PROBLEM The reason this matters is that ...
What makes this worse is that ...
Under the problem, never instead of it.
NOT WORTH USING anything you cannot say two sentences about

BOARD 3 (Stage 3) the matching board
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CAUSE 1 packaging ──► MEASURE 1 tax the packaging
CAUSE 2 replace it ──► MEASURE 2 refund the repair
same order · lines do not cross

MEASURE name it The most effective measure would be to ...
A second step would be to ...
explain who does it · what changes because of it
BETTER In order to [restate the cause], governments should ...
The obvious answer to [restate the cause] is ...
WHO ACTS governments · schools · companies · individuals
"Something should be done" is not a measure.
THE TEST one word from the cause appears in the measure

DRIFT "Schools should raise awareness of the environment."
Good sentence. Answers neither cause. Delete it.

BOARD 4 (Stages 4 and 5) the ends, and the clock
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
INTRO s2 "In my view this is mainly the result of X and Y,
and both can be addressed."
CONCLUSION In conclusion, ... same two pairs, new words
NOTHING NEW

0-5 PLAN cause 1 · cause 2 → measure 1 · measure 2
5-35 WRITE
35-40 CHECK two lines, and they do not cross

Answer key in one place

Sheet	Answers
1 · Model essay	1 introduction · 2 the causes · 3 the measures · 4 conclusion · 5 names my causes and my measures in outline · 6 two · 7 the same order as the causes
2 · Cause or problem	1 a cause · 2 a problem · 3 a cause · 4 neither (it describes healthy people, not this situation) · 5 a problem · 6 a cause. Number 4 is the one to discuss: it is true, but it is not about the situation in the question at all.
3 · Causes and measures	No key. Check: two sentences in each explain box, an actor named in each measure, and box 10 filled with two real words that appear in both halves. If box 10 is empty or vague, the matching has not happened.
4 · Which cause does it answer	1 cause 1 · 2 cause 2 · 3 neither · 4 cause 1 · 5 cause 2 · 6 neither. Items 3 and 6 are the drift. Both are reasonable measures about rubbish and neither answers a cause this writer named.
5 · Introduction and conclusion	No key. Check against their Worksheet 3: the introduction names the same two causes and two measures, and the conclusion names them again in different words with nothing added.

If this lesson goes wrong

They write four causes. They are treating the paragraph as a list. Cover three of the four with your hand and ask them to say two more sentences about the one that is left. They can, and that is the point.
Body 1 is problems when the question said why. Send them to the question on the board, not to their paragraph. Make them read the first half aloud before they rewrite anything.
Every measure is education or awareness. Ban both words for the rest of the lesson and make them name an actor and an action instead. It is uncomfortable for five minutes and then it works.
Stage 3 runs over. Let it. Take the time out of Stage 4, which they can largely do from the opinion essay lesson already.