0. Info Start week
0.1 Special route for B1+
On this site, you will find information on a special route for students who are quite good at English, level B1+.
This route is designed to prepare you for the Cambridge Exams, which you can do when you are in 3M/4H/5V.
This route could replace your work for Holmwood's, or you can do both routes alongside each other.
The basic Cambridge Portfolio Route will earn you 10 XMs, and you can extend the portfolio to include more work and thereby earn more XMs.
Please be advised that this is not an easy route: it will require careful planning and a sense of awareness of what you're doing and why.
0.2 Planning
Portfolio
During this route, you will build a portfolio to document your work and your progress. Below, you will find a dictionary definition for 'portfolio' from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The definition that is most relevant to our use of the word portfolio is highlighted in yellow, of course.
If you choose to do this route, you will plan out your portfolio contents for one term yourself, using a few guidelines.
Planning guidelines & time estimation
Below, you will find the guidelines for planning your term's portfolio contents and our estimation of how long it should take you.
0.3 Goals & assessment
Goals
Since you are planning your own work for this route, you are also personally responsible for defining your goals. Follow the step-by-step plan below to document your plans.
➜ Go to the sliders in Egodact to check out the learning goals for English. 
➜ Highlight the goals you want to focus on in this term's portfolio using the eye-icon.
➜ Set your slider(s) to where you want to be by the end of this term.
The screenshot below shows you an example of what you could do in Egodact.
Assessment
You will conclude your Portfolio with a Portfolio Interview in the final week before the expo-week (or earlier, if you've finished everything well in advance).
During your Portfolio Interview, your coach will ask you to show your work and reflect on your progress.
Below, you will find the rubric your coach will use to assess how well you've done your work and whether you merit full marks.
| Component |
Beginner |
Developing |
Mastery |
| Portfolio planning |
- you had to rush your portfolio because you didn't get started in time and/or didn't use the checklist in the quest.
- you haven't thought about what you want to improve or why, but just got started somewhere.
- you've done some actitivities to improve your English, but without much conscious planning.
- you were late in planning your interview and/or didn't prepare properly.
|
- you've started planning your portfolio in the first two weeks of the term, using the checklist in the quest.
- you've highlighted a few goals in your Egodact slider.
- you've made some relevant choices to improve your English, but there may be some 'fluff' material.
- you've planned and conducted your interview just in time.
|
- you've started planning your portfolio immediately, using the checklist in the quest.
- you've highlighted relevant goals in your Egodact sliders and dcoumented your starting position.
- you've consciously made relevant and interesting choices to improve your English
- you've planned and conducted your interview well in advance.
|
| Portfolio contents |
- your portfolio is not entirely complete and/or you seem to have misplaced one or more components.
- your assignments may be too easy, meaning you haven't really learned any new English from them.
|
- your portfolio is complete and the components are individually accessible through your Egodact tile.
- your assignments are at a good level, with a challenge here and there.
|
- your portfolio is complete and well organised in a single document.
- your assignments are at a challenging level.
|
| Visible growth & progress |
- your portfolio shows all the signs of a rush job.
|
- your portfolio gives some insight into your learning process, tracking where you came from and where you're going, with room for improvement.
|
- your portfolio clearly shows your progress on all components throughout the term.
|
1. Let's get started!
1a. Setting up your Portfolio
You only have to do this step the first time you do this Route. If you've done this route before, simply add your new term's work to your existing tile!
You're going to keep track of your progress and growth in a portfolio. This is a collection of everything you do to improve your English: written work, vocabulary lists, recordings, reading or listening tests etc. Follow the steps below to set up your portfolio.
➜ Make a new tile in Egodact and call it Cambridge English Portfolio.
➜ Fill 'Mijn Motivatie' with 5-10 sentences about your motivation. Ideas: write down what you find so interesting about English, how long you've had the feeling that you're good at English, why you would want to put in the extra effort to do this extra exam etc.
➜ Fill 'Wat ik er al over weet' with a self-assessment of your English. Discuss your command of vocabulary, grammar and your level of writing, speaking, listening and reading skills. What are you especially good at? What might need some more work?
Over time, you will fill the logbook with your work. The quality of your portfolio will determine whether you will be selected for the actual exam, so it's important to do your best!
1b. Entry Level Test
You only have to do this step the first time you do this Route. If you've done this route before, simply add your new term's work to your existing tile!
Cambridge English has an official entry test. It gives you an indication of which level would be most suitable for you.
➜ Do the
Entry Test online.
➜ Post a screenshot of the result in
Seesaw.
➜ Link your result in your Logbook in
Egodact and also note whether you feel the results are surprising, as expected or disappointing.
➜ Discuss your results with your English coach during an English BloX.
1c. Planning your term's portfolio contents
➜ Copy the list below into your Logbook in Egodact.
Reading skills: Assignment 1 and assignment 2
Listening skills: Assignment 1 and assignment 2
Writing skills: Assignment 1 and assignment 2
Speaking skills: Assignment 1 and assignment 2
Vocabulary: vocabulary list
Grammar: Assignment 1, assignment 2 and assignment 3
➜ These are the compulsory ingredients of your portfolio. If you have any extra plans from the optional list, write them underneath your list.
➜ Next, think of whether you want to stick to a certain theme in your term's portfolio. This might make it easier or more fun for you! You can use the term's theme or think of your own. Examples: Health & Body, Technology & Media, Environment & Animals, Free-time & Sports, Culture, etc.
When you're done, your logbook entry should look something like this:
Throughout the term, you can then easily link your assignments to the correct part of your portfolio, and make sure you don't forget anything!
2. Portfolio Assignments
Reading skills
Instructions
You will do at least two different reading assignments. Your assignments should all come from different sources; check the list below.
For each assignment, you will need to:
- summarise the story (if fictional) or main items (if non-fictional) of the text you read;
- make a mini-dictionary of at least ten words and phrases you have read --> you can later add these words to your vocabulary list;
- find out more information about the author and/or source;
- collect your work for steps 1-3 in one document (Pages / Keynote / paper) and add it to your tile in Egodact.
Text types & sources
- vlog;
- news article;
- Wikipedia entry;
- website;
- magazine;
Wasp Reporter
You can ask your English coach for a copy of the Wasp Reporter, a magazine used in HVX High for English. In this magazine you can find different sorts of articles and assignments; with each article you will find one or more specific reading assignments (your coach can explain more about how WR works)
Online Materials
You can also find good reading material on the following websites:
Listening skills
Instructions
You will do at least two different listening assignments. Your assignments should all be different audio/video types; check the list below.
For each assignment, you will need to:
- summarise the story (if fictional) or main items (if non-fictional) of the audio/video you listened to;
- make a mini-dictionary of at least twenty words and phrases you have heard in your listening (this may mean you will need to listen to it more than once) --> you can later add these words to your vocabulary list.
- evaluate how listening to this particular audio/video fragment could improve your English;
- collect your work for steps 1-3 in one document (Pages / Keynote / paper) and add it to your tile in Egodact.
Audio/video types
- TV series (episode min. 30 minutes);
- film;
- news broadcast;
- talkshow;
- announcements
- radio interview;
- podcast;
- speech / lecture.
Wasp Reporter
You can ask your English coach for a copy of the Wasp Reporter, a magazine used in HVX High for English. In this magazine you can find different sorts of articles and assignments; choose to do one with a listening focus (your coach can explain more about how WR works)
Online Materials
You can also find good listening material on the following websites:
Writing skills
Instructions
You will need to do at least two writing assignments. Your assignments should all be different text types; check the list below.
For each assignment, you will need to:
- study the rules and conventions of the particular text type;
- make a mini-dictionary of at least twenty words and phrases you will need in your product (this can be text-type specific or related to the contents of your writing) (you can use these words later to fill your word file);
- write a rough draft and ask feedback from at least 3 different people;
- process your feedback and write a first version and hand it in to Mrs W for feedback;
- process your feedback and write a final version;
- hand in your work for steps 2-5 in one document (Pages / Keynote / paper) and inform Mrs W that you've finished.
Text types
- informal letter;
- invitation;
- review;
- article;
- brochure;
- creative writing: poetry, story.
Wasp Reporter
You can ask your English coach for a copy of the Wasp Reporter, a magazine used in HVX High for English. In this magazine you can find different sorts of articles and assignments; choose to do one with a listening focus (your coach can explain more about how WR works)
Online Materials
You can also find good writing material on the following websites:
Speaking skills
Instructions
You will do at least two speaking assignments on video and/or do them live. Your assignments should all be different speaking types; check the list below. For some of these types, you will have to work in pairs or groups.
For each assignment, you will need to:
- study the rules and conventions of each speaking type;
- make a preparation document containing;
- a mini-dictionary of at least twenty words and phrases you will need (you can use these for your word file later)
- pronunciation tips for difficult words in your dictionary;
- an outline of what you want to say (this does not have to, but may, be a full script).
- practise your speaking in front of a live audience and ask feedback;
- process your feedback and record a final version OR plan a live moment with Mrs W;
- evaluate your speaking and indicate where you have improved the most;
- hand in your work for steps 1-5 in one document (Pages / Keynote / paper) and inform Mrs W that you've finished.
Speaking types
- in pairs/groups:
- personal interview;
- debate;
- discussing problems & giving advice;
- lodging & dealing with a complaint;
- theatre/drama.
- individually:
- speech;
- presentation;
- proposal.
Wasp Reporter
You can ask your English coach for a copy of the Wasp Reporter, a magazine used in HVX High for English. In this magazine you can find different sorts of articles and assignments; choose to do one with a listening focus (your coach can explain more about how WR works).
Online Materials
You can also find good speaking material on the following websites:
Vocabulary
Instructions
During this route you will hear or read a lot of new English words. In this assignment you're going to build a vocabulary file to help you remember these new words.
Step-by-step plan
- Open the app Pages and make a new file.
- Name this file Vocabulary File English Cambridge Portfolio Term [__fill in__].
- Make a table with 4 columns and 26 rows
- Fill the column's headers as follows below.
| English |
Grammatical category |
Example sentence |
Dutch translation and/or English definition |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
(etc) |
➜ During your portolio work, you're going to fill this table with new words you see or hear that you want to remember. The table below is filled in as an example.
| English |
Grammatical category |
Example sentence |
Dutch translation and/or English definition |
| transferred |
verb (from transfer) |
Passengers were transferred to Heathrow airport. |
move from one place to another |
| shenanigans |
noun (only used in plural) |
The chairman was accused of financial shenanigans. |
secret or dishonest activity or manoeuvring |
| palatial |
adjective |
Diana's palatial apartment in Kensington Gardens... |
resembling a palace in being spacious and splendid |
| between a rock and a hard place |
idiom |
the alternative was equally untenable—she was caught between a rock and a hard place. |
faced with two equally undesirable alternatives.
|
Grammar
In your portfolio, you get to choose which grammatical items you feel you want to improve most. Is it verb tenses? Is it sentence building? Is it the difference between much and many?
On this website you will find a grand list of all possible grammatical topics. This website has a handy dandy reference chart of grammatical items and the corresponding level.
➜ Choose
three grammatical items you want to improve this term.
➜ Look up the explanation and do the exercises on
both websites linked above. Make screenshots of your results.
➜ Make a
summary of your grammatical items
on paper or in Keynote. Include examples, explanations and maybe even a few exercises?
➜ Collect the screenshots and your summaries in one Pages / Keynote document and add it to your
Egodact tile.
Optional assignments
Still haven't had enough? I can't blame you ;)
Why don't you........
Read a book and write a kick-ass review?
Watch a film and re-enact your favourite scene?
Write a poem about your favourite animal?
Try to master a posh British accent? Or a rough Australian accent?
Make a TikTok-video about three exciting ways to make the planet a greener place?
Do a stand-up comedy skit using only dad jokes?
If you are passionate about something and it's good for your English, include it in your portfolio! You can discuss any extra credits with Mr Baldwin, Mr Esmeijer or Mrs Wams.
3. Portfolio Interview
If you follow this route, you will finish each term with a portfolio interview. Make sure you plan one in time!
3.a Preparation
➜ Copy the questions below into a Pages or Keynote document and answer them. These questions form the basis for your Portfolio Interview.
- Did you choose a theme for this term's portfolio?
- If yes --> Why this theme?
- If not --> In hindsight, could you pinpoint a certain theme or common motifs in your assignments?
- What were your personal goals for this term's portfolio?
- How have you made your growth visible this term?
- What achievement are you most proud of this term?
- What was more difficult than you had expected?
- What are your plans for next term?
➜ Send your Pages document with your preparation to the English coach you want to have a Portfolio Interview with.
➜ Plan your Portfolio Interview BEFORE THE EXPO-WEEK!
3.b Doing the interview
➜ Contact your favourite English coach and plan a moment to do your Portfolio Interview.
➜ Sign up for the English BloX you've planned to do your Portfolio Interview in.
➜ Make sure you can easily access your preparation document and your Portfolio Contents on your iPad; a well-organised Egodact tile is crucial, here.
➜ The Portfolio Interview will take approx. 15-20 minutes.
Cambridge English information
What is Cambridge English?
"Cambridge English Qualifications are in-depth exams that make learning English enjoyable, effective and rewarding." - https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/
By doing a Cambridge English exam, you are able to show the world your command of English. Cambridge English Qualifications are known throughout the world, and can be used to gain access to international education or to look very impressive on your resume, indeed.
These exams can be taken at different levels, of which the most interesting for our purposes will be B2, C1 and C2 level.
What does the exam look like?
The Cambridge Exam consists of four papers developed to test your English skills. These are:
- Reading and Use of English
- A combination of assignments meant to test your command of vocabulary and grammr, as well as texts with assignments that test your reading comprehension skills.
- Writing
- Requires you to be able to write a variety of text types.
- Listening
- Requires you to be able to follow and understand a range of spoken materials.
- Speaking
- Tests your ability to communicate effectively in face-to-face situations.
What can I use my certificate for?
Doing a Cambridge exam is a way of showing to the world that you're (very) good at English. Because it is such a well-known exam (every year over 5 million people sit a Cambridge Exam!), it is internationally recognised and can be used for admission to certain foreign schools and universities. If you want more information on this, you can visit the official site 'Why Choose Us?'.
When can I sit my exam?
In order to be able to use your certificate outside of the school walls, we recommend sitting the exam in 3-mavo, 4-havo or 5-vwo.
If you are genuinely interested in sitting your exam, please contact Mrs Wams to discuss the possibilities.
B2 First: sample exams & links
Go to the Cambridge English website to find a sample paper:
- Link to B2 First Preparation site.
- Download a Paper-based sample test.
- Do the sample exams!
- You can check your Reading, Use of English and Listening Skills tests yourself using the answer key in the download.
- Show your writing assignments to your English coach; you can also practise your Speaking skills with him/her.
- Discuss your results with your English coach.
C1 Advanced: sample exams & links
Go to the Cambridge English website to find a sample paper:
- Link to C1 Advanced Preparation site.
- Download a Paper-based sample test from the 'Exam Essentials' menu.
- Do the sample exams!
- You can check your Reading, Use of English and Listening Skills tests yourself using the answer key in the download.
- Show your writing assignments to your English coach; you can also practise your Speaking skills with him/her.
- Discuss your results with your English coach.
C2 Proficiency: sample exams & links
Go to the Cambridge English website to find a sample paper:
- Link to C2 Proficiency Preparation site.
- Download a Paper-based sample test from the 'Exam Essentials' menu.
- Do the sample exams!
- You can check your Reading, Use of English and Listening Skills tests yourself using the answer key in the download.
- Show your writing assignments to your English coach; you can also practise your Speaking skills with him/her.
- Discuss your results with your English coach.
