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11

case study

The coursebook

Every word in this course applies to any book. Here one genre, the coursebook, uses them all, and adds the words only coursebooks have.

Student’s book, workbook, teacher’s book

Also: course components, SB, WB, TB

A course is usually a set of books. The student’s book is used in class, the workbook gives more practice for homework, and the teacher’s book shows how to teach each lesson and gives the answers.

Unit 3 · Travel
3AVocabularyGetting around
1

Work in pairs. Look at the photo. How did you get to class today?

2

Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

delayedguesthouseluggagepassportplatformtickets
3

Match 1–3 with a–c to make phrases.

1 catcha a flight2 bookb the bus3 missc a room
38

The student’s book teaches the lesson in colour, with photos, and is used in class.

NotCoursebook: the everyday word for the student’s book, or for the whole course. Say which book you mean.

SayDesign the Northbound workbook pages for 3A to match the student’s book: same unit colour and lesson codes, fewer pictures, and ruled lines to write on.

CEFR level

Also: level, A1 to C2

The Common European Framework of Reference describes language ability in six levels, from A1 for beginners to C2 for the most proficient. Coursebooks print their level on the cover so teachers can choose the right one.

NorthboundB1
General English
Northbound
Student’s Book
Harbour English
B1Intermediate
A1A2B1B2C1C2

One series at three levels. The level is printed on the cover and at the foot of the spine, and the cover colour changes with it, so the right book can be found on a shelf.

NotLevel name: a series’ own label, such as Intermediate, which means different things from one publisher to the next. A CEFR level means the same in every book.

SayPut the CEFR level in a white box on the Northbound cover and at the foot of the spine, and give each level of the series its own cover colour.

Scope and sequence

Also: map of the book, book map

The coursebook’s version of the contents: a table with the units down the side and what they teach across the top. Read across, it says what one unit covers; read down, it shows how one skill builds through the book.

Map of the book
UnitGrammarVocabularySpeakingWriting
1Homepage 18Present simple and continuousRooms and furnitureDescribing a roomAn email to a friend
2Foodpage 26Countable and uncountableCooking and flavoursOrdering in a caféA recipe
3Travelpage 36Past simpleTransport and tripsTelling a travel storyA blog post
4Workpage 44Present perfectJobs and workplacesA job interviewA job application
5Naturepage 54ComparativesWeather and landscapeComparing placesA description
6Technologypage 62Will and going toPhones and appsMaking predictionsAn opinion paragraph

Read across a row for everything one unit teaches, with the page it starts on.

NotContents: a list of headings and page numbers. A scope and sequence shows what is taught where, and in what order.

SaySet the Northbound scope and sequence across the first spread: one row per unit, numbered in its unit colour, with columns for grammar, vocabulary, speaking and writing.

Unit and lesson

Also: module, lesson codes such as 3B

A unit is a block of the book on one topic. It is split into lessons of a page or a spread each, named by the unit number and a letter: 3A, 3B, 3C. Every unit follows the same pattern.

3
3637
3A
3839
3B
4041
3C
4243

Each lesson fills one spread and is named by its unit and a letter, so a teacher can say “turn to 3B”.

NotChapter: a part of a book written to be read through. A unit is taught, one lesson at a time.

SayEvery Northbound unit is eight pages: a two-page opener, then three lessons, 3A to 3C, each on one spread.

Unit opener

Also: opening spread

A coursebook’s chapter opener: a large picture, the unit’s number and title, the can-do statements, and often a question to start the class talking about the topic.

36
Unit
3
Travel
3AVocabularyGetting around
1

Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

2

Work in pairs. Compare your answers.

By the end of this unit, I can
  • talk about a journey I made
  • buy a ticket and ask about times
  • write a short blog post about a trip
Lead-in

Look at the photo. Where do you think these people are going?

3AGetting around38
3BA journey to remember40
3CTravel blogs42
3

Read the text. Underline the transport words.

A picture to talk about, the unit’s number and title, and what the learner will be able to do. The work starts on the next spread.

NotChapter opener: the general word, which only starts a chapter. A unit opener also starts the teaching.

SayMake each Northbound unit opener a spread: a full-bleed photo on the verso with the unit number and title over it, the can-do statements and a lead-in question on the recto.

Can-do statements

Also: learning objectives, learning outcomes, I can statements

A unit’s goals written as things the learner will be able to do, after “I can” or “By the end of this unit, you can”. The CEFR describes every level this way, which is where coursebooks took it from.

By the end of this unit, I can
  • talk about a journey I made, using the past simple
  • buy a train ticket and ask when the next one leaves
  • understand the main points of a station announcement
  • write a short blog post about a trip

Each line is something the learner will be able to do at the end of the unit, with a box to tick once they can.

NotSyllabus: what the course covers. A can-do statement says what the learner can do with it afterwards.

SayWrite four can-do statements for each Northbound unit, put them on the opener with tick boxes, and repeat them in the review so learners can tick them off.

Unit colours

Also: colour coding by unit

A coursebook gives each unit its own colour and repeats it on the thumb tabs, the running heads and the lesson labels. It turns the book’s wayfinding into a name a class can use: “the green unit”.

Unit 3 · Travel
3BSpeakingA journey to remember
41
3
frontbackthe fore-edge, closed

Travel is green on its tab, its running head and its lesson labels, so “the green unit” finds it from the shelf to the page.

NotAccent colour: one colour used across a whole book for emphasis. Unit colours change from unit to unit, and each one means a place.

SayGive each Northbound unit its own colour and use it on the thumb tab, the running head and the lesson labels; keep the review units grey.

Rubric

Also: instructions

The instruction at the start of an activity that tells the learner what to do. In a coursebook it is short, starts with a verb and has its own style, usually bold, so it never mixes with the exercise.

3BSpeakingA journey to remember
3

Think of a journey you remember. Make notes: where, when and who with.

4

Work in pairs. Tell your partner about your journey for two minutes. Use three verbs from the Grammar box.

Each sentence starts with a verb and asks for one thing. The underlined words say what to do, with whom and how much, so nobody has to ask.

NotMarking rubric: in assessment, the scale an answer is marked against. In a coursebook, rubric means the instruction.

SaySet every Northbound rubric in semibold sans after the activity number, keep it to two short sentences, and start each sentence with a verb.

Skill icons

Also: activity icons, pictograms

Small symbols beside an activity that show its skill or way of working: listening, reading, writing, video, pair work. Each means one thing everywhere in the book, and a key at the front explains them.

1

Listen to Sara talking about a trip. Did it go well?

2

Work in pairs. Have you ever missed a train or a flight?

3

Read Sara’s blog post on page 42. Underline the past simple verbs.

4

Watch Sara’s video. Where did she stay?

5

Write about a journey you remember. Use your notes from 3.

ListeningPair workReadingVideoWriting

Before reading a word, the learner can see this page has a listening, pair work, a reading, a video and writing. The key is printed at the front of the book.

NotEmoji: which look different on every phone and computer. Skill icons are drawn for the book, in one style and one line weight.

SayUse one set of line icons for the skills in Northbound, in the unit colour, beside each activity number, with a key on the How to use this book page.

Exercise types

Also: task types, gap fill, matching, multiple choice

The standard forms an exercise takes. A gap fill leaves out a word for the learner to write, matching pairs items from two lists, and multiple choice offers options to choose from. Each tests the same words in a different way.

3

Complete the sentences with one word.

  1. 1 The train to Leeds leaves from platform 6.
  2. 2 Our flight was delayed by two hours.
  3. 3 Can I have a return ticket to York, please?

The learner has to remember the word and spell it, which makes this the hardest of the three.

NotActivity: anything numbered that the learner does, including discussion. An exercise usually has right answers.

SayPractise the travel words in 3A three ways: a matching exercise, then a gap fill with a word bank, then a short speaking task.

Word bank

Also: word box, the box

A box of words above an exercise for the learner to choose from, usually with one more word than there are gaps. It turns a gap fill from remembering a word into recognising it.

2

Complete the sentences with a word from the box. There is one extra word.

delayedguesthouseluggagepassportplatformtickets
  1. 1We bought two return tickets to York.
  2. 2The train to Leeds leaves from platform 6.
  3. 3Our flight was delayed because of the snow.
  4. 4Don’t forget your passport at the airport.
  5. 5We stayed in a small guesthouse by the sea.

Now the learner chooses rather than remembers, which makes the same exercise easier. The extra word, luggage, stops the last gap answering itself.

NotWordlist: the vocabulary of each unit listed at the back of the book, for revision.

SayPut the word bank above the gap fill in a box ruled in the unit colour, words in alphabetical order, with one extra word.

Feature box

Also: grammar box, tip box

A coursebook’s boxes come as a family: grammar, common mistakes, useful language. Each kind has its own label and colour for the whole book, so the learner knows what a box is for before reading it.

5

Write three sentences about your last trip. Use the past simple.

Grammar · past simple
Regularstay → stayed, travel → travelledIrregulargo → went, take → took, buy → boughtQuestionsDid you enjoy it? Where did you stay?

Three kinds of box, one shape. Each kind keeps its colour and label through the whole book, so a learner knows which it is before reading a word.

NotBox: the general word for any text set apart in a frame or tint. A feature box is one of a fixed set of kinds.

SayMake three Northbound feature boxes that share one shape: Grammar in blue, Watch out in yellow with a cross and a tick, Useful language in the unit colour.

Model text

Also: model answer, annotated model

A complete piece of writing, such as an email or a blog post, written to show learners the kind of text they are about to write. An annotated model adds callouts naming its parts and what each one does.

3CModel textA blog post

The train that never came

Title
Short, and makes you want to read on.

Last summer, my sister and I went to the mountains for a week of walking. We planned every day, but the first one did not go to plan.

Opening
Who, where and when.

We got to the station at eight. First, we bought two coffees. Then we waited on the platform for an hour. In the end, a guard told us there were no trains on Sundays!

Linking
The events in order, joined by sequencing words.

We took a taxi and laughed all the way. It was the best mistake of the whole trip.

Ending
How the writer felt about it.

Each callout names a part of the text and what it does, so the learner can copy the method, not the sentences.

NotReading text: a text for practising reading, chosen for what it says. A model text is there to be copied in its shape.

SayAnnotate the 3C model blog post: tint the title, opening and ending in the unit colour, underline the sequencing words, and put a short callout for each in the outside margin.

Audio script

Also: tapescript, transcript

The words of every recording in the course, printed at the back of the book under their track numbers. Learners listen first, then read the script to find what they missed.

3BListeningA journey to remember
1

1.12 Listen to Sara talking about a trip. Did it go well?

2

Listen again. Complete the notes with one word or a number.

a They left at in the morning.b The train was hours late.c They stayed in a by the sea.
Audio scripts
1.12Unit 3 · 3B · Exercises 1 and 2
Tom
So how was the trip, Sara?
Sara
It started badly. We left at six in the morning, and the train was two hours late.
Tom
Oh no!
Sara
But the guesthouse was lovely, right by the sea. In the end, it was a great week.
1.13Unit 3 · 3C · Exercise 2

The activity on page 40 gives a track number, not the words. Learners listen once for the main idea, again for detail, then check in the script.

NotTrack number: the number printed beside the listening icon, such as 1.12, that joins an activity to its recording and its script.

SayPrint the Northbound audio scripts at the back, grouped by unit, each headed with its track number and lesson, and underline the words that answer the questions.

Answer key

Also: key

The answers to the exercises, listed by unit, lesson and exercise number. A self-study edition prints it at the back; a teacher’s book prints the answers beside each exercise.

2

Complete the sentences with a word from the box. There is one extra word.

delayedguesthouseluggagepassportplatformtickets
  1. 1We bought two return tickets to York.
  2. 2The train to Leeds leaves from platform 6.
  3. 3Our flight was delayed because of the snow.
  4. 4Don’t forget your passport at the airport.
  5. 5We stayed in a small guesthouse by the sea.
Answer key
Unit 3
3A1 Students’ own answers2 1 tickets 2 platform 3 delayed 4 passport 5 guesthouse3 1 b 2 c 3 a3B1 Yes, in the end2 a six b two c guesthouse3 Students’ own answers3C1 1 went 2 took 3 bought 4 stayed

A key at the back lists the answers by unit, lesson and exercise number. Books for self-study are sold “with answers” for this.

NotModel text: one example of a good answer to an open task such as a blog post. A key gives the answers to exercises that have them.

SayPublish Northbound with and without answers; in the with-answers edition, set the key at the back by unit, lesson and exercise number.

Review unit

Also: progress check, revision unit

A short unit, often after every two or three units, that goes back over what they taught. Learners score each part and tick off the can-do statements, so they and their teacher see what needs more work.

frontback
Home
1
Food
2
Travel
3
Work
4
Nature
5
Technology
6

After every two units, two pages that go back over both. Here they have no unit colour of their own.

NotTest: a separate paper the teacher gives and marks. A review is in the book, and learners mark it themselves.

SayAfter every two Northbound units add a two-page review in grey, with a score out of ten for each section and both units’ can-do statements to tick.

FinallySaying what you want