PTE Young Learners: Preparing students for Springboard (level 2)

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Pearson Test of English (PTE) Young Learners is a dynamic language exam aimed at students aged between 6 and 13.

Springboard is the second test of four levels. It is preceded by Firstwords and followed by Quickmarch and Breakthrough.

The exam is designed to match challenges students face in the real world and focuses on English communication in realistic contexts. It measures listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills, using fun and familiar activities.

For further information, read An Introduction to Pearson Test of English Young Learners, or visit the PTE Young Learners website.   

Springboard (Level 2)

  • Exam time: 80 minutes
  • Equivalent CEFR Level: A1

Download Guide to PTE Young Learners – Springboard (Level 2)

Who is it for?

The test is aimed at young learners with a CEFR level equivalent to A1. They can talk about their feelings, habits, likes and dislikes, as well as form questions and get information from other people. They should also be able to read and listen in order to understand the main ideas of a piece of communication and be able to communicate simple information through writing.

How is it structured?

The test is split into two main sections: a 60 minute written test and a 20 minute spoken test. The written test is split into 6 sections, covering listening, reading and writing skills. The spoken test requires candidates to interact with an examiner and four other test takers while completing two tasks.

Download the guide to PTE Young Learners – Springboard for a more in-depth look at the exam format, a description of the task types and an overview of the scoring.

Low preparation activities to do in class

Activity 1 – Listen and grab!

In this easy to prepare classroom game, students compete with a partner to grab the correct answer card. The game integrates a number of key skills required in the listening and writing sections of the exam. The primary objective is to test the students’ ability to understand and identify parts of a simple discourse.

Prior to the class, prepare the following set of answer cards and print out one set per pair of students and cut them into individual squares.

6 o’clock 7 o’clock 8 o’clock
The cinema The school The park
The Big Fish The Big Wish The Big Kiss
£4.50 £5.50 £6.50
Sarah Katie Danny
3 tickets 4 tickets 5 tickets

Then write the following six sentences on the board:

  1. The children are meeting at 3pm.
  2. The children are meeting in the town center.
  3. The film is called The Lion Cub.
  4. Katy and Phillip are coming to see the film. 
  5. The cinema tickets cost £2.
  6. They need to buy 4 tickets.

Put students in pairs and tell them they must write the questions to match the answers on the board. For example:

Question: What time are the children meeting?

The children are meeting at 3pm.

Do the first one together on the board as a model answer. This helps them prepare for the Reading and Writing Dialogue completion activity that tests reading and writing skills.

Then, get students to call out their answers and write the correct questions on the board as follows:

  1. What time are the children meeting?
  2. Where are the children meeting?
  3. What is the film called?
  4. Who is coming to see the film? 
  5. How much do the cinema tickets cost?
  6. How many tickets do they need to buy?

Erase the answers, but keep these questions on the board as the students will use them to play the game.

Next, distribute the answer cards. Tell students to spread the cards face up on the table. Explain that they are going to listen to a story and that they will need to answer the questions on the board using the information they hear.

Then, read the following dialogues (answers are highlighted in bold) one question at time. Tell students that the first person to grab the correct answer card wins a point.

If someone grabs the wrong answer card they lose a point. If a student doesn’t pick an answer card they neither win nor lose points.

Write the correct answer on the board after each question. At the end of the game the student with the most points wins.

Dialogues 

Question one: What time are the children meeting?

Denise and Sam are talking on the phone about meeting after school.

– “Hi Denise!”

– “Hi Sam! What time can you meet tonight?”

– “How about 6 o’clock?”

– “Okay, that sounds good!”

Question two: Where are the children meeting?

– “I can’t wait to see the film tonight!”

– “It’s going to be great! Where should we meet?”

– “Let’s meet in the park.”

– “Okay, see you there!”

Question three: What is the film called?

– “Which film should we see?”

– “Hmm, I like romantic films.”

– “Okay, let’s watch The Big Kiss.”

– “Great!”

Question four: Who is coming to see the film?

– “Who is coming to see the film with us?”

– “Sarah is coming to meet us.”

– “Okay, good. We can buy the tickets then.”

Question five: How much do the cinema tickets cost?

– “Excuse me, how much are the tickets for The Big Kiss?”

– “They cost $5.50.”

– “Okay, thank you.”

Question six: How many tickets do they need to buy?

– “We’d like three tickets to The Big Kiss please.”

– “Did you say four tickets?”

– “No, just three tickets please!”

Extension activity: choose two volunteers and have them read the full dialogue in front of the class to practice their reading and speaking skills.

Activity 2 – Celebrity roleplays

In this low-preparation classroom roleplay students practice question formation, using information to answer questions, and writing a simple text.

Prior to the class, prepare the following role cards and print out one set per group of four.

Celebrity one

  • Name: Joan Soap
  • Age: 20
  • Job: Actress
  • Hobbies: Watching films with friends
  • Favorite food: Pizza
  • Weekend activity: Riding her bike

Celebrity two

  • Name: Barry Green
  • Age: 19
  • Job: Singer
  • Hobbies: Playing video games
  • Favorite food: Hot dogs
  • Weekend activity: Going to the beach

Celebrity three

  • Name: Nicki Nightshade
  • Age: 23
  • Job: Artist
  • Hobbies: Playing sports
  • Favorite food: Fruit
  • Weekend activity: Visiting friends

Celebrity four

  • Name: Kasper Kofsalot
  • Age: 30
  • Job: Baseball player
  • Hobbies: Going to museums
  • Favorite food: Chocolate
  • Weekend activity: Traveling

Put students in groups of four and distribute the role cards. Tell them that they are famous celebrities and they are at a party together.

First they must solve a puzzle. Write the following question prompts on the board:

  1. What/name
  2. How/old
  3. What/job
  4. What/hobby
  5. What/ favorite/food
  6. What/like/weekend

Have students individually write the questions in their notebooks using the prompts (See answers below).

  1. What is your name?
  2. How old are you?
  3. What is your job?
  4. What are your hobbies? / What is your hobby?
  5. What is your favorite food?
  6. What do you like to do at the weekend?

Finally, have students take it in turns to ask and answer the questions using their role cards, making sure they answer using full sentences.

Extension

Have students write a short story about what their celebrity did at the weekend. Use the following prompts:

  1. Where did you go this weekend?
  2. What did you do?
  3. Who did you see?
  4. What did you eat?

Discover practice tests and other resources on the PTE Young Learners website.

The post PTE Young Learners: Preparing students for Springboard (level 2) appeared first on Resources for English Language Learners and Teachers | Pearson English.



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