Pre A1 Starters practice: first words, colours and animals
Pre A1 Starters is the first Cambridge exam most children meet, and it is designed to feel like a game rather than a test. Children match pictures to words, copy single words, colour things in and answer a friendly examiner who holds up a picture. The five topics here cover the vocabulary and the task shapes that Starters keeps coming back to.
What this paper asks of you
- Recognising a written word and matching it to a picture, rather than producing long sentences.
- Copying words accurately, letter by letter, including the capital letter at the start of a name.
- Following simple spoken instructions: colour, draw a line, tick the box.
- A short, warm speaking task where pointing and one-word answers are perfectly acceptable.
- A small, concrete word list: school things, colours, numbers to twenty, animals, food, family, the house.
- Very short questions with yes or no answers, and the question words what, where and how many.
- Simple present sentences with be, have got and can, and nothing more complicated.
- The mechanics of a paper: where the answer goes, what a tick looks like, how to hold the page.
- Confidence more than accuracy, because a child who enjoys the test will come back for Movers.
Task types, one page each
- First words and classroom objectsPre A1 Starters vocabulary practice for classroom objects: pencil, rubber, board, book and bag, with 40 original questions for young children.40 questions
- Colours and numbersPre A1 Starters practice for colours and numbers 1 to 20: colouring instructions, counting and how many questions, with 40 original items.40 questions
- Animals and petsPre A1 Starters animal vocabulary practice for children: pets, farm animals and zoo animals, with 40 original questions and notes for teachers.40 questions
- Family and homePre A1 Starters practice for family words and rooms of the house: mum, dad, sister, kitchen and bedroom, with 40 original questions for children.40 questions
- Tick or cross reading taskPre A1 Starters reading practice for the tick-or-cross task: true and false sentences about a picture, with 40 original items and teaching notes.40 questions
Note
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