Exam and Essay Verbs

Exam and Essay Verbs you need to know and use in High School: library now available

Our library of language exercises to help high school students understand and use key academic verbs to answer test, exam and essay questions correctly is now available.

Verbs covered: evaluate, describe, discuss, explain, identify, assess, outline and analyse. 

For each verb, we have prepared a fully scripted slide-pack composed of 10 activities, all focused on the target word. Consistent with the research, in these exercises, we:

  • read a short passage so students can see and hear the word in action;
  • define the word so students know what it means;
  • look closely at the word and its variants, as well as the word origin so students understand the word better;
  • listen to recorded sentences containing the word in everyday situations so students can hear how it is used;
  • teach practical strategies to answer questions containing the word with real world examples;
  • help the students answer questions using the relevant verb based on their general knowledge of the world; and
  • look and talk about some real examples of how the the word has been used in different subjects in recent senior exam questions.

Watch our video to learn more:

The slides can be used one-to-one with a student, with small groups, or in whole class teaching.

They are suitable for children aged 12-18, and older children with language, reading or other learning disorders. They are also suitable for high school children who are learning English as an additional language.

Man wearing glasses and a suit, standing in front of a bay

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

David Kinnane
Speech-Language Pathologist. Lawyer. Father. Reader. Writer. Speaker.

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