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From factory to art museum: report writing: aims, findings and recommendations

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches report writing through MASS MoCA, the art museum that opened in 1999 in an old factory complex in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Grammar
Report headings, The aim of this report is to…, the passive (It was found that…), We recommend + -ing and It would be advisable to…
Topic
How a cloth-printing works and an electronics plant became an art museum, and whether art can replace factory jobs, with words such as vacant and tenant.
Activities
An explainer, an argument outside an empty building, a reader's voice memo, self-checking drills and a report built step by step, from a chat to a template.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: old walls, new ideas

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: old buildings, new usesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: from printed cloth to contemporary art

    • Look at the picture: an old factory by a riverPictureUnlock
    • Read Isaiah's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: art studios or a grocery store?

    • Listen to Isaiah and HarperListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Blanche's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: The aim of this report is to…

    • Study the scheme: report languageGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the word in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: rewrite the sentences in report styleFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which heading does it go under?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's report: a new life for an old building

    • Choose the right replies: help Twila with her reportChatTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: put the headings into Isaiah and Harper's reportDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which version is in report style?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a report template for an old movie theaterChoose the optionUnlock
    • Open a box and answer: present a new use for a buildingOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the word in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: report style or too informal?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: complete Twila's reportDrag and dropUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Isaiah answers BlancheDrag and dropUnlock

35 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • turn into
  • fix up
  • knock down
  • mill
  • vacant
  • tenant
  • contemporary art
  • storefront
  • courtyard

Grammar: report language: headings, impersonal style, recommendations

A report helps a reader decide, so it gives facts and advice in a calm, formal voice. Isaiah and Harper's argument about an empty brick building has to end as exactly that kind of document. Learners follow five headings from the aim to the conclusion, replace we and you with the passive and recommend with the right verb form.

Report language: headings, impersonal style, recommendations

A report gives facts and advice in a clear, formal way: short headings, the passive instead of “we” and “you”, and formal words instead of chatty ones.

Five headings, one job each

Introduction gives the aim, Current situation the facts, Options the possible uses, Recommendations the advice and Conclusion a short final view. A heading is a short label, not a sentence, and the aim always takes is to + base form.

HeadingWhat goes thereUseful phrases
Introductionthe aim of the reportThe aim / purpose of this report is to + base form
Current situationthe facts you foundIt was found that… / Most residents who were asked said…
Optionspossible new usesThe building could be used as… / Another option would be to…
Recommendationswhat should be doneWe recommend + -ing / It would be advisable to + base form
Conclusiona short final viewOverall, … / In conclusion, …

Impersonal style: what was done

Reports say what was done, not who did it: We asked forty neighbors becomes Forty residents were asked, and You could use the courtyard as a stage becomes The courtyard could be used as a stage. It was found that… introduces a finding.

Plain EnglishReport style
We found out that the walls are strong.It was found that the walls are in good condition.
You could use the courtyard as a stage.The courtyard could be used as a stage.
We asked forty neighbors.Forty residents were asked.
We think they should convert it.We recommend converting it.

Formal words for plain ones

One formal verb often replaces a phrasal verb: convert into for turn into, renovate for fix up, demolish for knock down. Chatty words give way to neutral ones: loads of people becomes a large number of residents, kids becomes young people and So, … becomes Overall, …

Formal words for a report

Plain EnglishIn a report
turn it intoconvert it into
fix uprenovate, repair
knock downdemolish
lots of / loads of peoplea large number of residents, many residents
kidsyoung people, children
So, …Overall, … / In conclusion, …

Headings and a fixed phrase

Give each part a short heading (Introduction, Recommendations), not a full sentence. Reports often use one formal verb instead of a phrasal verb: convert, renovate, demolish. You may also see the fixed phrase It is recommended that … should …: It is recommended that the owners should ask the neighbors. Recommended always has -ed.

Aim, recommend and advisable

Each phrase has its own verb form: The aim … is to suggest, We recommend converting, It would be advisable to repair. Watch for We recommend to convert, for is analyzing after aim and for It is recommend that…, which needs -ed.

After aim, recommend and advisable

The aim / purpose of this report is to + base form: is to suggest. We recommend + -ing: We recommend converting the mill. It would be advisable to + base form: …advisable to repair the roof. Not: is suggesting, recommend to convert, advisable repairing.

Common mistakes

  • The aim of this report is analyzing two options.

    The aim of this report is to analyze two options.

    aim / purpose + is to + base form

  • We recommend to convert the mill into studios.

    We recommend converting the mill into studios.

    recommend + -ing

  • It is recommend that the owners should ask the neighbors.

    It is recommended that the owners should ask the neighbors.

    a fixed phrase: always recommended, with -ed

  • We checked it out and loads of people want a park.

    It was found that a large number of residents would like a park.

    a report is impersonal and formal

From Isaiah and Harper's report

  • The aim of this report is to suggest a new use for the empty building.
  • It was found that the walls are in good condition.
  • The courtyard could be used as an outdoor stage.
  • We recommend converting the upper floors into apartments.
  • It would be advisable to repair the roof first.
  • Overall, the building is too valuable to demolish.

Try the report writing exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 21 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • state a report's aim: The aim of this report is to suggest a new use for the old mill.
  • present findings in an impersonal style: It was found that the roof is in poor condition. Thirty residents were asked.
  • give options and advice with the right forms: The station could be used as a café. We recommend converting it. It would be advisable to repair the windows first.
  • replace chatty words with report words: knock down → demolish, loads of people → a large number of residents
  • plan a new use for an empty building under five headings, from Introduction to Conclusion, and present it to the class

Lesson 27 is the third lesson of Buildings and heritage, unit 7 of English B2.2 · Culture and Society. It puts lesson 14's impersonal passive, such as It is estimated that…, to work in a second kind of formal writing after lesson 23's for-and-against essay. Lesson 28 ends the unit with turn out and prove. An old mill that needed a new life is just the kind of problem a report is written for.

Students spin a wheel about empty buildings and new uses, then learn twelve words, from convert and fix up to tenant and storefront, with pictures and audio. They read Isaiah's explainer on MASS MoCA, then hear him argue with Harper outside an empty Pittsburgh building and Blanche from North Adams say a museum isn't enough; every voice is AI-generated. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a table that rewrites plain sentences in report style. The report task comes in steps: a chat about Twila's report, headings for a model report, report-style versions of Harper's draft, a template for an old movie theater and boxes for presenting a plan.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, word gaps and a memory game, then forms to choose and to type, phrases to sort into report style or too informal, a quiz on correct sentences, Twila's finished report and Isaiah's reply to Blanche.

Grammar:
report language · report headings · impersonal style · It was found that · We recommend + -ing · It would be advisable to · formal vocabulary
Topic:
MASS MoCA · North Adams, Massachusetts · old factories and mills · new uses for old buildings · contemporary art · buildings and heritage · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Hand out the model report cut into paragraphs. Pairs put the pieces in order and match each one to its heading before they look at the language inside.
  • Collect chatty sentences on the board, such as I checked it out and the roof is totally wrecked, and students rewrite each one with It was found that… or could be used as…
  • Let the dialogue feed the Options paragraph: while listening, students note Harper's plan and Isaiah's plan with one reason each, then turn the notes into The building could be used as…
  • Choose a real empty building in the students' town for the final task. Each group writes one section, then the class puts the report together and votes on the recommendation.

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The whole course: English B2.2 · Culture and Society

32 more lessons for adults at B2 in American English, with the same Why Desk team in Pittsburgh. Each lesson answers one question about how Americans learn, work, travel and remember, from the law behind the 40-hour week to the oral histories of StoryCorps. Learners link ideas in formal writing, report what is said and believed, and pack more into a sentence with participle and relative clauses. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Learning reimagined

    adjective suffixes and negative prefixes, mixed conditionals, provided that and on condition that

    1. Lesson 1College for farmers' kids?Adjective suffixes and negative prefixes
    2. Lesson 2One cousin, one video, millions of learnersMixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now
    3. Lesson 3A college that says yesConditional linkers: provided that, on condition that, assuming, otherwise
    4. Lesson 4School in the woodsMixed conditionals: a present state, a past result

  2. Unit 2 Work-life balance

    be required to and be entitled to, present and perfect participle clauses, participle clauses after conjunctions

    1. Lesson 5Who decided a week is 40 hours?Formal rules: be required to, be entitled to, be exempt from
    2. Lesson 6A paid year off: rest or research?Present participle clauses for time and reason
    3. Lesson 7Was the coffee break born in Wisconsin?Perfect participle clauses: having done and having been done
    4. Lesson 8Why is the first Monday of September a day off?Participle phrases after conjunctions

  3. Unit 3 Turning points

    reduced relative clauses, preposition + which and whom, which for a whole clause, noun + preposition

    1. Lesson 9The keyboard that opened the officeReduced relative clauses: -ing and the past participle
    2. Lesson 10Earthrise: the photo that changed how we see EarthPreposition + which and whom
    3. Lesson 11A city of white palaces for six monthsSentence relative clauses: which for a whole clause
    4. Lesson 12The count that took eight years?Noun + preposition: a need for, a solution to, access to

  4. Unit 4 News and truth

    although, whereas and while, the impersonal passive, despite and however, is said to have

    1. Lesson 13A newspaper of their ownLinkers of contrast: although, even though, whereas and while
    2. Lesson 14Bat-people on the Moon?The impersonal passive: It is said that…
    3. Lesson 15Read like a fact-checkerLinkers of contrast: despite, in spite of, however and even so
    4. Lesson 16Did George Washington really chop down a cherry tree?Passive reporting verbs: is said to have done

  5. Unit 5 Travel that gives back

    so as to, in order to and so that, modifying comparatives, linkers of reason and result, verb + object + preposition + -ing

    1. Lesson 17Seven rules for the wild?Linkers of purpose: to, in order to, so as to, so that
    2. Lesson 18A lottery to see firefliesModifying comparatives and superlatives
    3. Lesson 19Sunrise with the turtlesLinkers of reason and result
    4. Lesson 20Volunteer on vacation?Verb + object + preposition + -ing

  6. Unit 6 Sport and society

    verb + noun collocations, what phrasal verb particles mean, a for-and-against essay, nouns from phrasal verbs

    1. Lesson 21The college team that changed disability sportVerb + noun collocations
    2. Lesson 22When women played pro baseballPhrasal verbs: what the particles mean
    3. Lesson 23Who needs a referee?The for and against essay: plan and linkers
    4. Lesson 24The comeback of Jim ThorpeNouns from phrasal verbs

  7. Unit 7 Buildings and heritage

    past participle clauses, quantifier + of which and of whom, report language, turn out and prove

    1. Lesson 25Homes built into the cliffsPast participle clauses with a passive meaning
    2. Lesson 26A house over a waterfallQuantifier + of which and of whom
    3. Lesson 27 · you're hereFrom factory to art museumReport language: headings, impersonal style, recommendations
    4. Lesson 28The towers the city tried to pull downTurn out and prove + to-infinitive or that clause

  8. Unit 8 Generations

    adverb + adjective collocations, three-part phrasal verbs, negative and echo questions, prepositional phrases

    1. Lesson 29Who decides where a generation ends?Adverb + adjective collocations
    2. Lesson 30Music students living in a retirement home?Three-part phrasal verbs
    3. Lesson 31Conversations kept for historyNegative questions and echo questions
    4. Lesson 32A day for grandparentsFixed prepositional phrases

Questions about this lesson

What is report writing?
Report writing is giving facts and advice to a reader who must decide something, in a formal, impersonal style with headings. A typical report states its aim, describes the situation, compares options and recommends one. At B2, students learn phrases such as The aim of this report is to… and We recommend… From factory to art museum, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, teaches it with a report on a new use for an old building.
How do you write a report?
Plan it under five headings: Introduction (The aim of this report is to suggest…), Current situation (It was found that…), Options (The building could be used as…), Recommendations (We recommend converting…, It would be advisable to…) and Conclusion (Overall, …). Use the passive instead of we and you, and formal words instead of chatty ones. From factory to art museum on edio.ai builds one report step by step.
What are some useful phrases for report writing?
Five from the model report in From factory to art museum on edio.ai: The aim of this report is to suggest a new use for the empty building. It was found that the walls are in good condition. The building could be converted into an arts center. We recommend combining the two options. Overall, the building is too valuable to demolish. Not one of them uses I or you.
What's the difference between a report and an essay?
A report is written to help someone decide: it has headings, presents findings and ends with recommendations, usually in an impersonal style. An essay discusses a question in paragraphs held together by linkers and gives the writer's view, without headings. On edio.ai, the B2.2 course teaches the for-and-against essay in lesson 23 and the report in From factory to art museum, lesson 27.
Is it “we recommend to convert” or “we recommend converting”?
It's we recommend converting: when a verb follows it directly, recommend takes the -ing form. We recommend converting the station into a café. The other two phrases take to + base form: The aim of this report is to suggest… and It would be advisable to repair… The fixed phrase It is recommended that… always has -ed. The chat in From factory to art museum on edio.ai tests all three.
What is MASS MoCA?
MASS MoCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, is a museum and performing arts center in old factory buildings in North Adams, Massachusetts. Its brick buildings date from the 1800s. Arnold Print Works printed cloth there from 1860 to 1942, and Sprague Electric ran an electronics plant there from 1942 to 1985. The museum opened in 1999. Isaiah's explainer in From factory to art museum on edio.ai tells how the change happened.
How did an old factory become MASS MoCA?
It began with a search for space. In 1986, a year after the Sprague plant closed, the Williams College Museum of Art needed room for contemporary works too big for ordinary galleries, and the mayor, John Barrett III, suggested the empty complex. The architects renovated the buildings but kept the worn floors and old paint. MASS MoCA opened in 1999 with 19 galleries. From factory to art museum on edio.ai asks whether a museum can do a factory's job.
How do I teach report writing to B2 students?
Teach the shape before the sentences: show the five headings and a model report, then the language for each part. Next, compare plain and report-style versions of the same idea. From factory to art museum on edio.ai goes from the scheme and five drills to a chat about a classmate's report, headings for a model, report-style choices and a template for an old movie theater.
What's a good game for practicing report writing?
Run a “Too informal!” race: teams get cards with chatty sentences, such as Loads of people want a park, and race to rewrite them in report style: A large number of residents would like a park. The boxes in From factory to art museum on edio.ai then turn the language into a short talk, with prompts like Give two possible uses: “The building could be used as…”
What's good homework for report writing?
Good homework lets students assemble a whole report, not only single sentences, and asks them to spot language that's too informal. All ten homework tasks in From factory to art museum on edio.ai check themselves, including a sort into report style or too informal, Twila's report on an old train station with phrases to drag in and Isaiah's answer to a reader.
How do you practice report writing one-to-one?
Write one report together, section by section: the student picks a building they know, the teacher asks for one heading's content at a time, and the student says it in report style before writing it down. The chat in From factory to art museum on edio.ai works alone: Twila is stuck on her report, and the student fixes her sentences one by one.
Are there interactive exercises for report writing?
Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of From factory to art museum, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Isaiah and Harper's argument about an empty building; a gap-fill that asks for to, -ing or the passive; and Twila's chat about her report. Other parts need an account.
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