OWN IT! is a four-book level series published by Cambridge University Press in 2020. isThe fourth book of the series, was chosen by our English Department, and has been used by our year 9 students since the beginning of the current year.
Before deciding to change the year 9 coursebook, we conducted a thorough analysis of all the components of the material to assess its suitability. We found OWN IT! B1+ to be appropriate to the needs of our students because it covers most of the features we considered, as well as enables students to become independent agents, responsible for their own learning, by choosing themes and working collaboratively on their end-ofyear presentations.
The Student’s Book format is appealing to the age group, and provides interesting and attractive topics, which help engage students in the themes. The videos help them reflect on language and content and are also essential for presenting the skills. Learning outcomes, clearly stated on the very first page of the unit, make students aware of the path to be followed throughout each chapter.
Regarding Cambridge Life Competencies , OWN IT! clearly focuses on “Learning to Learn” and “Collaboration”, which are intentionally developed throughout the units. Nonetheless, the other four competency areas, namely, creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, social responsibilities, also play a significant role in the material.
Let us focus more specifically on the social responsibilities competency and its core areas below:
- understanding personal responsibilities as part of a social group:
- showing intercultural awareness;
- understanding (and discussing a range of) global issues and acknowledging personal impact on them.
One of the distinguishing features the book is the flexibility it affords to backward design, which allows teachers to start each unit from the “Around the World” pages (at the end of units 1, 3, 5, 7, 9), or the “Project” pages (at the end of units 2, 4, 6, 8). Those end-of-unit pages integrate language and content areas such as science, art, history, citizenship, technology, and geography. Such pages enable students to work collaboratively and develop all the Life Competencies stated above throughout the whole chapter, with the outcomes of each unit serving as a map of their progress.
As it is our first year using the material, we are still on the path towards a final assessment. Nevertheless, we would like to highlight other features that teachers have found useful:
- it contemplates modern themes, very relevant to the reality of teenagers;
- there are numerous mixed-ability tasks;
- it provides a great deal of supplementary material;
- the Project Book helps plan lessons;
- it is student-friendly;
- it brings a wide variety of reading and writing genres;
- it contains comprehensive vocabulary;
- the Workbook helps reinforce the practice in the Student’s Book, mainly now with online lessons due to the pandemic;
- the Digital Tools make the teacher’s job easier and the lessons more interactive.
- the Teacher’s Book also brings invaluable resources for flipped lessons and for practices that one may want to extend.
- the material has resources for fast-finishers, which is of great value for avid students willing to go the extra mile.
So far, the evidence we have collected points to promising results.
We live in a rapidly changing world. With Own It!, teens develop the confidence and competencies they need to forge their own path in this ever-evolving global landscape. From developing critical and creative thinking skills and social/emotional aptitudes to working effectively in a group, Own it! helps create confident, future-ready learners who are able to meet the challenges ahead. This split combo edition includes units 1 through 4 of the Students Book and Workbook combined in a single volum.
