APIEWriting: The Silk Road and Trade Routes
The Silk Road and old trade routes
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
The Silk Road & Old Trade Routes
Interactive writing lesson: Report facts and share your ideas using natural frames.
👩🏫 For Teachers
• Use this 30-minute interactive lesson to build B1 sentence structures and historical reporting skills.
• Check answers together in Module 1 before guiding students to complete their free writing in Module 2.
🎒 For Learners
• First, complete the 16 short vocabulary activities to practice essential trade route words.
• Next, write your 100–120 word website post using the sentence starters and send it for instant feedback.
Module 1 Vocabulary Practice
Practice these 10 trade route words before you write: goods, bazaar, pearl, cotton, empire, dynasty, emperor, historian, research, source.
Word Bank
Part (a): Word Order
Rewrite the sentence by placing the words in the correct order.
1. traded / merchants / silk / valuable / goods .
____2. busy / visited / shoppers / bazaar / the .
____3. ruled / powerful / emperor / land / the / the .
____4. books / wrote / reliable / historian / the .
____Part (b): Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence using a word from the word bank (goods, bazaar, pearl, empire, historian).
5. Traders carried gold and spices as valuable ____ along the desert route.
6. People gathered at the crowded city ____ to buy colorful carpets and teas.
7. The ocean diver found a rare white ____ deep inside its shell.
8. The large Roman ____ stretched across many regions and seas.
9. A careful ____ read ancient letters to learn how people lived long ago.
Part (c): Choose the Correct Word
Select the option that best completes the sentence.
10. Farmers grew soft ___ to weave comfortable clothing for warm weather.
11. The Tang ___ ruled China for nearly three centuries and encouraged trade.
12. The powerful ___ ordered soldiers to guard the trade roads.
13. Scholars spent years doing detailed ___ to find lost towns.
Part (d): Match Question to Answer
Match each question on the left to its correct answer column.
Module 2 The Writing Task
Write a short post about an interesting historical fact using reporting phrases.
"Write a short post for your class website about something interesting that you learned from a book, a teacher, a website or a museum. Say what you learned, where the information came from, and what you think about it."
Target Length: 100–120 words
Pattern Example
"According to the guide, the market opens at dawn."
Why this works: It tells your reader where your fact came from right at the start of the sentence.
💡 Useful Sentence Starters
Use these phrases to introduce facts and opinions in your writing:
- • According to ...
- • My teacher says that ...
- • A report that I read found that ...
- • Experts say that ...
- • I think this is interesting because ...
✅ Writing Checklist
Make sure your post includes every requirement before submitting:
✍️ Your Post (AI Graded)
Instant Feedback EnabledType your 100–120 word post below. Use the starters frame to report facts from a book, teacher, website, or museum.
____ (Type your class website post here...)Grading Criteria
Module 3 Model Answer
Read this sample post to see how all the sentence starters fit together naturally.
Last week, I learned some interesting facts about old trade routes. I never knew this before. According to my school book, the Silk Road joined Asia and Europe more than two thousand years ago. My teacher says that camels carried silk, spices and glass across hot deserts for many months. It was a long and hard journey for the traders. A report that I read found that paper making also travelled along these roads from China to Europe. Experts say that small market towns along the road grew into big, rich cities because of the trade. I think this is interesting because simple goods connected people from very different places, and this still matters today.
Useful Phrase Notes
Plain note: Shows where you got your historical fact right away.
Plain note: Shares information learned directly during a class lesson.
Plain note: Introduces a key discovery from an article or book.
Plain note: Adds support from people who know the topic well.
Plain note: Gives your personal opinion clearly at the end of your post.
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