News, Politics & Government items

Functional Skills Level 2 Reading Task on Convid-19. 

Two texts based on the current Corona virus crisis.

  • Text 1 - opinionated, news article from a professor
  • Text 2 - factual guide from Gov.Uk 

Editor's note

Level
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
T Levels - embedded maths or English
English
FE L2.11 Identify when main points are sufficient & when specific details are important
FE L2.12 Compare information, ideas & opinions in different texts, inc. how they are conveyed
FE L2.14 Understand how textual features/devices can shape meaning for different audiences/purposes
FE L2.17 Analyse texts, of different levels of complexity, recognising their use of vocabulary and identifying levels of formality and bias
FE L2.18 Follow an argument, identifying different points of view & distinguishing fact from opinion
TL - Synthesise information
GCSE Reading AO1a Identify/interpret explicit & implicit information & ideas
GCSE Reading AO1b Select & synthesise evidence from different texts
GCSE English Reading AO2 Explain & analyse language & structure
GCSE Reading AO3 Compare writers’ ideas & perspectives across 2 or more texts
GCSE AO4 Evaluate texts critically & support with textual references
Context
Health, Social care, Early years
News, Politics & Government items
Science, Nature & Weather

Update - apologies, when I added this resource on April 1st I forgot to upload the Word document. It is now available below. Maggie 10/4/20

Functional Skills Level 2 (and T Level General English Competencies) writing tasks consisting of writing a report and a letter to apply for a job (both based on the current Covid-19 crisis).

Level
Level 2
T Levels - embedded maths or English
English
FE L2.25 Organise writing for different purposes using appropriate format & structure e.g. standard templates, paragraphs, bullet points, tables
FE L2.27 Use language & register (e.g. persuasive techniques, supporting evidence, specialist words) to suit audience & purpose
FE L2.23 Communicate information, ideas and opinions clearly, coherently and effectively
FE L2.26 Convey clear meaning & establish cohesion using organisational markers effectively
FE WRITING Spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
T Levels - General English Competencies (GEC)
TL - Create texts for different purposes and audiences
TL - Convey technical information to different audiences
Context
News, Politics & Government items
Health, Social care, Early years

This is a speaking and listening activity written in the style of the NCFE reformed Functional Skills assessment.  It is based on the 'Happy News: It's not all bad' reading resource previously published on skillsworkshop. Three task are covered: presentation (talk), Q&A session and a formal discussion. 

Editor's notes

Level
Level 1
English
FE SL&C Speaking
FE SL&C Active listening
FE SL&C Discussion
Context
News, Politics & Government items

A reading comprehension based on articles taken from Emily Coxhead's The Happy News.  This publication is to "celebrate all that's good in the world" and so it seemed a good time at the start of the year to have the opportunity to talk about the positives, rather than negatives, around us. Questions cover many aspects or the new reformed L1-2 curriculum including: main points & detail, textual and organisation features, interpreting punctuation and understanding vocabulary. I am also planning to use this as the basis of a speaking and listening discussion.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
FE L2.11 Identify when main points are sufficient & when specific details are important
FE L1.17 Read & understand a range of specialist words in context
FE L2.14 Understand how textual features/devices can shape meaning for different audiences/purposes
FE L1.18 Use knowledge of punctuation to aid understanding of texts
Context
News, Politics & Government items
Mental health, awareness & psychology

A PowerPoint set of L1-L2 reading, maths and writing tasks. All are based on information a recent UK.gov Home Office fact sheet about Prevent and Channel*. The fact sheet can be found online or downloaded from this page. Main Functional Maths coverage is reading and comparing whole numbers and percentages, and percentage-fraction equivalents. Some questions involve calculating percentages or checking the figures that are quoted in the text (Level 2).

Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
FE L1.17 Read & understand a range of specialist words in context
FE L1.24 Use format, structure & language appropriate for audience & purpose
FE L1.23 Write text of appropriate level of detail & length to meet needs of purpose & audience
FE L2.11 Identify when main points are sufficient & when specific details are important
FE L2.16 Understand organisational features & use to locate relevant information in a range of sources
FE L2.24 Write text of appropriate level of detail & length to meet needs of purpose & audience
FE L2.25 Organise writing for different purposes using appropriate format & structure e.g. standard templates, paragraphs, bullet points, tables
FE L2.27 Use language & register (e.g. persuasive techniques, supporting evidence, specialist words) to suit audience & purpose
Maths
FM L1.1 Read, write, order & compare large numbers (up to one million)
FM L1.8 Read, write, order & compare common fractions & mixed numbers
FM L1.13 Read, write, order & compare percentages in whole numbers
FM L1.14 Calculate percentages of quantities, inc. simple percentage increase / decrease by 5% & multiples of
FM L1.16 Recognise & calculate equivalences between common fractions, percentages & decimals
FM L2.4 Identify & know the equivalence between fractions, decimals & percentages
FM L2.6 Calculate percentage change (any size increase & decrease), & original value after % change
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Context
Health and safety
News, Politics & Government items

I saw this guide on the BBC website and thought it would be suitable for my Level 1 learners.  This text clearly has a limited shelf-life but is very topical and gives us a chance to discuss democracy as part of British values.  It is quite a detailed comprehension and I have included some Level 1 Reformed Functional Skills Reading questions e.g. explaining apostrophe use.  Whilst not expressly a Level 2 text, it does give a chance to discuss issues of fact, opinion and bias.

Editor's note

Level
Level 1
English
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
FE L1.14 Understand organisational / structural features use to locate relevant information
Context
News, Politics & Government items

An additional news story to go with Maggie's great E3 Firework Safety reading & spelling resource.  Use her Fireworks:  the Law page as Text A and then there are two pages of L1-L2 comprehension (I have a mixed class and thus needed something at a higher level). Focus is on general comprehension (main points & detail) but organisational and language features are also covered.

Editor's note

Level
Level 1
English
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
FE L1.14 Understand organisational / structural features use to locate relevant information
FE READING analyse texts
Context
News, Politics & Government items

I wrote this resource to familiarise myself with the new Reformed Entry Level 3 reading and spelling content. As a revision or assessment tool it would be particularly useful around October half term time (i.e. just before Bonfire Night). It can also be used as a springboard for general discussion about fireworks and Bonfire Night.

Level
Entry Level 3
English
FE E3.8 Read correctly words designated for Entry Level 3
FE E3.9 Identify, understand & extract main points & ideas in/from texts
FE E3.10 Identify different purposes of straightforward texts
FE E3.11 Use strategies to find meaning of words e.g. dictionary, context, word types
FE E3.12 Understand organisational features & use them to locate relevant information
FE E3.14 Form irregular plurals
FE E3.16 Use 1st, 2nd & 3rd letters to sequence words alphabetically
FE E3.17 Spell correctly words designated for Entry Level 3
Context
Health and safety
News, Politics & Government items

These two lessons explore the Windrush Scandal. 

The video gives an opportunity to listen for gist and detail, and is followed by a focus on sentence stress and intonation.

The article gives an opportunity for learners to analyse the purpose of the text and look at persuasive techniques, and is accompanied by a vocabulary from context exercise.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
FE L2.1 Identify relevant information from extended explanations or presentations
FE L2.2 Follow narratives & lines of argument
FE L2.11 Identify when main points are sufficient & when specific details are important
FE L1.13 Use reference materials & appropriate strategies for a range of purposes, inc. to find word meanings
FE L1.17 Read & understand a range of specialist words in context
FE L2.14 Understand how textual features/devices can shape meaning for different audiences/purposes
GCSE Reading AO1a Identify/interpret explicit & implicit information & ideas
GCSE English Reading AO2 Explain & analyse language & structure
ESOL
ESOL Lr/L1.1a Extract information from texts of varying genre, e.g. radio, TV
ESOL Lr/L1.2e Listen for phonological detail
ESOL Lr/L1.6b Follow a discussion without participating e.g. on TV
ESOL Lr/L2.1a Extract information from extended texts in a non-face-to-face context, e.g. radio
ESOL Lr/L2.2a Listen to a narrative or conversation
ESOL Lr/L2.2e Listen for phonological detail
ESOL Rw/L1.2a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different types of text, using appropriate strategies to work out meaning
ESOL Rt/L1.2a Know how language and other textual features are used to achieve different purposes
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
ESOL Rt/L2.2a Identify the purposes of a wide range of texts, whether inferred or explicitly stated
Context
News, Politics & Government items

Short reading comprehensions on the 2019 New Year, one at L1 and one at E3. Includes some embedded maths and some E&D (references to Brexit - sorry, folks!).

Editor's note

The focus is on identifying, extracting and understanding the main points and detail. However there are also questions on fact & opinion, purpose of text, specialist words, using a dictionary and using knowledge of punctuation. Fully mapped to the new revised Functional English descriptors. With answers.

 

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
English
FE E3.9 Identify, understand & extract main points & ideas in/from texts
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
Context
News, Politics & Government items
Leisure, Hobbies, Travel & Tourism