General literacy / English

Readwell Road is a magnificent set of reading books for adults. They were first published on Skillsworkshop in February 2010. Since then thousands of site users have downloaded the sample sets of stories from Step 1 (E1), Step 2 (E1-E2) and Step 3 (E2-E3) – see below.
Linda has since decided to go ahead and publish the entire scheme and further books can be found at www.readwellroad.com or you can contact Linda through her contact form on this site.

The first three stories in the wonderful Readwell Road reading scheme for adults. These three Entry Level 1 stories introduce the people who live at the pub, the shop and at no. 1 (a bungalow).

Literacy and numeracy questions all based on the word CHRISTMAS (can easily be adapted for other seasonal festivals such a Diwali, New Year’s Eve or Ramadan). Covers vowels, consonants, number, ratios, simple substitution, range, mode and more!
Ideal for mixed ability groups (E1-L2). Also provides very good practice in reading instructions carefully.
Updated Nov 2011 – see comments below

An unusual exercise where the learner must first read an information text and then check a piece of work – not only for spelling and punctuation errors but also for factual accuracy. Then sort teams into alphabetical order. Aimed at E2-E3 although some parts are suitable for L1.

Looking at Newspapers is a wonderful example of creative differentiated teaching across all levels (E1-L2). A detailed lesson description, resources and introductory PPT are included. The lesson uses Kipling’s “What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who” to help students analyse newspaper reports and interview other students, or their teacher, to create their own reports.

Two start of term quiz or diagnostic exercises (or use simply to get learners into the swing of things!) cover reading comprehension, sentence structure and punctuation, writing and spelling.
One for E2-E3, one for L1-L2.

Supercars (including the President’s Cadillac, and an Aston Martin with an ejector seat) consists of two detailed, differentiated E1-E2 2.5 hr lesson plans complete with resources.
Includes reading and writing sentences (matching cars to scenarios), alphabet, spelling/phonics, discussion and much more.

A wonderful practice paper. Just like the real thing with 40 multiple choice questions based a good selection of 8 authentic texts (letter, email, job advert, instructions, report, film reviews, etc.). Questions cover reading comprehension, grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation.

09-10 Football Season is a wonderful way to engage mixed ability groups of footie fans!
Covers formulating an argument, discussion, recognising points of view – facts & opinions, writing sentences & paragraphs.
Maths aspects include extracting information from tables, averages, ratios, and addition & subtraction.

Investigate the possibility of a college stocking fairly traded products in its canteen. Covers many reading, writing, ICT, numeracy, speaking and listening skills inc. data handling, report writing, creating charts and questionnaires, giving a presentation, etc. Ideal for embedding all three functional skills (or literacy, numeracy and ICT) especially for business students.