Investigation or project

A scaffolded investigation created for my Level 1 numeracy group but ideal for, and fully mapped to, L1-2 Functional maths.
Part 1 involves reading a description of a room and drawing simple scale diagrams (a grid is provided) before pricing up a carpet from a discount company.
Part 2 is more complex: calculate the length of skirting board, wallpaper, paint, dado rail and door framing required.

I adapted this from Helen Lloyd’s Planning a school party (see below). I used her idea to develop a task that my students could manage on their own while I was doing a first aid course. This version includes an extra task about providing a Santa and gifts, and I also included some simple fraction questions.

I used Helen’s supermarket list for prices of party food etc. As we have no ITC facilities, I downloaded and printed info from www.partydelights.co.uk for pocket money toys.

A super very practical reading task to be used in conjunction with a property advertising newspaper. The resource here is specific to Glasgow, but can be easily adapted for other areas.
Learners follow the guidance given to find a home suitable for their friend.
Ideal for, and fully mapped to, Functional Skills English E3 and L1.

Here is another Level 1-2 variant on the classic ‘Smarties’ investigation which incorporates the use of a PC and Excel. I stopped using Smarties and Skittles because of the health and hygiene issues.

A great project that covers many Functional maths and Functional English criteria. You win the lottery, buy a mobile phone shop and have to furnish it from catalogues and/or Internet sites.

Learn about budgeting, displaying data, working with areas and floor plans, bank statements, rounding, estimating, and much more. Everything must be written up as a comprehensive report with a clear conclusion (a great guidance page on report writing is included in the resource).

I worked with a plumbing tutor at Wiltshire College to write the attached task for a group of apprentice plumbers. The group enjoyed working on this. I was inspired to produce this after reading and using the Air Conditioner task contributed by Leia Fee (see below).

[img_assist|nid=4809|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=76]Useful set of two resources.
1) A Smart notebook file that introduces the topic, provides practice questions and finishes with a room decorating project and a self-assessment check.
Please note you must have the Smart notebook software installed on your computer in order to open, view and use this resource http://smarttech.com/
2) PowerPoint scale diagram multiple choice quiz (5 questions) makes a good final activity or use later for revision.

Topical set of reading comprehension and research tasks written for Black History Month (October) but can be used at any time. Differentiated biographies (one for E3-L1, one for L1-L2) of Rosa Parks, known as “the mother of the civil rights movement”, with related comprehension, discussion and vocabulary tasks. There is also a cloze exercise and a timeline research task.

A fabulous and very topical study pack for Level 2 Functional English students. Covers all aspects of Functional English and is fully mapped to the Functional Skills criteria.
13 tasks covering reading, writing and discussion. Includes: spelling, dictionary work, formal and semi-formal letter writing, surveys and graphical information, reading comprehension, punctuation and paragraphing, and summarising. With teaching notes and several exemplar answers.

A beautifully prepared E3-L1 literacy workbook. Produced to be used during Black History month (October) at Bolton College but can be used at any time. The main text is derived from Kwesi Bacchra’s review of “Claudia Jones, a life in exile” by Marika Sherwood.
Exercises include reading comprehension, correcting spellings, dictionary and alphabetical order work, abbreviations, research and creative writing.