ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words

Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
(i) Develop awareness of the concept of key words, i.e. that some words are more important than others in particular contexts Example Read and understand key words and expressions in learner's personal contexts, e.g. in an office: file, fax-back form, order, receipt, database, expenses.
(ii) Develop range of lexis in various contexts, e.g. in reading at work, education or home
(iii) Develop understanding of a range of collocations and fixed expressions
(iv) Be aware that some words in learner's other languages will not have direct translations in English, and vice versa, and that others may appear similar but have different meanings, e.g. sympathique in French means pleasant rather than sympathetic
(v) Develop knowledge of word families, shared roots, prefixes and suffixes, to help read and understand some key specialist words, e.g. psychology, psychologist, psychological all come from the Greek root psukhe meaning breath, life, soul
vi) Understand that knowledge of prefixes and suffixes can be generalised to other vocabulary, e.g. biology, biologist, biological

Source: Adult ESOL Core Curriculum (DfES, 2001) 

A poem on the theme of neighbourhoods.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around housing, traffic, local communities or recycling.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes suggested questions and discussion prompts.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
FE READING and understanding words
ESOL
ESOL Speak clearly & with appropriate register
ESOL: Follow/participate in exchanges or discussions
ESOL Engage in discussion (Sd)
ESOL Trace and understand main events of a text
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.3a Use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.2a Use reference material to find the meanings of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
Context
Motor vehicles & Transport
Family and relationships

A descriptive poem on the theme of Nature.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion about the seasons, local environments, the life cycle of animals and plants, global warming or the benefits of outdoor exercise.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes suggested questions and discussion prompts.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
FS Eng SL&C Discussion
FE READING and understanding words
ESOL
ESOL Speak clearly & with appropriate register
ESOL Engage in discussion (Sd)
ESOL: Follow/participate in exchanges or discussions
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.3a Use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.2a Use reference material to find the meanings of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
Context
Animals, animal care, farming & equine
Gardening & Horticulture
Science, Nature & Weather
Mental health, awareness & psychology

A poem on the theme of holidays.  Can be used as a reading and punctuation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around traditional British holidays, ways to spend leisure time or enjoying new experiences by using different senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes suggested questions and discussion prompts.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
FS Eng SL&C Discussion
FE READING and understanding words
ESOL
ESOL Speak clearly & with appropriate register
ESOL Engage in discussion (Sd)
ESOL Trace and understand main events of a text
ESOL: Follow/participate in exchanges or discussions
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.3a Use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.1a Read and understand technical vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.2a Use reference material to find the meanings of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
Context
Leisure, Hobbies, Travel & Tourism

A light hearted poem on the theme of exercise.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around exercise, diet and fitness or the Education System.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes a list of suggested questions/prompts.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
FS Eng SL&C Discussion
FE READING and understanding words
ESOL
ESOL Speak clearly & with appropriate register
ESOL Engage in discussion (Sd)
ESOL: Follow/participate in exchanges or discussions
ESOL Trace and understand main events of a text
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.3a Use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.1a Read and understand technical vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.2a Use reference material to find the meanings of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
Context
Sport and fitness

A poem on the theme of  feelings.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around personal emotions and wellbeing.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes a list of suggested questions/prompts.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
FS Eng SL&C Discussion
FE READING and understanding words
ESOL
ESOL Speak clearly & with appropriate register
ESOL Engage in discussion (Sd)
ESOL: Follow/participate in exchanges or discussions
ESOL Trace and understand main events of a text
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.3a Use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.1a Read and understand technical vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L2.2a Use reference material to find the meanings of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types
Context
Mental health, awareness & psychology

A lovely activity to use with groups of learners who are developing basic IT skills. This lesson focusses on the basic features of PowerPoint. The topic for this lesson is 'endangered animals' which is something that can start interesting discussions about the environment and sustainability as well as eliciting vocabulary for animals if working with ESOL learners.

Editor's note

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
English
FE READING understanding and locating information
FE E2.7 Read correctly words designated for Entry Level 2
ESOL
ESOL Rw/E2.2a Recognise a range of familiar words
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ICT
Entry 1 and 2 ICT
Functional Skills ICT: Using ICT
Functional Skills ICT: Developing, presenting and communicating information
Context
Science, Nature & Weather
Animals, animal care, farming & equine

Update 24/2/22: written by Sharon Roberts and Alexandra Bates, both of Essex ACL. 
This is a fun activity which encourages ESOL learners to engage with digital technology and transacting online. It provides opportunity to explore vocabulary related to shopping while also discussing the advantages of shopping for food online. It can be adapted to all levels and can be extended for a longer activity if required.

Editor's note

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
FE E1.8 Read correctly words designated for Entry Level 1
FE E2.7 Read correctly words designated for Entry Level 2
FE E2.12 Use illustrations, images & captions to locate information
FE E3.8 Read correctly words designated for Entry Level 3
FE E3.12 Understand organisational features & use them to locate relevant information
ESOL
ESOL Rw/E1.1a Recognise a limited number of words, signs and symbols
ESOL Rw/E1.2a Use basic sound-letter correspondence to sound out words
ESOL Rw/E2.2a Recognise a range of familiar words
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E3.5a Use variety of reading strategies to read/understand unfamiliar words
ESOL Rt/E2.4a Obtain information from illustrations, maps, diagrams and captions
ESOL Rt/E3.3a Identify the key organisational features of instructional texts
ESOL Rt/E3.5a Locate organisational features, such as contents, index, menus
ICT
Functional Skills ICT: Using ICT
Functional Skills ICT: Finding and selecting information
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Context
Independent living
Catering Food Nutrition
Retail Hospitality Customer service

Root word family cards are two sets of flash cards that can be used to visualise the concept of root words to entry level and L1 students.

The entry level cards contain a number of root words and their word families, with a picture representation of each word. The level one sheet contains a higher level of vocabulary and the pictures have been removed.

Lesson Ideas

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
English
Prefixes, suffixes & plurals
AL Ww/L1.1 Spell & use spelling strategies
Rw/L1.3
Rw/E3.1
AL Rw/E2.2 Recognise high frequency words & words with common spelling patterns
AL Ww/E3.2 Use phonic knowledge to help spelling
Ww/E2.2
ESOL
ESOL Ww/L1.1a Apply knowledge about vocabulary to aid accurate spelling
ESOL Ww/E3.1a Apply spelling knowledge to a wide range of common & special-interest words
ESOL Ww/E2.1b Use knowledge of sound–symbol relationships & phonological patterns when spelling
ESOL Rw/L1.3a Recognise and understand an increasing range of vocabulary
ESOL Rw/L1.1a Use reference material to find the meaning of unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/E3.5a Use variety of reading strategies to read/understand unfamiliar words
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E2.3a Use context & range of phonic / graphic knowledge to decode words

[img_assist|nid=4821|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=68|height=100]Two resources that can be used together or independently.

  • An ICC / Literacy / Functional English / ESOL research project task sheet on “My favourite British animal”. E3-L2 reading, writing and ICT
  • A basic animal anatomy vocabulary sheet for E2-E3 ESOL (paw, claw, antler, etc.)

For more of Kathy’s animal resources go to ‘see also’ below. (Birds of Prey resources)

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
Functional Skills English
ESOL
General ESOL
ESOL Rw/E3.1a Recognise and understand relevant specialist key words
ESOL Rw/E2.1a Recognise words on forms related to personal information
ICT
Functional ICT
Context
Animals, animal care, farming & equine