General ESOL

A short workbook I created to 'test the maths water' before teaching maths to a group of adult and young ESOL learners. It covers almost everything in the Entry Level 1 curriculum with exam style tasks/ questions  linked to C&G Functional Skills Maths assessments.

I usually use it with groups as a gentle introduction to the idea of maths and it forms a good diagnostic for the things they need to learn. It also lets me see how motivated they are to study maths!

Editor's notes

Entry 3 activity to reinforce the importance of good attendance and punctuality in college. First activity asks students to choose and circle the correct word and further activities practise spelling, grammar, vocabulary and punctuation at Entry 3 level. 

Editor's notes

A brilliant idea and excellent practice for ESOL students - especially at the start of the academic year. 

A light-hearted poem to celebrate International Pi Day and British Pie Week.  Pi Day is celebrated on 14th March every year (3.14) and British Pie Week is usually during the first full week of March.

In English classes this poem could be used as a discussion starter on the theme of food likes and dislikes, vegetarianism and diet.

In Maths classes it could be used as a humorous introduction to Pi.

Editor's notes

Love this  :) 

A reflective iceberg (integrated, collaborative, engaging, balanced, economical, reflective and gradual) structure sheet for learners to complete. Six sections, each with prompts/exemplification: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating.

This scaffold has been designed to be used either as as a diary for use in class and / or as a way for students to record and reflect on their literacy/language experiences outside of the classroom.

Emojis are used to try to encourage them to consider and record their feelings.

I made this resource for my ESOL Functional  Skills Level 1&2 class. Learners have to find where articles are missing and type them in (a/an/the). Uses three increasingly complex/lengthy texts: a charity letter, an OU magazine article and some recipe instructions.

Find the missing articles: 3 page worksheet (Google docs)  - best viewed in "print" mode.

Editor's note

A fun, kinaesthetic learning activity to introduce ICT terminology to beginners to ICT.  Can be adapted well to suit various ESOL needs.

Editor's note

A complete mini-lesson for Entry Level ESOL learners at a range of levels. A detailed and very useful lesson plan with examples given for two possible devices (but many other devices could be used depending on learners' levels of ICT and English).  A great way to integrate learning new vocabulary and discussion strategies with basic ICT skills.  

Update 24/2/22: written by Paula Fulton and Alexandra Bates, both of Essex ACL. 
A fun activity for ESOL learners which draws on the popularity of the online word guessing game, Wordle.

Editor's note

A complete mini-lesson for ESOL or Functional English! Introductory PPT and a detailed and very useful lesson plan. A great way to integrate spelling strategies with basic ICT skills. Includes discussion about the 26 letters but 44 phonemes of the English language. 

A very useful handout for Entry Level ESOL and/or Functional Skills ICT students. Step by step, illustrated instructions on how to create a basic PPT.

The basic PPT used in the handout images is also provided. This can be adapted by the teacher or (optionally) given to learners to adapt. 

British Values project based on ICT Level 2 City and Guilds covering all content including

• Task 1 - Internet Research, Word
• Task 2 - Excel IF / AND, charts, formatting, formulae,  etc
• Task 3  - PPT with images, animation, etc.
• Task 4 -  Mail Merge (needs memo.txt and employees.txt - see below)
• Task 5 - Word, poster
• Task 6  - Access database (needs training.txt file - see below)
• Task 7 -  General ICT  Knowledge