Valentine's Day

Based on a short story, Highland Fling by Maureen Brannigan, from “Sexy Shorts for the Beach” edited by Victoria Kirwan-Taylor (Accent Press). However some of the writing and poetry extension activities could be used without reading the short story. Not just for romantics – the writing assignment might also cause great hilarity! Covers all Level 2 writing elements and many Level 2 reading elements (main points, research, summarise information, etc.).

Level
Level 2
English
Fiction
Poetry
Adult literacy: reading comprehension (Rt)
Adult Literacy: writing composition (Wt)

A reading comprehension exercise written in the style of a practice OCR E1 reading assignment (Task 1). It also includes OCR style tasks 2-4 (purpose of text, reading signs and symbols) – these are NOT about Love Hearts.
Love Hearts task 1 can also be used independently or alongside our popular Valentine’s Day E2-L2 Love Hearts Assignment (see below) in mixed ability classes.

Level
Entry Level 1
English
Rs/E1.1 Read and recognise simple sentence structures
AL Rt/E1.1 Read short familiar texts
Rt/E1.2
AL Rw/E1.2 Decode simple, regular words
AL Rw/E1.1 Have limited, meaningful sight vocabulary of words, signs, symbols

Lots of money problems to solve including cost of flowers, Mr Extravaganza’s fancy meal out and much more!

Level
Level 1
Level 2
Maths
AN MSS1/L1.1 Add, subtract, multiply & divide sums of money and record
MSS1/L2.1

Covers alphabetical ordering, adjectives, reading comprehension, sentences and web research for E2-L2.

Sadly the original background history (on which the comprehension is based) is no longer available on the Swizzels Matlow or Love Heart sites. However related information can be found at the following sites which can make a good introduction to the assignment.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Adult Literacy: writing - punctuation & grammar (Ws)
Adult Lit Ws/E2.2 Use Adjectives
Rw/E3.4
Rw/E2.4
Rt/L2.7 Use different reading strategies to find and obtain information, e.g. skimming, scanning, detailed reading
Rt/L2.3 Identify the main points and specific detail
Rt/L2.1 Trace and understand the main events of continuous descriptive, explanatory and persuasive texts
Rt/L1.5
Rt/L1.4
Rt/L1.3
AL Rt/L1.1 Understand continuous texts
AL Rt/E3.1 Understand longer texts
Context
Retail Hospitality Customer service
History, culture, museums, libraries

A brilliant resource – especially for younger, teenage students. Includes an original poem, discussion of slang, background info on Valentine’s Day, writing and speaking ideas.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
AL Rt/E3.1 Understand longer texts
AL Rt/L1.1 Understand continuous texts
Rt/E3.2
Rt/E3.7
Rw/L1.2
SLc/L1.1
AL Wt/E3.1 Plan & draft writing
Adult Lit Wt/L1.1 Plan and draft writing
Wt/L2.1
Adult Lit Wt/L1.3 Present information in a logical sequence, using paragraphs where appropriate
Adult Lit Wt/L2.3 Present information and ideas in a logical or persuasive sequence, using paragraphs where appropriate
Context
History, culture, museums, libraries

Use as a fun investigation and/or a more formal assessment. Ideal for mixed ability groups as covers skills from Low E2 – E3 – High L1.

Covers estimating, measuring, rounding, data handling (bar charts, averages, pictograms), decimals, calculator use, problem solving, time, 3D shapes and percentages. With answer sheets.

Detailed marking boxes for E2, E3, L1 to allow for differentiated assessment, and extra squared sheets for drawing bar charts and pictograms.
You will need to one packet of Love Hearts per pair or small group.

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Maths
Data Handling
General numeracy / maths
Measures shape and space
Number