Free Functional Skills and Skills for Life resources
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General literacy / English
Literacy resources that cover a range of skills (often at several levels) from two or more of the following areas: speaking & listening, reading, writing.
A 10 minute rhyming script of Charles Dickens' novel 'A Christmas Carol'. Ideal for use as an end of term activity.
It can also be used as a discussion starter and as a topic for further writing. Suitable for groups of mixed levels from Entry 2 to Level 2 and beyond.
Editor's notes
Another clever and funny rhyming (play)script from Jean. Can be used on so many levels and for so many different learning objectives - in addition to being good fun!
Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
Functional English reading
FS Eng SL&C Speaking
ESOL
ESOL: Reading text focus - comprehension (Rt)
ESOL Speak to communicate (Sc)
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
A 15 minute play based on Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The script follows the plot of the original play (with a few minor changes) and is written in the style of a pantomime.
Ideal for use as an introduction to the play or as an end of term activity. Can also be used to enhance acting skills.
Editor's notes
Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
General literacy / English
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
Functional English reading
GCSE Reading AO1a Identify/interpret explicit & implicit information & ideas
GCSE English Spoken Language AO7 Formal presentation skills
ESOL
ESOL: Reading text focus - comprehension (Rt)
ESOL Speak to communicate (Sc)
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
A PowerPoint with an introduction to idioms, followed one idiom per slide. Covers 10 common idioms with images, an example and simple explanation. Perfect for whole class learning, discussion and embedding knowledge for all levels, and especially for ESOL.
In addition there are several game suggestions in the slide notes and a separate set of match cards. Use together or on their own.
Editor's notes
Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
A 10 minute pantomime ideal for use as an end of term activity.
It can also be used as a discussion starter and as a topic for further writing.
Suitable for groups of mixed levels from Pre Entry to Level 2.
Editor's notes
Wonderfully clever and funny script. Can be used on so many levels and for so many different learning objectives - in addition to being jolly good fun! Lots of ideas and discussion points in the separate teaching notes.
Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
Functional English reading
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
ESOL
ESOL: Reading text focus - comprehension (Rt)
ESOL Speak to communicate (Sc)
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
ALERT (Adult Literacy ESOL Resources Training) is a website that provides free adult education resources. There are ESOL, literacy and ICT resources available from levels E1 to L2. Please feel free to download any resources you may find helpful - and of course, please free to add your own!
Editor's notes
There are some wonderful resources here - especially for Entry ESOL and Literacy. Resources include interesting topics such as Chinese New Year, St Patrick's Day, The Great Famine, etc. Well worth a browse.
Scroll down the English for Action page until you reach section 6. Here you can find the download link to this superb 76 page toolkit, along with a brief overview. I don't know why I have only just come across this resource! IMO, it makes inspiring and fascinating reading for all teachers, not just ESOL specialists.
Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
ESOL
General ESOL
General
Staff development
Study Skills and General Teaching
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
A set of tasks to practise reading and writing skills. Read about a student and his work and college life.
Practise using conjunctions.
Learn synonyms
Practise using punctuation correctly.
Write about your own experience of studying and working
Editor's notes
So practical and down to earth! Find out about Joseph's day to day college life and his busy job with Deliveroo. Also very useful for E2-E3 Functional Skills English students.
Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
General literacy / English
FE E2.13 Use basic punctuation correctly (e.g. full stops, question, exclamation marks)
FE E3.13 Use a range of punctuation correctly (e.g. full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas)
FE E2.8 Understand the main points in texts
FE E3.9 Identify, understand & extract main points & ideas in/from texts
FE E2.19 Write in compound sentences, using common conjunctions to connect clauses
ESOL
ESOL Rt/E2.1a Use a range of strategies to trace & understand main events
ESOL Rw/E2.2a Recognise a range of familiar words
ESOL Rt/E3.1a Understand how meaning is built up in a variety texts of more than one paragraph
ESOL Ws/E2.1a Construct simple and compound sentences
ESOL Ws/E2.3a Use correct punctuation, e.g. capital letters, full stops, question marks
ESOL Ws/E2.1a Construct simple and compound sentences
ESOL Ws/E3.3a Use punctuation to aid clarity in relation to beginnings and ends of sentences
ESOL Ws/E3.2a Use basic sentence grammar accurately
Reading and related activities focusing on a simplified version of a BBC news article reporting the results of the 2021 Australian Census. Ideal for practising reading strategies including: relating images to text, using headings, skimming, scanning and using context to predict. My (Australian) students found it challenging but were engaged in the content. Lots of possible ways it could lead into other written and oral activities. Numbers and a graph involved so can also be used to revise numeracy concepts such as percentages and extracting information from graphs.
Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
FE READING main points & detail
FE L1.13 Use reference materials & appropriate strategies for a range of purposes, inc. to find word meanings
FE L2.15 Use a range of reference materials & resources (e.g. glossaries, legends/keys) for different purposes
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.
