Warm-up

A selection of  reading (inference) tasks and creative writing prompts on the opening lines of Young Adult novels. 

Editor's Notes

Written for GCSE learners. Another highly original and engaging resource from Steph :) 

Covers opening lines from seven YA novels including John Green (Paper Towns), Rin Chupeco (The Never Tilting World) and Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me).

I used this in L2 only and mixed L1-2 classes. I gave the learners the poster to read, along with the learner starter activity sheet to write in their answers. Once everyone had filled in as much as they could (some learners had support workers so answers were discussed as they were written down), the whole class discussed the answers and I shared the answers on a screen. 

Based on the exercises in the Functional Skills Entry Level English exams, this is a revision resource that also provides practice in spelling and reading. I use this as a starter activity, whilst the students are settling into the classroom. It is not intended to be completed at one time. The resource is kept in their folders and can also be used in spare time or for homework. 

English Entry Level exam revision. This is based on the exercises in the Functional Skills Entry Level English writing exams.  It provides revision and practice in spelling and reading sentences. I use this as a starter activity, whilst the students are settling into the classroom. It is not intended to be completed at one time. The resource is kept in their folders and can also be used in spare time or for homework. 12 pages.

Editor's notes

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  :) 

This lesson gives students the opportunity to discuss fundraising and practise reading skills (scanning and reading for detail). The reading text focuses on Mick Cullen, also known as ‘SpeedoMick’, and his long distance walks for charity. The lesson encourages students to try to empathise with Mick and better understand his background, character and motivations. Themes of mental health are also prominent and so it is advised you check with your learners first/use your own professional judgement before doing the optional video task.

Punctuation practice perfect for L1/L2 learners that focuses on comma usage, brackets, apostrophes and speech marks. The resource aims to encourage learners' retrieval of punctuation using the 5-a-day style.

Editor's note

Beautifully presented. I love Steph's 5-a-day format and hope to use it as a template for future resources.

Short sets of words for alphabetic sorting.   These can be used with literacy or ESOL learners.  I found they worked well at the beginning of each session while learners were still arriving into the class.  They work well as individual or pairs exercises.

The first set works best when each list is cut up and laminated as individual words in each group, so learners can sort them kinaesthetically.  

Get your learners thinking outside the box with this unusual warm up quiz that works well at all levels

Also provides discussion prompts and makes a great introduction to spelling compound words.