Contextual Resources

Buying a ticket provides prompts, dialogue scripts and other ideas for speaking and listening work, along with reading practice (obtaining information from texts). Covers football, cinema, bus and train tickets.
Originally used with the DfES ESOL E1 Skills for Life materials (Unit 4 – Local Transport, page 11 – Buying a ticket) but can be used alone. http://rwp.excellencegateway.org.uk/readwriteplus/Learning_Materials_ES…

Buildings provides group spelling and vocabulary practice along with ideas for speaking practice. Look at the picture, then type the spelling into the box (ideal with a cordless keyboard) before checking the correct spelling with a mouse click.
Examples include castle, palace, windmill, Big Ben, bungalow and more.
Originally used with the DfES ESOL E1 Skills for Life materials (Unit 7 – Homes) but can be used alone. Please read the notes area on slide 1 of this PPT for teaching ideas, curriculum links, etc.

Problems in the home PPT provides group spelling and vocabulary practice along with ideas for speaking practice. Look at the pictures, discuss what the people do (electricians, gas engineers, plumbers, etc.) and the problems they fix. Then type the correct spelling into the box (ideal with a cordless keyboard) before checking the correct spelling with a mouse click. Finish with some skimming and scanning practice using related information from the Yellow Pages.

Buying clothes provides group vocabulary work along with many ideas for speaking practice. Please read the notes area on slide 1 of the PPT for teaching ideas, curriculum links, etc.
Covers buying a t-shirt (can be used with separate dialogue/clothes cards available below as PDF file), laundry symbols, UK shoe and clothes sizes, fabric patterns.

Provides group spelling, vocabulary and speaking practice. Also useful for recapping count / non-count nouns (e.g. asparagus), indefinite article (e.g. an apricot) and special plurals (tomatoes, radishes). Originally used with a cordless keyboard and mouse to practice spelling homework. Can easily be adapted to include your own group’s key spellings / vocabulary.
Please read the notes area on slide 1 for teaching ideas, curriculum links, etc.

Food and Food Containers provides vocabulary practice with a series of paired examples of ‘container phrases’ e.g. a coffee cup – a cup of coffee; an egg box – a box of eggs, a wine glass – a glass of wine, etc.
Type in boxes are ideal for group spelling practice with a cordless keyboard.
The final slide is an extension writing activity to be used with a separate Word shopping list template (see below) and/or ESOL DfES Skill for Life Materials (E1, Unit 3 – Shopping 1).

Travel and Transport provides group spelling and vocabulary practice. 15 individual forms of transport – look at the picture, then type the spelling into the box (ideal with a cordless keyboard) before checking the correct spelling with a mouse click. There is then a page of more unusual forms of travel followed by a final group writing activity.
Please read the notes area on slide 1 of this PPT for teaching ideas, curriculum links, etc.

Happy Holidays is a set of two resources that was used and created during a series of eight 2 hour lessons. DO NOT USE IT ALL AT ONCE – and please read the notes underneath each slide!
PowerPoint

A set of 3 related resources

1. Who wants to be an A student? Level 1 Literacy ‘Millionaire’ game, complete with music and (US) sound effects: 15 real Level 1 Literacy questions covering spelling, grammar, locating information, vocabulary and punctuation.

2. Who wants to be an A student? Level 2 Literacy ‘Millionaire’ game – as above but with more challenging questions.

Two resources based on ‘Little Britain’: aimed at teenage students but can be adapted for other groups. The introductory PPT cleverly introduces the idea of formality/informality by looking at dress codes, ‘chavs’ and Vicky Pollard from Little Britain! Then moves on to give good examples of formal/informal language and slang.
The accompanying PDF file includes: matching slang to more formal language, writing definitions of slang that you use, listening activities using the Little Britain Audio CD.