Contextual Resources

4 Oct 2017. Updated information on source material added

A reading activity on legal age limits in different parts of the UK. Includes: education, voting, driving, marriage and work. Based on materials at: http://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/learners/uk-life/be-safe-uk/what…

This a functional resource. This resource uses addition, subtraction, multiplication and rounding numbers.
Sam and Tom have weekly incomes from various sources and lots of expenditure!
Subtraction is needed to find out how much money they have left, and multiplication is used to work out money needed for lunches for each day. Each section ends with a rounding task showing items the students have saved for.

This resource has a range of activities to help students learn useful expressions/ language to make a complaint.
It is useful in building confidence in making complaints in person and on the telephone.

Editor’s note
Includes sample dialogue with questions (can also be used as a reading comprehension), matching cards, sammple scenarios, curriculum mapping and teaching notes.

Video task and reading comprehension based on the style of Entry ESOL reading exams. Taken from BBC Newsround website.

Editor’s note
Questions suitable for mixed ability classes from E2-L1 and make good discussion prompts for further work.

Although many learners find patterns and sequences (including odd & even numbers) straightforward, there is a sizeable proportion that really struggle – particularly those with dyslexia and/or dyscalculia.

This resource grew from my frustration at the lack of practice material available for this topic at Entry Levels 2 and 3 in my one to one support sessions. There is generally only one question on this topic per FS assessment, and I found it difficult to come up with real life functional problems off the top of my head.

A reading comprehension based on information taken from the Red Nose Day website.
Created for a group of mixed ability E2-L1 students.

A starter or ice breaker featuring random facts about March. Includes some embedded maths and E&D

Editor’s note
With answers and embedding /extension ideas for all levels.

This resource is useful for lessons relating to sports and diversity. It includes reading comprehension, alphabetical ordering, reading simple instructions, using a map/key, and a short writing task.

Editor’s note
Written for E1-E2 ESOL students but also suitable for E1-2 Functional English.

The first page of this resource will help students to identify consonants and vowels, which then leads onto CVC word building and reading skills.

Pages 2 & 3 have two short texts that my students enjoyed very much. These help students practise reading and identifying the structure of CVC words. They will then be able to answer simple comprehension questions.

You may want to cut up the passages and set up a jigsaw reading activity. Can be used with lower level students.

A Bonfire Night themed resource covering some aspects of literacy and numeracy.
The resource contains a basic reading comprehension about the History of Bonfire Night. This is followed by a numeracy activity where students have to buy fireworks for a display with a budget of £300. The final activity is a writing task and learners have to create a poster advertising the event.

I created this for an ILS (independent life skills) class but it could be used with Entry Functional Skills learners too.