Contextual Resources

Role play prompts for higher beginners to E3. 

1. Peter needs to take his son to the  hospital; he asks his manager for time off work
2. A doctor at the hospital speaks to Peter's son

Editor's note

Another very useful set of  role play prompts from Jenny. Visit her page to find further sets

Written in and inspired by the July 22 heatwave where temperatures in the UK exceeded 40 degrees! 

Three texts about hot weather and its effects on the body. Questions start at Entry Level 1 and progress to Level 2. L1-2 Learners will still need to access the Entry Level texts as the final questions involve comparing two or more texts. 

A set of five texts about screen time, physical and sedentary activity, and sleep for Children under age 5. The texts can be used in various combinations for Functional Skills (FS) speaking, listening and communicating; reading and writing activities. Teachers can pick and choose their own texts and create related DARTs (directed activities related to text) and questions to suit. There will also be pre-prepared resources on skillsworkshop. See "See also" for links.

I have been covering how to make an appointment with the GP and taking part in a role play with the GP with my ESOL group, so I have prepared these materials.

My courses are not accredited, so I don’t know how this fits into the ESOL SFL criteria and my classes are, inevitably, a mix of Pre-Entry and E1 learners. Hope it might be useful.

Entry level Functional Skills Maths (with some English too!). A multi skill resource on the theme of a maternity ward.
Ideal for Health & Social Care or Childcare students.
Editor’s note
Two versions available: E1-E2 and E2-E3.
With detailed Functional Maths mapping and teaching tips

This resource helps learners hear rhymes and recognise corresponding letters/digraphs, rimes and onsets etc. Take simple limericks and poems and get your learners to put them together.

I created my own limericks to match work we had been doing on long vowel sounds (it is not that difficult to do once you get started). Well-known poems and nursery rhymes also proved particularly popular as many knew them already by heart from childhood and some were doing them now with their children.

A truly functional set of everyday reading and writing tasks based on medicine instructions. Activities include:

• reading comprehension questions
• matching instructions to the correct tube/bottle/packet
• writing instructions
• cloze exercise
• word search
  Fully mapped to E2 Functional English and with extra teaching tips.

Beautiful set of resources for embedding spelling and vocabulary. Written for NVQ social care students but could also be useful in other vocational areas such as sport. A range of spelling and vocabulary activities on the topic of organs of the body.
Word and picture matching cards
Student reference sheet
Function matching cards
Look Say Cover Write Check spelling sheets (one for E2-E3, one for L1-2)
Fill in sheets

Everything you need for embedding literacy / Functional English into a teaching session that looks at drugs.

Learners explore the types types of drugs and also some of the origins of the problem. It covers types of text and some reading and spelling, including segmenting. There is also a ‘DARTs’ type exercise that explores how to treat a person who may become ill, instructions to re-order, and posters to laminate and discuss.

Some of the posters are quite powerful and may require discretion with their use, but are good illustrations of this type of text.

Listening activities are few and far between but this fabulous set is ideal for, and fully mapped, to Entry 1 and 2 Functional English learners.
Based on four everyday listening events

• An announcement in a station
• A notice in a waiting room
• A news report
• A telephone conversation

Each provides practice listening for gist and detail in short explanations. The ‘waiting room’ PDF also provides practice with listening to instructions.

Each document includes.