Contextual Resources

Page 1: 8 maths questions relating to olympic torch
Page 2: Picture quiz: who is carrying the torch?
Page 3: Picture quiz: famous UK landmarks.
Page 4: UK cities – anagrams
Page 5: Answers

• Quizzes on pages 2 and 3 make good ice breakers and can also be used for SL&C discussion prompts.

This is a resource for teaching compound words to mixed ability groups. There are five different word match activities and two help sheets.

I use the first two activities, sports and food, with E1-2 learners. Depending on their ability you can either give the learners both topics at once or give them one at a time to make the activity easier. For very low level students I’d give the learners one topic at a time and a help sheet.

A great PPT quiz – the emphasis in on maths (questions on number of matches played, groups etc.) but it also includes general knowledge questions. All question can be easily adapted if they are too easy / difficult.

A fabulous way to practise decimal, fraction and percentage equivalents. Set of 32 cards (Excel) and accompanying rules (PDF). For two or more players.

A fun paired dice game that really gets across the meaning and purpose of finding the mode, median and range of a set of data. Great for footie fans – who can choose their own name for the home team.

This ‘random number generator’ is an open ended resource that the author originally designed to use for mental maths (adding or taking away 10 from the displayed number). It was later used it as part of a ‘Question of Sport’ quiz (in the spelling round!): learners choose a picture and then spell the ‘random’ number that appears: 49, 32, 28, 46, 67, 55, 21, 74 and 13 (these be edited to suit and could also be linked to any set of numbered, pre-prepared quiz questions on any topic).

2007-08 Premiership and Championship football team cards for alphabetical ordering and/or reading practice. Simple but popular and useful resource that can be quickly differentiated for different levels by removing multiple teams beginning with same letter, working with all cards or just premiership cards, etc. Best enlarged to A3 and laminated.

Word games to help help with decoding, spelling and vocabulary work. Match the words to make new compound words and find the secret theme! Three game options plus a separate whole class game. Themes include weather, transport, food, flowers, and many more.

Very popular with my Entry 3 – Level 1 students!

A great way to practise ratio and proportion. Choose your favourite horse and how much to bet ( we suggest Haribo or buttons!). If it wins the race you must work out how much the bookie owes you. With sample lesson plan.

A practical investigation that can be enjoyed in mixed level classes.  There's something for all learners from Entry Level 1 to Level 2.

Editor's note. One of my favourite resources that somehow got lost when the site was redeveloped in 2011.  Now fully updated to reflect the new 2018 Functional Skills content that come into effect September 2019. Pages 7-8 show detailed FS mapping to content descriptors and problem solving skills.