Contextual Resources

A descriptive poem on the theme of Nature.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion about the seasons, local environments, the life cycle of animals and plants, global warming or the benefits of outdoor exercise.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes suggested questions and discussion prompts.

A poem on the theme of shopping and food.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around shops, using technology, buying local produce and community spirit.

Editor's notes

Super for many levels and situations - includes a list of suggested questions/prompts.

A short poem on the theme of food.  Can be used as a reading and pronunciation exercise or may be extended to include a discussion around food production and carbon footprint or the ethics of food choices. Could also be used as a basis for written work.

Editor's notes

I love this because it works on so many different levels!

Covers geometric drawings, area, perimeter, money, metric measures, tallies, line graphs and much more.
Fully mapped to the Functional Maths criteria and process skills. With answer sheet.

Editor’s note
Wonderful open ended project. Ideal for E3-L2 mixed ability groups.

A Functional Maths resource using area, multiplication, division and money. I have used Wickes catalogues with my students as they are small and easy to use, but combining the task with internet research to find the best price would be a really good way of doing this lesson.
Fully mapped to L1-2 Functional Maths criteria.

Nice selection of winter activities written for an E3-L2 Functional Skills group (best for E3-L1).
The main activities are a reading comprehension (about the history of poinsettias and how they came to be popular at Christmas time) and a cloze exercise based on an old Mexican religious legend. There are also some maths questions.

Work out the cost of carpeting a flat (compound shapes) and seeding and fencing a rectangular lawn.
The step by step problem solving approach also makes this ideal for underpinning L1 Functional Maths – although the scaffolded worksheet on page 2 can be removed for confident students or for assessment purposes. It also provides useful practice with extracting information from a room plan and price list.
Fully mapped to L1 adult numeracy and Functional Maths.

A challenging project where students must research, plan and cost a luxury garden. Includes scale diagrams, money, and shape and space problems (paving slabs). Extension options cover percentages and averages. Great for horticulture students or anyone with an interest in gardening.
Also ideal for L1-2 Functional Maths.
The project also involves web investigation (costs of garden materials) and writing a covering letter (selling the finished garden design) and therefore also covers Functional ICT and Functional English.

Buying herbs at the garden centre is based on packets of seeds and covers addition and subtraction of decimals (money), range and mean, and scale drawings. Great for horticulture students or anyone with an interest in gardening.
The problem solving nature of many questions and the drawing a scale diagram task also makes this ideal for E3-L1 Functional Maths.

Excellent practice in multiplying whole numbers and decimals (money) by 10 and 100. Written for L1 students with an interest in gardening but suitable for any group of L1 learners, including those studying NVQ L1 or L2 Horticulture, Gardening, etc.
Differentiation is easily achieved as the first page covers only multiplying and dividing by 10 (a useful stepping stone for some students). Page 2 covers both x10 and x100.