Why are names important? What can we learn from them?
Slides for L1 and L2 English learners to find out more about the importance of names while building their English skills. (For example: vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, research, discussion and a mini writing task).
Editor's notes
Ideal as an ice breaker at the start of the year - although the wealth of material, discussion points and links mean it could easily fill an entire lesson! Topics covered include:
Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
FS Eng L1.4 Communicate information / ideas / opinions clearly & accurately on range of topics
FS Eng L2.5 Communicate information/ideas/opinions clearly/effectively with further detail/development if required
FE L1.13 Use reference materials & appropriate strategies for a range of purposes, inc. to find word meanings
FE L1.17 Read & understand a range of specialist words in context
FE L1.18 Use knowledge of punctuation to aid understanding of texts
Three sets of dominoes to use in warm-up and for letter and word recognition activities. The first set, for pre-Entry ESOL and Literacy learners with very low levels of letter and word recognition, matches lower case to capital letter versions, the second set is a set of “doubles”, which can be used alongside the first. The third set, for pre-Entry / Entry 1 ESOL learners, matches a category to an example. Each set has 17 dominoes, so 4 each for a group of 4 learners, plus one to start.
Level
M7
M8
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
Rw/E3.2
Rw/E2.1
AL Rw/E1.1 Have limited, meaningful sight vocabulary of words, signs, symbols
Functional English reading
Form filling
Pre-entry
pre-Entry Rw/M8.3 Recognise & read a growing no. of words signs symbols
ESOL
ESOL Rw/E3.2a Read & understand words / phrases commonly used on forms
ESOL Rw/E2.1a Recognise words on forms related to personal information
ESOL Rw/E1.1a Recognise a limited number of words, signs and symbols
This is a combination of speaking & listening, note taking & writing, that I have used successfully as an ice breaker with new groups. It involves learners talking to several people and finding out about their food likes & dislikes (plus allergies, religious considerations etc) before planning a menu for a dinner party. The menu must be acceptable to all the guests! Finally each learner produces their menu presented in a conventional style.
Level
Entry Level 3
English
Functional English - writing
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
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.
Level
Level 1
English
Adult Literacy: Speaking & Listening
Maths
Functional Maths - numbers and the number system
Functional Maths - measures, shape & space
General numeracy / maths
Functional Maths
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Find out and record everyone’s favorites from a diverse list of foods. Use as an icebreaker in any Entry Level literacy, numeracy, Functional Skills or ESOL lesson.
Also ties in well with lessons on diversity, healthy eating, collecting data, making / taking simple surveys, tallies, counting, asking questions, etc.
Mapped to Functional Maths and SfL adult numeracy, Functional English (speaking, listening and communication) and SfL adult literacy.
Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
SLlr/L1.6
SLc/E2.3
SLc/E2.2
AL SLc/E1.3
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
A great set of ice breaker quizzes for all levels. 6 options. Can you write down a song for each letter of the alphabet? Or a food, film, TV programme, famous person, etc.
Students could be given a different quiz sheet each and be encouraged to wander round and ask other students to help fill the gaps. Alternatively students could work in teams – the first team to complete an entire sheet wins!
