Adult Literacy, Functional English, and GCSE Resources

This is great as a warm-up activity or a bit of end-of-term fun. It is suitable for a mixed ability group of numeracy learners, or indeed literacy or ESOL learners. This quiz tests learners’ knowledge of how old someone has to be in order to do certain things legally, e.g. be a blood donor. It can be used in small group or pair work (which worked well for me) as well as individually.

A classic anonymous poem that has the correct spelling but the wrong words.

Read the poem aloud to your students before they have sight of it. Then give them page 1 of the work sheet.

A mingling exercise to get students talking to one another. Great as an induction activity for new classes or for ESOL learners to practise speaking and listening.

An engaging and interesting lesson plan and note taking worksheet for a session using short film trailers to develop email writing skills.

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 scheme of work I have used in EBD schools to get the pupils engaged with English. It is a 7 week scheme of work aimed at between E3-L2, as it can be differentiated. I have also included the lesson plans that go with the scheme.

Editor’s note
Although written for a Key Stage 3/4 school setting this would work well as a way of embedding Functional English into a vocational childcare course or a family learning situation.

This task was originally used for Functional Skills although it can be applied just as effectively to literacy sessions. The task aims to encourage learners to work in small groups to discuss what each phrase really means and therefore explore the different interpretations that other people have of them. Also makes a good ice breaker. Includes proverb cards, answer sheet and worksheet.

Fun and fast paced team game for any group from E2 to L2. The focus is on looking up words quickly and accurately. Full instructions included. Easily differentiated for different groups.
Makes a great warm up exercise.

A wonderful kinaesthetic card matching game designed to help learners remember when to use capital letters.

The game comprises 52 picture cards (26 proper nouns, 26 common nouns) and [img_assist|nid=4758|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=58]26 double ended upper-lowercase dominoes. It not only reinforces knowledge of capital letters but also is a good speaking and listening activity. Learners often debate what or who the picture is and where it needs to go.

A starter activity for age 16+ . Guaranteed to engage and enthuse learners from Entry Level 1 to Level 2. Students should make a note of each of the new words and then decide which one (out of 9) has not been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
It can prompt discussions on the words and learners can give their opinion on what they may mean.