Adult Literacy, Functional English, and GCSE Resources

A reading comprehension and vocabulary activity suitable for both ESOL and Literacy / Functional Skills. The activities are based on a BBC News article about John Cronin’s online business, John’s Crazy Socks. John, who has Down’s Syndrome, is a co-founder of the business, along with his father, Mark.

This resource is aimed at high E3, L1 and L2 ESOL learners who make mistakes when using conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs in their writing to express contrast. There are seven speaking, reading and writing tasks in all.

Two PowerPoint resources for discussion that can feed into Level 1 or 2 Functional Skills for English, Speaking & Listening.

Editor’s note
Also covers research, reading and writing. Great for prompting discussion among 14-19 year olds.

A quick paper based quiz on the EU adapted from the on-screen version on the uk.gov site at: www.eureferendum.gov.uk
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It isn’t directly about the referendum but might be useful to spark debates. Multiple choice, questions such as ‘how many countries are in the EU’ etc…..

A railway safety PowerPoint to be used as a discussion on why we need to stay safe around railway lines. Can be used as a speaking and listening tool to form discussion points or as a reading comprehension.

A list of passport prices (converted into £ January 2012) and a set of associated questions.
Useful in Functional English as a discussion or research prompt, especially just before the summer holiday season.

Based on an hilarious Comics Relief YouTube clip. A great way to get students to look at conversations in speaking and listening or to look at humour, irony and sarcasm.

You can vary the questions or just use them as a discussion prompt. I have found it works well with lower level learners and with higher ones as well. Even students who don’t like the shows or the people will have some comments

Many of these common spellings used to crop up regularly in the former Level 1 literacy tests. They will also be useful for Level 1 and Level 2 Functional Skills students.

They have been categorised to make learning more manageable for learners, but some spellings will fit into more than one group.

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.

I developed this simple resource initially as a speaking and listening exercise but quickly discovered I could extend it into a writing activity. The questions are designed not to be too personal. I have used it several times and it has worked well with learners from Entry 1 to Level 2. I particularly like the fact that learners have produced some really excellent writing, which is usually what they find the most difficult.