Adult Literacy, Functional English, and GCSE Resources

I created this activity for my ESOL students but it would also work well for Functional English.
The idea is taken from Laura Jeffrey Kiiza’s text types mind map drag and drop activity (L1) – see link below under See also.

Students first use Laura’s drag and drop activity on the computer (this covers both persuasive and instructive texts).
I then gave them the features of persuasive texts (see page 1 of resource) which they cut up and stick on the text on page 2 (or they could simply annotate the text using coloured pens etc.).

This is a basic editable word wheel which you can print, cut out and attach together with a brass paper fastener.
Learners can concentrate on one word at a time. Word wheels can be used for building vocabulary, spelling practice and much more. Suitable for all levels of Functional Skills and ESOL.
Instructions and ideas are included within the PPT. For example:
Stretchy:

• Write positive or negative words in the table
• Look up words that are unfamiliar

Stretchier:

An interactive presentation to explain the meaning of nouns, verbs and adjectives and an accompanying hands-on activity to sort words into nouns, verbs and adjectives. This is good to use early in a course as it is fun and gets learners working in groups,

Photos and pictures to match with accounts of real emergency situations. All in the present tense. All the accounts are true. Accounts can be cut in to strips and given to pairs of learners who can put them in to a sequence to tell a story. Leads to discussion on how we tell a story, and how we sequence sentences to make sense.
Lots of new, real life vocabulary to provoke discussion.
Some stories shorter and simpler than others to allow for differentiation in group.

Detailed instructions on how to play this very funny and effective game. The literacy curriculum introduces adverbs at Level 1 but this game will be enjoyed at al levels and can be used to demonstrate verbs only at lower levels.

Straightforward but very practical worksheet where ESOL learners select a garment and answer questions about its washing care symbols. The written questions require at least E1 reading skills but other parts of the worksheet focus on symbol recognition and are thus suitable for pre-Entry emerging readers / writers.
Note: for more on laundry symbols see “Buying Clothes” PPT below.

Fun, hands-on activity that provides practice in both reading and listening to / following instructions. You should end up with a paper hat!
Fully mapped to Entry 2 Functional English (reading; speaking, listening and communication) and the adult literacy curriculum. Page 1 is for reading practice (or for the tutor to read aloud to the students), page 2 can be chopped up and used as a re-ordering exercise.

Set of reading comprehension and computer-based research/writing task based on a set of instructions for making your own terrarium from a drinks bottle. Written for, and fully mapped to, Entry 2 Functional English and ICT, but could also be used for E1 and E3 learners.

A multi-functional resource for Literacy or Numeracy. Sample TV listings by day, programme, start and end times, channel and genre. Use for alphabetic or numeric sorting, skimming and scanning exercises, literacy social sight vocabulary for days of the week, numeracy exercises for calculating time, etc. This resource contains some sample exercise questions to use which can be developed further according to need. I laminated the sheets and then cut up into days so lower level learners can move the elements around. Higher level learners can work from the whole page sheets as well.

A fabulous set of illustrated instructions. Makes a great activity for literacy and numeracy classes (reading instructions, measuring, shapes, etc.) at many levels.
For an easy to use template please see Bryan Fitzpatrick’s accompany resource below.