Adult Literacy, Functional English, and GCSE Resources

AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2 style exam practice. Source A is from a contemporary memoir "Life As A Unicorn" by Amrou Al-Kadhi. Source B is adapted from a Victorian article about aquariums. The questions mimic AQA Paper 2; questions 1 to 5. Question 5 asks students to write an article about gender roles. The whole paper reflects the advance information given by AQA about the summer 2022 exams; a memoir paired with a Victorian essay and an article writing task. 

Editor's notes

GCSE AQA Language Paper 1 Question 3: this resource uses a pop music video (Stay by Shakespears Sister) to help students grasp the concept of analysing fictional texts for structure. Many students struggle to get to grips with the idea of structure; this activity is designed to demonstrate how stories are structured in a more visual way. There's a worksheet with links to three short video clips; students watch each clip and then make notes about what they see in the story (introduction of characters, setting, atmosphere / mood / tone, action, plot, etc). 

Topical form filling practice. Encourage your learners to enter the Platinum Pudding Competition to celebrate the Queen's 70th year on the throne. In addition to requiring personal information, it also provide practice writing compound sentences. Adapted and simplified from the official form on the Fortnum and Mason web site.

Editor's note

Look out for more Platinum Jubilee resources in the near future. 

Functional Skills English slides on comparing texts - part of my Skills Building Series.

This resource explores the fundamental skills to support learners in achieving success with the comparison question in the Edexcel Functional Skills English Level 1 and 2 Exam papers. It provides learners with opportunities to practice their comparison skills using images, videos (audio with lyrics) and short texts. 

Editor's notes

Social Media - AI behind the scenes slides exploring: how many people use social media and the algorithms running behind the scenes; the fact that we are being 'watched' and the concept that 'if you're not paying for the product, then YOU are the product'. Slides also explore DeepMind, Google Autocomplete and the idea that smartphones are making us dumber. 

Two part session, exploring Paper 2 Question 4 (GCSE English Language AQA).  Slides contain texts with guidance and prompts to upgrade responses.  Part 2 slides has voice over reading of text which can be played whilst in present mode.   Accompanying the slides are Text Sources for learner exploration, highlighting and annotation. 

Editor's notes

Useful resource which can be used as a little taster of GCSE for FS learners, or as a GCSE activity to challenge repetitive sentence starts, use of adverbs to begin sentences, to explore structure and language in their own writing. A way to get words onto paper and develop a narrative.

Editor's note

Lesson to develop creative writing skills - 'show me, don't tell me' explores how you can paint a picture with your words without explicitly telling the reader everything that happens.  Engaging slides using images and exploring physical behaviours for different emotions, ways of speaking and other adjectives to support learners in creating effective and believable characters. Slides also include 'Showing Versus Telling' examples for learners to demonstrate their understanding of the difference between them. 

Use alone or as a consolidation resource for learners after attempting  E2 Homophone Cloze Exercises’ and/or  E3 Homophone Cloze Exercises – Set 1’ . Covers 7 sets of homophones from the E2 and E3 spelling lists. There are also some follow-up exercises.