ESOL Resources

An activity to introduce the past simple form by reading about Christmas. Read about Christmas in the present and past tense then identify regular and irregular and past simple verbs. Introduces students to past tense and also familiarises them with British Christmas traditions.

Editor's note

Wonderful! I love the simplicity yet usefulness of this resource.

A Beginners / Entry 1 level set of activities to introduce and practise using adjectives within the theme of travel.

Practise vocabulary, antonyms, spelling, sentence structure and handwriting.

Editor's note

Although written for ESOL most parts of this resource are also very suitable for E1-2 Functional English. In addition to the many tasks it also provides a short overview of adjectives  and basic sentence structure . Great for the build up to summer holidays - or indeed any time of year!

Various activities to practise travel and transport themes and ideas. Read about a journey to college, answer comprehension questions and exam style questions,  form questions, use adverbs of frequency and conjunctions, along with speaking, listening  and writing practice - all on the subject of a journey to college. 

Editor's notes

Engaging and relevant! Written for E3 ESOL but the reading text and several of the exercises (for example: conjunctions) also provide useful and relevant practice for E2-L1 Functional Skills English. 

Based on the exercises in the Functional Skills Entry Level English exams, this is a revision resource that also provides practice in spelling and reading. I use this as a starter activity, whilst the students are settling into the classroom. It is not intended to be completed at one time. The resource is kept in their folders and can also be used in spare time or for homework. 

Additional DARTs (directed activities related to text) developed to be used with the My Busy Day/Housework  E1/2 reading text written by Laurence Fletcher in 2010 and further adaptations by Nafisah Graham-Brown in 2012.

Editor's notes

 Three delightful E1 worksheets with a focus on sentence structure (rearranging sentences and splitting sentences up into individual words).

Update 24/2/22: written by Sharon Roberts and Alexandra Bates, both of Essex ACL. 
This is a fun activity which encourages ESOL learners to engage with digital technology and transacting online. It provides opportunity to explore vocabulary related to shopping while also discussing the advantages of shopping for food online. It can be adapted to all levels and can be extended for a longer activity if required.

Editor's note

Use the family tree to help write simple and compound sentences about your family. Written for E1-2 ESOL  but also suitable for E1-2 Functional English.

Editor's notes

A lovely way to reinforce sentence structure and basic punctuation, and (for ESOL) teach key family words such as cousin, grandmother, nephew, etc. Worksheet with detailed mapping and sample answers available in a  separate document.

Short sets of words for alphabetic sorting.   These can be used with literacy or ESOL learners.  I found they worked well at the beginning of each session while learners were still arriving into the class.  They work well as individual or pairs exercises.

The first set works best when each list is cut up and laminated as individual words in each group, so learners can sort them kinaesthetically.  

This resource is based on the DfES ESOL Skills for Life E2 recording 'Asking where things are'. It gives exam practice questions (C&G style) in the first section and in the second section an activity to enable learners to tune in to the sounds of English. The first section can be completed in class and the second at home or the whole sheet can be given for homework. Listening development at home enables learners to listen as often as they wish and tune in until they hear the text more clearly.