General Resources

A quick but very useful match-up activity that makes a good starter activity for financial literacy or employment skills courses - and it's bound to prompt discussion.

Editor's note

Written for an Australian audience but I have added a UK version on page 2.  Learners can draw lines to match the items or, for a reusable resource, the page could be laminated and/or cut into 12 cards. 

What is the International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination? Why is it important and what can we learn from it?
Slides for L1 and L2 English learners to find out more about the importance of racial equality while building their English skills.

I created this L2 Functional Skills resource a couple of years ago for a  young adult group that used particularly 'salty' language. As well as a reading comprehension task, it led to some fruitful discussion about swearing in general, appropriate use of language with different audiences, and facilitated the setting of some mutually agreed ground rules.

In a world where social media is everywhere and in our lives day and night the impact of this on people as individuals can be a mixture of positivity and negativity. For a lot of people the impact of the promotion of having the ‘perfect body’ whether you are male / female can have a devastating impact for example bullying, mental health and worst case scenario suicide.  So how can we improve / promote a more positive image using social media and support m

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 reading comprehension and writing activity based on a Cadbury’s Easter Brand Fact Sheet. Ideal for Level 1 Functional English.

Editor’s note
Fully mapped with answer sheet and S&L idea.

Learners must choose the next manager of the England football team. Using the task sheet to guide them, they must research, collate and present information for five candidates and then make the final choice.

There is scope for plenty of lively discussion around the choices made and also about what the manager’s job entails.

A Power Point presentation is included as an example, but can also be printed out to use in some of the additional activities described.

A set of posters / cards / checklists designed to prompt discussion, check learning and keep a record of student progression. Designed for Entry Level Functional Maths and English learners in an FE setting but suitable for all levels and subjects.
This resource was inspired by discussion on the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics) site about “understanding versus doing” and I would like to thank the forum members for their ideas and feedback.

An outstanding set of resources. Developed to prompt discussion on knife crime with parents and children in a family learning setting, they are equally suitable in an FE setting – prompting discussion between students and tutors. The materials can be used to focus on knife crime but are also useful as part of wider discussion about criminal behaviour.

The resources include

Questioning for understanding is a really useful help sheet that encourages learners to ask relevant questions (any topic, any level). Based on Kipling’s “What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who” with teaching ideas and useful links.

For a related resource using the same idea to investigate and write newspaper reports please see Ellie Walsh’s Looking at Newspapers (below).