General Resources

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).

Investigate the possibility of a college stocking fairly traded products in its canteen. Covers many reading, writing, ICT, numeracy, speaking and listening skills inc. data handling, report writing, creating charts and questionnaires, giving a presentation, etc. Ideal for embedding all three functional skills (or literacy, numeracy and ICT) especially for business students.

My house is a fabulous tool to use at the beginning of the year. Gather useful ILP information during initial assessment. Sample house, blank house and full instructions / teaching ideas are provide. Suitable for literacy and numeracy students at all levels.

This ‘random number generator’ is an open ended resource that the author originally designed to use for mental maths (adding or taking away 10 from the displayed number). It was later used it as part of a ‘Question of Sport’ quiz (in the spelling round!): learners choose a picture and then spell the ‘random’ number that appears: 49, 32, 28, 46, 67, 55, 21, 74 and 13 (these be edited to suit and could also be linked to any set of numbered, pre-prepared quiz questions on any topic).

A great project that covers many L1/2 numeracy elements. You win the lottery, buy a nursery and have to furnish it from catalogues and/or Internet sites.
Learn about budgeting, displaying data, working with areas and floor plans, bank statements, rounding, estimating, and much more. Everything must be written up as a comprehensive report with a clear conclusion (a great guidance page on report writing is included in the resource).

A great way show any Skills for Life learner how to play this popular puzzle and makes a good warm up activity. Use to provoke general discussion on logic-steps and how puzzles help to sharpen the mind and increase brain activity!

A set of 10 questions with optional picture clues and differentiation ideas. Makes a great end of term filler for all levels.

Reflections – Level 2 Smarties investigation is a wonderful report on a Level 2 data handling investigation.

A great project that covers many L1/2 numeracy elements. You win the lottery, buy a salon and have to furnish it from catalogues and/or Internet sites. Learn about budgeting, displaying data, working with areas and floor plans, bank statements, rounding, estimating, and much more. Everything must be written up as a comprehensive report with a clear conclusion (a great guidance page on report writing is included in the resource).

Live the lotto dream is a fabulous project that covers many E3/L1 literacy and numeracy elements. You win the lottery, buy a flat and have to furnish it from the Argos catalogue! Learn about budgeting, working with areas and floor plans, bank statements, rounding, estimating, and much more. Everything must be written up as a comprehensive report with a clear conclusion (a great guidance page on report writing is included in the resource).