General Resources

Reading, discussion and writing tasks exploring fake ads and online shopping scams on sites such as Facebook and Google. Discussion points to encourage learner engagement and two tasks to develop ideas through their writing.

Editor's note

I put this together when I found so many of my learners trying to hone their employability skills did not know what a lot of the words on job descriptions meant. 

Resource 1 (Definition matching cards: job skills and attributes): I laminated these and cut them up and they worked in pairs or threes to match them up.

There are two other linked resources, as below, to help students with getting to grips with the keywords used in Job Descriptions and Person Specifications. 

These three simple resources are aimed for teaching the layout features and conventions of informal and formal letter writing.  There are three templates: 

An ESOL lesson embedding numeracy, diversity and British values, centred on the Spring Equinox and three festivals which happen around / on this day - Purim, Holi and Shunbun No Hi. Learners collect unfamiliar words on a vocabulary sheet and ask and answer questions to elicit meaning / explanation. There is a powerpoint to introduce the topic, using acronyms eg 7DIAW  - Seven Days In A Week to elicit key words, and lead to an explanation of what the Vernal Equinox is and when it is.

A set of Entry 1 and Entry 2 English tasks that focus on two short texts about the alphabetical list of winter storm names released by the Met Office. The first Functional English resource I have written based on the revised Functional Skills English content (2018) which will be used by awarding organisations from September 2019 [1]. 

An analysis of an Entry Level 3 (E3) Functional Skills reading text about Walter Tull, contributed by  Laura Bell (2018) - see right for the link to Laura's resource.

More and more vocational teachers are being asked to prepare learners for Functional Skills exams.

This resource is designed to give advice on format, style and layout; appropriate content and paragraphing which would accompany any awarding organizations exam. My college used Edexcel . Can be used for Level 1 and Level 2.

Editor’s note
This resource is ideal for all but will be especially helpful to non-specialist English teachers. Incredibly useful!

Simulation of completing an online CV. Very easy to use, fill in the boxes and print after completion.

A set of resources created for a group 16-19 year olds with high functioning ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) but suitable for any E2-E3 literacy /Functional English student.

Involves discussion of year’s highlights, and a written reflection and prediction exercise. Finally, the students record their hopes and wishes which are then kept in sealed envelopes until l the end of the academic year (or other agreed date).