Warm-up

Any resource that is particularly good for the start of a lesson

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. 

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
FE E3.16 Use 1st, 2nd & 3rd letters to sequence words alphabetically
FE E2.15 Use 1st & 2nd letters to sequence words alphabetically
Alphabetical order
ESOL
ESOL Rw/E2.5a Sequence words using basic alphabetical ordering skills
ESOL Rw/E3.4a Alphabetical order 1st & 2nd place letters

English Entry Level exam revision. This is based on the exercises in the Functional Skills Entry Level English writing exams.  It provides revision and practice in spelling and reading sentences. 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. 12 pages.

Editor's notes

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE E2.16 Spell correctly words designated for Entry Level 2
FE E3.17 Spell correctly words designated for Entry Level 3
FE L1.21 Spell words used most often in work, study and daily life, including specialist words
FE L2.22 Spell words used in work, study & daily life, including a range of specialist words

A light-hearted poem to celebrate International Pi Day and British Pie Week.  Pi Day is celebrated on 14th March every year (3.14) and British Pie Week is usually during the first full week of March.

In English classes this poem could be used as a discussion starter on the theme of food likes and dislikes, vegetarianism and diet.

In Maths classes it could be used as a humorous introduction to Pi.

Editor's notes

Love this  :) 

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Poetry
FE SL&C Discussion
Maths
General numeracy / maths
FM L2.16 Calculate perimeters & areas of 2-D shapes inc. triangles & circles and composite shapes including non-rectangular shapes (formulae given except for triangles & circles)
FM L2.16 Calculate perimeters & areas of 2-D shapes inc. triangles & circles and composite shapes including non-rectangular shapes (formulae given except for triangles & circles)
ESOL
General ESOL
Context
Catering Food Nutrition

This lesson gives students the opportunity to discuss fundraising and practise reading skills (scanning and reading for detail). The reading text focuses on Mick Cullen, also known as ‘SpeedoMick’, and his long distance walks for charity. The lesson encourages students to try to empathise with Mick and better understand his background, character and motivations. Themes of mental health are also prominent and so it is advised you check with your learners first/use your own professional judgement before doing the optional video task.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE L1.9 Identify & understand the main points, ideas & details
FE L2.11 Identify when main points are sufficient & when specific details are important
FE L1.1 Identify relevant information & lines of argument in explanations & presentations
FE L2.1 Identify relevant information from extended explanations or presentations
FE L2.2 Follow narratives & lines of argument
FE L1.3 Respond effectively to detailed questions
FE L2.3 Respond effectively to detailed or extended questions & feedback
FE L1.6 Follow / understand discussions & make contributions relevant to situation & subject
FE L2.8 Make relevant and constructive contributions to move discussion forward
ESOL
ESOL Rt/L1.3a Understand how main points and specific detail are presented and linked
ESOL Rt/L1.5a Use skimming, scanning and detailed reading in different ways for different purposes
ESOL Rt/L2.3a Identify the main points and specific detail in different types of text of varying lengths & detail
ESOL Rt/L2.7a Use different reading strategies to find and obtain information, e.g. skimming, scanning, detailed reading
ESOL Lr/L1.1a Extract information from texts of varying genre, e.g. radio, TV
ESOL Lr/L1.5a Respond to questions on a range of topics
ESOL Lr/L2.1a Extract information from extended texts in a non-face-to-face context, e.g. radio
ESOL Lr/L2.3a Respond to detailed or extended questions on a range of topics
ESOL Sd/L1.2a Express views and opinions
ESOL Sd/L1.1c Express likes, dislikes, feelings, hopes, etc.
ESOL Sd/L2.2c Express views, opinions, feelings, wishes
Context
Voluntary, Charity and Community
Mental health, awareness & psychology

Punctuation practice perfect for L1/L2 learners that focuses on comma usage, brackets, apostrophes and speech marks. The resource aims to encourage learners' retrieval of punctuation using the 5-a-day style.

Editor's note

Beautifully presented. I love Steph's 5-a-day format and hope to use it as a template for future resources.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE E3.13 Use a range of punctuation correctly (e.g. full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas)
FE L1.19 Use a range of punctuation correctly (e.g. full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, possessive apostrophes)
FE L2.20 Punctuate writing correctly using a wide range of punctuation markers e.g. colons, commas, inverted commas, apostrophes, quotation marks

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.  

Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
English
FE E2.15 Use 1st & 2nd letters to sequence words alphabetically
FE E3.16 Use 1st, 2nd & 3rd letters to sequence words alphabetically
Alphabetical order
ESOL
ESOL Rw/E3.4a Alphabetical order 1st & 2nd place letters

Get your learners thinking outside the box with this unusual warm up quiz that works well at all levels

Also provides discussion prompts and makes a great introduction to spelling compound words.

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE WRITING Spelling

Useful PPT for introducing or revising probability. Warm up questions with built in answers followed by several sets of tasks - one based on another Skillsworkshop sheet (Independent Events - see link under "See also"). Covers  likelihood line, calculating probability (including simplifying fractions) and probability of events using a number line.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
Maths
FM L1.30 Understand probabilities on a scale from 0 to 1; use to compare the likelihood of events
FM L1.31 Use equally likely outcomes to find probabilities of simple events & express as fractions
FM L2.27 Express probabilities as fractions, decimals & percentages

This activity can be used as an icebreaker or as resource when teaching about 3rd person agreement in the present tense.  

Learners ask 'Do you ..... ?' and use the answers in the box to complete the question however after the Tutor's monitoring they should realise that the answer form cannot be used for the question form.  

The questionnaire has 16 boxes but according to time and size of class, it can be reduced by folding the questionnaire so only 8 questions are used instead.  

Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Level 1
English
FE E1.5 Respond to questions about specific information
FE E2.3 Respond appropriately to straightforward questions
FE E1.4 Make requests & ask straightforward questions using appropriate terms & registers
FE E2.2 Make requests & ask clear questions appropriately in different contexts
ESOL
ESOL Sc/E1.3a  Ask for personal details
ESOL Sc/E2.2c Ask for personal details
ESOL Sc/E3.3b Ask questions to obtain personal or factual information
ESOL Lr/E1.4b Recognise different question words
ESOL Lr/E2.5b Respond to requests for information
ESOL Lr/E3.5b Respond to requests for information