Adult Literacy, Functional English, and GCSE Resources

A reading comprehension based on articles taken from Emily Coxhead's The Happy News.  This publication is to "celebrate all that's good in the world" and so it seemed a good time at the start of the year to have the opportunity to talk about the positives, rather than negatives, around us. Questions cover many aspects or the new reformed L1-2 curriculum including: main points & detail, textual and organisation features, interpreting punctuation and understanding vocabulary. I am also planning to use this as the basis of a speaking and listening discussion.

Specifically written to focus only on comparing and contrasting texts (now expected at Level 1 and Level 2).  This set of  graduated questions uses texts from "Six Texts about TV Licences" (available separately on skillsworkshop) and encourages learners to compare content, format, purpose and language of texts based on similar topics.

A set of six texts about TV Licences that can be used in various combinations for Functional Skills (FS) speaking, listening and communicating; reading and writing activities. Teachers can pick and choose their own texts and create related DARTs (directed activities related to text) and questions to suit. There will also be pre-prepared resources on skillsworkshop. When selecting texts consider the interests and levels of your learners, and what type of text and purpose you want to focus on.

I wrote this resource to explore the Reformed Entry Level 2 reading and writing content, and the format of the new assessments from various awarding organisations (AO). 

Sparked after reading an article about a UK Which? report in The Guardian newspaper, and made in haste, this resource is aimed at Entry Level 3 (E3) and Level 1 (L1) learners but includes some E2 and L2 questions. There is no answer sheet – one might appear later for skillsworkshop contributors – but see below for general marking guidance. If you are stuck you can ask for help using my Twitter tag @skillsworkshop https://twitter.com/skillsworkshop

A PowerPoint set of L1-L2 reading, maths and writing tasks. All are based on information a recent UK.gov Home Office fact sheet about Prevent and Channel*. The fact sheet can be found online or downloaded from this page. Main Functional Maths coverage is reading and comparing whole numbers and percentages, and percentage-fraction equivalents. Some questions involve calculating percentages or checking the figures that are quoted in the text (Level 2).

Editor's notes

I saw this guide on the BBC website and thought it would be suitable for my Level 1 learners.  This text clearly has a limited shelf-life but is very topical and gives us a chance to discuss democracy as part of British values.  It is quite a detailed comprehension and I have included some Level 1 Reformed Functional Skills Reading questions e.g. explaining apostrophe use.  Whilst not expressly a Level 2 text, it does give a chance to discuss issues of fact, opinion and bias.

Editor's note

Fourteen questions related to Remembrance Day (topics include WW1, WW2 ration books,  Korean War, war poetry, etc.). Use as a traditional paper-based quiz or an IT based investigation. Learners could work individually or in teams / small groups. One way of approaching the quiz would be to see what the class as a whole can answer from their general knowledge before moving on to internet research. 

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.

An additional news story to go with Maggie's great E3 Firework Safety reading & spelling resource.  Use her Fireworks:  the Law page as Text A and then there are two pages of L1-L2 comprehension (I have a mixed class and thus needed something at a higher level). Focus is on general comprehension (main points & detail) but organisational and language features are also covered.

Editor's note