Recent Changes

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A 16 piece triangular jigsaw puzzle where common homophones must be matched to the correct sentence. Use as an ice breaker or plenary activity – great for pairs or small groups. Guaranteed to create promote discussion as learners solve puzzle (best laminated). As usual with Tarsia puzzles, you can choose to print a standard or large puzzle (select Output – large, i.e. 3 pieces per A4 sheet).

Level
Level 1
English
Homophones, homographs & confusables
AL Ww/L1.1 Spell & use spelling strategies

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Fabulous set of 18 interactive homophone ‘drop-down’ spelling worksheets. Each worksheet explains when to use each homophone – with examples, space to type your own sentences, cloze sentences and an answer/reference sheet. Each worksheet includes 10, 15 or 20 cloze sentences.
All common homophones, and several less-well-known pairs, are covered. See separate file list below.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
Homophones, homographs & confusables
AL Ww/L1.1 Spell & use spelling strategies
AL Ww/L2.1 Spell technical words

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Two homophone crosswords – each consists of 30+ words and ‘clues’ (the clues are simply the matching homophone which makes these crosswords quite tricky (L2) and ideal for promoting lots of discussion if done in pairs or small groups).

Please note you must download the free Eclipse software before you can use theese ecw (Eclipse crossword) file below. See our Good Software – Eclipse Crossword entry for more information.

Level
Level 2
English
AL Ww/L2.1 Spell technical words

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A L1/2 Functional English Card match activity. Serves as a tactile supplement/plenary to identifying the contrasts in the tone of language used in factual, opinionated and biased statements.

Level
Level 2
Level 1
English
Rt/L2.5 Read critically to evaluate information and compare information, ideas and opinions from different sources
Rt/L2.4 Read an argument and identify the points of view
Rt/L1.2
Functional Skills English reading

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I created this activity for my ESOL students but it would also work well for Functional English.
The idea is taken from Laura Jeffrey Kiiza’s text types mind map drag and drop activity (L1) – see link below under See also.

Students first use Laura’s drag and drop activity on the computer (this covers both persuasive and instructive texts).
I then gave them the features of persuasive texts (see page 1 of resource) which they cut up and stick on the text on page 2 (or they could simply annotate the text using coloured pens etc.).

Level
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
Rt/L2.4 Read an argument and identify the points of view
Rt/L2.2 Identify the purpose of a text and infer meaning which is not explicit
Rt/L1.2
GCSE English Reading AO2 Explain & analyse language & structure
Functional Skills English reading
ESOL
ESOL Rt/L2.4a Understand and identify how written arguments are structured
ESOL Rt/L2.2a Identify the purposes of a wide range of texts, whether inferred or explicitly stated
ESOL Rt/L1.2a Know how language and other textual features are used to achieve different purposes

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Tips and four tasks designed to help Level 2 Functional English learners think about how they can identify BIAS in texts.

Level
Level 2
English
Rt/L2.5 Read critically to evaluate information and compare information, ideas and opinions from different sources
Rt/L2.4 Read an argument and identify the points of view
Functional Skills English reading
General
Study Skills and General Teaching

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This is a news article about the sinking of the Costa Concordia. It is focused on an account of the situation as reported by the local mayor.
The article is accompanied by questions about what might be inferred from the account, what might be the mayor’s opinion and whether or not the account is biased. The questions have been used with adults studying for Edexcel Functional Skills at Level 2.

Level
Level 2
English
Rt/L2.5 Read critically to evaluate information and compare information, ideas and opinions from different sources
Rt/L2.4 Read an argument and identify the points of view
Functional Skills English reading
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Context
News, Politics & Government items

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Major update May 27:  Now with three additional resources - sample text (Why Dogs are Better than Cats), a handout summarising the information in the PPT, and a wonderful 4 page workbook. All designed to consolidate and practise the work covered in the PPT.

A slideshow presentation showing the purpose of, examples of, and types of persuasive techniques used in writing. The topic of recycling features strongly (ands dogd and cats to alesser extens!, making these resources accessible and of interest to a wide audience.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
FE L1.12 Recognise that language & other textual features can be varied to suit different audiences & purposes
FE L1.16 Recognise vocabulary typically associated with specific types and purposes of texts (e.g. formal, informal, instructional, descriptive, explanatory and persuasive)
FE L2.14 Understand how textual features/devices can shape meaning for different audiences/purposes
FE L2.18 Follow an argument, identifying different points of view & distinguishing fact from opinion
FE L1.24 Use format, structure & language appropriate for audience & purpose
FE L2.27 Use language & register (e.g. persuasive techniques, supporting evidence, specialist words) to suit audience & purpose
Context
Recycling, the environment and sustainability
Animals, animal care, farming & equine

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This resource is a writing task which asks the learners to use relevant literary devices (languages features) to compose a ‘For Sale’ ad for a house.

Prior to commencing the task, the learners are made aware of the following devices using a card match activity:

  • Flattery
  • Opinion
  • Hyperbole
  • Personal Pronouns
  • Imperative Command
  • Triples
  • Emotive Language
  • Statistics and Figures
  • Rhetorical Questions
  • Repetition
Level
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
Functional Skills English - writing
Functional Skills English reading
GCSE Writing AO5(a) Use tone, style and register for different forms, purposes & audiences
GCSE Writing AO5(b) Organise information using structural and grammatical features
GCSE Writing AO6 Vocabulary, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation

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Major update May 27  Posted only 12 days ago, this excellent resource now comes with three additional resources: sample text (Why Dogs are Better than Cats), handout summarising the PPT, and a wonderful 4 page workbook.