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A useful game I created to help my students understand and recognise different types of documents. It is particularly useful as a plenary. I first used it several years ago in an observed lesson, and the game was highly complimented!

Editor’s note
With extensive instructions, differentiation ideas and full Functional English mapping.

Useful card game for consolidation and revision. Students must describe the features, layout and style of different texts.

A resource adapted to include Audience, Purpose, Format and Features (PAFF) from a Skillsworkshop resource titled Audience and Purpose (Emma Shaw, 2007 - listed under "See Also").

This has been useful to review and consolidate PAFF for reading and then later for writing.

An excellent and refreshingly different circular writing activity that encourages students to explore a range of styles and write for different purposes. Ideal for consolidating work on purpose of text. The sample texts (you will never think of making a cup of tea in the same way again!) make a super resource in their own right.

Types of text – student handout that explains the layout and language features of instructive and persuasive texts. Use with the related drag and drop worksheet (see below).

A worksheet designed to draw together all the features which identify different types of documents or texts such as emails, webpages, letters and leaflets.

I designed this a recap and to create a revision document for my learners doing Functional Skills English at Levels 1 & 2.

This worksheet was created to encourage students to recognize the features of written instructions (numbered lists to show the chronological order of the steps – use of imperative verbs) and explanations (headings written as questions which the text answers).

Editor’s note
Functional English mapping has been added.

A L1/L2 Functional English card match resource. Serves as a tactile supplement/plenary for the recognition of text and layout features assessed at Level 1/2. Colour coded to aid learners in organising the columns, this resource allows learners to place the layout feature next to its descriptor and layout effect.

Wonderful high L1 – Level 2 resource which looks at the purposes and sources of a range of texts. Includes: useful handout with example of the four main types of text; discussion and examples of texts with more than one purpose; examples of badly written texts with mixed and confusing purposes; inferred and hidden meanings; writing practice (for four different purposes); re-ordering a long instructional text; and a set of final multiple choice questions to check skills.
Fully mapped to the Functional English criteria.

Purpose and audience task sheets provide a good ice breaker for mixed ability and family literacy groups and make for easy differentiation as learners choose their own texts to work with.