I find teaching functional skills English , I’m getting more and more students who in fact need ESOL specialist classes. I’m not an ESOL tutor but due to the increasing demand to teach English as a second language and fill ESOL gaps in students knowledge I have developed a number of resources of common problems ESOL student have, which I have complied into a 35 page support booklet which I now give my ESOL learners. The idea is the students use this booklet to support their own self-study and English language development or I use it to set targeted and individual homework. The booklet has explainers and tasks to comeplete and ideas on how to further develop own self-study. I find it quite useful and I hope you do to. You can adapt the booklet to suit your own cohort or levels. Please be aware the the TES preview can distort the look of the resources, and this is not always a true reflection.

Having taught Functional Skills English within an FE setting, I understand how difficult it can be to reach students within a curriculum area and to encourage engagement with English. Often not being specialists in those areas ourselves as English Teachers, embedding can be a challenge. My largest challenge was often with students of hair and beauty and so I devised this work pack which worked fantastically well. This pack embeds E3 and L1 English elements into areas of hair and beauty such as face shapes, hair disasters and nail art, incorporating celebrity culture. This pack builds as you move through it, looking at areas such as reading for information, proofreading, identifying correct homophones and descriptive / persuasive writing. I found with my groups that this did not need to be a taught session but rather they ran with it themselves and engaged independently with it, leaving me to act in a supportive role rather than a lead delivery role. This is down to the group and paired activities within the pack, discussion topics and the options for students to make choices and to design their own nail art. This pack encourages a positive attitude towards English and helps students to see how it can help in their chosen industry. IHope it helps.

This is a fantastic lesson which I have used for 10 years in my classes. This lesson focuses on the true story of Sophie Lancaster who was killed in 2007 simply for the way she dressed and for the purpose of GCSE English, has been adapted to support students with paper 2 question 5 from the AQA paper. What you will get in this resource is a full lesson powerpoint with team activities and group discussion, reading material and supporting worksheets - 10 in all, 2 videos and a link to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. The lesson breaks down the language used in an article by the Daily Mail and ends with a task where the students are to write a motivational speech about tolerance but also embeds “British Values” by looking at tolerance, discussing prejudices, equality and identity. I teach in a college of 16 - 19 year olds and a lesson like this is perfect for them as they can identify with this topic but also relate it to other aspects of life, therefore they get deeply involved in this session as there is much for them to talk about. The range of activities ranges in levels to suit your learners which also makes it easy for you to adapt this lesson depending on the level, age or sensitivity of your students. There is enough material with this resource to fill 3 hours of session time and a range of different activities to adapt to level of engagement. Within my college, I find youth workers are particularly interested in supporting this session and will join the class when I’m teaching it, others have adapted it to use in tutorials and managers have used it as an example of good practice and shared practice to Ofsted. Please note that TES preview can distort the way the resource looks and this is not a true reflection of what it looks like. Hope it helps.

This is a short lesson about study / revision skills to help students plan and prepare for up coming exams and independent study. It comes with some tips and suggestions about how to best prepare and plan your time, advice on rest breaks, avoiding procrastination and a short video. This is useful to use in tutorials, booster sessions or workshops. Feel free to adjust to suit your needs and classes. Please note that the TES preview distorts the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This resource is based around the topic of Banksy and is centered around the L1 reading paper with elements of L2 for stretch and challenge. This resource comes with 2 articles, video, powerpoint and worksheets. The session also underpins dictionary use / vocabulary meaning and inference. It has been designed to fill a 2 hour session and has a writing extension task. Please keep in mind that TES preview can give a altered view of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hoe it helps

This lesson was developed to support reluctant hair and beauty students through L2 functional skills English (excel paper) and is focused at introducing Q13 (compare/contrast question) and Point, evidence, evidence answer structures. To engage these students, the lesson is focused around an episode of Americas Next Top Model - the make over episode. As I have 1 hour classes with incredibly reluctant students who are only interested in doing hair, this lesson is stripped back but can be developed on and is used as an introduction to Q13. The resource comes with a full powerpoint, with a proofreading starter, video and worksheets, breakdown/scaffolding tasks. please be aware that the TES preview can sometimes distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. I hope it helps.

This 31 page booklet is an excellent tool to have in your classroom. The idea came about to create a full booklet of each of the skills needed for the exam to support prolific absentees, late enrollers, to use in booster sessions and revision workshops and for students to use in their independent study and revision. This booklet looks at the skills needed for question 5 from both the AQA papers, creative and persuasive writing. The booklet walks students through tasks and activities needed for these particular questions and gives them a chance to practice their writing skills. Please be advised that the TES preview can distort the view of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps

This resource is designed for L2 Functional Skills English classes and covers inference and comparison on a introduction level. The lesson is fast paced and is designed so tasks can be delivered as team activities or individually. The lesson is scaffolded from L1, with inference via images to L2 with compare two different view points via styles of writing. I teach apprentices within a short space of time, so please alter the session to suit your own classes. The test preview at times distorts the look of the resource, so please keep in mind this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps

Many students often struggle with the freedom to use their imagination, particularly under exam conditions. This resource was created for the AQA specification, Paper 1 Question 5 - create a short story based from an image. However this resource is diverse enough to be adapted to a wide range of exam boards and creative writing skills, from encouraging writing in low level Functional skills English students to developing language features in GCSE students. It uses paintings by Picasso and Frieda Kahlo. It is a team activity which allows for differentiation among levels and abilities by using a scaffold questions system. The activity is developed to allow the teacher freedom to build in specifically tailored skills they wish their students to learn. Encouraging students to use their imagination allows English to be fun and engaging whilst also developing their confidence in the subject, as with this activity there is no wrong answer.

This is a simple card matching activity that can be used as a starter to help students with simple spellings by using mnemonics. This is great to use with lower level Functional Skills students or students with dyslexia. Feel free to use in a way which works with your students. Hope it helps

This is a team / group based session designed to not only help students prepare for their L2 FS English writing exam but to also underpin some valuable life skills. There are 7 pages of activities which focus on tone and language when writing to complain, and underpins self awareness and self control. The resources are differentiated so both lower levels and higher achieving students can work together to achieve in this session. The session slowly builds to a final individual task which is to write a formal and tone appropriate letter of complaint, a task similar to one they may find in the exam and can be used as exam preparation or as an introduction to the topic. There are planning scaffolds and word banks to support students in their final writing task. This pack can be edited, broken up into sections and altered to suit you and your student needs. Please keep in mind that the TES preview does at times distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

I have always used cheat sheets as a form of revision for my students sitting GCSE. It is essentially an extended version of an exam plan but not quite a mock exam, it’s some where in the middle. I love to use these because it promotes a sense of confidence for the students and it it a condensed version of EVERYTHING they need to know about each question of the exam. I explain it to them as an “exam blueprint”. This session is what I call a “meat and potato” type of lesson. No frills just does what it says on the tin and gives the students what they need. The session puts students into teams and takes them through a breakdown of each exam question and they copy these “cheats” onto a past exam paper. Along the way they try their hand at some of the questions, get examples of what makes a good answer and they have some independent study questions in their cheat sheet to try at home. They get to keep their “cheat sheet” for revision purposes. This has always worked and I have found that students have always got on board with this idea because they instantly see the benefit of it and it helps them feel more secure about sitting their exam. This session comes with a full powerpoint for paper 1 and student handouts with source material. Please keep in mind that TES preview can distort the look of resources but this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This resource is an entire lesson with enough material to fill up a 3 hour session or 2 smaller sessions. The session aim to help students practice their skills for paper 2 question 4, the comparison between a modern and older text on the same theme / topic. The topic of this session is immigration and looks at the immigration of Irish people to America and modern day Syrian refugees and underpins the idea of equality and compassion. Comparison materials are a letter written in 1884 and a poem written in 2017. I have found that in a world of fake news, memes and multicultural classrooms that students are very interested in these topics as they are often unsure of today's world and it's politics. This is a lesson which is designed to let the students do most of the thinking and analysing and is a perfect session to deliver as exam dates become nearer and they need to become more independent in delivering answers and insight. There are plenty of short timed paired and team activities which build up students knowledge and insight and ends with a chance to deliver a exam style answer and a short self assessment. Worksheets come with support material to help those who struggle and open questions to push those who are more capable. Please keep in mind that at times the TES preview somehow distorts slides and worksheets and that is not reflective of how the resource will look when downloaded. Hope it helps.

This is a short lesson to help students understand inference. I especially find that this lesson is useful with second language learners or lower level learners. This short lesson break down the concept of inference and shows how it can be used in various forms, such as speech, images and in fiction. The final task is to take an image of a wrecked house and “sell” the property in writing as an estate agent would, using language to mislead and infer. This can be used with any exam board and with L2 Functional Skill learners. Hope it helps

This is a quick paced, fun lesson all centered around the theme of monsters in literature. The pack comes with the full lesson on powerpoint and 5 separate worksheets which include an extract from Frankenstein and an ideas board to help students who struggle to come up with ideas. This session focuses on the EDEXCEL exam, paper 1 question 5, it consolidates DAFOREST and POSHIMP acronyms for language features and introduces ROW of CLONES acronym for structural features. The session comes with a fun starter which can be achieved by all levels and progresses in difficulty, team activities, handouts and ideas boards are in place to help those who struggle. The final task is to improve on a piece of writing they completed earlier in the session. A task which is designed to show students their own progression through-out the session / in real time rather than waiting for feedback at the end or in the next session Please keep in mind that the TES preview does distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This 7 page booklet id designed to help students with the reading component of their Functional Skills exam. The booklet can be used as in class resources, revision or as self study. Based on a article by Friends of the Earth, the booklet focuses on simple and easy ways we can help become more green in our every day routines and underpins purpose of text and audience questions from the exam. The questions in the booklet are a combination of low level, opinion based and exam based questions. They range from multiple choice to more structured answers asking for reasons or quotes to support . The booklet ends with an extension activity which focuses on language and writing elements of the exam and a self assessment plenary. Please keep in mind that the TES preview can at times distort the look of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This fantastic lesson looks at question 3 from paper 1 of the AQA English Language exam - spec 8700. Using the work of Stephen King "The Body" this lesson uses power-point, paired activities, video and activity sheets to focus on how authors use Openings and Endings to convey symbolic meanings, in this case - the end of childhood and innocence. The lesson comes with plenty of paired, timed activities to help support less able students and a discussion on inference to help stretch and challenge the more able in your class. I have also introduced a mnemonic for the more commonly used structural features called ROW OF CLONES to help students learn a range of techniques authors may use in their writing which my students found incredibly useful last year. The final aim of this lesson is for the student to be able to write a full Point, Quote, Infer answer to this exam question. This resource is adaptable, will fill and hour to hour and half lesson, engaging, quick paced and comes with fun starters and plenaries. Please keep in mind that this movie is a 15 certificate and using this resource for anyone under that age maybe worth some consideration. Mild language used in the extract, however as I taught in a college, this was fine to use. Hope it helps.

Many students have already heard of some, if not all of the DAFOREST set of language features which is why I always use this resource at the start of the year. The new AQA English Language exam will expect students to be able to build and expand on this basic knowledge, however in my experience reinforcing DAFOREST with students helps to fill gaps in their knowledge and gives them the confidence to build upon their knowledge of language features. This handy poster / handout is a fun Star Wars based set of examples which is great for students to keep in their books or files for reference. Feel free to look around my shop for other resources which you may find useful in your sessions. Hope it helps

This resource is useful tool to encourage independent learning and self / group study. It can be used to reinforce learning, as a workshop or developed further in to a lead session or as homework tasks. As my sessions were quite long I found it useful to create small study groups in the classroom, using booklets to work through together, this was successful in creating confidence and independence among my students whilst also being supported and supervised. The resource uses an extract from The Kite Runner, has student reflections and self assessment tasks. The ultimate aim is for the student to be able to identify structural features and to formulate appropriate answers which will prepare them for the coming exam. Hope it helps.

A quick a simple piece of independent study / homework or extension for paper 1 question 5 from the AQA new spec for GCSE English Language. This resource is styled on the type of question the exam may ask, it can be adapted for students of other cultures who may not know or celebrate Halloween, they can write about a festival in their culture. Hope it helps