This is an Entry Level 3 Functional Skills reading activity. It consists of two texts and two comprehension exercises. The first text gives advice on how to be strong and not join a gang. The second text gives advice to police officers who will be working undercover in a gang. It is designed to be taught with Romeo and Juliet. It can also be introduced as a stand alone activity, a revision exercise or as a piece of homework. We at Engage Education create Functional Skills and Entry Level resources to be taught with GCSE recommended literature. We believe that functional can be fun.

This is a Functional Skills Entry Level 2 Reading Activity. It has 3 texts with comprehension questions. ‘Zombie Alert’, ‘School Closed For Rats’ and ‘Dating Advice For Boys’. All the texts are functional, but fun.

A selection of reading questions that will fit any fiction book or story. There are 4 stages of difficulty for each question so they can be used as an assessment tool. They can also be used effectively in a reading session meaning that pupils have a greater choice of reading materials since you will not have to prepare different tasks on every possible book they may wish to read. They can be answered on paper by the pupil or be asked verbally by any member of staff or by parents/carers at home. Inference questions are included.

This resource is designed to be used with Chapter 7 of the novel Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. This chapter is titled ‘Twenty-Eight Minutes Past One’. The is the final chapter set in the home village as they Peaceful boys leave for war at the end of the chapter. It is also the final chapter in which Molly, Mother Peaceful and The Colonel play a central role so they are a focus of this lesson. This resource contains a powerpoint presentation that is used to complete a pre-reading discussion, to check the pupils’ comprehension of this chapter and to generate a discussion whether the pupils think Molly, Mother Peaceful and The Colonel are ‘good’ characters or not. As a teacher, you can decide if you want ‘good’ to mean good in terms of their morals or if you want it to mean effective as a character. This resource also includes some worksheets. These contain a lesson(s) plan, 3 activities and some extension work. The first activity asks pupils to work in a group/pair and to discuss who are their favourite 3 characters and why. They can record their ideas on the worksheet for this activity . The second activity asks the pupils to write whether they think Molly, Mother Peaceful and The Colonel are ‘good’ characters and give reasons for their answers. This activity follows on from the class discussion on the powerpoint presentation. This third activity is an extended writing task which asks the pupils to write a character description of Molly, Mother Peaceful or The Colonel. They are given some tips on what they could include before they write. In the extension activity, pupils are given 10 actions that characters in the novel have done so far. They are asked to use a thesaurus to find suitable adverbs to describe how the characters do these actions. This resource should take at least two lessons to complete, but it could be used for more depending on how much time you allow for the discussions. The extension work could also be used as a whole class activity or as homework. Please look at our other Private Peaceful lessons in this series.

This lesson is to be taught with Chapter 8 ‘Fourteen Minutes Past Two’ of Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. There is a series of worksheets and a powerpoint presentation to be used during the lesson. The presentation is used to help organise the lesson structure and to provide visuals to help check pupils’ understanding of the text and to generate ideas for their oracy and their writing. This resource is normally used for between two and three hours of teaching. The activities of the lesson are: • Listen to/read the 8th chapter of the novel. • Check your comprehension of the story by describing what happened using the images on the lesson powerpoint. • Group Discussion: What makes a character effective in a story? • Lesson Activity: Write A Character Report On Charlie Peaceful Complete a writing plan for your report on Charlie Peaceful. Write your report on Charlie Peaceful. • Extension Work: • Were Charlie’s Actions Right Or Wrong? Write down as many reasons as you can for why Charlie’s action were right and wrong. Plenary: Class Discussion Class debate on whether Charlie was right or wrong to act the way he did. Please look at our other Private Peaceful lessons.

This resource consists of two speaking and listening discussions for Functional Skills English Level 1. It is for staff use, providing a topic for a discussion and a checklist to assess the pupils progress. Although this assessment follows the theme of Christmas, it can easily be edited for any topic and used multiple times. There are two pages for each activity, one for teachers to assess multiple pupils and one for assessing one pupil which can be placed in this pupil’s file. The first discussion asks pupils to imagine that they are arranging a charity Christmas dinner. As a group they must discuss what food and drink to serve, what activities to put on, where to hold it and what charity to raise money for. The must make a final decision as a group to end the discussion. The second discussion poses the question, “Is Christmas too commercialised?” In a group, students must discuss this question and come to a group conclusion. This discussion is linked to our Christmas Functional Skills English Level 1 reading resource. Both discussion should last around 15 minutes, but it depends on the number of pupils involved. Please look at our other Functional Skills Christmas resources ranging from Entry Level 1 to Level 1 and including reading, writing and speaking and listening activities.

This series of resources is to be taught while studying ‘Of Mice and Men’. It is designed predominantly for classes in Special Needs schools in the UK. The resources help the pupils prepare for various qualifications. This includes Entry Level English, Functional Skills English and GCSE English Language. In total, there are 11 lessons in the series. Each lesson is differentiated. This means that the lessons are set at EL1, EL2, EL3 and at wither Level 1 Functional Skills or GCSE. There are reading, writing and speaking and listening lessons. Both the writing and speaking and listening lessons can be taught using various marking schemes. These lessons can also be used in main stream education for pupils working either below GCSE level or at a low GCSE level. This lesson is to be taught just before George and Lennie get to The Ranch. It prepares the pupils for the Entry Level 1 Functional Skills Writing exam.

This series of resources is to be taught while studying ‘Of Mice and Men’. It is designed predominantly for classes in Special Needs schools in the UK. The resources help the pupils prepare for various qualifications. This includes Entry Level English, Functional Skills English and GCSE English Language. In total, there are 11 lessons in the series. Each lesson is differentiated. This means that the lessons are set at EL1, EL2, EL3 and at wither Level 1 Functional Skills or GCSE. There are reading, writing and speaking and listening lessons. Both the writing and speaking and listening lessons can be taught using various marking schemes. These lessons can also be used in main stream education for pupils working either below GCSE level or at a low GCSE level. This lesson should be taught after Lennie has had the fight with Curley. It prepares pupils for Functional Skills Level 1 reading exams.

This includes a Level 1 Functional Skills English reading resource. Pupils are asked to read a text discussing whether we should celebrate Guy Fawkes Night or not. The writer discusses both sides of the debate and then concludes with their opinion on how we should change the way it is celebrated in modern times. Pupils could research this topic before or after reading the text, looking into the gunpowder plot and the history of how Guy Fawkes Night has been celebrated. After reading, the pupils have to complete a comprehension exercise and they are also asked for their opinion on the topic. The reading leads to a Level 1 Functional Skills speaking and listening exercise where pupils debate whether we should celebrate Guy Fawkes Night, stop celebrating it or continue to celebrate it, but change the way that we do it. The group must come to a conclusion at the end if the discussion, taking everyone’s views into account. The speaking and listening resource included is for staff to use as an assessment tool. There is a checklist of skills used to chart pupil progress both as a group and individually. This is a quick and easy way to assess pupils in their Functional Skills speaking and listening and it provides clear evidence in pupils’ books or folders.

This resource consists of a powerpoint presentation and a collection of worksheets on the topic of who pupils would choose to treat to a special Christmas dinner. Pupils complete a series of speaking and reading activities that help to prepare them for their own written text regarding who they would treat to a special Christmas dinner. Using the lesson powerpoint, discuss which of the famous people the pupils would choose to treat to a special Christmas dinner and why. The pupils read a text about who a person has chosen to treat to a special Christmas dinner and complete the profile worksheet about them. (Choose which of the five texts to give each pupil depending on their ability) Using the lesson powerpoint, the pupils’ understanding of these texts is assessed as pupils tell the class what they have learned about the characters that they have studied using the images and words on the slide to help them. Using the powerpoint, the class discusses who they would treat to a special dinner if they could invite anybody in the world (in history). The pupils make the writing plan to describe the person that they would treat to a special Christmas dinner, what they would eat and do and why they would choose them. The pupils use their writing plan to write a text about who they would treat to a special Christmas dinner. This resource normally takes two full lessons to complete, but could last longer depending on the speaking and listening exercises. If there are pupils who do not celebrate Christmas in your class, the lesson can be adapted to be about treating people to a special dinner instead.

This is a Functional Skills English - Entry Level 3 Reading Revision Test. It is best taught while the pupils are studying Romeo + Juliet around the time of the Capulet Ball. We at Engage Education create Functional Skills and Entry Level resources to be taught with GCSE recommended literature.

This is a Functional Skills EL1 reading activity. It consists of 2 texts with comprehension questions. It is best taught while studying Romeo + Juliet, before or after the story’s duels. We at Engage Education create Functional Skills and Entry Level resources to be taught with GCSE recommended literature.

This presentation is to be used when delivering a session to the whole school on how to mark written work. It explains the value of good marking and feedback. It presents different forms of marking and feedback and it explains what is required to make marking effective. Advice is given on what to mark on a written text and what not to mark, so that marking is effective and does not demotivate the student. It then introduces ‘live’ marking and explains how staff can do this successfully in lessons. This then leads to a marking activity where staff put these ideas into practice while marking four examples of pupils’ work. After this activity, the texts are displayed on the presentation for a feedback session. The final part of the presentation is about what should happen after marking, with advice given on how to follow up ‘Next Steps’ and ‘Literacy Targets’ by giving the pupils ownership of their own progress. This presentation can be adapted to include your own school’s writing marking code and policy.

This unit of work is an extension of the ‘All About Me’ theme. It is about settings in your life, which could include places like rooms, parks, settings of clubs or places pupils regularly visit. There are reading, writing and speaking and listening activities in the unit. The reading and writing lessons are differentiated. The lessons in this unit include: Look at pictures of settings and complete tables to describe them. Read about settings from other people’s lives and complete a profile about them. Have a group discussion with other pupils telling them about the setting you have read about and taking notes on the settings they tell you about. Complete a profile about a setting in your life. Write all about this setting. Complete a self-assessment form. Have a group discussion telling other pupils all about your setting and taking notes on what they tell you about their settings. Complete a ‘Settings In My Life’ poster.

This series of resources is to be taught while studying ‘Of Mice and Men’. It is designed predominantly for classes in Special Needs schools in the UK. The resources help the pupils prepare for various qualifications. This includes Entry Level English, Functional Skills English and GCSE English Language. In total, there are 11 lessons in the series. Each lesson is differentiated. This means that the lessons are set at EL1, EL2, EL3 and at wither Level 1 Functional Skills or GCSE. There are reading, writing and speaking and listening lessons. Both the writing and speaking and listening lessons can be taught using various marking schemes. These lessons can also be used in main stream education for pupils working either below GCSE level or at a low GCSE level. This lesson prepares pupils for various English writing exams.

This series of resources is to be taught while studying ‘Of Mice and Men’. It is designed predominantly for classes in Special Needs schools in the UK. The resources help the pupils prepare for various qualifications. This includes Entry Level English, Functional Skills English and GCSE English Language. In total, there are 11 lessons in the series. Each lesson is differentiated. This means that the lessons are set at EL1, EL2, EL3 and at wither Level 1 Functional Skills or GCSE. There are reading, writing and speaking and listening lessons. Both the writing and speaking and listening lessons can be taught using various marking schemes. These lessons can also be used in main stream education for pupils working either below GCSE level or at a low GCSE level. This lesson prepares pupils for various writing exams and should be taught after reading the whole novel.