This resource includes a fun rhyming poem that can be used to introduce the idea of rhyming poetry to a class and as a model for them when they create their own rhyming poetry. There is also a power point that can be used when teaching the poem.

This resource consists of a powerpoint presentation and some worksheets to use with Chapter 10 of Michael Morpurpo’s ‘Private Peaceful’. The main activity is for pupils to plan and write a persuasive text in which they attempt to persuade others that a character in the story is a good or a bad leader. Some additional time could be used to turn these written texts into spoken presentations in which the pupils attempt to persuade the class. The powerpoint helps to organise the lesson, checking pupils’ understanding of the chapter and setting up class/group discussions. The worksheets consist of a writing plan for pupils to complete, lined paper for the writing activity and an extension activity in which pupils use a thesaurus to find as many suitable adjectives as they can to describe famous leaders from history. They may also research these leaders if they have time, although they should be familiar with them. This resource can last for between 2 and 6 hours depending on how much time you allow for each activity. This is the lesson plan: • Pre-Reading Discussion: *Discuss what you already know about World War 1 and what life was like for the soldiers in it. • Listen to/read the 9th chapter of the novel. Check your comprehension of the story by describing what happened using the images on the lesson powerpoint. • Class Discussion: Leaders Discuss what makes a good leader Which characters in the story take on the role of a leader? • Lesson Activity: Plan and write a persuasive text in which you attempt to convince others that a character in the story is or is not a good leader. • Extension Work: Adjectives For Famous Leaders Using a thesaurus, find as many different, but suitable adjectives to describe the famous leaders pictured. Please check out our other ‘Private Peaceful’ resources.

Should it be ‘b’ or ‘d’? This activity is for pupils who make mistakes when writing the letters ‘b’ and ‘d’. It’s free.

This resource consists of a spelling booklet of words in 9 phases of difficulty and a spelling test template. The growing difficulty of the words presented is linked to the pupils’ developing knowledge of phonics. These documents can be used in lessons and as homework. For both resources in this unit, we have included both a PDF and a Word version. The Word version is editable and the PDF version ensures that the format of the documents is fixed.

This resource consists of a powerpoint presentation and some worksheets to use with Chapter 9 of Michael Morpurpo’s ‘Private Peaceful’. The main activity is for pupils to write a 1st Person narrative as if they are a soldier in World War 1. This narrative will centre on a particular World War 1 setting selected by the pupils. This could be the trenches, no-man’s-land, a hospital, a French village or any other suitable settings pupils think of. The powerpoint helps to organise the lesson, checking pupils’ understanding of the chapter and setting up class/group discussions. The worksheets consist of a writing plan for pupils to complete, lined paper for the writing activity and a barbed wire word wall for pupils to complete as an extension activity. In this they decorate the barbed wire lined page with words and phrases related to World War 1. This resource can last for between 2 and 4 hours depending on how much time you allow for each activity. This is the lesson plan: • Pre-Reading Discussion: What do you already know about World War 1? • Listen to/read the 9th chapter of the novel. • Check your comprehension of the story by describing what happened using the images on the lesson powerpoint. • Class Discussion: • What have you learned about World War 1 from the chapter? • Class/Group Discussion: World War 1 Settings Verbally describe the World War 1 settings shown on the powerpoint • Lesson Activity: Write A 1st Person Narrative As A Soldier In WW1 Describing A Setting • Complete a writing plan for your description. • Write your 1st person narrative. • Extension Work: • Create A Barbed Wire Word Wall Decorate the barbed wire poster with words or phrases related to World War 1. Plenary: Create A Class Barbed Wire Word Wall Please check out our other ‘Private Peaceful’ resources.

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 asks students to write a Christmas dinner invitation. There is a task sheet giving instructions and a colourful template on which to write the invitations. These tasks are differentiated two ways, one for a written invitation and one for an invitation in the form of a poster. There is also an extension task based on what people around the world eat for Christmas dinner. This resource works well with our 'Who Would You Treat To A Special Christmas Dinner?" lessons. Please check out our other Functional Skills English Christmas resources too.

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 resource consists of two activities for Functional Skills Entry Level 3 speaking and listening. It is for staff use, providing a topic for a discussion and a checklist to assess whether pupils have passed the test or not. 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. In the first activity students have to imagine that they are organising a Christmas dinner for a large group of people. They have to work in a group, discussing what food, drink and activities they should have and select a venue.The second speaking and listening activity asks students to organise a Christmas cinema trip for their school/college. They have to work together to choose which film they will go to see. As a class, you could watch a selection of film trailers and discuss them to prepare the students for this activity. 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 resource consists of three activities for Functional Skills Entry Level 2 speaking and listening. It is for staff use, providing a topic for a discussion and a checklist to assess whether pupils have passed the test or not. 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 activity is a discussion about which things related to Christmas are the most important.The second speaking and listening activity asks students to discuss what they want for Christmas. The third activity asks them to discuss what they like and don’t like about Christmas dinner. 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 resource consists of three activities for Functional Skills Entry Level 1 speaking and listening. It is for staff use, providing a topic for a discussion and a checklist to assess whether pupils have passed the test or not. 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 speaking and listening activity asks students to discuss what they want for Christmas. The second activity asks them to discuss what they like and don’t like about Christmas dinner. The third is a discussion about which things related to Christmas are the most important. 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 is a Functional Skills English writing resource for Entry Level 3 and/or Level 1. It can be used for both levels as the tasks are suitable for either of them. The student's writing is differentiated by outcome, but Level 1 pupils should be told to write between 300 and 350 words for each task. It contains four different writing tasks. In the first task students are asked to write an advert to inform people about a charity Christmas dinner that they are hosting. In the second activity they write an informative text for pupils in a school about a celebration (Christmas). In the third activity students have to write to friends and family to ask them for sponsorship as they try to raise money for charity by doing a Santa Dash race. In the final activity they write a letter to a friend about an interesting Christmas party that they went to. Each writing task comes with a set of instructions for the student to follow. This resource improves pupils Functional Skills writing skills and prepares them for exams. It can be used as a series of stand alone activities to be performed in class, as extension activities or as homework.

This is a Functional Skills English writing resource for Entry Level 2. It contains five different writing tasks. In the first task students are asked to complete an application form for a job in Santa’s grotto. In the second task they are to write an advert to inform people about a charity Christmas dinner that they are hosting. In the third activity they write a letter to a friend to tell them about a Christmas party that they went to. In the fourth activity students are asked to complete an online order from so that they can buy a present that they have chosen. In the final activity students review a product online that they have bought for Christmas. This resource improves pupils Functional Skills writing skills and prepares them for exams. It can be used as a series of stand alone activities to be performed in class, as extension activities or as homework.

This is a Functional Skills English writing resource for Entry Level 1. It contains four different writing tasks. In the first task students are asked to complete an online form for a Christmas tree that they wish to buy. In the second task they are to write an invitation for a Christmas party that they are hosting. In the third activity they write to a friend to ask them to join them for Christmas dinner. In the final activity students are asked to write an advert for a bike that they are selling so they can get some more money to buy Christmas presents. This resource improves pupils Functional Skills writing skills and prepares them for exams. It can be used as a series of stand alone activities to be performed in class, as extension activities or as homework.

This resource consists of a Functional Skills Level 1 reading text with comprehension questions. The text is an article which discusses the question of whether Christmas is too commercialised or not. It presents different viewpoints on the issue and the writer’s own opinion. This reading text can lead to the pupils having a discussion on the same topic using our Functional Skills speaking and listening resource that presents this discussion and gives guidance for staff on how to assess the pupils. Please check out our other Functional Skills English Christmas resources that range from Entry Level 1 to Level 1. We have a range of resources for reading, writing and speaking + listening activities.

This is an Entry Level 3 Functional Skills reading activity consisting of two texts with questions. The first text gives advice on buying Christmas presents for the one you love. It gives tips on how to do this successfully and what you should not do. This text could also be used to generate a class discussion. The second text gives advice on decorating your home at Christmas. The texts and questions are used to help the pupils improve their Functional Skills reading while at the same time being engaged with the themes that they deal with.

This is an Entry Level 2 Functional Skills English reading resource. It consists of 3 non-fiction reading texts with comprehension questions. The first text gives advice on how to decorate a Christmas tree, the second is an advertisement for a Christmas sale in a shop and the third is an informative text about Christmas dinner around the world. These texts can be used as class activities, exam revision or as homework. Please look for our other Functional Skills Christmas resources.

This is an Entry Level 1 Functional Skills reading activity related to Christmas. It consists of 3 reading texts with comprehension questions. The first text gives advice on how to make Christmas dinner. The second text is an advertisement for Santa’s grotto. The final text is a kid’s demanding letter to Santa The texts and questions are used to help the students improve their Functional Skills reading. It can be used as a class whole lesson activity, homework and is ideal for exam revision.

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.