This Functional Skills Level 2 Reading and Writing pack contains resources designed to assist students, particularly those with dyslexia, in improving their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Below is an overview of each text and how these will benefit dyslexic students and students with additional needs: The Writing Guide booklet focuses on writing persuasive emails and letters, with exercises that enhance vocabulary, sentence construction, and persuasive techniques. It also includes a model email, gap fill exercises, and writing tasks that are practical and relevant. Benefits for Dyslexic Students: The incremental approach to building writing skills, starting with spelling and sentence construction and progressing to full writing tasks, supports dyslexic students by scaffolding the learning process. The model email serves as a concrete example, helping students visualize the final product. Gap fill exercises reinforce vocabulary and sentence structure, making the task of writing less daunting. The Reading Skills Guide focuses on the reading skills needed to answer questions in functional skills exams, including identifying main ideas, making inferences, understanding tone and purpose, and analyzing text structure. It also provides quizzes to reinforce learning. Benefits for Dyslexic Students: The explicit teaching of reading strategies, such as identifying main ideas and making inferences, helps dyslexic students approach reading tasks with confidence. The quizzes and exercises provide opportunities for practice and self-assessment, reinforcing the skills needed to navigate and understand complex texts. The emphasis on understanding text structure and layout is particularly beneficial for students who struggle with reading comprehension. A Persuasive Writing Plan and Rubric document provides a structured framework for writing persuasive essays. It includes criteria for evaluating persuasive writing, audience analysis, research and evidence gathering, and step-by-step guidance for organizing an essay. It also includes a checklist for revision, ensuring that all essential elements of a persuasive essay are addressed. Benefits for Dyslexic Students: The clear and organized layout helps dyslexic students break down the essay-writing process into manageable steps. The visual structure, including bullet points and organized sections, aids in understanding and retention. Additionally, the checklist reinforces self-assessment and helps students focus on key areas to improve their writing.

This unit includes a series of 11 plus, reading passages from well-known literary works, along with comprehension assessments tailored for dyslexic 11 plus students or students with additional needs such as autism or ADHD. The key features are: Dyslexia-Friendly Design: The texts and activities are formatted to be accessible for students with dyslexia, including the use of double spacing and different colors for syllables in multisyllabic words. Focus on Key Vocabulary: It highlights challenging words from the texts, breaking them down into syllables to aid spelling and pronunciation practice. Key Phrases for Practice: Select phrases are provided for students to rehearse, enhancing their understanding of language use and meaning. Comprehension Questions: Each text is followed by a series of questions designed to assess students’ understanding and analytical skills. These questions include identifying literary techniques, discussing the use of language, and continuing narratives using descriptive language. The comprehension assessment is in a similar format to the 11 plus exam. Understanding Metaphor, Simile, and Personification This resource focuses on the use of figurative language, specifically metaphors, similes, and personification, within literary texts, a key feature of the 11 plus assessment. The key aspects include: Definitions and Examples: Clear explanations of metaphors, similes, and personification are provided, along with examples from literature. Analytical Questions: The document includes questions that prompt students to identify and analyze the use of these figurative language elements in given passages. This helps in developing a deeper understanding of how authors use language to convey meaning and create imagery. Practice Tasks: Students are encouraged to find their own examples and create sentences using metaphors, similes, and personification, fostering creativity and application skills. These resources are designed to enhance literary comprehension and critical thinking skills among students with additional needs, making them well-prepared for the analytical demands of the 11 plus Examinations.

Do your GCSE, English Literature students struggle with Shakespeare? This “Romeo and Juliet” educational package is designed specifically for GCSE English Literature students, especially those with additional needs like dyslexia. It can be difficult to understand the language and themes of this classic play, so I have created resources that break the play down into manageable, engaging parts. What’s Inside: Simplified Summaries: Clear and concise summaries of each act and scene, written in accessible language to help students grasp the plot without getting bogged down by Shakespearean English. Each section is accompanied with a key word activity to help them read the sections more easily. Character Outlines: Detailed character outlines with key words highlighted. Each character is accompanied with a visual prompt. Detailed Essay Plans: Step-by-step essay plans on key themes such as fate, love, societal conflict, and the role of authority. These plans include topic sentences, evidence, and detailed analyses to help students structure their essays effectively. Students can use the plans to help write their own responses. Interactive Quizzes: Fun and interactive quizzes to test comprehension and reinforce learning. Perfect for revision and self-assessment. Visual Aids: Helpful visual aids that highlight important characters, themes, and plot points to aid visual learners. Special Features for Dyslexic Students: A glossary section and structured notes support students with dyslexia and other additional needs in their learning journey. The package is crafted with the understanding that every student learns differently. “Romeo and Juliet Made Easy” is invaluable for mastering this timeless tragedy and helps make Shakespeare accessible and enjoyable for struggling students. It provides an excellent support for students with additional needs!

The booklet provides an extract and model answer with key vocabulary which is colour coded so that students can practice reading and spelling. It also provides the colour code to enable teachers to write further key vocabulary for their student to practice. The booklet starts with an extract from Act 2, Scene 2. Difficult words are coded to practice fluency. Then there is a model paragraph with a key word list. The rest of the essay is provided for students to read. Finally, students have opportunity to write a response for themselves. The booklet is an excellent template for teachers to use to make further resources!

Using vocabulary taken from the a key abstract noun list, the programme introduces language commonly used in reading texts from the SATs English, Reading and Writing papers. Research indicates that explicit teaching of vocabulary improves comprehension and writing. The 41 page course is suitable for a whole school approach to improve the comprehension and use of formal vocabulary across the curriculum. It is an ideal resource for SENCOs, English Language/Literacy Coordinators, English subject leads, teachers and leaders. It is useful for students who need to improve attainment and move into the SATs bands 5 and above. Each section of the main booklet includes picture prompts, speaking and listening activities and gap fills to familiarise students with the targeted words. There is a ‘Show not Tell’ section, which helps students with narrative writing and a story writing activity to show understanding of the key noun. For some words, there are model stories to read with the students. Also provided is a vocabulary graphic order, a vocabulary list and an assessment when the programme has been completed. The resource will improve comprehension and is an effective way to target struggling readers and writers for their SATsl.

This GCSE, Vocabulary course focuses on the academic words needed to succeed in the GSCE, English Language course. It is suitable for GCSE students, often with a good verbal ability, who struggle to express their language using formal language. There is a section focused on targeted words from the Academic Word List. It contains speaking and listening activities, gap fill tasks and an explanation of the body language and facial expression linked with some of the words. This should aid narrative writing. It also contains graphic organisers to analyse key meanings and story examples to help learn key words. There is an assessment to help understand if students have grasped the key vocabulary. Also included are a reading and wordsearch activity and discussion questions. Finally, there are two units to explore how to write about vocabulary in a GCSE examination. I have also added a free vocabulary unit - Reading Response - Analysing Situations! This will provide you with a list of words to analyse situations. The course is excellent for English coordinators, SENCOs and TAs who want to run targeted groups for students who are verbally strong but struggle to use academic language. Since vocabulary is a key component of comprehension and writing, the course has proved successful in helping underachieving GCSE English Language students succeed!

This GCSE persuasive writing resource includes key word spelling activities, questionnaires, two model essays a plan . It is ideal to use as part of KS3 and GCSE English Language lessons. The model essays are a response to a persuasive task in which the reader has to persuade a headteacher about the inportance of contact sports and having junk food on the school menu. There are two model answers to answer each of the GCSE, writing questions. There is also an innovative spelling activity to help dyslexic students and a plan to help students write their own response. As well as all this, there are two lesson plans if you want to deliver the sessions in school. This resource is an excellent way to show students how to plan and write a GCSE persuasive essay!

This resource is a five-lesson unit aimed to improve persuasive writing skills and is ideal for GCSE level or equivalent. It includes teacher notes, five lesson plans and a student booklet. Uniquely, the unit is structured around a model response to a sample exam question. It looks at the vocabulary, grammar and overall structure of a persuasive letter and encourages the use of these skills in independent writing. The unit follows a sequence that includes an exam question analysis, a vocabulary and grammar in context set of activities, a comprehension exercise based on the model text and an independent writing section. The Unit of work has proved to be an invaluable and proven way of moving pupils into the higher GCSE band and provides a structure of learning that can be applied to other forms of writing.

This AQA, English Language resource focuses on the text structure question (Q3)found in Paper One. It provides explanation texts to cover subject specific terminology such as focus, flashback, foreshadowing etc, along with quizzes and comprehension activities. It contains texts, model responses and detailed mark schemes to help students understand how to write a reading response answer for this question. The texts are broken down into paragraph sections to enable a step by step approach. The explanation texts to explain subject terminology are followed by comprehension tasks to ensure understanding of the terms and there are quizzes to further embed the definitions. A separate unit is devoted to flashback with a text and an AQA style question. The unit has proved successful in providing students with the knowledge and language needed to successfully respond to what can be a challenging part of the reading paper! It is suitable for GCSE, English Language students who struggle to express their ideas using the correct terminology and structure and will be an excellent revision programme in the run up to the exams.

The unit contains resources and lesson plans to teach descriptive writing in a structured and successful way. It contains picture prompts, a model answer, a five senses analysis sheet, a planning sheet and independent task. Using the model and analysis sheets, the unit shows students how to be successful writers in the descriptive genre. It has proved highly successful in improving the writing of GCSE students!

The unit contains resources and lesson plans to teach descriptive writing in a structured and successful way. It contains picture prompts, a model answer, a five senses analysis sheet, a planning sheet and independent task. Using the model and analysis sheets, the unit shows students how to be successful writers in the descriptive genre. It has proved highly successful in improving the writing of GCSE students!

This extensive resource is designer to support newly arrived, EAL students who have very little basic English. It contains workbooks, picture prompts, model paragraphs and basic descriptions, as well as an EAL beginner pack. The beginner pack provides a sequence to teach newly arrived, EAL students, moving from letter sounds, to basic vocabulary and sentences. It is full of useful ideas. To compliment this resource picture prompts and some flashcards are included to provide a context for students to learn. These provide pictures of different settings EAL students will experience such as a classroom or living room. There are flashcards of the colours. Once students have acquired these basic skills, there are two courses to learn to write simple descriptions and recounts. Each of these courses contain scaffolds, key vocabulary and paragraphs. This pack containing four pdfs will ensure the right support for newly arrived, EAL students!