Revision for level 1 functional skills with some progression towards GCSE. It has extension activities, a planning sheet and a self assessment table - the lesson has been designed to last about an hour and a half and encourages the students to write a target at the end. I’m using it for some final prep for a level 1 group where some are about to sit their writing and others their reading.

Reading skills and mini texts for functional skills new spec Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash

A functional skills lesson based on using information to write a letter, its based on a zombie apocolypse to keep students interested, it was designed so that students go into an appropriate amount of detail when explaining their reasons. This is a lesson to prepeare students to take the level one functional skills writing exam. I had to remove video links and pictures but the resouces are adaptable for these to be included.

A text I wrote based on personal opinions about going to university with questions to suit the level 1 functional skills reading exam for 2019 Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash

Writing activites and lesson to support the new functional skills specification for September 2019.

The first page goes through the terms of narrative structure. Task 1: Looking at the narrative structure students explain which should be the most exciting part. Task 2: look at a basic plot and see if they can show where it occurs in terms of narrative structure. Investigating and using Suspense techniques. Task 3: students do a basic plan using the narrative structure model (sample answer shown first) this is aimed at encouraging the use of flashback. Task 4: students write a couple of paragraphs of their story, experimenting with structure and there is a peer/self marking table for the students to complete. Photo by Sara Aho on Unsplash

A quick revision of paper 1 for AQA GCSE English language aimed at lower ability students, can be adapted to be part of a entire lesson, original mini texts have been written so students can attempt to write one PEE paragragh on each. For question 5 there is no picture due to copywrite concerns, so you can add a pictuure that is relevent to your group. One sample answer is included for question 2, detailing how to write a PEEZL paragrapgh and for question three some of the strtuctual techniques have been annotated. This has been used as a quick revision activity and has lasted a group about an hour and a half, if they only write one PEE paragraph per question. The texts are of my own creation and have been deliberatly written to include the techniques the students need to know for this exam. For the question 5 there is a planning sheet with some words that are aimed towards using more sophisticated vocabulary but the students do not need to use these words it is only a suggestion and will not apply to each example that they need to provide of the GOMASSIVE techniques. This is means as a quick recap and revision.

A lesson on report writing that can be used for both E3 and Level 1 level learners. Spelling rules E3 - 'ce’ vs ‘se’ LV1 - ‘cious’ or ‘tious’ I then go over how to structure and write a report. I have written a sample answer from a question I wrote and then gave the students a sample question to have a go of as well. I’ve included a video explanation of the how to write a report and a quick run through of my answer, so it can be used for homework or remote learning. I haven’t turned it into a PDF because I wanted to give you the option of editing and adapting this as you see fit but I hope it helps. At the end of the resource I’ve included a table with the idea in mind that students will start to recored the different features of different texts.

I made a question 4 paper 2 resource on two very different viewpoints on MMA. The texts are small with a lot of different techniques to write about. There is also a tick box of all the necessary things that I believe you must have in a question 5 answer. We are always told ‘quality over quantity’ so I produced five things that students can mark themselves against as they write. Either use it as self assessment or as a planning tool. There is also a sheet on identifying the specific effect of language techniques. All three took my class over an hour to complete I have used it for revision or last minuet practice before exams. Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash

A functional skills English lesson looking at how to write all texts. Fact and opinion and writing an article. Comes with both a reading and a writing task, lasts about two hours, extension activities included. Letter writing, Email writing, Article writing, Speech Writing and Instructional Texts

Persuasive and analytical writing. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

A video lesson and worksheet on how to use commas. I’ve went into a little detail about how these relate to dependent and independent clauses.

A series of slides with really small sample paragraphs that have particular techniques in them for the students to spot. The resource has been designed to show students how to answer question 4 of paper 1 of AQA GCSE English language paper 1. Students read only a few lines on the powerpoint and are given five mins to spot the techniques, they are then asked if they agree, partially agree or disagree, they are then asked to explain themselves in relation to the question making reference to the text and basing their answers on the technique they have found. I did this because it is very very simple and it shows just how easy question four can be. This has been designed for students new to this question who need to practice finding the techniques and knowing how to actually answer this question. I used it for a thirty minuet revision session before my students sat a mock and for individual tutorial sessions.

A revision activity where students act as intelligence officers and use their skills to interpret information to make decisions revises assessment objectives: AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO5.

Exam question Practice A resource designed for higher level GCSE English Language students, looks at using techniques in their writing and works on developing students work so that it achieves marks for compelling and convincing communication. should last about 40 minutes

A lesson on AO1 based on Coventry. The lesson looks at AO1 with skill building for question 5, it introduces the use of techniques, lesson should last around an hour and a half. Techniques: Metaphors, Similes, Personification, Group of 3, Powerful Adjectives and Sensory Language. A good introduction for Creative writing.

A starter and main activity of about 30 minutes in time the activites get steadily harder beginning with identifying word classes and connotations and then analysing and then seeing if the students can also apply it to question 4 paper 1, peer assessment table is included to close the loop, helpful hints have been placed in there to give guidence to studetns and extention activities for the more able.

I made a reading test for students to practice their skills. I wrote my own texts and based the questions of the new post 2019 Edexcel reform of the level 2 functional skills. The texts are in an editable word document, I put the questions and answers on a power point but I also included a copy of the questions on a word document. 15 questions in total same as the exam students are expected to spend 75 minutes on this, same as the exam. All resources are fully editable so if there’s anything you don’t like it can be fixed easily but I tried to represent every question that the students may face in the exam.

A functional skills lesson going over purpose and audience that suits the new spec.

A functional skills lesson designed to meet the new spec for 2019 Edexcel functional skills, looks at basic punctuation, using quotes and layout features. Lesson designed to last approximately an hour and a half depending on the ability of the class. Inference and Emphasis