Sixth Form Curriculum

Subject: OCR Functional skills- English to be taught in conjunction with OCR FS Maths Date: September 2016 Lead:

Guided Learning Hours:

Entry level 1 09495

Entry level 2

Entry level 3

Level 1 09498

Term 1/ week / Outcomes / Activities / Assessment/ evidence needed
1 / Learn about the aims of the course; expectations of the course; understand how they can achieve credits; be aware of the activities and tasks likely to be part of the course / Discussions of what the students feel they want to get out of the course; what they are going to learn about; practical activities to give them a taster of the activities on the course, e.g. visit to shops/ use of ICT to research/ visit the areas of interest in the locality / All students to have a timetable/ schedule of activities for the year ahead; and be aware of what the course entails
2 / Outcomes are progressive, and should be taught throughout the year.They should be included throughout the year, they have been cited only once here for ease.
EXPLAIN AND DISCUSS
(E1S1) Understand the main points of short explanations
(E2S1) Identify the main points of short explanations and instructions
(E3S1) Follow the main points of discussions
(1S1) Make relevant and extended contributions to discussions, allowing for and responding to others’ input
INSTRUCTION AND OPINION
(E1S2) Understand and follow instructions
(E2S2) Make appropriate contributions that are clearly understood
(E3S2) Use techniques to clarify and confirmunderstanding
(1S2) Prepare for and contribute to the formaldiscussion of ideas and opinions / Teachers could introduce complex sentences by asking learners to identify main and subordinate clauses in complex sentences. Point out tolearners that words such as who, whose, which, that, where, after, though, if, while etc often indicate a complex sentence. Teachers couldgive learners sentences to complete for practice. For example. I went to the dentist, although...... While she was staring at the door,.... When I saw him, ...... If you don’t want to see the result,.....
Teachers could ask learners to respond to prepared questions. They should explain that learners need to respond as clearly as possible. In pairs, learners should prepare five questions they want to ask their partner about their weekend. They should respond to the questions as clearly and concisely as possible.
Teachers could ask learners to explain what they have learned about their partner’s weekend. They could explore whether the responses were clear and related to the questions asked.
Teachers could introduce the concept of discussions – they could ask learners to define what a discussion is, and how it differs from a conversation or a lecture, for instance.
Learners might suggest things like, number of people involved, different opinions of participants, taking turns at speaking, etc. In order to prepare them for positive discussion work, ask learners in groups of 4/5 to decide on five rules for effective discussions. Give them a card to write down their rule after they have all discussed and agreed the rule. At the end discuss groups’ rules and which ones appear to be the most important, as well as clarifying why the rule is important. This should be followed up by an opportunity for a brief discussion on, for example, what makes a good shop assistant. At the end, ask the groups if they followed their rules and what difficulties they experienced.
Teachers could show learners a short film text which explains something (use YouTube and tailor your choice to your learners’ interests and contexts). Ask them to write down the main points of the explanation they have heard in note form.
Are similar numbers of simple and compound sentences used? The teacher could use one or two examples to explore the effectiveness of combining both types of sentence, and how they can make a text flow and aid understanding.
Teachers could introduce some simple time connectives to learners, for example: Firstly/To begin with, then/next, later/ afterwards, Finally/ In the end. Teachers could model planning and writing of a short text about a special day they experienced. After noting a few ideas, model sequencing by giving each idea a number.
Then discuss with learners which connectives could be used to help the reader follow the text logically. Ask learners to prepare their own piece of writing on a special day, following the model teachers have demonstrated. / .’Don’t you know who I am?’ worksheets/ tasks
.
3 / Teachers could give learners a list of ingredients for making a recipe. Learners could then write down questions they need to ask in order to make the recipe. As a class, share the questions and explore which questions are the most effective in finding out how to make the recipe.
Teachers could project a simple text, such as a straightforward advertisement, onto a screen and ask learners to suggest what kind of text it is and where they might find it or who might have written it. After reading together, ask learners some key information retrieval questions, using ’What...?’, ‘Who..?’ etc. Explore possible answers and annotate the screen with relevant words.
Teachers could ask learners to discuss in pairs their favourite TV programme. Prompt them to use active listening skills and to ask appropriate questions. Learners could feedback to the class what they have learned about their partner’s favourite TV programme.
During feedback teachers could explore what appropriate questions were used; for example identifying ‘What..?’ and ‘Why..?’ questions.
Ask learners to read aloud the statements, turning them into a question by changing the inflection in their voices. Learners could then write the sentences down as questions, remembering to use question marks. Ask learners to write down a conversation between two people who haven’t seen each other for a long time. They should focus on asking and answering questions, and using full stops and question marks accurately. It is useful to allow the opportunity for learners to read their conversations out with a partner, and to notice and reinforce the change in inflection between questions and answers.
Teachers could encourage learners to keep a spelling dictionary of their own and when they come across a word they don’t know, write it in their personal dictionary. Using the Look, Cover, Spell, Check method, they could be given regular opportunities to learn the spellings they have difficulties with.
Give learners a number of advertisements or descriptions of outings from travel brochures or newspapers. They should read these carefully and use their ideas to design a trip for their residents.
Learners could then write a formal invitation letter to residents, describing the trip, its benefits and dates and times it will take place.
4 / Teachers could give learners nouns in singular and plural forms on separate small cards, which they have to match – eg Box - boxes. Ask them to identify the plural rule each follows (start with add ‘s’, but include add ‘es’, ‘ies’, ‘ves’, and irregular plurals, such as hild/children). This can be followed by learners working in pairs: tell them to turn all the cards face down and take it in turns to explain the plural rule for each word turned over. The cards could be separated into singular and plurals. Divide singular words between them and ask learners to write down the plural. After this, ask learners to write down a shopping list for someone’s birthday party, using plurals.
Teachers could give learners words with letters in the wrong order. They should put them into alphabetical order so that the word becomes a word, eg ‘pat’ becomes ‘apt’, ‘rat’ becomes ‘art’, ‘car’ becomes ‘arc’. Teachers could then give a number of words or synonyms and ask learners to put them into alphabetical order. For example: hot, cold ,lukewarm, freezing, scalding would become: cold, freezing, hot, lukewarm, scalding. This could be developed further by giving words with similar beginnings to fine-tune their understanding of the alphabet and how it is used to categorise – learners could put words such as the following into alphabetical order: nose, nail, rose, raise, slow, snow etc to practise second letter observation. The same could be done with third letter examples: bee, been, beef, beech, ran, rang, rank, rant etc. / ‘ Pat’s pickles’ worksheets and tasks
‘Arranging a party’ worksheets and tasks
5 / Teachers could ask learners to work in groups of 3 or 4 to produce a list of situations which require formal language (classroom, interview, news programmes etc) and informal language (at home, socialising, Facebook etc). Ask learners to work in pairs to perform role plays exploring the use of formal and informal language.
Role play 1 –Person A wants to write a note and has lost his pen. He asks Person B to lend his pen, uses it and gives it back. Person A is yourself. Person B is (1) a member of your family and (2) an employer or teacher. Rehearse and act out both scenarios, using an appropriate level of formality.
Role play 2 – Person A has run through a door without noticing that Person B is on the other side holding a cup of tea. The tea is spilt, the cup broken and Person B is cross but not hurt.Person A apologises. Person A is yourself.Person B is (1) a member of your family and (2) an employer or teacher. Rehearse and act out both scenarios, using an appropriate level of formality.
6 / Teachers could introduce a simple process, such as how the postal service works, and give learners key vocabulary to help them to write about the process precisely. They should then write a concise description of the process, using the new vocabulary where possible / ‘Rescue Rosden Park’ worksheets and tasks
7 / Teachers could prepare some true/falsestatements on a straightforward leaflet or other text relevant to learners. Write the statements on the board, and ask learners to skim read the leaflet/text to find out if they are true or false. Ask learners to prepare their own true/false statements on a relevant text, and test their partners.
Teachers could ask learners to work in pairs on a role play where they have to express their point of view. A formal scenario might be Person A (the learner) arriving late for work/ school/college and explaining why they are late to Person B (your employer or teacher).
Person B should respond appropriately. An informal scenario might be Person A arriving home very late and explaining why they have arrived home very late to Person B (parent/ carer/partner). Learners should consider formality, appropriate questioning and rephrasing to clarify and confirm understanding and the expression of a point of view appropriately.
For a simple introduction to expressing a point of view, teachers could ask learners to work in pairs to imagine a scenario where their opinion is being asked in a filmed ‘vox pop’ for TV news. Teachers could prepare a question relevant to their learners: ‘What do you think of the local library closing down?’,
‘Do you feel safe on the streets at night?’, ‘Is internet shopping ruining our high streets?’
Person A is the interviewer, Person B gives their opinion. This could be developed so that Person A thinks of their own question, or responds to Person B with more probing questions. Learners swap places so they have the opportunity to try both roles. It is important to remind learners of key ideas, such as speaking clearly with appropriate intonation, using phrases such as ‘I believe..’, ‘I think ...’, ‘In my opinion...’, using formal language and supporting their point of view with at least one reason.
Term 2/ week / Outcomes / Activities / Assessment/ evidence needed
1 / DISCUSSIONS
(E1S3) Respond appropriately to comments and requests
(E2S3) Express simply feelings or opinions and understand those expressed by others
(E2S6) Follow the gist of discussions
(E3S3) Give own point of view and respondappropriately to others’ point of view
(1S3) Make different kinds of contributions todiscussions
OPINIONS
(E1S4) Make contributions to be understood
(E2S4) Communicate information so that themeaning is clear
(E3S4) Use appropriate language in formaldiscussions/exchanges
(1S4) Present information/points of view clearly and in appropriate language / Teachers could give learners a set of instructions for, say, building a table, or using a washing machine, or something relevant to their context. Learners should read them carefully and ensure they understand them.
They could then fold a piece of paper into six squares and imagine they are trying to convey the instructions to someone who can’t read or speak English. They can use images and/or diagrams, numbers and letters of the alphabet to convey chronology, and very short simple words only.
2 / Teachers could use a text relating to their learners’ context, for example, a set of instructions for a hairstylist to style someone’s hair. The teacher could cut up the different stages and ask learners to sequence the instructions in the correct order. Similarly, give the learner the instructions and ask them to half the amount of words/ sentences/points, so that they only include the most important information.
3 / Teachers could give learners a number of words which can be contracted and used less formally. For example, must not, cannot, is not, should not, will not, shall not. Give learners the example of ‘have not’ and ask them to contract the other examples. Share as a class. Ask them what rule can be followed in these contractions, and elicit from them the way the words are put together and an apostrophe is used to replace the missing letter. Encourage learners to realise that ‘not’ words always become n’t. Go on to ask learners to contract other words, such as: it is, he is, they are, you are, he will, I will, will not, shall not.
Ask learners to explore where they might see the full and contracted versions and explore the level of formality associated with each by giving them some sentences which they should identify as either formal or informal.
For example: I do not believe the victim of this crime has been compensated. She told him she didn’t like him. You mustn’t do that! Etc.
4 / Other members of the class can contribute where necessary, asking relevant questions and making additional points.
This could be further developed in role plays where a customer asks the hairdresser questions of their choice which demand full and detailed answers.
5 / Learners could find a quotation from the text which matches the subheading. For example, in a company report discussing the year’s performance, you could have subheadings such as ‘Profits’, ‘Time period’, ‘Success factor’, ‘Challenges’. Allow opportunity to discuss learners’ choices and explore any differences in choices. This could be developed so that learners prepare a short email to staff, summing up the main points of the report for their general information.
6 / Make the words pertinent to your learners or the concept under current study to make this a worthwhile exercise. Teachers could give words for learners to look up against the clock, and just write down the page they were found on. Another starter activity using a thesaurus could be to ask learners to write down three adjectives to describe themselves or someone they know. Using a thesaurus they should look up their word and find two alternatives that would work as well or better.
Term 3 / week / Outcomes / Activities / Assessment/ evidence needed
1 / QUESTIONING
(E1S5) Ask simple questions to obtain specific information
(E2S5) Ask and respond to straightforwardquestions
(E3S5) Make relevant contributions, allowing for and responding to others’ input
(1R1) Identify the main points and ideas andhow they are presented in a variety oftexts
READING AND WRITING
(E1R1) Read and understand simple regular words and sentences
(E3R1) Understand the main points of texts
(1R2) Read and understand texts in detail
(E2W1) Use written words and phrases to record and present information
(E3W2) Sequence writing logically and clearly
(1W3) Use language, format and structure suitable for purpose and audience / Teachers could explore the uses of tenses in different texts by giving samples for learners to try and identify what kind of texts they come from. For example:
The delightful Charlie is training to be a dentist and loves paragliding... You will love the taste!.. Please find enclosed a copy of the order form... The stas flickered like candles in a dark cave... Ryan Smith learned to play the guitar when he was only 5 years old.... I am a good learner and can perform well under pressure... And so it happened that the princess came upon her prince...
Ask learners to select two of your examples to develop further, focusing on continuing to use the tense used
2 / Teachers could ask learners to write down some simple statements. For example: The book is here. You feel well. You like this. I know how to do it. Ask learners to speak the statements aloud in groups or to the class.