• Great ques...

LSIS are pleased to announce that all the materials from the ReadWritePlus site, which has now been closed, have been moved to the Excellence Gateway.

LSIS have changed how the content is organised and presented so that it's easier for users to find what they are looking for.

The materials, if you have not looked at them in the past, will be of interest to a wide range of practitioners in all settings, including...

• Skills for Life;

• Functional Skills; and
  

• Key Skills.

For ...

MouseProgram, created by Lawrence Goetz 2008-2010, is very much a website for beginners to learn how to "Use The Mouse"

Visitors to the MouseProgram website practice using the Mouse, including:

• Moving the Mouse;

• Left Clicking;

• Right Clicking;

• Double Clicking;

• Dragging and Dropping;

There is also an introduction to the elements found on "Online Forms", including using the mouse with...

• Radio Buttons;

• Check Boxes; and
  

• Drop Down Lists.

The bonus for many may wel...

TelescopicText is primarily a set of tools...

• for creating expanding texts showing how a simple sentence can be elaborated to become rich in detail;

• for helping functional skills/key skills learners develop more complex sentences

The tools can be found by...

• visiting http://www.telescopictext.org/; and
  

• clicking Write in the navigation at the top.

Clicking...

• Texts, also in the navigation at the top, users will locate selected texts; and
  

• Resources provides access t...

MoneySmartWorld provides a wide range of...

• money worksheets;

• curriculum based lesson plans;

• practical money management workbooks;

• story books; and

• informative articles

...specifically designed to help young people learn about money.

These resources are suitable for a wide range of ages.

Note: Many of the resources have a cost but, there are also lots of free resources to download, so take a look at http://www.moneysmartworld.com/!

CanTeach writing prompts website is for the Functional Skills practitioners who likes to encourage daily writing but struggles to find good writing prompts that will both engage the creative and the critical thinking skills of their learners.

The CanTeach writing prompt web site's list of possible writing prompts are open-ended and built around inquiry .

• Scroll down;

• grab a prompt; and

• get learners writing.
  

Once the learners have finished writing, functional skills practi...

CanTeach writing prompts website is for the Functional Skills practitioners who likes to encourage daily writing but struggles to find good writing prompts that will both engage the creative and the critical thinking skills of their learners.

The CanTeach writing prompt web site's list of possible writing prompts are open-ended and built around inquiry .

• Scroll down;

• grab a prompt; and

• get learners writing.
  

Once the learners have finished writing, functional skills practi...

Road to Grammar is a free resource featuring quizzes, games, and lessons for ESOL, ESL, EFL & Functional Skills learners.

Learners can work through...

• a dozen practice activities;
• five practice games; and
• 365 grammar quizzes - each quiz provides instant feedback and notes explaining why answers are correct or incorrect.

Road to Grammar also provides some downloadable resources for teachers offering...

• discussion starters for English lessons;
• lesson warm-up activities; and
  ...

ShutterCal is a free, calendar-based photography project where users can document their life and improve their photography skills at the same time.

From my experience, the older you get the quicker time flies! Imagine capturing one moment of each day in a calendar and adding appropriate comments. Then, in the future, Picture scrolling through time and remembering what was important to you, each day, back then.

ShutterCal, which is free, provides a free calendar account, which users fill ...

I've included the Shmoop website in previous blogs and the eMagazine, as a provider of free study guides for topics in Social Studies and Language Arts; Shmoop has recently branched-out to include mathematics study guides.

The first a collection of study guides for Pre-Algebra topics. The collection is broken into six categories...

• basic operations;
• fractions & decimals;
• ratios & percentages;
• basic geometry;
• basic statistics & probability; and
  
• basic Algebra.
  

Shmoop is also offering a g...

Literacy Head could be a great resource for functional and key skills practitioners.

Literacy Head is a weekly ePublication about teaching literacy through the use of art work. Each week Literacy Head publishes lessons for teaching visuals-based...

• reading,
  
• writing, and
  
• vocabulary lessons.
  

The word "brave" was included in the vocabulary lesson I looked at; to help learners visualize the word and its definition, Literacy Head had four images of people doing brave things. 

Litera...

The Illuminations website, from the USA's National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, currently has...

• 105 online activities;
• 551 lesson plans; and
  
• links to 724 online resources.

Spelling Match Game...

• is a spelling game developed by Houghton Mifflin;
• is, as implied, a game where learners have to complete matching activities based on...
  • the sounds; and/or
    
  • meanings of words.
    
• offers different levels of difficulty for learners (grades 1 through 8);
• can be played as timed or untimed activity;
• is just a game that almost all learners can use on their own; and
• is also a good game to play on an interactive whiteboard.

It could be used by...

• Literacy and/or
  
• ESOL, ESL...

Skills@Library, from the University of Leeds, has tutorials and resources which have been created to help learners develop some of the core skills for successful study, such as referencing and reading skills.

Visit http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk/online_tutorials.php where you will find hyperlinks to...

• Finding academic information;
• Improving academic skills;
• Improving communication and presentation skills;
• Improving your maths; and
• Managing information and referencing.

I've looked at the...

Multiplication Tool is an online maths study tool that helps learners master the “art” of multiplying several digits. This website should help learners improve on this essential maths skill which can benefit a lot in tackling more difficult number problems.

The Multiplication Tool is designed to teach multi-digit multiplication through one of three methods...

• standard;
• lattice; and
• partial products.
  

The tool provides...

• learners with a method to identify their preferred multiplica...

A Free online resource, from Nationwide, for learners, practitioners and parents, improving knowledge and life skills about...

• Financial Capability;
• Sustainable Living; and
  
• Safety.

Features...

• resources for use on interactive whiteboards and PCs;
• Interactive games and storybooks,
• Downloadable fact and worksheets;
• Activity ideas;
• Hints and tips;
• Tailored programmes for 4 to 18+ (For younger learners the resources are linked to the National Curricular.

Visit http://www.nationwideeducation.co.u...

The Early Childhood Education Network's Literacy Center (Centre) provides learners with online learning activities in four languages.

The Literacy Centre provides tutorials and games in...

• English,
• Spanish,
• German, and
• French.

The tutorials and games are designed to teach learners...

• the alphabet,
• writing the alphabet,
• numbers,
• shapes,
• colours,
• phonics, and
• basic spelling.

Each section begins with a tutorial before moving on to ask learners to apply their new knowledge to an activity...

Time for Time is a website for anyone that teaches learners how to tell time.

The online games are easy for learners to access. And, if there are not enough computers for all learners to play the games at once, users can take advantage of the offline game suggestions in the teacher section of Time for Time.

Visit http://www.time-for-time.com/ to find out more.

The Embedded Learning Portal contains online versions of the Skills for Life Materials for Embedded Learning. These embedded teaching and learning materials are designed for use by practitioners: vocational practitioners and trainers, Skills for Life (Functional Skills) practitioners, practitioners working in community, employability and health settings and employability programmes.

Skills for Life Materials for Embedded Learning aim to help learners to improve the...

• literacy,
• language or...

Other subject areas included are...

• Science
• Geography
• History
• RE
• PMLD
• Art & Design
• Design & Technology and
• PSHE

Niceletter is a free letter wizard that will enable learners to construct a letter which complies with writing rules, simply by filling in text fields.

No word editor is needed as the layout is handled automatically. In addition, many sample letters are available such as...

• cover letters,

• thank-you letters,

• complaint letters and

• business letters.

Practitioners can use these templates to discuss letter structure, content etc., with learners.

Find out more at http://www.niceletter.com...

Ofqual, along with its regulatory partners in Wales and Northern Ireland, has published the criteria for Functional Skills assessments in English, mathematics and ICT.

Awarding organisations wishing to offer Functional Skills qualifications will need to submit proposals to Ofqual for approval and demonstrate how they comply with these criteria. Only those organisations and qualifications that are fully compliant with the criteria will be approved at this time, ready for first teaching in Se...

LinkUp is a resource which requires learners to link words to categories. The resource works particularly well on an interactive white board (IWB) as the links can be dragged around the screen.

Triptico have added a feature which allows practitioners to save the activities they create.

How does it work?

Each game requires...

• two categories,
• each with six linked words.

The aim is to drag...

Twurdy comes from a play on words with the question "Too Wordy?".

Twurdy, a search engine based on Google, was created to provide users with access to search results that suit their own readability level.

Twurdy...

• uses text analysis software to "read" each page before it is displayed in the results;
• gives each page a readability level;
• shows the readability level of the page along with a colour coded system to help users determine how easy the page will be to understand.

Twurdy's goal...

"Visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult. People regularly talk about millions of miles, billions of bytes, or trillions of dollars, yet it's still hard to grasp just how much a "billion" really is."

The MegaPenny Project aims to help by taking one small everyday item, the U.S.A. penny, and building on that to answer the question: "What would a billion (or a trillion) pennies look like?"

Note: All weights and measurements are U.S.A. standards, not metric.

If you and...

Harcourt School Publishers website, called Punctuation Campground, is an excellent interactive white board resource.

There are not many online Language sites, dealing with proper punctuation, that can be used effectively on an interactive whiteboard.

Punctuation Campground...

• does not require any keyboard input,
• is easy to navigate, and
• provides great feedback and reference material to help both the learner and the practitioner.

In the activity, a sentence is presented for the learn...

Many Things is a website offering Functional Skills/Key Skills/ESOL/EFL/ESL etc., practitioners and learners an extensive collection of...

• Word games,
  
• puzzles,
• quizzes,
  
• exercises and

...other online learning activities.

Many Things provides materials appropriate for beginners through to advanced ESOL/EFL/ESL learners.

In addition to the games and quizzes, Many Things provides...

• listening activities made possible through the use of MP3 recordings.
• video lessons on speaking and wr...

Learners often expect practitioners to correct their written errors!

However learners can learn a lot from looking for and correcting errors in written work.

Practitioners can provide learners with texts that may, or may not, have spelling errors. Learners can then be encouraged to look at the text carefully and try to find any errors. If they see any they should try to correct them. They can then copy and paste the text into SpellChecker and then 'Spell Check'.

Try it out at http://w...

Teachers TV has a 20 minute film explaining the new Functional Skills (Numeracy, Literacy and ICT) which will be with us by 2010.The programme is an introduction rather than a detailed analysis.

There will be an eMagazine Supplement providing resources for Functional Skills after a workshop(s) later in the year.

The Teachers TV page also has suggested links for further information, visit http://www.teachers.tv/video/33488.

I've included similar software in the eMagazine before and have often been asked why such online software is included in ESOL/EFL/ESL/etc. resources.

The answer is simple...

It provides an interactive tool for learners to practice physical descriptions such as eye and hair colour as they...

• create avatars, import the resulting image into PowerPoint, a blog or wiki or ePortfolio, adding text and/or audio descriptions or
• create avatars, following audio and or written descripti...

Mr. Nussbaum has improved his interactive math application, Draggable Math.

In his words, Draggable Math now has...

“the ability to correct problems, drag numbers anywhere on the screen, change paper type from graphing, to lined, to blank, and to draw lines anywhere.”

Users now have the option of using it to practice...

• addition,
• multiplication,
• division and
• subtraction.

Users are given several options to customize each selection.

These activities work well with an In...