Before you start

Get Writing!
(Literacy curriculum - Writing)
Tied in with the Canterbury Tales television programmes, 'Get Writing' is a place for written creativity, from prose to sketches. Though this level of material will be too high for some of your students, it's a good place for inspiration.

Writing frames
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/E3.1)
Thanks to Chris J for this idea.
Writing frames are a good way of giving unconfident writers support. You divide your page up into boxes with an agreed topic. For example if you want students to write a newsletter about a class trip you might have a heading in each box which will help the writer to put down some ideas. E.g. 'Where did we go?' and 'when did we go?', followed by 'first', 'then', 'next' and 'finally'. You could have a last box to provide a sum-up sentence. The key is really how much guidance you put into the box.

Ideas for writing
(Literacy curriculum - Ws/L1.1)
Thanks to Mary C for this idea.
When the students come into class give them each a piece of paper and have them write down a noun or topic. Collect the papers, pass them out to different people and tell them they have a certain amount of time to write a few sentences based on what is written on their piece of paper.

World War 2 People's War
(Literacy curriculum - Wt)
The WW2 People's War website aims to capture and preserve for future generations the story of the British people during World War 2. Use other people's contributions as an inspiration to get your students writing. Do they have any stories to contribute?

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Random words into sentences
(Literacy curriculum - Rt/L1.1,Rs/L1.1,Rs/L1.2,Ws/L1.2,Ws/l1.3)
Use games such as Boggle or Scrabble, a lucky dip system with plastic letters in a bag or simply choose random pages from a dictionary, and get learners to make words and sentences out of the letters and words selected. This is a good activity for warming the class up, helping their spelling and encouraging them to think about the possible contexts words can be used in

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Practical writing

Letter writing - layout
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.1,Wt/L1.2,
Wt/L1.3,Wt/L1.5)
Letter writing is an essential skill for learners to master. The KS3 Bitesize site has examples of different types of letter which can not only help students structure their own own letters correctly but can also be printed out and used in class.

Using 'real resources'
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.1, Wt/L1.2, Wt/L1.4)
Thanks to Michelle T for sending in this idea.
Keep a folder of 'real resources', such as bus timetables and letters from the gas board. For example - a letter from an Adult Education provider informed me about the start date for a Spanish course. I have given this letter to a learner to respond to. They can further develop their writing skills by planning, drafting and writing the response.

Writing fan letters
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.1,Wt/L1.2,Wt/L1.4,Wt/L1.6,Ws/L1.1,Ws/L1.2,Ws/L1.3,Ww/L1.1,Ww/L1.2)
Thanks to Susan F for this idea.
A learner's hobbies and interest can often provide inspiration for class activities. If they're a fan of a particular football club or television programme, get them to write a letter to the BBC asking for a clip from a particular match or episode to be shown again. They might also like to try writing a fan letter to a player or actor, or even write what they imagine their CV might look like.

Workplace words
Thanks to RJ & EJ Styles for this idea
(Literacy curriculum - Rt/L1.1, Rt/L1.2, Rt/L1.3)
For dyslexic students, write up notes about a visit outside of the college on flash cards, and arrange these into ordered groups. The students should thenwrite paragraphs to go with each card and form sentences. This should help their ability to piece sentences together.

Getting students writing
(Literacy curriculum - Wt)
Thanks to Chris J who sent in this tip.
Find out what real-life purpose for writing your student has, such as writing notes, replying to letters, filling in forms etc, and give work accordingly. You can make the activities simple to start with and provide a lot of the words. I use things like internet quizzes, wordsearches or hangman for reinforcement only - writing is more important. If you want to get free writing done you may need to use a writing frame and discuss ideas in depth with plenty of words provided on paper or the board.

Form filling
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.2)
Thanks to Donni B who sent in this idea.
Use forms from banks, post offices, and council offices - just walk in and help yourself. The passport one is good, get your students to go and get themselves one for homework. I get them to do a list of important points to remember first of all, such as keeping a copy and doing it in pencil first.

Work essentials - CVs
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.5)
Five examples of CVs you can print out and use in class. Discuss the different ways of organising and presenting text. This can lead to students creating their own CVs.

Plan and draft a report
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L2.1)
The Key Skills website is aimed at levels 2 and 3 Key Skills and is for 16 to 19 year olds. There are resources to help with Communication, IT and Numbers. In Communication it gives advice for writing a report with tips on the planning and drafting stage.

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Poetry

Haiku writing (printable 4-page document)
(Literacy curriculum Rw/E3.5 and Ww/E3.2)
Here are some worksheets created for a lesson on syllables based around poetry. The inspiration was Skillswise and Your Stories. Thanks to tutor Michelle for sending in these activites. Michelle says this worked really well with the students.

Getting it right

On this day
(Literacy Rt/L1, Ws/L1.2)
On the BBC News 'On this day' site you can look up any day of the year and read reports of the major events that have happened on that day in history. You can also read other people's memories of the events and contribute your own. All of this is useful material for tense work, looking at different types of texts and distinguishing fact from opinion.

EastEnders
(Literacy curriculum - Rs/L1.1)
Get your students to write a personal ad for their favourite EastEnders character. Do they think Pauline needs help with her love life? Visit the character page to print out summaries of each character.

Christmas cards
(Literacy curriculum - Wt/L1.4)
Get your students to send online Christmas cards to their friends. Fill out the form with a personal comment to each person. Discuss what type of language will be used, formal or informal, brief or long-winded and why.

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