A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 3: “Language that influences.” During this unit students learned how to create and shape perspectives on community, local and global issues in texts. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute persuasive multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded about an issue of their choice. A PPT which structures the lesson. It began with a think, pair, share activity to define mental health. This is followed by some online definitions from the WHO and Beyond Blue & a 2-minute viewing activity. Some information about the benefits of staying well are provided. Students are then to brainstorm some strategies they could use to maintain good mental health. There are some tips that I’ve saved over the years from various places (e.g. Headspace) which I have scanned and use as discussion prompts. Then there is some information about stress and some stress triggers and anxiety and some symptoms of anxiety. There is a visual infographic from Beyond Blue containing statistics about Australians impacted by anxiety or depression. This is followed by a viewing activity about Post Natal depression from ABC iView (an episode from Season 7 of “You Can’t Ask That”).

This PowerPoint includes: a synopsis of film and information about the author of the novel: Dashiell Hammett. This ppt introduces the femme fatale and film noir and explores its defining features and how they influenced crime films. It also looks at societal influences on writers and filmmakers of the time. Within the lesson there are a few viewing activities including an excerpt from The Maltese Falcon and the trailer of Postman always rings twice (another well-known example). If I have time I usually show the trailer of Gone Baby Gone as a modern example. For homework, students consider how they could incorporate some of these elements into their own short story.

Defining each theme and posing questions for students to consider e.g. Why do human beings have a basic need and desire to be in a group? What are the consequences of being an outcast from main groups? (both physically and mentally). Can groups affect your behavior and encourage you to engage in behaviors you might not otherwise? A list of texts which feature this theme. Clips from various teen films (mostly trailers) with questions for students to respond to post-viewing. It also explains how popular teens and unpopular teens are commonly shown.

A multifaceted lesson (PowerPoint) which encourages students to speculate about the opinions of the nurse, Juliet and Lord Capulet about events we have read thus far (in preparation for a monologue task). This has key questions to prompt this discussion. It also introduces some new terms that are important for understanding the ‘arranged marriage’ which Juliet is faced with (patriarchy, social class, feminism, liberalism). it includes a youtube clip of Baz Luhrmann’s version of the party scene which could be compared with the 2013 film. Slides also discuss language clues and how the writing style changes when the characters are feeling loving vs angry. This PPT also includes a summary of all the scenes in Act 2. It includes a video clip of the Baz Luhrmann balcony scene. It includes quotes and prompts which help students to analyse Juliet’s speech and behaviour in the “balcony scene” to better understand the pressures on her and the way they make her act. An updated PowerPoint about Act Two which includes more key quotes and questions to check for understanding. It is designed for a unit where the only assessment is an exam at the end of the term. It includes images and clips to cater to visual learners. It focuses on key language (aesthetic) features within the play which students may like to refer to in their exam responses. A handout - revision activity - a list of jumbled up events from this act which students have to reorganise into chronological order. A script for the balcony scene which has been translated into modern language (more accessible for students). Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).

A group of resources: a handout which includes the questions on the slide (to be given to students to answer / shared electronically.) The PowerPoint. Some information pertaining to the historical context of the play. A summary of each scene with key quotes and questions. Viewing a film of Juliet’s monologue in Act Four, Scene Three. Important things to note from Act 4. Revision questions. An updated PowerPoint which features all of Act 4 (Scenes 1-5). This lesson is designed to run over a couple of lessons. It includes more quotes from the play, checking for understanding questions (some to answer in books and some to discuss as a class) & some brain breaks (viewing activities - two excerpts of the play being staged in The Globe Theatre). This lesson is designed to fit into a unit where students must complete an exam where they respond to an essay which argues that Friar Laurence is solely to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Through studying each scene in depth, students should begin to see that a range of other characters could be referenced in their counter argument. A handout - revision activity - a list of jumbled up events from this act which students have to reorganise into chronological order. Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).

A PowerPoint which focuses on Act 3 (Scenes 2-5). To be taught after a lesson acting out the first scene (fight scene). The lesson includes a summary of each scene with key quotes and questions. Additionally, it features important historical context information that students need to know to understand the play. There is a link to an Australian performance of Juliet’s famous soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 2). This is followed by a close look at the lines of this soliloquy. Viewing Act 3, Scene 5 from the 2013 film. Important things to note from Act 3. An updated PowerPoint which features all of Act 3 (Scenes 1-5). This lesson is designed to run over a couple of lessons. It includes more quotes from the play, checking for understanding questions (some to answer in books and some to discuss as a class) & some brain breaks (viewing activities + one game of scattergories). This lesson is designed to fit into a unit where students must complete an exam where they respond to an essay which argues that Friar Laurence is solely to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Through studying each scene in depth, students should begin to see that a range of other characters could be referenced in their counter argument. A handout - revision activity - a list of jumbled up events from this act which students have to reorganise into chronological order. Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).

A PowerPoint which includes a list of questions for students to ask themselves every time they analyse a poem. The poems to be explored show people’s feelings and emotions about war and the toll it takes on human lives. While some poems talk about bravery, patriotism and pride, this collection challenges this perspective. Both poems contest the notion of war showing it as a senseless waste of young lives. Students read one poem and there are set of writing activities and questions for them to respond to. They then listen to the song 'And the band played Waltzing Matilda' as they read along on their sheet (also provided). Afterwards, there are 11 activities for the children to complete.

3 resources for a year 12 English unit. 1) A PPT for a mini lesson on nouns, verbs and adjectives + another mini lesson on adverbs. 2) A PowerPoint engaging with 2 WW1 poems: ‘I have a rendezvous with death’ and ‘In Flanders Fields. After reading the first poem there are discussion questions. I have also included some of my observations about each of the poem (modelling analysis), some info about the author, activities encouraging the students to consider how langauge features have been used in the text. Following this, students read the second poem on their own and complete the comparison activity (3rd resource). 3) A handout with the table for the comparison activity (for students to complete electronically)

A PowerPoint for use in a 70 minute lesson. It begins with a look at Vietnam’s geographic location and the countries which border it. This information is used to explain which countries have tried to invade Vietnam in the past. This lesson explores questions including: What was Vietnam like under French rule? & Why was communism so attractive to Vietnamese Nationalists? A key historical figure (Ho Chi Minh) is introduced to students and his ideological influences are explained. Afterwards a series of sources about Ho Chi Minh are included along with questions which students can either answer in their books or discuss as a class (teacher discretion). There is information about key events before and during WW2. Students are asked to consider why communism may have been appealing to Vietnamese Nationalists. Some key dates from the Timeline in Hoepper et al’s 1996 textbook ‘Inquiry 2’ are displayed and a range of sources are used to elaborate on these talking points. The term Viet Minh is introduced to students. Information about how this group formed, their attire and who they fought against is outlined. Another figure – Emperor Bao Dai is introduced as he is someone who is likely to come up in student research. A key source – Ho Chi Minh’s speech proclaiming independence on September 2nd, 1945 – is provided for students to read along with a series of short response questions. This is followed by a paragraph writing activity which can be done as a ‘we do’ or a ‘you do’ depending on the ability level of the class. The lesson concludes with some information about the aid the USA provided to French to try to help them regain control of Vietnam after the Second World War. The Battle of Dien is briefly touched upon as well as the Geneva Settlement and the subsequent partitioning of Vietnam into two states. At the conclusion of the lesson, successful students will be able to explain the historical concept of anti-colonialism, key individuals and groups involved in the quest for Vietnam’s independence and the factors and events that influenced them. A handout designed to go with this lesson. It includes some information about Ho Chi Minh and a range of sources about him. For instance, The path which led me to Leninism by Ho Chi Minh – a primary source which outlines his reasons for joining the French Communist Party & his speech proclaiming independence on September 2nd, 1945. The handout includes questions but does not provide space for the answers (to save on printing). **NB: Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The content would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in the Vietnamese Independence Movement (1945-1975). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay. **

Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson. The lesson begins with a brainstorming activity where students reflect on the news they have seen recently and make a list of people, issues and events. This is a good prompt for a discussion about topical stories. This is followed by a survey of what category of news e.g. sports, entertainment news, political news etc. It also talks about the frequency of accessing the news and the ways that they engage with the news. Once students are settled introduce the major focus of the lesson: How do journalists / media companies shape our beliefs about / attitudes towards different people? The lesson introduces a key term ‘target audience’ and how this determines what specific news organisations report. Pose the question: Is the news a trustworthy source of information? Introduce terms for students to add to glossary: bias, empowerment, disempowerment Learn some ways that bias is omission, exaggeration, selective statistics, evaluative language and biased language choices Look at some famous people who have been shown positively and negatively in the media (images juxtaposed side by side). Great for discussion Look at an article (about Britney Spears) and how it creates a certain representation of a her through language choices, who is quoted, the balance between facts and opinions, whose views are silenced (omitted) After discussing what they have learned, the lesson ends with a definition of ‘hard news’ and ‘soft news’ and a list of news stories for them to classify into these two categories.

Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson. This unit teaches students to be media literate and prepares them to do a speech where they analyse 1 x print news item and 1 x audio visual news item. This lesson focuses on the visual features and text structures of print-based news media texts. It begins with the requirements of news stories and some activities e.g. make a headline from a prompt, read a headline and make it more emotive. This is followed by information about how print based news media is structured (an intro to the inverted pyramid structure). A discussion of layout and reading paths follows. There are images of news stories with the features annotated (e.g. headline, byline, lead, images, captions, pull quotes, columns). Important terms like pull quote, foregrounding, bolded text, text enhancement etc. are explained and examples are provided. There is also an explanation of things to discuss when analysing pictures including colour and the mood evoked by it. There are also some checking for understanding activities which can be done as a class discussion / a written activity depending on the preference of the teacher.

Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson. This lesson begins by defining what a representation is and why they are so powerful. The variance in portrayals of Meghan Markle and Princess Kate are used to prompt discussion. This is followed by a series of slides about the language features that students can look for when analysing news stories. The slides include definitions and examples. Language features include: similes, metaphors, appeal to authority, appeal to emotion, connotations, emotive language, hyperbole, repetition, inclusive language, omission, groups of three, rhetorical questions, alliteration, idioms and hashtags. The lesson concludes with reading an example article about Novak Djokovic and considering whether it paints him in a positive / negative light. There are a series of questions to help students to analyse this text.

A unit introduction PowerPoint for a unit entitled Literary Representations of Australia. Within this unit, students learn about Australian identity and then consider how this is represented in the novel Deadly Unna? By Phillip Gwynne. The PPT includes an assessment overview, a discussion of what it means to be Australian and how our Australian identity is constructed and defined. Students completed a brainstorming activity based on texts they viewed in the last few weeks of the previous term. A thought-provoking poem entitle ‘How Australian are You’ is included to prompt discussion of the many ways of being Australian and some of the stereotypes which exist about us. This is followed by a think-pair-share activity. Following this, students are introduced to the term representations. They are then shown the first two verses of the Australian national anthem to explore (with 4 questions). This is followed by a paragraph writing task to consolidate what they have learned. If time permits, students are introduced to some critical literacy terms: marginalised and silenced. Students are also talked through the elements of their novel study booklet. Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them. Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.

A PowerPoint which provides an image and summary for the following characters from Deadly Unna? (pictures taken from the film Aussie Rules). Bob Black aka The Old Man Gwen Black (Blacky’s mum) Gary Black Dumby Red Pickles Coach Robertson aka Arks Tim Black aka Best Team-Man Darcy I printed these up and used them as posters in the classroom.

These are the homework resources for a year 12 Authority English unit delivered in Queensland, Australia. The focus for this unit is the comprehensive study of a text that explores a different culture (the autobiography Slave by Mende Nazer). Through examining the autobiographies underlying ideologies and themes, students will be exposed to social and cultural experiences that are far removed from their own. In particular, students will explore the controversial and confrontational issues privileged in the selected text. Engaging with a culturally rich text will allow students to develop empathy and connect other cultural experiences with their own lived experience. Resource 1: List of vocabulary (spelling words) for the term - students are to learn 24 words per week. Resource 2: List of terms that students should know by the end of year 12 which can be used as extension for gifted students. Resource 3: A list of comprehension questions written to assess students knowledge of each chapter of the autobiography. This is a good tool for consolidating knowledge and will be useful revision when they need to develop an idea for their assessment tasks.

This is a booklet which scaffolds students to present a legal summation speech prosecuting or defending a character from Macbeth (for murder or regicide). The booklet includes a summary of the play, key legal terminology, a list of persuasive devices students could draw from, a suggested structure, an example introduction, an annotated conclusion and important tips. In Australia this is used in a grade 12 English class.

5 excellent resources for a Senior Authority English assessment (Australian standards but could be adapted for other countries). Resources include: An assessment task sheet, a PowerPoint explaining the assessment, a scaffolding booklet to assist students with the assessment, a PowerPoint with necessary legal terminology (which also explores how Macbeth is a tragedy and is useful for revision), and a booklet entitled 'Macbeth and the Criminal Code' which lists the various defences you could use for each character as well as possible witnesses.

Perfect resources for a protest poetry unit. These poems show wars from a range of viewpoints. There are poems about World War 1 and 2, poems for use in ANZAC day ceremonies, one Vietnam war poem. The World War 1 poems include a link to an ABC national radio programme where celebrities have been recorded reading these poems.

Defining bullying and the various types. Info about the emergence of cyber bullying, a novel example - Destroying Avalon (2006) with a summary and key quotes. A list of texts which feature bullying. A few clips from Mean Girls followed by reflection questions, a clip from Glee, The OC and The Breakfast Club followed by reflection questions.

PowerPoint 1: Defines monologue, goes through the requirements if students choose to record their monologue rather than presenting in class, prompts for what students should look for when watching Glee, post episode summary and activity, PowerPoint 2: Explaining the monologue assessment task and requirements. Going through the structure of a monologue. Viewing a clip from Ferris Bueller's day off for inspiration. Going through expected language features.