Unique resources created by an experienced Secondary English and History teacher. These are academically rigorous resources that target children between 13 and 18 years of age.
Unique resources created by an experienced Secondary English and History teacher. These are academically rigorous resources that target children between 13 and 18 years of age.
To prepare students for their upcoming assessment (writing a historical essay about an individual / group involved in the independence movement that they have investigated) this lesson focuses on paragraph writing. This resource includes a PowerPoint, a handout of sources about the Viet Cong and a homework sheet about the TET offensive.
A handout containing a range of source types including extracts from textbooks, online encyclopaedias, biographies, illustrations and photographs.
The PowerPoint begins by introducing students to the question they need to respond to in paragraph form. They learn the meaning of the term ‘modus operandi’ which appears in the question. Students are reminded of the importance of synthesising (one of the criteria in the instrument specific marking guide for this subject). Synthesis is explained and then students have time to engage with the sources on the handout and write their TEEL paragraph. Students have a checklist to use post writing to ensure they have met the communication criteria. Afterwards students are called on to share their answers and feedback is provided from the teacher about their responses in terms of structure, content, synthesis, evidence of analysis/evaluation of sources within their response, word choices etc. Then, if time permits, this is followed by a brief introduction to a key event: The Tet offensive. There are some clips to view to provide students with a better understanding of this event in preparation for their homework task.
A homework sheet that requires students to summarise the Tet offensive, look at a famous photograph from the time and research its context & answer some questions about this image.
**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.
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Two resources: a PowerPoint presentation and a lesson plan designed for use in a year 11 Modern History class. Within this lesson I revisited the historical concept of ‘empathy’ through the use of passages from a biography about Phan Thi Kim Phuc (who was caught in a NAPALM attack in 1972). By engaging with biographical sources I hoped to contextualize the experiences of those who lived in the past and to also encourage students to consider how historical conditions shaped the perspectives and decision-making of people who lived in Vietnam from 1945-1975. Lastly, I wanted them to be able to evaluate the relevance and reliability of biographical sources as they may come across these in their own research for their historical essay.
This PowerPoint includes a warm up (quick quiz) to settle students and to discern their prior knowledge. This is followed by some answer slides which include an explanation of why empathising is an important skill for historians. Afterwards there is a viewing activity to introduce students to the subject for today’s lesson and the infamous photograph taken of her. This video is used to broach a discussion about ‘perspective’ and what factors can shape a person’s perspective.
Subsequently, the differences between biography and autobiography are included on a slide side-by-side for comparison. This is useful for determining the level of reliability and usefulness of these two genres.
Following this, there are some dot points about the biography ‘The Girl in The Picture’ written by Denise Chong. There is information to establish what life was like for Kim Phuc’s family and how their life was impacted by the Vietnam War. There is an extract about her mother’s encounters with the Viet Cong on her way to and from work. These extracts show how civilians were impacted by the war and include descriptions of the modus operandi of the Viet Cong (a group which students may wish to research for their assessment). After reading the source and asking students what stood out to them from the passage, we talk about whether this source could be utilised in the assessment.
Students are asked to consider to what extent is it ‘useful’ and ‘reliable’. To help students learn how to articulate an evaluation, they are introduced to the terms ‘subjective’ and ‘objective.’ They are also provided with some information about the author Denise Chong and her writing process. This can help students make a more educated assessment of the source’s reliability.
This is followed by a discussion of how a historian might corroborate the information found in this source. A third extract (showing the photographer’s perspective) is provided as a point of contrast. This passage is useful for discussing writing techniques used as these are a means of evaluating source reliability (e.g. neutral vs persuasive, facts vs opinions).
This lesson utilises an Inquiry Based Learning approach. From earlier terms, the year 11 MHS students are aware of the historical concept of continuity and change. They are aware that, as historians, we need to study what things have changed or continued over time and try to explain the reasons for these. In this lesson, the students receive a handout that poses a key question that they need to investigate and respond to. As a class, we then broke down the key question into sub questions which students could research independently. (I find the use of think aloud activities – talking through my process – helps students to learn historical skill. This lesson gives them the opportunity to practice doing these things which they will do again when they develop their own key question and begin their assessment).
Also included on the handout are a list of places where students can begin their research before branching out to their own searches. There is also a retrieval chart which provides a structured way for students to record their research. If you want to save on paper they can draw these in their books or complete them on One Note. Alternatively, a handout with several tables is provided as a separate word document. The final activity (Complete a T.A.D.P.O.L.E. of one of the sources you have chosen to assess its reliability) can be completed in class for fast finishers or for homework.
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.
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.
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A worksheet for a documentary viewing lesson. I utilise the broadcast strategy approach (Barry & King, 1998) previewing the questions prior to playing the documentary so that students know what to listen out for. The documentary THE SIXTIES The War In Vietnam (SBS) is available on Click View or Enhance TV
There are 30 short response questions with lines for students to write their answers on. I have also included a scanned copy of the answers I wrote during the lesson. I use this to help students to expand upon their answers when we go through the sheet at the end of the lesson.
The bottom of the worksheet includes a list of names of historical figures from this era. For homework, students need to choose one of them and create a profile to share with the class (it can be a poster, infographic or PPT). Students must include info from both primary and secondary sources. They need to provide information about who/what influenced them and their political ideologies and associations. They also need to address how they influenced the Vietnamese Independence movement.
**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.
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This lesson utilises an Inquiry Based Learning approach. Previously students have learned how to use BOOLEAN search methods to research historical terms, concepts and issues. The attached handout has a list of topics for students to research – I had a class of 11 so each student had two topics. However, this could be modified so each student only has one topic and they do it in more depth. The graphic organiser was placed on the class one note (an interactive document) so students could all add to it at the same time. Within the 70 minute lesson they needed to find reliable sources to answer their question – keeping the links, summarising the info into dot points and keeping key quotes to utilise as evidence in their TEEL paragraph. Once finished, they needed to write a TEEL paragraph synthesising what they learned from the sources they found.
Students can read the paragraphs written by their peers and gain a quick insight into a variety of topics connected to the quest for Vietnam’s Independence. This should allow them to find something that interests them that they may be able to use as inspiration for their essay based on research.
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.
A PowerPoint for the first lesson of the term. It begins with students completing a KWL chart about the Vietnam War. Students are given a homework task (to create a timeline of key events). The slides go through some of the key features of a timeline to ensure students know what to include. Information is provided about the assessment task and an example Inquiry Question from a past student is provided as an example. This is followed by a mapping activity (to familiarise students with key place names and features e.g. rivers, the demilitarised zone, military bases). After the key term activity students have time to add to the L section of the KWL chart. The lesson concludes with some important dates for the term.
A handout for the first lesson of the term. It begins with a mapping activity (an outline of Vietnam at the time and the division between North and South has been provided with the key places covered up with text boxes for the students to label after consulting an Atlas). There are 10 prompts to assist students to complete this. This is followed by a list of key terms on post it notes. Students need to match the terms to definitions in the table below and think of synonyms if they can.
**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.
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A PowerPoint designed to be delivered at the end of a term to introduce the next topic (Vietnamese Independence Movement). It is to be run in a quasi-lecture style. Students are given a Cornell notes template to take notes as the lesson proceeds. The lesson begins with three learning goals which helps students know what they need to listen out for as they note take. The lecture includes some information about The Cold War Era before introducing the origins and duration of the Vietnam War. It includes information about America’s involvement in the war. Groups including the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army are discussed and cartoons and photographic sources are featured. Information about the terrain, climate and wartime experiences of soldiers and civilians are summarised. Clips from the film ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ are used to engage audio-visual learners. Key weapons (agent orange and NAPALM) are explained. As is the Viet Cong Tunnel system and their military tactics. This segues into the reasons for anti-war protest in America and includes information about how photojournalism influenced this movement. Clips from the films ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Love and Honour’ are used along with primary sources (photographs).
**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.
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A PowerPoint designed to be delivered at the end of a term to introduce the next topic (Vietnamese Independence Movement). It outlines the key question and five sub questions, provides brief information about the assessment task & summarises the learning intentions and success criteria for the unit. It also includes information about Cornell note taking (a style that students will use in the next lesson which will be run like a university lecture.)
A worksheet designed to be used alongside the documentary Vietnam and the War (2015) – available at https://clickv.ie/w/0iwn. It includes 30 questions which I wrote as I watched the documentary (so they can be answered chronologically).
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.
A comprehensive scaffolding booklet which students are to use to conduct their inquiry prior to writing their essay. Teachers may opt to provide some or all sections of this to students based on their ability. It can also be broken up into handouts and used within specific lessons (chunking) with incremental deadlines to ensure students are on track to have found useful sources and analysed/evaluated these making notes about key features to mention within their essay.
The booklet includes:
• A brainstorming mind map for students to reflect on what they have learned throughout the term (used to aid them to select a topic to focus on in their essay)
• A list of key individuals, groups and events prior to and during the Vietnam War (they must investigate an individual / group) to learn about their social, political or ideological views & their impact on the independence movement
• Tips for developing a key inquiry question (including an example for another topic)
• Tips for developing apt sub questions which are open and incorporate any of the 7 historical concepts which are prioritised in the Queensland syllabus
• A graphic organiser for the student to reflect on their key and sub questions
• A retrieval chart for students to keep their research organised. Students were advised that they needed to “Locate at least 10 historical sources (minimum two books and five primary sources – the rest can be from journal articles / websites / online sources) that present the perspectives of different people in response to your questions.”
• Graphic organisers (using T.A.D.P.O.L.E acronym for students to note key details from sources that are worthy of analysis in their essay. I also added a section where they are prompted to reflect on the usefulness and reliability of the source (as students should be evaluating some of the sources within their essay).
• Tips for developing a hypothesis (students should do this prior to writing their essay).
• Tips for writing the essay including a suggested word count breakdown for each paragraph. There is information about the TEEASC body paragraph structure recommended on the History Skills website (as an alternative to TEEL).
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.
A free resource (handout) designed to prompt students to deconstruct the IA3 example and identify how the layout, the content and writing style work simultaneously to produce a high-quality response to the task. The handout features: questions about the number of primary vs secondary sources, approximate word counts for different sections, questions about how the intro was structured and what the hypothesis was, questions about specific vocabulary choices made by the writer in their responses (including conjunctions) & questions which prompt the students to read the information provided by the QCAA in the margin notes about how best to address particular criteria. The handout also includes information about how to reference particular source types in APA formatting.
This handout is intended to be used alongside the QCAA sample IA3 response written in October 2018
NB: This is about a different topic (The Cold War) so as to avoid student over-reliance on the exemplar. It is the same text type and has a colour-coded ISMG (marking guide) with the work highlighted to indicate where the response has met each criteria.
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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 - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay.**
A peer review handout for students to use to provide feedback to a peer prior to the draft due date. Excellent for increasing student assessment literacy. NB: to avoid plagiarism the students should bring a printed copy of their essay to class which will be returned to them at the completion of the activity. The handout includes a table with the assessment objectives in the first column & some questions in the middle column which expand on the criteria giving the student prompts for things to comment on if they are missing from their peer’s essay. In the final column they must rate the student for each cognitive verb being assessed (1 – excellent, 2 – satisfactory, 3 – needs attention). There is room for the student to write reasons / suggestions beneath this. At the base of this document is a PMI chart for students to fill in prior to handing the sheet back to their peer. Students then have time to read their feedback and seek clarification from their peer before making modifications to their draft ready to submit to the teacher in the following lesson.
A drafting feedback checklist - This checklist was created to aid the teacher to provide consistent feedback to students about their assessment in a timely manner. It has comments for the various parts of the assessment and also includes some proofreading and editing steps. This style of feedback is not indicated on the actual draft itself, but as a separate document, which means that the learner has to locate the issues in their draft for correction. A lifesaver for busy teachers! You can reduce the number of points or use this document as a template to modify to suit your own tasks.
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.
This resource includes:
A copy of the task sheet for the unit that includes the instrument-specific marking guide (showing the criteria that students work will be marked against). The task is a historical essay based on research.
A handout of sentence starters which are grouped based on what skill the student needs to do e.g. introduce the essay, showing historians viewpoints, defining key terms / concepts, quoting, talking about visual sources, explaining concepts / ideas / quotes / evidence, analysing sources, evaluating the reliability of sources, evaluating the usefulness of sources and explaining how one source corroborates another. It also includes a list of words that students can use instead of ‘said’ when quoting from a source and a list of conjunctions (linking words). NB: These sentence starters are not one size fits all. These are intended to help students; however, they will need to think about how these will fit in with the purpose of what they are trying to say. These will be useful for any historical essay regardless of topic.
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.
A Unit plan designed for a 10 week term of 11 Modern History. It includes a subject description, a description of the unit, a list of unit objectives (from the syllabus), inquiry questions to guide the unit, the recommended teaching and learning cycle from QCAA, a topic specific learning intentions and success criteria, assessment task details and a list of recommended resources. A Scope and Sequence suggesting topics to be covered throughout the term is also included within the document (as taught by me in 2020).
A handout version of the learning intentions and success criteria for students to glue into their books and refer to throughout the term.
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. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (although with drafting time it may take a few lessons depending on the needs and abilities of students).
This lesson begins with an explanation of what students need to put into their introduction to their multimodal. There is an example that can be read and discussed to see where they are fulfilling criteria 1.1 and 1.2. The next slide contains some sentence starters to get them started. After writing their introduction there are some proofreading and editing steps.
This is followed by an explanation of the purpose of a conclusion in a multimodal and the key things the marker would expect to see. There are also some sentence starters to prompt students. After completing the editing steps which follow, I outline some things students need to work on to be ready to present on time (e.g. palm cards). This is followed by a recommended structure for the PowerPoint.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (although with drafting time it may take a few lessons depending on the needs and abilities of students).
A PowerPoint designed to make students aware of what the different cognitive verbs they are being assessed on mean and where they are required for the assessment. It defines the following verbs: describe, explain, compare, contrast, decide and justify. For some of these skills there are sentence starters which students can make a note of.
This is followed by some information about how to structure their speech scripts and how to write an effective thesis statement (utilising a street art specific example). After students have planned their thesis statement, there is a recap of the TEEL paragraph structure and specific instructions about content to be covered in body 1. After writing this, there is a slide for editing body 1. This is followed by some sentence starters which can be used for writing body paragraph 2 (same structure as paragraph 1 but about the second artwork). After editing body 2,there are some sentence starters for body 3. Before writing there are two sample 'recommend and justify’ paragraphs for students to read and discuss the strengths and weaknesses. With this feedback fresh in their minds, they can write their final body paragraph and edit it.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (although with drafting time it may take a few lessons depending on the needs and abilities of students).
Going through the information from the task sheet so that students understand exactly what they need to do and have the opportunity to ask questions. It also introduces students to the street art stimulus examples that they will respond to in their assessment ‘Merry Crisis’ and ‘I Have a Dream. ’There is an article about each mural and why it was created. There is also information about how to find viewpoints about the street art (including where to look and what search stems to enter). There are also screenshot examples of comments about the street art (e.g. from Twitter, Facebook or Tripadvisor). Students are shown the section of the graphic organiser that they need to fill in (where they store their information that they need for body paragraph 2). There are also some clips explaining what art curators do as this is the role they will be utilising in their assessment.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
This lesson is designed to teach students visual analysis skills required for their assessment. Students have to identify at least two of these for each of the stimulus pieces provided. There are images provided for each of the terms which provide useful discussion starters. The techniques include: body language / facial expressions, framing, the rule of thirds, lines (straight and curved), colour, layout and size. This is followed by a range of images which students can practice analysing. Depending on the amount of time and their needs / abilities this can be done verbally or in written paragraph form. I do, we do, you do’s can also be analysed.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
A mini lesson used at the beginning of a computer lesson where students have the opportunity to work on the front section of their Inquiry booklet. For part 1C the students need to fill in a graphic organiser listing three types of art and how they convey a message. The PowerPoint provides some information and examples about some of these: yarn bombing, stencil graffiti, bottle cap art, recycled 2D and 3D art and tape art.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
The lesson begins with a consideration of the role art plays in society. There is a Bansky quote which encourages discussion about whether these murals would be quite as powerful if they were in a gallery or done by legal means.
There is information about how art conveys messages and a series of slides which name and explain language techniques used by artists with relevant pictures of street art supplied. The techniques are: allusion, rhetorical questions, repetition, pun, metaphor, sarcasm, verbal irony, a call to action and parody. This is followed by a series of pictures where the students need to identify which language feature it utilises.
If time remains, this is followed by a Click View viewing activity about street artists in Melbourne.