Stimulating, engaging and promoting thinking beyond the lesson of the day - that's the support material I seek to produce in the English, Maths and Humanities areas. As a resource manager and classroom teacher for over 30 years, I want to offer practical, get-to-the-point material to broaden, challenge and deepen understanding, provide for a range of skill levels, and make teaching and learning stimulating and enjoyable.
Stimulating, engaging and promoting thinking beyond the lesson of the day - that's the support material I seek to produce in the English, Maths and Humanities areas. As a resource manager and classroom teacher for over 30 years, I want to offer practical, get-to-the-point material to broaden, challenge and deepen understanding, provide for a range of skill levels, and make teaching and learning stimulating and enjoyable.
Three part resource analyzing the distinctive elements of Australian humor. The focus is on the comedic techniques of satire and parody, using the hit television series, “Kath and Kim,” as the focus.
The powerpoint is a colorful animated presentation covering
(i) the premise
(ii) analysis of characters
(iii) conflicts and relationships as a source of comedy and social comment
(iv) the satire as a slice-of-suburban life /mockumentary sending up ignorant consumerism, cultural insensitivity and small mindedness.
(v) the main comedic techniques with examples from the dialogue and plotting
(vi) use of idiomatic language
The handout presents a character summary of the powerpoint findings, and uses the episode OLD as a case study to examine the elements of the humour.
The third item is an annotated exempar of an analystical essay about the episode OLD, discussing characterization, dialogue and themes in the satire. It explains the social targets and the cultural assumptions.
This 20 page study guide for students is a complete unit, covering the plot, characters and themes of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in a visually rich and stimulating format. This is the product of my twenty five years of teaching the novel, and covers
Background to the writing of the book / analysis of Kesey’s purpose / socio-political context of sixties counter-culture
Comprehension on all significant parts of the novel, involving close exercises, short answers, paragraph writing and creative reflection responses
Character analysis and outline of conflicting representations (focus on point of view in literature)
Further reading and research stimulus
This is intended as a complete, step by step guide to understanding the novel in depth, using cartoons, stimulus poetry and extension activity, and can be useful in teaching to a range of ability levels, with students able to progress at their own rate to grasp the essential social commentary of the novel.
A set of five highly visual powerpoints containing ongoing focus questions, task slides and vocabulary and concept building, created to widen understanding during the class viewing of SHREK. There is also a handout on vocabulary learned during the film study. This unit of work contains most of what you will need for a close film study.
The emphasis is on a visually engaging presentation of the essential details of genre, setting, character and theme, with the slide content created specifically for student note taking and regular set questions for class discussion. There are culminating tasks on each slide set to revise and summarize what has been learned.
Set One - INTRODUCTION TO SHREK
* Reason for mass age group appeal
* Outline of origins of story
* How book is adapted to film
* Reflection task on the appeal of modernized fairy tales
Set Two - SETTING AND GENRE
* Time / Place framing
* Foreshadowing & expectations through setting and genre
* Fairy tale conventions
* Conflicts in conventional fairy tales
* Historical context - medieval society
* Shrek as a conventional fairy story - writing and discussion
Set Three - VOCABULARY
* key words from the film - slides for each viewing day
* film vocabulary with part of speech, definition and example of usage
in the film
HANDOUT based on Vocaulary PP - Crossword test of all words
Set Four - CHARACTERS
* Framing Questions on Viewing and Evaluating characters
* The difference between character and characterization
* Elements of Characterization
* Exemplar of a sympathetic animated character
* The process of animated characterization
* Characterization of Shrek the Ogre
* Flat and Rounded CHaracters in SHREK
* Character concepts - protagonist, antagonist, confidante, stock
characters
* Test of Knowledge on SHREK characterization (with answers)
* Stereotypes in Fairy Tales
* SHREK and unconventional fairy tale characterization (with tests
for understanding)
* Summarizing writing / speaking task on characters
Set Five - THEMES
* Analysis of concept of theme versus main idea
* Concept of universal and imlied themes
* analysis of key themes in SHREK ~ beauty, love, friendship,
appearance versus reality
Complete unit for the drama, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, providing an engaging, varied range of student activities for rigorous analysis of plot, characters and themes. This is a unit of literary analysis, covering vocabulary of legal terms, analysis of conflicts, interpretation of cartoons related to key ideas in the text, and extension activities.
The unit can be used as
whole class, step-by-step lessons or
self-contained student-directed work program for individuals to complete at
their learning pace, complete with all questions to the varied comprehension
for student self-evaluation
**UNIT PACKAGE **
INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY Power Point (1 - 2 lessons)
(2 copies - one TEACHER ONLY copy with all answers on vocabulary and
comprehension questions
one STUDENT copy with comprehension questions minus
answers)
Power Point contains
Understanding essential concepts - prior knowledge & vocabulary exercise
Legality, Morality and Unjust Laws - comprehension
Law making in democratic society / symbolism and law
Cartoon representations of problems with the justice system -
comprehension
**STUDENT STUDY & COMPREHENSION GUIDE (approximately 2 weeks)
(i) Fourteen comprehension activities covering all of the plot, comprehension
and interpretation of key lines, using diagrams to compare and contrast,
sequencing diagram, short answer tasks and crossword on the text.
(ii) Teacher Power Point with all answers to questions in the study guide for
class marking and assessing student understanding
3. EXEMPLAR ESSAY Handout
Annotated exemplar analytical essay
Sidebar annotation of textual construction and language features
Here is a resource parcel for your senior students aimed at giving them extensive practical help in responding in essay form to the characters and themes of Arthur miller's THE CRUCIBLE. It consists of six items which can be used together as culmination of a unit on the play prior to students writing their own analytical response.
This is practical material aimed at enabling your students to practice their writing skills using stimulating exemplars and scaffolded handouts with construction guidelines and content prompts.
1. A closely annotated exemplar of a top standard formal essay on the themes of THE CRUCIBLE, with
explanatory pointers on structure, content and wording
2. A powerpoint containing do's and don'ts when students write their essay - it contains specific parts
of THE CRUCIBLE to make the points
3.Four scaffolded practice essay handouts - two on characters and two on themes. These are colour
coded to guide construction, and have prompt points to assist in the content
Suited to Years 10 to 12, this four page activities handout examines specific advertising that is sexist and features representations based on stereotyping and narrow gender roles.
It contains
1. exemplar analyses of print advertisements displaying gender bias
2. student responses to common gender stereotypes
3. guidance on paragraph writing
4. exercises in paragraph responses to sexist advertisements
Nine page handout for use in the study of the classic film about friendship and change, with examination of plot characters and themes. Students undertake writing activities under the following - interpreting, justifying, comparing and contrasting.
A four page handout on the original film, containing close exercise on the plot, comparing and contrasting John Hammond and Victor Frankenstein, and an enquiry of central quotes, who said them and their significance.
This is a unit that would cover approximately four to five weeks, involving reading the S E Hinton novel, viewing the film, and completing the study guide questions on plot, characters, theme. There are a number of practice tests that would take a lesson each, in which students practice the core skills of justifying, comparing, contrasting and drawing their own conclusions. An oral assessment task is also included, with an exemplar (annotated) of a student script.
These weekly handouts are for middle school use. They comprise a weekly handout with alphabetically listed words based on themes such as cities, emotion and food. Each word has a meaning, a designated common usage part of speech and an accompanying chart shows the word again, with space for a syllable breakdown to aid pronunciation, and spaces for write outs to practice correct spelling.
STREETS OF LONDON
Multiple Choice Levels of Meaning Listening and Reading Stimulus and Test
Suitable for early middle school Years 7/8/9
Theme of Social Commentary and Social Protest.
Along with a dramatic cover sheet with the song lyrics of Ralf McTell's famous ballad urging us to look and see the hardships of the underclass around us, there are 20 questions, structured as follows
1. Five "Right There" specific / literal questions
2. Five "Gather the Information" questions requiring longer reading across the entire text.
3. 10 Inferential questions based on the implied meaning and the writer's intentions.
This is intended as a N A P L A N or general classroom activity to get students to respond to the multiple levels of a poem and to respond in a structured way to indicate their understanding.
On the theme of growing up, friendship and the influence of peers on our development, here is a beautiful ballad about a childhood friendship by Billy Joel brought to life to show the way we change and grow apart. The lyric in full is given along with a video of the performance of the lyric.
Harry Chapin's CATS IN THE CRADLE about wish fulfilment, father and son relationships and the irony of getting what you always hoped for is presented here in full lyric, with a fifteen part multiple choice set of questions and an exemplar essay analysis of the poem, presented as a punctuation exercise.
This is a lesson in itself, or an assessment item as preferred. Alfred Noyes' celebrated ballad THE HIGHWAYMAN in full. Visually realised with the text is fully annotated, with difficult words explained in side bars.
Reading comprehension about literary elements.
Then a letter writing exercise on point of view.
Do play the best recording of the poem by PHIL OCHS obtainable on You Tube as part of your presentation.
Four items to use with the film JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
1. Assessment task with exemplar film review
2.Comprehension handout
3. Crossword handout
4. Word search handout
For English and historyteachers and values educators, this power point resource is a pre-timed examination of how we perceive the world, containing stills, animation and challenges for the class to respond to.
It is approximately four minutes in length, featuring some of history's best examples of visual illusions, and examines how we see the world in ways that can be inaccurate and distorted.
The final slides cover stereotyping and false judgements. The presentation will be useful as a stimulus / starter, getting students to consider how perception and reality are not always the same.
Useful for literature studies on racial attitudes, discrimination based on perceived difference and flawed thinking leading to injustice. For example - "To Kill A Mockingbird," "1984," "Brave New World," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Useful for values classes in social studies, philosophy and ethics classes.
This is a student handout providing an annotated exemplar of an analytical essay on The Soldier by Rupert Brook (sorry but this site will not allow publication of his proper spelling). On the same page is a set of guidelines for the student to then respond to Wilfred Owen's It Is Sweet and Honourable Et Decorum Est.
Don McLean's VINCENT is presented with a visual representation and annotation for all the difficult words on the side of the poem. Questions are structured to go from literal to metaphorical, and are
1. multiple choice
2. short answer
3. short essay response
Here are two handout items on the anti-war poem / song lyric AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA by Eric Bogle. The first contain the text of the poem / lyric which use has shown works best by playing the video version from Youtube to being to life this immensely powerful and moving lyric. There are a series of comprehension questions which can be used for formal assessment or group discussion.
The letter writing task contains an example of a letter to the editor about the thematic relevance and literary qualities of the poem. The student is then provided with a question task of their own to complete on a war poem of their choice.