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.
Three resources for a year 8 history unit.
1) A PowerPoint (with videos) explaining feudalism.
2) A scan from a textbook showing a castle set up
3) a typed excerpt from a textbook explaining feudalism
A PowerPoint for the first lesson of the term – an introduction to feminism and the4 British suffragettes. It begins with a basic definition of feminism for students to add to their glossary + the class word wall. Students know they need to copy down whatever text is underlined in my slides. It is followed by a clip from Horrible Histories (on ClickView) about the Suffragettes. This is followed by an opportunity to discuss what students already know about this topic. Students are assigned a homework research task – due the following week. There is a clip from the 1964 Mary Poppins film showing Mrs Banks – a 1st wave feminist. The 4 waves of feminism are summarised before zooming in on Britain’s first wave. There is a YouTube video from 1913, when militant suffragette Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under King George V’s racehorse at a major public event. She died of her injuries and became a suffragette martyr. An extract from Mary Wollstonecraft’s influential text A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is presented and students must summarise the key ideas. Another primary source an extract from The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791) is provided for comparison. There is information about the hunger strikes which were used as a form of protest & the force feeding methods used by the authorities. There are excerpts of prisoner testimonies. An image of a primary artefact (a hunger strike medal) is displayed. Information about some of the advances women achieved in the early 20th century is provided including information about when British women achieved the vote. The trailer for the 2015 film Suffragette is shown and a synopsis is provided. This lends itself well to a discussion of the personal implications of joining the movement for women at the time. To conclude the lesson, students are encouraged to reflect on their learning and compile their own definition of first wave feminism – with examples.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893, which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. I decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions. As the unit was taught in term 4, it was a shorter, 6 week unit.
A PowerPoint explaining the assessment task to students and what they are being marked on. This is interlaced with tips and activities for the various criteria. There are tips for writing dialogue (reviewing punctuation rules), past vs present tense, homophones etc. It also includes a list of common errors made by students in the previous year for this task.
A planning booklet for students to use to brainstorm their ideas prior to writing their short story (aka imaginative recount). It includes prompts and graphic organisers which students can work through in class and for homework.
A series of PowerPoints designed for the drafting phase of the unit. Each begins with a mini lesson with a specific focus (e.g. characterisation, juxtaposition etc.) they then focus on students writing a particular part of the narrative in the lesson (e.g. orientation) with hints, examples and reminders.
A graphic organiser for students to write their short story (imaginative recount) into.
A draft feedback form which lists common errors that students make. The teacher merely needs to highlight the feedback which applies to the student. This speeds up the drafting workload for the teacher and ensures all students are receiving consistent feedback based on the cognitive verbs prioritised in the unit.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in colonialism and Australia’s Frontier Wars (1788-1930s).
A PowerPoint which begins with a review of primary and secondary sources (with examples). This is followed by an explanation of the cognitive verb ‘analyse’ and a process for analysing. I have provided a list of questions which can be used for analysing visual/written sources and some for analysing artefacts. I have used the C.O.M.A acronym for analysing visuals and provided a list of questions you can ask at each stage (with examples from the Frontier Wars). An opportunity to practice this skill is provided (I do / we do depending of ability of your class). There are also tips for comparing two images. The lesson concludes with a TEEL/PEEL paragraph writing activity.
A handout explaining the C.O.M.A acronym and other methods you can use for analysing visuals
Updated PPT and Worksheet used for a more interactive (collaborative learning) focused class room.
I pride myself on the quality of the materials I produce, I don’t charge high prices because I don’t agree with paying £10 for a wordsearch. If you need to check before you buy, have a look at some of the free resources in my shop for a sample of the quality and depth.
A lesson aimed to help shape student's understanding the lived experiences of soldiers in Vietnam. It focuses on two key texts: I was only 19 and Homecoming. The PPT includes a video of the song I was only 19 which students will listen to. They will then view key lyrics and talk about the representation of the Vietnam war in this text (including the literary devices used). After this is some information to help students empathise with what this would have been like especially for the conscripts. Some brief info is provided about 'fragging' and how the treatment the Veterans received upon their homecoming severely damaged countless veterans. It briefly looks at lyrics from Khe Sanh which discuss the experiences of a returned soldier. The remainder of the PowerPoint explores the poem Homecoming (which I ran as a separate lesson).
2) a handout with questions about Homecoming.
We will then turn our focus to the major poem for this war in our booklet (Homecoming). We will talk about the difference between these representations.
3 Resources
1) A handout with questions for the three poems in the booklet about the atomic bombing (for students to complete as revision
2) A PowerPoint which first explores survivor's recounts of the bombing. This is to help students to understand how witnessing the bombing would influence the worldview of a person and be able to explain how this would insert subjectivity into poems written by survivors. View an excerpt of a documentary on the atomic bomb (which simulates the blast and includes interviews with survivors – one of which is a poet who will be studied in the next lesson. Students will read the poem 'At the makeshift aid station' together stanza by stanza, taking time to address the questions in the prompts down the side. The significance of the reference to the cherry blossoms will be explained so that students can reflect on the effect of this symbolism. It includes some other discussion questions which will help them to think like they need to for their feature article under exam conditions...
3) A PowerPoint which analyses Takashi Tanemori’s Blades of Grass in a Dreamless Field. Information about the author and something which shaped his belief system (the bushido code). What must be understood about the author in order to best interpret the poem. There are questions, discussion points and other annotations alongside each stanza of the poem.
A PowerPoint which I think History teachers will find helpful. If you use it, and like it, please give me a positive star rating / review. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.
It was designed for teaching grade 10 history in Australia.
PowerPoint: The Atomic Bomb
Key learnings
The significance of the use of atomic bombs during World War II
The contestability surrounding the use of atomic bombs during World War II
What are causes and effects of the use of atomic bombs during World War II?
Information contained on slides
• The beginning of the nuclear age
• The first atomic bomb
• Different perspectives on using the bombs (prior to their use)
o Why did America decide to use the atomic bomb on Japan?
o US President Harry Truman’s perspective
• Little Boy and Fat Man – dates and locations of use
• Images of Hiroshima including artworks
• A description of the Hiroshima blast
o Images and descriptions of damage to buildings
o Information about the final initial death toll
o Black rain
o Immediate effects of the radiation
o Image of a human shadow etched in stone
o Fire
• Human effects of using the atomic bombs (health consequences)
o Hair loss, radiation, scarring, cataracts, birth defects, leukaemia and cancers
• Discrimination against survivors of the bomb (known as Hibakusha)
• The wider causes and effects of the use of the atomic bombs during World War Two
• The Hiroshima peace memorial
• The story of Sadako and the thousand paper cranes
• Images of Hiroshima today
• Arguments for dropping the atomic bomb
• Arguments against dropping the atomic bomb
A set of PowerPoints which I think History teachers will find helpful. If you use them, and like them, please come and give me a positive star rating / review. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.
PowerPoint 1: Kokoda lesson 1
• context
o What happened after Pearl Harbor?
o Japanese imperialism
• Where is New Guinea? What was it called back then?
• What were conditions like on the Kokoda track?
• Viewing activities clips from Getaway, the 2006 Kokoda film
• The experiences of Australian soldiers in the Kokoda campaign
o*** Number of Australians killed or injured in Papua New Guinea
o The Kokoda track and what it looks like
o Images of the golden stairs
o Dysentery
o What they ate
o What they carried
o The psychological impact*
• Links to other sources (including videos) which you might like to explore with your class (with descriptions)
Homework Sheet
Definitions to find for a glossary, a photograph (source) to view and answer questions about, two written sources to view and answer questions about
PowerPoint 2: Kokoda lesson 2
• The four groups who fought in New Guinea in 1942 (Australians, Americans, New Guineans and The Japanese)
• View an SBS news story about a fuzzy wuzzy angel being reunited with an Australian that he saved
• Who were the ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels?’
• The Japanese offensive continued
• How the Kokoda campaign ended
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
1) The lesson PowerPoint
Discuss that ‘One Stray Bullet’ is one of the passages that students can choose for their written literary transformation {imaginative recount / short story}. Read this excerpt and make predictions about what the various characters would have done after this event {aka the Fitzpatrick incident}. Discuss the use of foreshadowing in the title. Discussion questions about the various characters’ viewpoints follow. There are also some short response (comprehension / analysis) questions for students to respond to. The remainder of the slides sum up the rest of the events in Chapter 3. There are video clips to cater to visual learners.
2) Handout - ‘One Stray Bullet’ excerpt of Black Snake
3) Week two and three spelling words handout (24 words per week).
This lesson was designed for the second phase of the unit where students are preparing to write a persuasive text about Ned Kelly. This lesson focuses on reading the events in Chapter Four of Black Snake, responding to questions and considering whether Ned’s actions make him a hero or a villain (or a victim of circumstances). There is a video excerpt of the shootout at Stringybark Creek (from the Heath Ledger film). There is also a clip from the Victoria Police which is intended as a memorial for the policemen killed in action by the Kelly Gang members. It also includes information about the two letters Ned famously wrote expressing why he turned to a life of crime (The Cameron Letter and the Jerilderie Letter). It concludes with information about how the public opinion of Ned shifted from a negative one to a more positive one after the 1960s. The lesson tries to present all points of view so that students can make up their own minds about Ned Kelly and whether he deserves to be held up as an Aussie icon.
Handout - proofreading activity (an excerpt from the novel).
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in colonialism and Australia’s Frontier Wars (1788-1930s).
This is a PowerPoint which can be used in the the first few lessons of the term. It is part of a Frontier Wars unit which culminates in a 2 hour examination (short response to stimulus). The first part of this lesson explains what history is (followed up with a clip), an overview of the assessment for the year, goal setting, rules and expectations. This is followed by an introduction to The Frontier Wars including terms to be copied into their glossary. Subsequently, contextual information is provided to set the scene: an explanation of what Indigenous life was like pre-contact, how Indigenous people came to be in Australia, the cultural achievements of Indigenous people, their beliefs about the land, language and learning, social organization, the role of elders, weapons, art, face & body painting. Finally, I explain what other groups the first Australians met before Cook, touch on the colonial mentality of the English and the reasons why BRitain wanted to colonise Australia (a place so far away).
I pride myself on the quality of the materials I produce, I don’t charge high prices because I don’t agree with paying £10 for a wordsearch. If you need to check before you buy, have a look at some of the free resources in my shop for a sample of the quality and depth.
A lesson PowerPoint. It begins with a proofreading activity (an excerpt from Chapter 4). Followed by a review of the events in Chapter 4 of Black Snake. It then includes activities based on the opening section of Chapter 5 (including answering comprehension questions.) Students will be successful if they can: Identify the motivation of the narrator at the beginning of chapter 5 and explain the narrator’s viewpoint. Students will review the term modality and consider whether the language used by the writer (narrator) is high / low modality. There is also a creative writing activity for students to complete (an imaginative recount based on an excerpt from this chapter).
A copy of the lesson plan
Chapter 5 handout - the activities contained in the PowerPoint for distributing to learners.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
PowerPoint 1 ‘Taking a closer look at One Stray Bullet’ - **
Reviewing what happened in the opening of chapter 3 ‘One Stray Bullet.’ This short piece of fiction told from the perspective of Ned’s sister Kate is one of the passages that students can choose for their written literary transformation {imaginative recount / short story}. The focus of this lesson is exploring characterisation (one of the creative writing techniques the author has used effectively in this extract) in order to prepare learners to develop their characters adequately within a small word limit. It includes a highlighting activity (colour coding the action/dialogue/actions/descriptions of the various characters in the passage.) The lesson also provides further historical context into the Fitzpatrick incident. It also includes scaffolding for if they were to re-write the opening of this narrative from the antagonists (Constable
Fitzpatrick’s) perspective. There are 8 sentence starters to aid students to begin writing a practice narrative from Fitzpatrick’s perspective. There is a proofreading checklist for students to use after they have written their orientation. This passage can be used to gauge the students current writing abilities.
PowerPoint 2 - Developing setting
Assessment expectations – what language features students need to use to get a C, B & A. Reviewing key parts of speech that students need to know and use in their short story assessment (adjectives, adverbs, verbs & abstract nouns). Learning how to establish setting in a narrative. Top writing tips with example sentences. The importance of showing not telling. The importance of avoiding cliches. Planning to write a story from Mrs Kelly’s perspective (based on the events in One Stray Bullet). The lesson concludes with a creative writing activity where students write their own description of The Kelly House imagining that they are Ned’s mother.
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 PowerPoint designed to teach the students how to write a critical summary of evidence for their assessment. It begins by explaining what it is and what the term justify means. There is an overview of the required elements and three potential structures from the History Skills website that students can choose from. There is a video (online tutorial) from YouTube about how to write a critical summary. I have some tips that students should keep in mind when writing their critical summary. Finally, the QCAA example is included along with the marking notes showing which criterion are being addressed. Afterwards, students have time to write their own.
Two resources:
A worksheet for students to complete while watching the 2020 film ‘Misbehaviour’ which is about events which took place in the UK during the second wave of feminism (protests against the 1970 Miss World competition).Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly-formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. There are 9 questions and 2 post viewing questions. Teaching tip: I utilise the broadcast strategy approach (Barry & King, 1998) previewing the questions prior to playing the film so that students know what to listen out for.
A PowerPoint to use after viewing the film to unpack the key ideas. It includes a synopsis of the film and goes through the answers to the worksheet (also providing information from press around the movie and about the women who inspired it).
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.
An example IA1 task for the ‘Women’s movements since 1893’ which is studied as part of Unit 2 of 11 Modern History in Queensland, Australia.
The examination is an 800-1000 word essay in response to historical sources (2 hrs + 15 minutes planning time). Included in this resource are:
12 relevant sources which showcase a range of perspectives on second wave feminism, have a mix of primary and secondary sources and include some visual sources, a song, extracts from textbooks, newspapers etc.
The reference details and appropriate context statements for these sources.
A booklet of lined paper for students to write their response on
An exemplar response which received top marks (the student redacted some words using a black highlighter during the exam as they knew they were over the word count). This essay has been annotated by the marker which colours representing the various criteria (analysing, evaluating) or important features (e.g. putting forward historical argument, linking back to that argument etc.)
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.
PPT designed to take 1 or 2 lessons. It is about early Japanese victories in the Second World War focusing on the fall of Singapore. Includes maps showing Singapore and explanations of why it was a priority target. There are slides showing historian's views on the significance of this event (for the war and for Australia). There is a short video showing this event (from the film Paradise Road (1997)). Then it introduces a source (information about An Australian POW: Vivian Bullwinkel). Students read through this source and complete the source analysis activities. The remainder of the lesson looks at what life was like for POW's especially those forced to work on The Thai–Burma Railway
The PPT begins with a warm up to help students to retrieve prior knowledge. This is followed by Carlton university’s tips for analysing and evaluating primary sources. Students are then given a worksheet which contains the O-P-V-M chart with some elements removed which students will fill in as the lesson takes place. The PPT goes through each source type beginning with letters giving information about things to keep in mind regarding origin, purpose, value and limitations. There is a letter from Nelson to Winnie which we read and discussed the language choices. There was also one from Winnie to Nelson (1970). Following this information about Winnie Mandela from the South African History website was provided. The next source type was photographs. I utilised a range of photographs about Winnie Mandela. Following this, political cartoons. This was followed by an acronym called P.I.C.T.U.R.E which is handy for unpacking visual sources. There is information about techniques which cartoonists often use to convey meaning (including allusion, symbolism, irony). Then some cartoons from Zapiro and Len Sak were included for students to get an idea of different styles. The next source type was news media which covers newspapers, tv reports, radio reports and eye witness accounts. Following this, official government documents and other government records e.g. speeches and memorandas.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa (1948-1994).
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for Humanities students in other states and countries with an interest in colonialism and Australia’s Frontier Wars (1788-1930s).
An interactive lesson created for use after the practice exam to introduce students to the key historical figures and events they needed to know for their actual exam.
Students were given a topic and their own guiding question - they were provided with a PowerPoint full of sources to use as a starting point they were also allowed to conduct their own research on The State Library of Queensland Website. Afterward they were to create a poster (to be completed for homework) so that in the following lesson they could teach the class about their ‘expert topic.’
This resource includes a sheet of the topics (Kalkadoons, Battle Mountain, Native Mounted Police, Sub-Inspector Beresford and Sub-Inspector Urquhart) and guiding questions. It also includes the four PowerPoints of sources which students accessed.
I pride myself on the quality of the materials I produce, I don’t charge high prices because I don’t agree with paying £10 for a wordsearch. If you need to check before you buy, have a look at some of the free resources in my shop for a sample of the quality and depth.