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.
PPT 1: Learn how to understand a question (a vital exam skill) and strategies for completing a multiple choice exam. The PowerPoint includes practice multi-choice questions. As a consolidation of learning, there is an activity where students go back through their notes / KWL chart and write some multi-choice questions on the topics covered thus far and then swap with a friend and answer their questions.
PPT 2: Explains what a time-line is (and has examples). It proves a list of 7 steps for children to complete to make a timeline. It goes through the must haves. The lesson then moves onto source analysis it includes a google doc with a variety of sources about the atomic bomb dropping on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a range question types (multiple choice and short response questions). This can be worked through as a class or independently depending on the skill level of the students.
PowerPoint - How to write a short story + extracts from Chapter Four of Black Snake. This lesson begins with a proofreading activity where students need to add the necessary punctuation to an excerpt from the novel. The rules for when to begin a new paragraph in a narrative (short story). The structure of a short story (narrative arc). The PowerPoint then steps through each part of the short story providing examples from other texts. It also includes an exemplar short story (for the upcoming assessment task) retelling the story of when Ned saved the Sheldon Boy from Ned’s perspective. Some of the key language features in the exemplar have been highlighted / colour coded so students can see the range of devices being used throughout. Subsequently it looks at the short piece of fiction at the beginning of chapter four. This passage is written from the perspective of a young girl (whose father, a trooper, was killed by Ned Kelly at Stringybark Creek.) This is followed by questions to check students’ understanding of the plot and how the author constructed a child’s perspective.
Study passage - ‘Enemies of Society’ an extract from the beginning of Chapter 4. Some of the key language features have been highlighted in the word document.
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.
I have taken a modelled response for a Frontier Wars short response exam and turned it into a practice exam. The task sheet includes a little more scaffolding than the actual task as it is to build student’s literacy (it includes some Logon literacy linking word suggestions.) Also included is the stimulus sources, a GTMJ (guide to making judgements) and example answers to go through after the exam.
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).
Two retrieval charts which I place onto a class one note for students to complete in pairs. This is designed to be used at the beginning of the unit to first engage with the perspectives of the colonists and the Indigenous Australians.
I have also included a PowerPoint which explains how to sign up to view the State Library of Queensland’s resources.
A free resource which I think History teachers will find helpful.If you use it, and like it, please come and give me a positive star rating / review. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.
A PowerPoint and Trivia sheet for students to fill in. I placed students into groups of 2 to 3. Each round had 10 questions worth one point each. Answers are provided on the slide directly following each round. The first two rounds were general questions about History. In the third round students had to watch three clips from the CBS television series Cold Case and respond to questions about them. Round 4 was a match the definitions round (of historical terms and concepts they had learned thus far in the unit). The final round focused on recalling the parts of T.A.D.P.O.L.E (an acronym for evaluating the reliability of sources).
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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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This is a set of resources for a student centred lesson which utilises a cooperative learning strategy known as ‘Jigsaw.’ The “Jigsaw Method” is a teaching strategy of organizing student group work that helps students collaborate and rely on one another. This teaching strategy is effective as it gives students a greater sense of individual responsibility. It works well in modern history as it teaches students to read sources, locate information relevant to their question and write a synthesised summary combining ideas from multiple sources and perspectives.
A 87 handout full of sources about a range of different topics including: Viet Cong, peasant experiences in the Vietnam War, the Australian presence in Vietnam, Colonialism in Vietnam, The My Lai massacre and Ideologies, causes and effects. Each ‘expert’ group only needs one copy of the sources for their topic. This forces students to engage with the materials and take their own notes so that they can teach their peers about the topic. (However, depending on your group sizes you may choose to provide two copies). This is also a great resource for uploading in full to One Drive / Class Notebook for students to use as inspiration when selecting their topic to investigate for their research essay.
A PowerPoint designed for running the lesson so you can see how the groups were set up for a small class size (10 students). There is also information behind the reference slide about the Jigsaw strategy for teachers who are interested in learning further about this pedagogy. In essence, Jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a “home” group to specialize in one aspect of a topic. Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, return to the “home” group and teach the material to their group members. With this strategy, each student in the “home” group serves as a piece of the topic’s puzzle and when they work together as a whole, they create the complete jigsaw puzzle. The fact that they have the opportunity to listen to the perspectives of others enhances the quality of their education. Through this activity they will become better at paying attention to their peers, reflecting on what they have learned and asking good questions
**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 glimpse into history! This source can be used to explore what Queensland students were learning about the First World War as it was occurring.
first section of this monograph is includes information about Australian soldiers being trained in Egypt and about the decision to land at Gallipoli. Next is a poem entitled ‘The Sailing of the Long Ships.’ This is followed by information under the heading ‘The Months of Battle’ about the solders experiences in Gallipoli. Images are provided of some men of the Australian 10th Light Horse in the trenches. Another poem ‘The Grey Mother’ (by Lauchlan Maclean Watt) is featured. The ‘grey mother’ is a metaphor for Great Britain and her children are the colonies and dependencies of the British empire. This is followed by a section called ‘The Return’ about evacuating the ANZACs. It includes details about the numbers that had to be evacuated, the military strategy used to plan this evacuation with as little loss of life as possible. It was implemented under the cover of nightfall. A description of what remains there today (1916) – empty trenches, a hulk or two on the beach, shattered piers – is provided along with a belief that the spirit of the Anzacs will live on in this place. Statistics of the numbers lost in the war are provided. Along with a statement about the significance of the Anzacs: “The word has already passed the nation’s lips to the nation’s heart, and the world will not willingly forget it.” A poem called ‘Pro Patria’ (latin for to die for one’s country) written by O.S is featured. This is followed by information about ‘The Victoria Cross’ and its recipients.
Source name: The School Paper: ANZAC Day 1916 (for classes V and VI)
Author details: Queensland. Dept. of Public Instruction
Made in: Brisbane
Publisher: Department of Public Instruction
Source type: Monograph (a detailed written study of a single specialized subject or an aspect of it.)
Source origin: These books were given to students in Queensland schools during World War One. This was the property of Violet Coley (daughters of Philemon and Sylvia Coley) when she was a student in Coleyville. Coleyville is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. The locality is named after Violet’s parents who emigrated from Halesowen, Worcestershire, England, in 1866 and settled in the area.
A glimpse into history! This source can be used to explore what Queensland students were learning about the First World War as it was occurring.
This monograph begins with a poem entitled ‘Gaba Tepe’ by Dr J. Laurence Renioul. (Gaba Tepe, is a headland overlooking the northern Aegean Sea in what is now the Gallipoli Peninsula National Historical Park). The next section is entitled ‘Remember Anzac.’ A year had elapsed since the first ‘School Paper’ about the Anzacs. The article speaks about why the Anzacs should not be forgotten by Australians. It includes quotes from the writing of Australian poet Henry Lawson. This article also includes new information about the experiences of those landing on Gallipoli (including recollections of returning soldiers). It includes artwork depicting men throwing bombs over their trench walls and photographs of the doctors and nurses captioned ‘heroes of the Dardanelles.’ The next section is entitled ‘Anzac day’ which is about the first commemoration of 25th April 1915 Australian troops landed on Gallipoli in Turkey. In Queensland Anzac Day 1916 was organised by the influential Anzac Day Commemoration Committee. They ensured the day revolved entirely around commemoration. The article speaks about the need to provide national protection for the graves of WW1 soldiers as well as “tender care for their living dependants; local honour boards and rolls; national monuments” and a war museum to house “appropriate souvenirs and historic records.” Information is provided about the progress of the war and how the war has blurred boundaries between countries as they have had to work together. There is a poem called ‘Knitting’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox which reveals the women on the home front’s contribution to the war. This is followed by a section called ‘The Good Samaritan of the Dardanelles (information about Private William Simpson and his Donkey). Next is a section entitled ‘The Australians in France’ taken from London’s Daily Mail. The next section ‘Reville – Carry on!’ about the buglers and the songs they played including ‘Reville,’ the ‘Last Post and the ‘Tattoo.’ It concludes with reflections of how we should think of the war in the years to come and how we should care for our returning soldiers.
Author details: Queensland. Dept. of Public Instruction
Made in: Brisbane
Publisher: Department of Public Instruction
Source type: Monograph (a detailed written study of a single specialized subject or an aspect of it.)
Source origin: These books were given to students in Queensland schools during World War One. This was the property of Violet Coley (daughters of Philemon and Sylvia Coley) when she was a student in Coleyville. Coleyville is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. The locality is named after Violet’s parents who emigrated from Halesowen, Worcestershire, England, in 1866 and settled in the area.
This free lesson was designed to remind students about the requirements of historical essays in preparation for drafting their assessment. It looks at the QCAA’s exemplar essay about the end of the Cold War. It goes through the instrument specific marking guide and what must be done to get top marks for each criteria. Students are then given a handout (included for free in my shop at this link) designed to prompt students to deconstruct the IA3 example from QCAA. After students are given time to work through this independently or in groups, there is a whole class discussion of the answers (allowing teacher to point out what makes the essay a high quality example). This is followed by some advice from historyskills.com about how to write an apt introduction with a recommended structure – B.H.E.S. This is followed by the T.E.E.A.S.C. Structure which they recommend for body paragraphs (as an alternative to TEEL). Finally, we look at recommendations made for writing powerful concluding paragraphs.
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**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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The beginning of the PowerPoint is a handout of the IA3 task for 11 Modern History (a 1500-2000 word historical essay based on research). It includes a suggested word count breakdown for the various sections of their essay. There is information about what is and is not counted in the total word count. This is followed by an exemplar written by a previous student (not perfect by any means but with a lot of potential). Students are to read the introduction and make note of the strengths, weaknesses and how it could be improved. One lengthy body paragraph is provided which students can evaluate and check against the TEEASC structure. This is followed by a recap of tips for writing a conclusion and the student’s sample conclusion (very brief). A better conclusion from the QCAA is provided as a point of contrast. NB: to avoid plagiarism, printed copies of the exemplar should not be given to students.
This is followed by explicit teaching on how to write a hypothesis (something that students must complete for homework and submit as an assessment checkpoint). It explains what a hypothesis is and includes an example from the historyskills.com website and other examples. There is a slide with an example vs non example to provide clarity to students. This is followed by information about how to test their hypothesis and fine-tune their argument. An example graphic organiser is provided to show how you then build from the final hypothesis to write your essay (showing how a writer dot pointed their ideas and evidence to justify each element of their hypothesis). This is followed by an example intro for students to read and identify where the thesis was featured.
**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.
This lesson (PowerPoint) was designed to have a short explicit teaching episode at the start followed by for students to develop key inquiry question. This lesson was a review of the key skills required for writing a question for their research essay. It begins with a summary of the assessment task. This is followed by looking at an example key question from QCAA for a different topic (The Cold War). Beneath this is some annotations from QCAA explaining how this addresses the ‘Devising and Conducting’ portion of the criteria. There is some advice about writing a key inquiry question and a graphic organiser showing how you could dot point ideas before narrowing this into a question (examples about the American Civil Rights Movement). There are also example questions written to demonstrate / centre on each of the 7 historical concepts. This is followed by an example key question for our topic (Vietnamese Independence Movement). Students must identify whether it is an open or closed question. They are provided with some information about each question type to help them make this decision. Three more questions (of varying degrees of suitability) are provided for students to evaluate against the criteria. Afterwards students have time to write their first draft of their key question (due the following week for feedback). If time permits, there is feedback about the Tet offensive and the famous photograph entitled ‘Saigon Execution’ which they were to research for their homework task.
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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.**
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).
A template for adding to the collaboration space of the Class Notebook (One Note) at the beginning of a unit on the Russian Revolution. I usually allocate students a couple of words that they must define to contribute to the class glossary. There are some definitions that have been pre added so students can see the level of detail expected from a definition.