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.
Designed as a warm up activity to check for student understanding of key terms that they encounter in an introduction to the Russian Revolution. There are 10 key terms for a match the terms activity (bourgeoisie, proletariat, intelligentsia, okhrana, autocratic, divine right, duma, communism, historians, revolution)
A teacher answer to this worksheet is also provided
A lesson designed for the beginning of term (where students spent the last two weeks of the previous term learning about the Russian Revolution). It is an introduction to the unit and the concept of Inquiry based learning. It begins with a recap of what we are learning about and the guiding questions for this unit. This is followed by an explanation of inquiry-based learning and the skills that they will gain from completing this unit. An overview of the important checkpoints for the upcoming assessment so students know they will be held accountable to mini-deadlines. This is followed by information from the senior modern history textbook about why inquiry is vital. Discussion of an obstacle for studying the Russian Revolution – two types of calendars and dates. This is followed by a video of how to create a key inquiry question (the first step in the assessment process). This is followed by some important points to keep in mind when writing the question. This is followed by some example inquiry questions for different topics to discuss their merits.
A lesson designed to teach students about the importance of conducting thorough background research prior to writing their sub questions, valuable online sources they have access to and how to perform a BOOLEAN search. This is followed by advice for forming sub questions (for when they are ready to do that part of their assessment).
It begins with a history skills video about conducting background research and a discussion about the importance of coming up with a system that works for them for organising their research. Afterwards, students are introduced to the State Library of Queensland – a useful resource for inquiry tasks and how they can sign up. Screen shots are provided about how to run a search through their online data base. Students are reminded of the types of sources they should be looking for and how to determine if a source is useful.
The lesson concludes with advice about creating sub questions, a video with examples and an examination of the sub questions in the QCAA example about Mao Zedong. Following this, students have time to begin conducting their background research.
A PowerPoint teaching students how to write a key component of their assessment – a rationale. It begins by explaining what a rationale is and why we use them in history. There is a video tutorial where another teacher explains the process for writing a rationale about the Frontier Wars during Australian colonial times. This is followed by a discussion of the suggested structure outlined in the video. Afterwards, the QCAA exemplar about Mao Zedong is unpacked and the essential features are noted. Possible sentence starters are provided. The lesson concludes with information about how to write a tentative thesis (which will be outlined in the rationale). There are three bad ones to look at and three good ones. Then students have time to begin drafting their tentative thesis statements.
The PowerPoint begins with a reflection about their rationale and another example for them to look at. This is followed by a reminder of upcoming assessment checkpoints (mini deadlines). Afterwards two prior knowledge checking questions are posed: are all historical sources equally trustworthy? How might the reliability of a historical document be affected by the circumstances under which it was created. This is followed by some writing tips for when writing about sources e.g. better words to use as an alternative for states. This is followed by an explanation of how to complete the source analysis tables for their assessment. It begins with an explanation of the analysing and evaluating criteria. There is a video demonstrating how to do this using the Myall Creek Massacre (Australian Frontier Wars). I provide a suggested word count for students based on the number of sources they have chosen. There is also a website with useful tips about refining your writing to remove unnecessary words. The PowerPoint includes tips for analysing and evaluating sources. This is followed by a breakdown of he criteria for analysing and what each descriptor is about. There are examples of each level of response (for a different topic). Some sentence starters are provided for the students to use and they have time to begin writing this section of their assessment.
A lesson designed to help students reflect on their successes / struggles when writing their source analysis & evaluation dot points within their assessment. There are some reflection questions. This is followed by an example source analysis completed by a past student (a soviet postcard - 1918). Through looking at the example analysis of a visual primary source and its strengths and weaknesses – students can see if they have any of these elements missing from their own analysis. This is followed by the same student’s analysis of a written secondary source.
A lesson (23 slide PPT) designed for use early in the unit which introduces students to key terms, ideas and concepts. The lesson begins with some terms to add to their glossary (patriarchy & reproductive rights). It is followed by a 13minute ClickView viewing activity (Feminism: Whatever Happened to Women’s Lib?) which is good for prompting discussions. Following this there are notes for students to take (underlined) as well as supporting materials from reliable sources. Information covered includes: ‘The first forms of feminism in Australia,’ ‘Early feminist organisations,’ ‘Important dates,’ and ‘The differences between Australian / British / American feminists in that era.’ This is followed by an exploration of what ‘Women’s rights’ were at the time (both in the family unit and at work) and what advancements the feminists wanted. Following this the achievements of Australia’s ‘first wave’ feminists are summarised including the right to vote (both state and national). This is followed by 7 checking for understanding questions. Afterwards students can create multiple choice questions for a class Kahoot which will be used for revision in later lessons.
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.
A lesson (PPT) designed for use early in the unit which establishes context for how Australian women were treated during WW1-WW2. This helps to establish the inequalities that women were beginning to campaign against which leads into a depth study of the Second Wave of Feminism.
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to answer the following questions:
1.What viewpoints did Australian women have about World War One?
2.How did gender role expectations impact the lived experiences of women during this era?
What challenges did Australian women face during The Great Depression?
4.How did the role of women on the Australian home front change during World War Two?
It begins by showcasing taken-for-granted values and assumptions during this era. It then looks at the work performed by women on the homefront during WW1. There are some clips from the ABC TV series ‘ANZAC Girls’ showing the experiences of nurses stationed overseas during the war. This is followed by information about an organisation which actively discouraged women from taking on more than a supportive role (The Australian Women’s National League). Subsequently, the goals and motives of The Women’s Political Association are explored as they were one of the more ‘radical’ groups at the time. 2 sources discussing the significance of WW1 on beliefs about the roles of women in society are provided for discussion. The second portion of the lesson explores the impact of the Great Depression and utilises clips from ABC TV series ‘Further Back in Time for Dinner’ (https://iview.abc.net.au/video/CK2033H004S00) to allow students to empathise with the experience of families during this decade. The final third of this lesson is looking at the experiences of women during WW2 and the opportunities for war-related employment which emerged. Sources including propaganda posters promoting working for the Australian women’s land army, a Land Army volunteer’s personal recollections of her service and a table showing the pay disparity between men and women in between 1939-45 are included on the slides. Issues around having access to childcare, equitable pay and sexual freedoms are introduced.
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.
A PowerPoint used in a year 11 Modern History classroom focusing on the issues faced by women during the fourth wave of feminism. It begins by acknowledging some of the progress that has been made to the social, political, economic and cultural landscape for women. This is followed by an examination of some of the things that have gone unchanged including entrenched negative attitudes to women (examples are provided). Some issues faced by women are addressed including striking the balance between traditional mothering and home-maker roles and the demands of full-time work (which was addressed in journalist Virginia Haussegger’s pivotal opinion piece ‘‘The sins of our feminist mothers’’ (2002). After this an overview of a range of issues confronting women in contemporary society is provided. This includes viewing some infographics from the United Nations (2015) outlining some of the problems women in modern society face: violence, poverty and lack of representation in politics. This is followed by some information about discrimination that female politicians in Australia (Julia Gillard and Sarah Hanson-Young) have faced. There is also an issue of a lack of representation of women and their achievements in the media. This is followed by inforamtion about sexual harrasssment and the #metoo social media campaign / movement. This is followed by information about women having been excluded from ‘history’ or relegated to the sidelines (and the attempts to rectify this). The issues of representation of women on the internet (i.e. on sites like Wikipedia) and in films are briefly addressed. This is followed by information about the high rates of women being bullied online. The issue of Aboriginal women often feeling excluded from the mainstream feminist movement is addressed briefly. The final term to be explained is ‘double burden.’ This is followed by some checking for understanding questions which can be responded to verbally or in written form.
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.
A practice exam designed to give students the opportunity to practice meeting the key criteria and writing an essay under time constraints.
The examination is an 800-1000 word essay in response to historical sources (2 hrs + 15 minutes planning time). Included in this resource are:
A task sheet for the practice exam which includes scaffolding and a reflection for students to complete at the end.
12 sources which I chose along with their reference details and appropriate context statements.
A booklet of lined paper for students to write their response on
A peer review checklist to be used in a subsequent lesson
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). In Unit 2, students form their own knowledge and understanding about movements that have emerged in the Modern World. Our class focused on the removal of discrimination and exploitation based on sexism. Through our depth study we investigated the Women’s Rights Movement focussing on the changes in goals, strategies and challenges across the ‘waves’ of feminism between the late nineteenth century and today. 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.
A lesson which begins focusing on some of the key skills students need when engaging with sources in Modern History. It focuses on advertisements from the past which reinforced traditional gender role stereotypes and those which referenced the feminist movement in an attempt to sell more products.
It begins by unpacking the A standard criteria for analysing and evaluating so that the students are aware of what they are expected to produce if they are aiming for top marks. It includes a list of the features of evidence that students should look for when examining sources. It introduces the C.O.M.A acronym which can be useful for engaging with visual sources in particular. Then the concept of gendered marketing is introduced with a range of advertisements provided which can be used for discussion or for practicing written analysis. The lesson includes a contrasting advertisement campaign to the many sexist adverts (Virginia Slims cigarettes). The ads for Virginia Slims cigarettes used the slogan “You’ve come a long way baby.”The purely female targeted tobacco brand used a feminist theme for they advertising campaign for over 20 years. This is followed by an example paragraph that showcases how this advertisement could be featured in an essay. There are prompting questions to guide students to unpack this example and determine its strengths and weaknesses.
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.
Three resources:
A Powerpoint which teaches students how to analyse a specific type of source - songs. These primary sources provide a good insight into the values, attitudes and beliefs of a time period. The period we focused on was the second wave of feminism. The lesson provided an intro to what popular culture is, some questions to ask when analysing a song as well as a framework to use for writing about the source (COMA). Following this, a Jigsaw strategy is used so students become an expert about one of the 5 songs before moving to another group to inform them about that song. This is followed by a paragraph writing activity. Also included in this PPT is essay writing tips which can be used in a subsequent lesson if the Jigsaw strategy takes longer (depends on the number of students you have).
A Handout for the students to complete during the Jigsaw strategy. It contains graphic organisers to support their analysis of the feminist anthem that has been assigned to them.
Some information about each of the songs which are used in the Jigsaw activity. You need a few printed copies of the info for each song to be distributed to the students who are becoming an expert on that specific song.
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.
7 resources created for a year 8 English Unit studying war poetry.
A PowerPoint explaining the assessment - creating a poetry anthology featuring a minimum of 3 poems. It explains what an anthology is, its components (e.g. title page, table of contents, etc.), what they are being assessed on, planning steps and some homework to get them started.
An example analysis of the poem Beach Burial (in a table outlining the structural requirements and expected langauge features)
A PowerPoint lesson designed to take students through the example analysis of Beach Burial.
A document with the STEP UP acronym for students to use to analyse their 3 poems.
A PowerPoing to help students write their analysis of poem one.
A PowerPoint explaining how to write the preface and reference list (with examples)
A completed anthology exemplar (created by a student)
PowerPoint. Learning about William Blake and British Colonial Expansion. They will learn about a fundamental ideology of the period: The divine right of kings. Students will read ‘A War Song to Englishmen’ which is accompanied by my annotations (which they may copy into their poetry booklets if they wish). Discuss how everything he wrote was infused with religious meaning so you will see that this poem operates on two levels. We will then compare this to another First World War poem written by American poet Robert Frost. After reading the poem, students will research Frost to gain further context. Afterwards they will highlight the poetic devices used in ‘Not to Keep.’
Venn Diagram for comparing the two poems
a table used for analysing the poems to prepare students for their exam (these will become their revision tools)
POWERPPOINT: Learning about the key concept socio-cultural context, what it means and how to use it when analysing poems. The difference between worldview and mindset (plus the factors which influence these). Intro to some other key terms you will need to know for this unit. An explanation of critical literacy terms including intended reading, connotation, marginalised, silenced, form, theme, symbol, atmosphere and tone. Afterwards there is a cloze strategy to check whether students havee understood and remembered these terms.
Extra resource: The Poetry Booklet used for this unit which includes poems from The British Colonial Expansion period, The Crimean War, World War 1, World War 2 (specifically Hiroshima), The Vietnam War and more contemporary conflicts. Each section includes a brief spiel which provides historical context. For some of the more famous poets, information has been provided about their background. Images and a reference list are included.
A year 8 Eng PowerPoint designed to introduce students to the concept of intended reading while touching on the idea of resistant reading. It includes questions they should ask themselves when reading a poem to help them identify the intended meaning of the text. It includes the words to Donald Bruce Dawe’s poem Homecoming and some follow-up questions to help the students learn to do this together. They are then given a poem to read independently and suggest what the author’s intended reading might be.
6 resources developed for a year 8 English Unit.
a task sheet explaining their assessment (a multimodal presentation that explains a current social issue and uses poetry to challenge how people think and feel about the issue. )
An example PowerPoint created by a student for their assessment.
A written exemplar in a table (which highlights the structural requirements and expected language features)
A planning booklet for students to use as they prepare to write their assignment
A PowerPoint for a lesson taking them through what to write for body paragraph 1
A personal checklist for the student and parent to use once they have completed their first draft to make sure they have everything they need.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019).
This lesson includes:
1 x PowerPoint
1 x Booklet containing sources and activities which help students to practice synthesising and forming historical arguments based on information from sources
1x synthesis poster that I made on the Canva website
Context:
My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school.
The sequence of this lesson:
This lesson followed on from a lesson about evaluating sources. It begins with some advice about evaluating taken from the QCAA’s 2021 Modern History subject report. This is followed by a warm up where students are shown 5 example exam questions and they have to explain what they believe the question is asking them to do. This is followed by viewing a visual source and students have to suggest what the explicit and implicit meanings are. This is followed by another visual source where they have to suggest the intended reading and the ideologies showcased by the source. Following this, the learning intentions and success criteria are unpacked before turning our attention to the core skill for the lesson: synthesis. It begins by defining this term and looking at some words which may appear in a question which would hint that you are being asked to synthesise. This is followed by a 6 step process that students can use when synthesising. This is followed by an example student response to IA1 (essay under exam conditions) taken from the QCAA’s 2021 Modern History Subject Report. After reading this exemplar the class discusses the merits of this work. Following this, the year 12s begin working through the synthesising work booklet while I take the year 11’s through some more explicit teaching. It begins with what questions to ask yourself when interrogating sources. This is followed by tips of how to introduce the authors of sources (as this helps the reader know how credible the points are). There are tips for how to talk about two sources simultaneously. We then unpack how synthesising is assessed in the QLD Modern History criteria (guide to making judgements). The importance of creating a sophisticated historical argument is emphasised. This is followed by an example historical argument for a different topic. This is followed by instruction on how to create a purposeful topic sentence for each body paragraph. Next information about what should be featured in supporting sentences and the final linking sentence is provided. Then year 11’s begin working on the independent work booklet while I go through the answers with the year 12s. Students complete any unfinished portions of the booklet for homework.
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.
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 German Nationalism between 1914–1945 (World War I begins –World War II ends).
A 95 slide PowerPoint which can be used in various ways including:
Delivered in lecture style during an introduction to the subject day (2 hour block)
Delivered over a couple of lessons during the unit
Sent to students for them to read during at home (COVID) learning along with a worksheet which specifies what information students need to look for
The PowerPoint includes:
An introduction to important terms (race and racism). Information about different types of racism. Information about how Nazi racism degenerated into genocide. Information about the Nazification of Germany (by 1934). A review of what Hitler wanted. Methods Hitler used to pursue his aims. How the Schutzstaffel (SS) was used as a tool of Nazi terror. How propaganda was used to reinforce the appeal of Nazism. Methods Goebbels used to spread propaganda. Examples of anti-Semitic propaganda. Warning signs before the Holocaust (classification, vilification, symbolisation, discrimination and polarisation). Information about the establishment of ghettos. Defining dehumanisation and looking at how this was achieved. How Jews were treated under Nazism. A timeline of anti-Semitic laws and policies (1933-1939). An important event: Kristallnacht. Engaging with sources about Kristallnacht. The lead up to the Holocaust (different phases). The Wannsee conference where ‘the final solution’ was developed. The outcomes of the conference. The tactics the Nazis used to get the Jews to leave the Ghettos. Information about the concentration and extermination camps. Images of the entrance to Auschwitz, the Boxcars, an image of Auschwitz taken from the air, an image of a wooden barrack in Auschwitz Birkenau, a image of the Auschwitz gas chambers, images of sonderkommando processing the bodies into the crematorium etc. which help students to understand the parts of the camp and the level of destruction. The legacy of the Holocaust and the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The development of the United Nations. Different historical perspectives (Orthodox, Revisionist, Intentionalist, Functionalist).
A graphic organiser (worksheet) for students to fill in while watching the documentary ‘HITLER’S WORLD: THE POST WAR PLAN: NAZIFICATION’ (2017) available on ClickView at
https://online.clickview.com.au/libraries/series/9204332/hitler-s-world-the-post-war-plan
The documentary originally aired on SBS and funs for 45 minutes.
I utilise the broadcast strategy approach (Barry & King, 1998) previewing the graphic organiser prior to playing the documentary so that students know what to listen out for. I then facilitate a class discussion to go through the answers once we have finished watching the documentary.
I have also included notes taken by a student as a sample response.