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.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson.
The lesson begins with a brainstorming activity where students reflect on the news they have seen recently and make a list of people, issues and events. This is a good prompt for a discussion about topical stories.
This is followed by a survey of what category of news e.g. sports, entertainment news, political news etc. It also talks about the frequency of accessing the news and the ways that they engage with the news.
Once students are settled introduce the major focus of the lesson: How do journalists / media companies shape our beliefs about / attitudes towards different people?
The lesson introduces a key term ‘target audience’ and how this determines what specific news organisations report.
Pose the question: Is the news a trustworthy source of information?
Introduce terms for students to add to glossary: bias, empowerment, disempowerment
Learn some ways that bias is omission, exaggeration, selective statistics, evaluative language and biased language choices
Look at some famous people who have been shown positively and negatively in the media (images juxtaposed side by side). Great for discussion
Look at an article (about Britney Spears) and how it creates a certain representation of a her through language choices, who is quoted, the balance between facts and opinions, whose views are silenced (omitted)
After discussing what they have learned, the lesson ends with a definition of ‘hard news’ and ‘soft news’ and a list of news stories for them to classify into these two categories.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson.
This unit teaches students to be media literate and prepares them to do a speech where they analyse 1 x print news item and 1 x audio visual news item.
This lesson focuses on the visual features and text structures of print-based news media texts. It begins with the requirements of news stories and some activities e.g. make a headline from a prompt, read a headline and make it more emotive. This is followed by information about how print based news media is structured (an intro to the inverted pyramid structure). A discussion of layout and reading paths follows. There are images of news stories with the features annotated (e.g. headline, byline, lead, images, captions, pull quotes, columns). Important terms like pull quote, foregrounding, bolded text, text enhancement etc. are explained and examples are provided. There is also an explanation of things to discuss when analysing pictures including colour and the mood evoked by it. There are also some checking for understanding activities which can be done as a class discussion / a written activity depending on the preference of the teacher.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson.
This lesson begins by defining what a representation is and why they are so powerful. The variance in portrayals of Meghan Markle and Princess Kate are used to prompt discussion.
This is followed by a series of slides about the language features that students can look for when analysing news stories. The slides include definitions and examples.
Language features include: similes, metaphors, appeal to authority, appeal to emotion, connotations, emotive language, hyperbole, repetition, inclusive language, omission, groups of three, rhetorical questions, alliteration, idioms and hashtags.
The lesson concludes with reading an example article about Novak Djokovic and considering whether it paints him in a positive / negative light. There are a series of questions to help students to analyse this text.
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).
Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. This lesson was delivered as a 2 hour block during the term 4 exam block to introduce the unit for the following year and to allow year 10s and 11s who would be studying the subject together to meet each other.
This resource includes:
1 x PowerPoint
1 x Handout
This lesson includes information about:
• Revising what we learned about the Treaty of Versailles – what the Big 3 wanted + the key terms of the treaty
• Fallout of the Treaty of Versailles (issues with the reparations payments and the war guilt clause)
How to analyse and evaluate visual sources
A visual source analysis activity
• Germany becoming a Republic
Goals of the Weimar Republic
Political opposition in the early stages of the Weimar Republic
• The Stock Market Crash + Great Depression and how this impacted Germany
• The Golden 20s
Problems which still impacted Germany in this period
The emergence of the Nazi party
The 25 points program (1920) + a groupwork task to engage with this source
The Beer Hall Putsch (1923)
Mein Kampf
• Hitler’s ideologies, VABs and motives
Anti Semitism
Nationalism
Anti-democracy
• Hitler’s Rise to Power
The worksheet is designed to be used at key points in the lesson
A PowerPoint designed to introduce students to their new topic: Russia. It begins with a popular culture text that some students may be familiar with (Fox’s animated Anastasia movie). This is used as a launching pad to introduce the last Tsar of Russia and his family. This is followed by a short clip about Anastasia and her fate (with questions for students to answer). This is followed by information about our IA2 assessment. Then the focus of the lesson begins with an introduction to the historical context of Russia (prior to the revolution). Students have to add key terms to their glossary (autocratic & tsars). Information about autocratic rule is included and the idea of ‘Divine Right’ is explained. There is a diagram of the feudal system to help students understand how society was structured. Students are introduced to terms including bourgeoise, proletariat and intelligentsia. This is followed by a brief bio of Nicholas II, his wife and the Tsaravivh Alexei. This is followed by a viewing activity about another key figure: Rasputin (and some viewing questions). The lesson ends with a look at Boney M’s song about Rasputin’s death. A reference list is also provided.
Designed to meet the requirements of the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019), this unit falls under the category of ‘Ideas in the Modern World.’
A PPT used to structure a lesson for evaluating hospitality locations (restaurants and cafes). The lesson begins with some settling activities. The first is a question asking students whether they know the difference between sanitising and disinfecting (a poster pops up which explains the differences). There is an activity where they have to look at a series of images of a worker doing something wrong and identify the hazard + explain why it is dangerous + recommend what should have been done.
This is followed by an explanation of the criteria they will be assessed with for their upcoming exam (and the relevant cognitive verbs).
Following this the students are introduced to an acronym (W.A.T.C.H.E.D) which they can use to explain the personal presentation markers that people expect of hospitality staff. The cognitive verb ‘evaluate’ is explained. Then a list of criteria for evaluating a restaurant / café is put forward and explained over a series of slides.
Some factors that come into play when evaluating restaurants and cafes include:
the atmosphere,
the cleanliness,
the service and
the food.
There is a bank of words to describe the atmosphere of a premises. There are some images of places for students to practice describing the atmosphere – Cactus Jacks (Townsville) and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co (New Orleans). Students are asked to consider how music can contribute to the atmosphere of a venue.
The importance of cleanliness and prompt service is emphasised. Another priority is having staff who are aware of the ingredients in the various orders so that they can provide advice to people with specific allergens. Some rules for serving are included in dot point form. There is information about when to serve from the left and when to serve from the right + how to know when a customer is ready for you to clear the plates. Some table clearing etiquette.
Some tips for evaluating food offered by the venue is provided. criteria include plating and presentation, vale for money, appropriate portion sizes, taste, options for people with dietary requirements etc. Some tips about good plating (and examples of bad plating) are provided. A word bank is provided for describing food appearance, aroma, texture and taste. To conclude, some things that can go wrong with beverages and recommended solutions are included.
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). Unit 1: Introduction to Hospitality, Topic 1: Beverage operations and services. My school has 70-minute lessons. The assessment at the end of this unit was an examination (short response).
A PowerPoint used to teach students about the Great Leap Forward. It includes notes from textbooks and online sources, viewing activities (propaganda posters, images and videos from YouTube) & different historian’s interpretations of this plan. The homework task is for students to research the ‘Four Pests Campaign’ and create a poster to display on our learning wall.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The end of term assessment for this unit was an Independent Source Investigation.
The content would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in the China (1931-1976). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources.
A PowerPoint used to teach students about the Hundred Flowers Campaign. It includes notes from textbooks and online sources, viewing activities (propaganda posters, images and videos from YouTube) & different historian’s interpretations of this event. The homework task is for students to research the Anti-Rightist campaign and create a poster to display on our learning wall.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The end of term assessment for this unit was an Independent Source Investigation.
The content would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in the China (1931-1976). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources.
A unit introduction PowerPoint for a unit entitled Literary Representations of Australia. Within this unit, students learn about Australian identity and then consider how this is represented in the novel Deadly Unna? By Phillip Gwynne.
The PPT includes an assessment overview, a discussion of what it means to be Australian and how our Australian identity is constructed and defined. Students completed a brainstorming activity based on texts they viewed in the last few weeks of the previous term. A thought-provoking poem entitle ‘How Australian are You’ is included to prompt discussion of the many ways of being Australian and some of the stereotypes which exist about us. This is followed by a think-pair-share activity.
Following this, students are introduced to the term representations. They are then shown the first two verses of the Australian national anthem to explore (with 4 questions). This is followed by a paragraph writing task to consolidate what they have learned.
If time permits, students are introduced to some critical literacy terms: marginalised and silenced. Students are also talked through the elements of their novel study booklet.
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.
A PowerPoint which provides an image and summary for the following characters from Deadly Unna? (pictures taken from the film Aussie Rules).
Bob Black aka The Old Man
Gwen Black (Blacky’s mum)
Gary Black
Dumby Red
Pickles
Coach Robertson aka Arks
Tim Black aka Best Team-Man
Darcy
I printed these up and used them as posters in the classroom.
A PowerPoint designed to explain the rules of articulate and a slide which displays an articulate style board with Modern History categories (People, Geography, Historical concepts/skills, Events, Random, Groups)
A series of cards designed for units taught in Senior Modern History
Frontier Wars
Russian Revolution
Vietnam Independence Movement
Waves of Feminism
World War Two (the Holocaust)
Communist China (Mao)
The Cold War
Australian experiences in the Vietnam War
Scramble for Africa
Apartheid in South Africa
These are the homework resources for a year 12 Authority English unit delivered in Queensland, Australia. The focus for this unit is the comprehensive study of a text that explores a different culture (the autobiography Slave by Mende Nazer). Through examining the autobiographies underlying ideologies and themes, students will be exposed to social and cultural experiences that are far removed from their own. In particular, students will explore the controversial and confrontational issues privileged in the selected text. Engaging with a culturally rich text will allow students to develop empathy and connect other cultural experiences with their own lived experience.
Resource 1: List of vocabulary (spelling words) for the term - students are to learn 24 words per week.
Resource 2: List of terms that students should know by the end of year 12 which can be used as extension for gifted students.
Resource 3: A list of comprehension questions written to assess students knowledge of each chapter of the autobiography. This is a good tool for consolidating knowledge and will be useful revision when they need to develop an idea for their assessment tasks.
This is a booklet which scaffolds students to present a legal summation speech prosecuting or defending a character from Macbeth (for murder or regicide). The booklet includes a summary of the play, key legal terminology, a list of persuasive devices students could draw from, a suggested structure, an example introduction, an annotated conclusion and important tips. In Australia this is used in a grade 12 English class.
5 excellent resources for a Senior Authority English assessment (Australian standards but could be adapted for other countries).
Resources include: An assessment task sheet, a PowerPoint explaining the assessment, a scaffolding booklet to assist students with the assessment, a PowerPoint with necessary legal terminology (which also explores how Macbeth is a tragedy and is useful for revision), and a booklet entitled 'Macbeth and the Criminal Code' which lists the various defences you could use for each character as well as possible witnesses.
Perfect resources for a protest poetry unit. These poems show wars from a range of viewpoints. There are poems about World War 1 and 2, poems for use in ANZAC day ceremonies, one Vietnam war poem. The World War 1 poems include a link to an ABC national radio programme where celebrities have been recorded reading these poems.
Defining bullying and the various types. Info about the emergence of cyber bullying, a novel example - Destroying Avalon (2006) with a summary and key quotes. A list of texts which feature bullying. A few clips from Mean Girls followed by reflection questions, a clip from Glee, The OC and The Breakfast Club followed by reflection questions.
PowerPoint 1: Defines monologue, goes through the requirements if students choose to record their monologue rather than presenting in class, prompts for what students should look for when watching Glee, post episode summary and activity,
PowerPoint 2: Explaining the monologue assessment task and requirements. Going through the structure of a monologue. Viewing a clip from Ferris Bueller's day off for inspiration. Going through expected language features.
In order to create convincing crime fiction, students need to be able to analyse the portrayal of crime, criminals and the criminal justice system in various modern and canonical texts. This powerpoint goes through some theories of crime and includes some clips from crime films (e.g. Kindergarten Cop, A Time to Kill etc.) that help students understand these. The powerpoint covers info such as the Role of the law in society, the image of the criminal and how these can reflect their theories of human nature, beliefs about the causes of crime and information about how crime is dealt with by society.
1) A fun an engaging PPT designed to build up students' reading comprehension abilities. It includes a definition of war, a series of questions for classroom discussion (drawing on prior knowledge), a small clip from Forrest Gump for students to watch and discuss (questions included), info about who writes war poetry and the various reasons they have for doing so, an answer to the question 'why read poetry?' Following this the PPT encourages students to engage with three poetic texts and learn to read for meaning and to appreciate the emotions created by the author and how they achieve this. Each poem comes with questions to check for student comprehension and to begin scaffoldin their ability to analyse.
2) A handout with the words to each poem: Grandpa what did you do in the war?, Gaps in the ranks & And the band played Waltzing Matilda
3) A Poetry retrieval chart (homework) for students to complete to revise after the lesson -- I would send these out via email to be completed electronically.
Three resources used in a 9 Theology unit on social justice and the work of laypeople.
1) a PowerPoint introducing students to Inquiry Based Learning. It includes the two big questions of the unit (aka fertile questions). Students to complete a KWL chart before learning to develop sub questions to answer the two big questions. It then talks students through a process that they can use to begin finding answers to these questions. It includes an explanation of BOOLEAN search practices which can be used when researching online to produce more relevant results.
2) A list of prayers required to be taught throughout the year (grade 9)
3) A table which explains the various steps of TELSTAR (the structure used for this Inquiry unit)