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.
Introduction to the hard-boiled genre of crime fiction (Set in1930s - 1950s America)
This PowerPoint examines the genre conventions of hard-boiled fiction, the typical protagonist of these tales & events that were occurring in American society at the time these tales were written, and how these influenced these texts. Students will watch a trailer for The Maltese Falcon Trailer (a famous example). The movie of The Maltese Falcon is dated 1941, during the War, but the story was published in 1930: it’s a tale of the roaring ‘20s. The PPT also includes a trailer for a recent example (the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire) which recreates this era.
Defining each theme and posing questions for students to consider e.g. Why do human beings have a basic need and desire to be in a group? What are the consequences of being an outcast from main groups? (both physically and mentally). Can groups affect your behavior and encourage you to engage in behaviors you might not otherwise? A list of texts which feature this theme. Clips from various teen films (mostly trailers) with questions for students to respond to post-viewing. It also explains how popular teens and unpopular teens are commonly shown.
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.
A PowerPoint presentation which teaches students how to structure a paragraph using the PEEL acronym. This will be used by students when they write their reviews of the poems they will later read. The PPT includes the words to Kidnappers by Iris Clayton which explores some of the consequences of the stolen generation. Children are asked to write a PEEL paragraph in response to a set question. Depending on the ability level of the class this can be done independently or as a group with the teacher writing their suggestions on the board. This process is repeated for another two poems.
I have also provided a handout with the words for each poem and the questions (for students who need hard copies).
Additional resource: homework handout - a three level guide (designed to prompt higher order thinking about the topic).
1) A PPT: to facilitate learning about the use of poison gas in WW1 and the gas masks which were provided to soldiers. Some context about the poet (Wilfred Owen). Students read and annotate Dulce et Decorum Est. This is followed by questions about the tone of the poem and its intended reading. Following this, students will identify the poetic devices within the poem and evaluate their effectiveness. This is followed by a series of questions for students to answer in their books (to help them expand their analysis). This is followed by a discussion to compare this text with other WW1 poems we have already explored and a reflection activity (KWL).
2) A handout for students to complete their analysis in (which also includes the details for their homework -- to write a mini essay about Owen’s representation of war in comparison to Seeger’s)
Two powerpoints used in a 8 English protest poetry unit I designed.
The first explores: What is critical literacy and why do we need these skills? How will it help us to understand protest poems? It introduces key critical literacy terms (ideology, privileged, intended reading, marginalised, silenced etc.) It includes a list of things it is important to be aware of when viewing or reading a poem/text. It also begins to introduce students to Indigenous Australian issues as these are the first series of poems to be explored. It includes poems about colonisation and questions to prompt students to analyse these poems.
The second is an introduction to poetic devices which includes definitions and examples of personification, rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, simile, metaphor etc.
Additional resource: A handout I use at the end of the poetic devices lesson to check whether the students have understood what was taught (it is a matching terms activity).
PowerPoint one: appropriate for senior classes (years 10-12)
- includes tips to help students improve their verbal and nonverbal presentation skills
- includes clips of famous speeches to help students identify the techniques
PowerPoint two: appropriate for junior classes (years 7-9)
- includes public speaking tips
- includes tips for Power Points including visual pictures of what not to do
- includes an example PowerPoint presentation created by a student that presents the information effectively
- includes a list of topics for 30 seconds speeches (to get students to practice the skills they've learned
3 resources
1) A worksheet which explains the QAR strategy. It then includes a passage (excerpt) from The Time Machine followed by a series of QAR questions.
2) some posters suitable for a year 6-9 English classroom (explaining the QAR terms)
3) a PDF explaining the QAR process for teachers.
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.
100 quiz questions which can be used for a range of games including 'around the world.'
Topics include famous texts like Harry Potter, the works of Roald Dahl, Lord of the Rings, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, Jungle Book and some Greek Mythology questions.
This unit was designed for a year 10 English class in Australia. Within this unit students learn to analyse and evaluate how human experience is represented in new media texts and documentaries, including the use of images. Students will also develop a critical understanding of the contemporary media and analyse the differences between news media texts.
This PowerPoint introduces students to what a documentary is and how they can have powerful social and political influence. The lesson goes on to outline the key features of a documentary and the two main types of documentaries (objective and subjective). It explains the difference and then includes a series of short clips for students to view and decide whether it is an objective/subjective documentary.
It also includes a research activity (homework sheet) for students to investigate the works of Michael Moore.
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 was created to scaffold a short story task where students are required to, "Write an original, imaginative short story that utilises the literary techniques and literary devices that are appropriately employed in a specific crime genre." It also includes a 10-page booklet with similar information if you have students who need to be provided with a hard copy.
A PowerPoint designed to teach students about 10 persuasive techniques. It includes examples, explanations of how they work and prompts to encourage students to write their own sentences using these persuasive devices.
Devices taught in this lesson include:
Alliteration
Repetition
Rhetorical Question
Tone of Voice
Metaphors & Similes
Emotive language
Hyperbole
Expert opinion/use of quotes
Anecdote/personal experience
Inclusive language
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.
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.