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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
An example IA1 task for the ‘Women’s movements since 1893’ which is studied as part of Unit 2 of 11 Modern History in Queensland, Australia.
The examination is an 800-1000 word essay in response to historical sources (2 hrs + 15 minutes planning time). Included in this resource are:
12 relevant sources which showcase a range of perspectives on second wave feminism, have a mix of primary and secondary sources and include some visual sources, a song, extracts from textbooks, newspapers etc.
The reference details and appropriate context statements for these sources.
A booklet of lined paper for students to write their response on
An exemplar response which received top marks (the student redacted some words using a black highlighter during the exam as they knew they were over the word count). This essay has been annotated by the marker which colours representing the various criteria (analysing, evaluating) or important features (e.g. putting forward historical argument, linking back to that argument etc.)
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.
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.
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.