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.
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.
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.
For many decades women were marginalised from texts about life in the bush. If they were mentioned at all they were the wives waiting back at the homestead and played no real role in the text. One exception is the short story ‘The Drovers Wife’ (1894) written by Henry Lawson.
This PPT and Work Sheet guide students to read and analyse the story and the effect of its language features and descriptions on readers.
Two resources from a grade 9 English unit
A list of unit specific spelling words - 24 words for each week.
PowerPoint - Looking at a few different film clips (and lyrics) in order to see how identity is portrayed in music. After each clip is responding questions. Songs include My Island Home, Land Down Under, I Am Australian and Born To Survive.
As part of a year 9 English unit investigating means to be Australian, this PowerPoint looks at one of the earliest stereotypes about Australians: that of the rugged bushman. It focuses on the bushman stereotype and poems written by Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson.
This PowerPoint was designed to teach students how to:
Evaluate the use of stereotypes in the texts
explain how the poet’s use of language helps to create meaning in the poem and positions readers in a certain way.
Explain what is accurate and what may be inaccurate about the Aussie bushman stereotype
This lesson explains the origins of this bush myth and why it was adopted by Australians. It introduces students to poetic ballads including the Man from Snowy River (which they watch a youtube clip of and must then respond to a series of questions). It also includes a summary of challenges often depicted in these poems. Subsequently, students read a Henry Lawson Poem (Ballad of the Drover) to compare the writing styles of Lawson and Patterson. Poems are included in this resource (as a handout).
This PPT also explains the link between bushmen and diggers, lists recent films which continue this stereotype etc.
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)
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.
Two PowerPoints for a 9 English Unit.
The first PowerPoint includes a synopsis of the film and the film trailer is embedded. This is followed by a range of clips and viewing questions. It also includes information about how Indigenous Australians are portrayed in the film. Additionally, there is a section on exploring key quotes. Students have to pick out the slang and the beliefs of the protagonist which are indicated in the quote.
The second PowerPoint is a paragraph writing lesson. It takes students through the various stereotypes in the film and includes some pre-writing (planning) steps. It reviews the PEEEL paragraph structure. It includes some scaffolding (suggested sentence starters) along with an example paragraph (which is colour coded to indicate which section it addresses). After this activity, there is information about modality and some examples of high and low modality words. There is also some information about linking words.
3 practice exam booklets for use in classes so that students can develop their assessment literacy. These could be used as a mock exam and then students could give each other feedback (in a peer review).
Each paper has a front cover for students to fill in, instructions (including planning time + time allowed to write a response), a list of the assessment objectives, 2 questions for students to respond to (they select one), planning space & lined paper on which to write their response.
Resources designed for the new senior General English 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 this text.
A PowerPoint presentation designed for use in a Grade 12 English class.
It includes:
• A summary of Chapter 1 and screen shots from the movie to illustrate key characters and locations
• Important things to note about chapter 1
• Notes about how Orwell developed the setting (including quotes)
• Information about surveillance and the ministries
• Details about the protagonist Winston Smith and his diary
• Important people that we meet in this chapter – Julia and O’Brien
• The small distractions available to citizens – Victory Gin & Victory Cigarettes
• The answers to the Ch 1 questions in the student work booklet (also available in my store)
• A summary of Chapter 2 (including info about the junior spies)
• Information about Hitler Youth (who were likely the inspiration for the junior spies in the novel)
• Answers to the Ch 2 questions
• A summary of Chapter 3
• Information about the Panopticon (18th Century) which may have influenced Orwell
• Answers to the Ch 3 questions
• A summary of Chapter 4
• Answers to Ch 4 questions
• A summary of Chapter 5
• Answers to Ch 5 questions
• A map showing Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia
• Some character profiles (to check what information students have located thus far)
Resources designed for the new senior General English 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 this text.
A 30-page booklet designed for Grade 12 students studying George Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four.
It includes:
• a character map,
• a list of themes, motifs, symbols, moral issues
• a series of graphic organisers for students to organise their notes about 6 themes, 6 specified symbols,
• a table to record noticeable values, attitudes, beliefs and cultural assumptions
• a place to record important terms (glossary) including: newspeak terms; context terms; unfamiliar terms
• a table to record key details about each character and several important settings (names pre filled)
• a diagram showing the societal structure of Oceania
• a table to record the purpose of each of the four ministries
• places to record significant aesthetic features and stylistic devices (language features & text structures)
• a set of chapter questions for all 3 ‘books’ and post reading questions and activities
Teaching tip: to save on printing, the chapter questions can be removed and added to a Class One Note / other online location.
Resources designed for the new senior General English 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 this text.
A PowerPoint presentation designed for use in a Grade 12 English class. it was designed to prepare the students for their external exam (where they have to write an essay in response to a question / statement about the text).
The lesson includes:
• A quick quiz (11 questions) to establish prior knowledge (answers pop up when clicked)
• An explanation of language features (with examples provided). Terms included: paradox, oxymoron, allusion, binary oppositions, portmanteau, motif, metaphor, extended metaphors (aka conceit), personification, simile, symbolism,
• Information about the following techniques in Nineteen Eighty Four: allusion, binary oppositions, portmanteaus, symbolism,
• A language features quiz to check for understanding (6 questions)
Bonus resource: A word document table for assigning students a specific chapter to analyse (to contribute to the Class One Note)
Resources designed for the new senior General English 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 this text.
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.
Teaching about 'parts of speech' and how action words vary depending on what tense you are using. This includes creative writing activities based on visual stimuli. It also includes scanned sections from worksheets with activities for students to work through independently or as a class depending on their level.
Document 1: a worksheet to step students through the process of writing a feature article. This is an interesting topic and ideally the students would work together to develop ideas and then share them with the teacher who would construct the feature article on the board. This is designed to be the students first experience of writing a feature article and uses the I do, we do, you do method where some paragraphs are provided while other sections have key points that the students need to elaborate on to complete the feature article.
Document 2: The lesson plan for this activity with talking points and key questions to ask.
Looking at marriage equality and what has been said about it on Q&A (with some clips to watch). Another Q&A clip about Independent Candidate Bob Katter (in an episode about mental health) where he gets challenged by Josh Thomas about his homophobia and his denial that there are any gay people in his electorate. This lesson also looks at immigration (particularly illegal immigrants) and looks at the language used to label them. It also looks at newspaper articles and political cartoons about a drowned three year old Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, whose lifeless body was washed ashore in Turkey. It includes scaffolding to write an analysis of some of these political cartoons.
PLEASE NOTE: this resource was made in 2016 before marriage equality was achieved in Australia. The discussion of refugee issues is still pertinent but much has happened since then thus have marked down the price
An introduction to the Liberal party and their ideology. A copy of one of their advertisements prior to the election. Some clips from the Chaser talking about the events in the lead up to the election. Looking at the Jobs and Growth slogan and what it meant. Looking at info on their website which explained how they were going to achieve this. Looking at the trickle down theory (and the flaws with this idea). A brief overview of the 14 election issues.
Additional resource: voting in Australia booklet 2016 which explains the three levels of government in Australia, what electorates are, how federal elections work, how to enrol to vote, what a ballot paper looks like, how the results are counted, explaining what a referendum is and how to be an active citizen.
PowerPoint 1: Unit introduction including classroom expectations (rules), an explanation of the unit, key questions for the unit, explaining the 2 assessment tasks, looking at famous quotes about teens and seeing if they agree, a list of teen issues and themes, common settings and characters for teen films.
PowerPoint 2: exploring teenage stereotypes. This lesson defines stereotypes and gives examples of what stereotypes are, explores why we stereotype people, looks at common stereotypes about teenagers. The PPT includes excerpts from 2 Hollywood films (10 Things I Hate About You & Mean Girls) and questions to encourage students to identify the stereotypes in them.
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.