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.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to develop student assessment literacy. It begins with an explanation of the criteria broken down into “I can” statements which students will understand. It then offers students two potential structures for the review (depending on whether they have the ability to synthesise or not). In this lesson I used a film that students are not doing for their assessment to co-construct a response. The subsequent slides take students through my thinking process (selecting a hero and villain to discuss). Then I show a structure for body 1 broken down into dot points. I then showed them how I would write an extended TEEL paragraph about Aquaman. Students then had to repeat this process to write body 2 (about the villain). Afterwards, we went through an example I had written. We then looked at what needed to happen in body 3 and a potential structure, before reading an example I prepared.
About the word documents:
Sentence Starters and an example response (written about Aqua man)
I Can statements which explain the criteria in student specific terms
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to be used after students have viewed the film Batman Forever. It begins with an explanation of Two Face and his back story. There are images of his costume which students can describe in the Language Features portion of the retrieval chart. There are slides going through colours and their meanings – maroon, yellow and black. Some information about his props is provided. Students can mention any others that they have noticed. A quote from the news reporter from the orientation of the film is included. Students are asked to volunteer what attitudes they noticed. Some key scenes from the film are summarised to generate opportunities for students to identify his Values, Beliefs and Cultural Assumptions. These scenes include – his escape from Arkham Asylum, Murdering the Flying Graysons, Forming an alliance with the Riddler & Gate crashing Nygma’s event. A similar structure is followed for Batman and The Riddler.
About the Word Document: A table I made containing quotes from key characters in the film which students can come back to when writing their review for evidence of character VABs.
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: The PPT begins by explaining what film reviews are and their common features. Following this students watch the trailer for season one of Wednesday (the TV series on Netflix). This is followed by some questions to prompt discussion. Students then read a review and use a highlighter to note the various language features used by the reviewer. Afterwards students are introduced to the second film they will be viewing. They watch the trailer for The Incredibles and some quick facts are shown. They add the director details and others to the retrieval chart. There is a brief synopsis of the plot and some inspiration about what inspired the characters. Following this students are given a quote sheet which they can look at and complete an activity talking about what the characters words say about them (i.e. their personality, beliefs, values).
About the Word Documents:
A copy of a review written about the Wednesday TV series.
A handout which contains some key quotes from the characters from The Incredibles for an activity explained in the PPT slide.
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to be used after students have viewed The Incredibles. It begins with an exploration of Mr Incredible and his two costumes. Students are to discuss what VABs they noticed in the film. I have provided some answer slides with possible options. This process continues with Elastigirl and Syndrome. Some information about supporting characters including Violet and Dash are also provided.
About the word documents:
A table I made containing quotes from key characters in the film which students can come back to when writing their review for evidence of character VABs.
A teacher version of the report card.
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: the PPT begins with an explanation of the unit and the upcoming assessment. There are some terms for students to add to their glossary and a brainstorming activity to see what films students have seen in recent years which feature heroes / villains. Some sample answers grouped under Marvel, DC and Warner Brothers are provided. Students are introduced to definitions of terms including hero, superhero, anti-hero, antagonist and villain. Students are introduced to the Gallery of Modern Arts which is part of the context for their assessment. They see images of the building and photographs I took in 2017 when I went to a Marvel specific exhibition. This is followed by information about the origins of super heroes (comic books). Specific references are made to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. There are some clips of early TV and film versions of these characters.
About the PPT: The lesson begins with an activity which asks the students to brainstorm some attitudes they associate with heroes. The slide includes a reminder of what an attitude is and some answers which pop up when you click. There is a viewing activity from YouTube about heroic archetypes which goes for 11 minutes which you can watch to gather further heroic traits from. This is followed by an explanation of what a nemesis is and some of their qualities. Next some common conventions of hero texts are explained. Joseph Conrad’s hero’s journey monomyth is explained. Some information about criticism of this monomyth is provided as well as information about the emergence of films which have female leads. Subsequently student are introduced to a music video report card which they will fill in as we watch the 3 films this term. Screen shots are included on the slides so I could explain the various parts. We quickly recap language features (especially cinematic devices) discussed in earlier lessons. More information is provided about music and sound effects (diegetic and non diegetic sound). Information about factors which influence the listener are explained and list of words for describing music care provided. Next the impacts of light and shadows are explained. The following are explained: high-key lighting, low-key lighting, backlighting and shadow. Next the following transitions are explained in more detail – fade, dissolve, wipe and cut. Themes are explained with a visual showing common themes. Lastly, students are introduced to the film they will watch in future lessons – Batman Forever. They watch the trailer, get some contextual information to add to their report card, are shown images of each of the characters and read a brief synopsis of the plot.
About the Word Doc: A movie review retrieval chart for students to fill in during subsequent lessons.
Context: A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 4: “Representations and popular culture texts.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
3 resources used in a 9 English unit.
1) A homework sheet which includes the poem 'Then and Now' by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and comprehension questions which are designed to help students begin to analyse the text. This poem touches on the dispossession of land and the consequences for the poet and her people.
2) A PowerPoint which teaches visual source analysis using the picture book 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden (illustrated by Shaun Tan). Students have to respond to the images by answering the following questions: What do you feel about the imagery? What does it mean to you? What is the idea of Australian identity portrayed in the picture? Afterwards, the PPT explains that this story is an allegory. The PowerPoint also includes some examples of Australian slang (as this is part of a stereotypes unit).
3) A PowerPoint which points out that for a long time there were “entrenched negative stereotypes” about Aboriginal people in Australia and how the media’s focus on negative Aboriginal issues creates much hurt when it presents the problems of individual Aboriginal people as problems of all Indigenous Australians. It explores the negative stereotypes about Indigenous people as shown in Bran Neu Dae and the positive attributes shown in The Sapphires. The clips I have selected from Bran Neu Dae are humorous but touch on serious issues and often generate good classroom discussions.
This resource was designed as an introduction to a film studies unit focusing on the moral issues and moral dilemmas that the characters faced in the film Remember the Titans. It has enough content to take a few lessons.
This resource would still be useful for other films as it teaches students about various textual structures, language and visual features which directors use to influence how the audience responds to the film.
It includes a summary of the film, a definition of dialogue and some examples for students to discuss (what it reveals about the characters), nonverbal communication, visual features to focus on e.g. costuming. It also goes through various cinematic techniques with a definition and an example from a famous film e.g. The Shining, Forrest Gump, Harry Potter and The Help (with post-viewing questions).
The film techniques covered are panning, tracking, tilting, zooming, montage, transition, simultaneous time, slow motion, music, sound effects, shot sizes. It ends with a cloze strategy to check whether students have understood these terms.
It then goes on to provide some historical context about the Civil Rights movement in the US.
Two PowerPoints which include scans from two picture book memoirs.
The Little Refugee (Anh Do) - It includes pre-reading questions. The powerpoint also introduces key terms for analysing these visuals: visual components of a text such as placement, salience, framing, representation of action or reaction, shot size, social distance and camera angle. Body Language – A non-verbal form of communication including facial expression, posture & gestures. Salience – a strategy of emphasis, highlighting what is important in a text. In images, salience is created through strategies like the placement of an item in the foreground, size and contrast in tone or colour. There are also comprehension questions and an explanation of things to note about the illustrations.
The Peasant Prince (Li Cunxin) - a more comprehensive lesson (for a higher class). It includes information about the author and the illustrator and the techniques she used. It introduces visual literacy techniques to look for e.g. use of colour vs black and white. Ways to describe colour e.g. vivid and muted. Colour theory - the connotations of specific colours. Describing the positioning of elements within the image (e.g. foreground & background). How to describe the settings within the story (there is a graphic organiser for them to fill in to respond to three images from the book). Nonverbal communication (explanations of body langauge and facial expression). Students have the chance to apply this to describing three figures in the book. Shot size, Angle and Mise en scene are defined and there are further activities for each of these. Other concepts are covered incuding reading path, salience, positioning, vectors, allusion, symbols and language features.
This lesson is designed to teach students what a ‘cooking philosophy’ / ethos is. Students will be choosing a specific celebrity chef for their upcoming assessment to create a brochure about. Within the brochure, this is one element they must include. It begins with a written definition which students must add to their glossary. There are screen shots of quotes from Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver to use as examples. The remainder of the PPT is dedicated to engaging with some written and video content about various chefs and determine what attitudes, values and beliefs they hold and how this influences their cooking. The first chef is Mark Olive (a First Nations chef). There is a video clip and some screen shots from his Instagram which students use to extract information to summarise his ethos. This is followed by Australian chef Maggie Beer – there are 3 short videos as well as extracts from a Magazine article about her and information from the front of one of her cook books. Thirdly, British Chef Jamie Oliver (3 clips, 2 quotes and information from one of his cooking courses). Fourthly, Chinese-Australian Chef Kylie Kwong (1 video, 2 quotes). Finally, Australian chef Matt Moran (1 video and screen shots from his restaurant’s website).
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). My school has 70-minute lessons. (2 x theory and 1 x prac). The assessment at the end of this unit was an event (pop up café) and a written portfolio of their preparation for this event.
A PowerPoint used to introduce students to the new unit. It includes discussion questions used to extract student prior knowledge (e.g. What is a celebrity chef) and a brainstorming activity (for students to list those that they are familiar with). There is a definition to add to their glossary (students copy underlined information). Then there is a brief bio of several chefs that will be encountered during the unit – Jamie Oliver, Kylie Kwong, Matt Moran, Maggie Beer, Neil Perry, Donna Hay, Poh Ling Yeow, Luke Nguyen and Mark Olive. There is information about how the chefs promote themselves and their merchandise. This is followed by some information about the upcoming assessment task – written component and practical component. There is a screen shot of a brochure created about Donna Hay. The lesson ends with an overview of the Unit Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). My school has 70-minute lessons. (2 x theory and 1 x prac). The assessment at the end of this unit was an event (pop up café) and a written portfolio of their preparation for this event.
This lesson is designed to teach students what a 'signature dish’ is. Students will be choosing a specific celebrity chef for their upcoming assessment to create a brochure about. Within the brochure, this is one element they must include. They will provide information about the cuisine, cooking methods and the recipe. They will also cook the recipe and photograph how they have presented it.
The PPT includes a term for students add to their recipe. The term ‘cuisine’ is also explained. Some information from Encyclopedia Britannica about world cuisine is provided. information about how cuisine evolves is also included (including the term ‘fusion cuisine’). There is a video from Gardening Australia about Kylie Kwong which shows how she incorporates First Nations ingredients in her Cantonese cooking. Following this, students are instructed to use the retrieval chart (also included in this resource) to research the celebrities we are focussing on in the unit and their signature dishes.
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). My school has 70-minute lessons. (2 x theory and 1 x prac).
A PowerPoint and worksheet used to introduce students to beverages commonly served in cafes. It begins with a video explaining how to froth milk (YouTube) and some key take away points from this video. This is followed by a list of recipes that use frothy milk. The next couple of slides include pictures of different types of mugs as well as when they should be used and their liquid capacity. Students are to copy the underlined text on these slides. Then students watch a clickview video about how to make the various types of coffee – they have a worksheet (also included here) to complete as they watch it. After the video there are slides that go through this info (for those who need repetition to process). There are notes for students to copy. Coffees explained are: espresso, long black, flat white, caffe latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha & vanilla chai latte. There are some additional videos at the end for if the class got through everything.
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 and worksheet used to introduce students to the parts of a coffee machine, their functions and how to clean them. The worksheet includes a picture of a machine with arrows to each part which students are to label as they progress through the lesson. There are also underlined notes on the slides for students to add to a table on their worksheet. Included in the PPT is a brain break video from ‘Sorted’ (YouTube channel) reviewing a coffee machine. There is an extension part on the worksheet for fast finishers about the types of milk (whole milk, light milk, skim milk, organic milk, soy milk, UHT milk, almond milk, coconut milk).
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).
This lesson is an introduction to a moral/ethical dilemma - designer babies and saviour siblings. It defines each of these terms, includes quotes from doctors, a discussion of what genetic testing can currently do and a speculation what it could be used for in the future, some questions about the ethics of genetic testing, three case studies for students to consider, and a film trailer from My Sister's Keeper in preparation for watching this film.
A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 3: “Language that influences.” During this unit students learned how to create and shape perspectives on community, local and global issues in texts. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute persuasive multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded about an issue of their choice.
A PPT which structures the lesson. It began with 10 minutes of silent reading as a settling activity. This is followed by a reminder of what social issues are. This is followed by a viewing activity on ABC iView – You Can’t Ask That’s episode on ‘Domestic Violence’ (from series 4). There are 7 questions for students to answer as they watch. This is followed by some slides of research I found. It includes a definition of domestic violence and the types. There is some information about the QLD Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (2012). Some key points from the Act are included in dot point form. After this students were split into groups and had to design a poster. There were 7 different options. This was followed by some information about conjunctions as a cool down.
A worksheet with the viewing questions
A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 3: “Language that influences.” During this unit students learned how to create and shape perspectives on community, local and global issues in texts. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute persuasive multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded about an issue of their choice.
A PPT which structures the lesson. It began with a think, pair, share activity to define mental health. This is followed by some online definitions from the WHO and Beyond Blue & a 2-minute viewing activity. Some information about the benefits of staying well are provided. Students are then to brainstorm some strategies they could use to maintain good mental health. There are some tips that I’ve saved over the years from various places (e.g. Headspace) which I have scanned and use as discussion prompts. Then there is some information about stress and some stress triggers and anxiety and some symptoms of anxiety. There is a visual infographic from Beyond Blue containing statistics about Australians impacted by anxiety or depression. This is followed by a viewing activity about Post Natal depression from ABC iView (an episode from Season 7 of “You Can’t Ask That”).
A lesson designed for use in a 12 Essential English classroom in Queensland, Australia as part of Unit 3: “Language that influences.” During this unit students learned how to create and shape perspectives on community, local and global issues in texts. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute persuasive multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded.
This PowerPoint introduced students to a First Nations topic - the potential for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament (which was a recommendation in the Uluru statement from the heart).
It began with some context about the 2017 convention held at Uluru. It looks at the proposals made. Some information from the Reconciliation Australia website is provided re the need for a First Nations Voice and the need for a referendum to achieve this.
The draft referendum question and the wording to be added to the constitution is included. Sourced from https://fromtheheart.com.au/
Information about what the constitution is and its establishment is provided.
An ABC news clip from August 2022 when PM Anthony Albanese proposed the referendum is included.
Some visuals of the Campaign Slogans are included as well as some quote from respected Indigenous Australians.
A lesson designed to teach students content that they need to know for their upcoming Hospitality exam. This lesson begins with a list of definitions students have to copy (a settling activity). These definitions are: bacteria, potentially hazardous foods, cross-contamination, food-contact surface and food poisoning. There is an informative poster about cross contamination used to generate class discussion and establish prior knowledge.
The remainder of the lesson has slides about
• Hazards that can contaminate food
• How bacteria can enter a hospitality premises
• Types of food poisoning
• Symptoms of food poisoning
• 5 causes of food poisoning
• Evaluating hazards in kitchens (an exam skill)
There are lots of visual prompts within the slides. Notes students are expected to copy have been underlined. Slides 19-21 are activities designed to help students apply what they have learned (similar format to exam questions).
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).
4 mocktail recipes to be made during a practical lesson of Hospitality studies (one for each of the 4 mixing techniques).
A PowerPoint designed for use in a theory lesson which goes through a range of beverages and their preparation steps. It begins by explaining what mocktails are. It goes through some of the carbonated beverages and soft drinks commonly used in mocktails. There are images of a range of kitchen utensils commonly used when making mocktails. This is followed by an explanation of the 4 techniques used to make mocktails (build in a glass, shake n strain, stir in a jug and blend.) Example mocktails for each preparation type are provided. this is followed by information about different glassware including lowball glass (tumblers), martini glass, hurricane glass and margarita glass. The lesson then moves onto other beverages common to cafes and restaurants. It begins with common fruit juices, handcrafted sodas, frappes, iced teas. This is followed by a range of milk-based beverages including: smoothies, milkshakes, flavoured milks, hot chocolates, iced coffees. This is followed by a run down of the various types of teas organised under categories: black, green, oolong, Ceylon, herbal, floral and fruity. This is followed by information about non-espresso coffee types: instant, plunger, percolator, filter, pods and Turkish.
Also included is a PPT (at the base of the original PPT) about how to write procedural texts. It includes the three elements of a procedural text, an example for how to make pancakes, some tips for writing a procedural text and some activities for writing procedural texts for beverages they are learning about (coffees).
There is also a 13 minute ClickView video with 9 viewing questions for if time permits.
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).