Stimulating, engaging and promoting thinking beyond the lesson of the day - that's the support material I seek to produce in the English, Maths and Humanities areas. As a resource manager and classroom teacher for over 30 years, I want to offer practical, get-to-the-point material to broaden, challenge and deepen understanding, provide for a range of skill levels, and make teaching and learning stimulating and enjoyable.
Stimulating, engaging and promoting thinking beyond the lesson of the day - that's the support material I seek to produce in the English, Maths and Humanities areas. As a resource manager and classroom teacher for over 30 years, I want to offer practical, get-to-the-point material to broaden, challenge and deepen understanding, provide for a range of skill levels, and make teaching and learning stimulating and enjoyable.
Handout sheet for discussion and analysis on Oscar Wilde's chief character quotes in "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
Useful for analysing Wilde's witty inversion of the superficial and the profound, and the tragic perspective of the character's doomed efforts to retain that which is impossible - the lustre of youth and the invincible appeal of physical beauty.
Suited to Years 10 to 12, this four page activities handout examines specific advertising that is sexist and features representations based on stereotyping and narrow gender roles.
It contains
1. exemplar analyses of print advertisements displaying gender bias
2. student responses to common gender stereotypes
3. guidance on paragraph writing
4. exercises in paragraph responses to sexist advertisements
STREETS OF LONDON
Multiple Choice Levels of Meaning Listening and Reading Stimulus and Test
Suitable for early middle school Years 7/8/9
Theme of Social Commentary and Social Protest.
Along with a dramatic cover sheet with the song lyrics of Ralf McTell's famous ballad urging us to look and see the hardships of the underclass around us, there are 20 questions, structured as follows
1. Five "Right There" specific / literal questions
2. Five "Gather the Information" questions requiring longer reading across the entire text.
3. 10 Inferential questions based on the implied meaning and the writer's intentions.
This is a lesson in itself, or an assessment item as preferred. Alfred Noyes' celebrated ballad THE HIGHWAYMAN in full. Visually realised with the text is fully annotated, with difficult words explained in side bars.
Reading comprehension about literary elements.
Then a letter writing exercise on point of view.
Do play the best recording of the poem by PHIL OCHS obtainable on You Tube as part of your presentation.
Harry Chapin's CATS IN THE CRADLE about wish fulfilment, father and son relationships and the irony of getting what you always hoped for is presented here in full lyric, with a fifteen part multiple choice set of questions and an exemplar essay analysis of the poem, presented as a punctuation exercise.
Don McLean's VINCENT is presented with a visual representation and annotation for all the difficult words on the side of the poem. Questions are structured to go from literal to metaphorical, and are
1. multiple choice
2. short answer
3. short essay response
Four items to use with the film JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
1. Assessment task with exemplar film review
2.Comprehension handout
3. Crossword handout
4. Word search handout
For English and historyteachers and values educators, this power point resource is a pre-timed examination of how we perceive the world, containing stills, animation and challenges for the class to respond to.
It is approximately four minutes in length, featuring some of history's best examples of visual illusions, and examines how we see the world in ways that can be inaccurate and distorted.
The final slides cover stereotyping and false judgements. The presentation will be useful as a stimulus / starter, getting students to consider how perception and reality are not always the same.
Useful for literature studies on racial attitudes, discrimination based on perceived difference and flawed thinking leading to injustice. For example - "To Kill A Mockingbird," "1984," "Brave New World," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Useful for values classes in social studies, philosophy and ethics classes.
This is a practical handout which is aimed at Year 10 to Year 12 students, and covers work for two or three lessons, made up of the following material
Characteristics of the genre of eulogy and tribute writing - tone, structure, purpose, language choices, use of anecdote
Preparation overview - note taking and planning suggestions
Exemplar of a tribute - annotated with explanations of structure
Two practice writing activities
Famous eulogies - texts of two historical eulogies in full, with comprehension
Audio of the eulogies
Gordon Lightfoot's stirring ballad THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD is a powerful tool to use when teaching the ballad form. The enthralling and terrible tale of the mighty transport ship that never made it across Lake Superior in one of Canada's greatest naval disasters is presented here as
1. a film clip, MP4 with the full lyrics
2. student handout with the lyrics and comprehension questions
A four page handout on the original film, containing close exercise on the plot, comparing and contrasting John Hammond and Victor Frankenstein, and an enquiry of central quotes, who said them and their significance.
A set of visual exemplars of sexist advertising accompany the handout which will take at least a lesson or two to complete. It includes an overview of what to identify in gender-discriminating advertising, with exemplar responses and explanations of how to write more effectively. Student exercises follow to apply the knowledge learned. A brief power point about the deconstruction of advertisements is included.
These weekly handouts are for middle school use. They comprise a weekly handout with alphabetically listed words based on themes such as cities, emotion and food. Each word has a meaning, a designated common usage part of speech and an accompanying chart shows the word again, with space for a syllable breakdown to aid pronunciation, and spaces for write outs to practice correct spelling.
This is intended as a N A P L A N or general classroom activity to get students to respond to the multiple levels of a poem and to respond in a structured way to indicate their understanding.
On the theme of growing up, friendship and the influence of peers on our development, here is a beautiful ballad about a childhood friendship by Billy Joel brought to life to show the way we change and grow apart. The lyric in full is given along with a video of the performance of the lyric.
This is a student handout providing an annotated exemplar of an analytical essay on The Soldier by Rupert Brook (sorry but this site will not allow publication of his proper spelling). On the same page is a set of guidelines for the student to then respond to Wilfred Owen's It Is Sweet and Honourable Et Decorum Est.
This is a power point presentation intended to create a reflective response from studetns. It can be used for history teaching, although I find it works effectively as part of English teaching of war poetry and war fiction. Of course, if the class is doing John Hersey's Hiroshima, it fits perfectly.
This is a middle school creative writing lesson and (practice / homework?) assessment task.
The power point and student diagrammatic handout gives an outline of main techniques in creative writing.
The exemplar and comprehension task provides a rich example of descriptive writing and the questions tied to targeted concepts which are themselves explained (Justify, Explain etc).
The assessment task provides for a range of student abilities, with an outline of suggestions about what to write about in the descriptive passage. The criteria for the writing task is explained in simple language to provide student feedback.
Nine page handout for use in the study of the classic film about friendship and change, with examination of plot characters and themes. Students undertake writing activities under the following - interpreting, justifying, comparing and contrasting.
Here are two handout items on the anti-war poem / song lyric AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA by Eric Bogle. The first contain the text of the poem / lyric which use has shown works best by playing the video version from Youtube to being to life this immensely powerful and moving lyric. There are a series of comprehension questions which can be used for formal assessment or group discussion.
The letter writing task contains an example of a letter to the editor about the thematic relevance and literary qualities of the poem. The student is then provided with a question task of their own to complete on a war poem of their choice.
SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT
DOWN THE MINE
A HANGING
Three essays, presented in a visually enhanced manner, with vocabulary and meanings list, comprehension and extension questions. I have used these for Years 10, 11 and 12. For engaging students who are covering Orwell texts such as “Animal Farm” and “1984” these essays with close analysis examine Orwell’s sense of social justice, his understanding of the structures of tyranny, and his keen eye for observation. There are annotated commentaries on Orwell’s choice of language and each essay is constructed as sufficient for a lesson of class work. This has also been useful in my classes as an extension reading comprehension for stronger students, and for homework activities. Word and PDF format for each should you wish to shorten or add your preferred commentary and questions.