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.
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)
3 resources for a year 12 English unit.
1) A PPT for a mini lesson on nouns, verbs and adjectives + another mini lesson on adverbs.
2) A PowerPoint engaging with 2 WW1 poems: ‘I have a rendezvous with death’ and ‘In Flanders Fields. After reading the first poem there are discussion questions. I have also included some of my observations about each of the poem (modelling analysis), some info about the author, activities encouraging the students to consider how langauge features have been used in the text. Following this, students read the second poem on their own and complete the comparison activity (3rd resource).
3) A handout with the table for the comparison activity (for students to complete electronically)
1) PowerPoint - This lesson focuses on teaching students about the context of World War One so that they have some frame of reference for approaching the poems written in this period. Afterwards, it explores how the perceptions of war in poetry changed during this period from patriotic beliefs in its valour to disillusionment as World War One saw a complete change in the way wars were fought and the attitudes towards them. This lesson opens with checking students prior knowledge of WW1. It then explains what the world was like during the 19th Century and the imperialist ideology. The beliefs of Europe’s’ Great Powers, the major causes of WW1, The assassination of Franz Ferdinand: A Shot that Changed the World, societal beliefs about war at the time, exploring propaganda posters from World War One, new technologies used in this war and the outcomes of the war. Things we will learn by the study of poetry from the First World War.
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.
1) A fun an engaging PPT designed to build up students' reading comprehension abilities. It includes a definition of war, a series of questions for classroom discussion (drawing on prior knowledge), a small clip from Forrest Gump for students to watch and discuss (questions included), info about who writes war poetry and the various reasons they have for doing so, an answer to the question 'why read poetry?' Following this the PPT encourages students to engage with three poetic texts and learn to read for meaning and to appreciate the emotions created by the author and how they achieve this. Each poem comes with questions to check for student comprehension and to begin scaffoldin their ability to analyse.
2) A handout with the words to each poem: Grandpa what did you do in the war?, Gaps in the ranks & And the band played Waltzing Matilda
3) A Poetry retrieval chart (homework) for students to complete to revise after the lesson -- I would send these out via email to be completed electronically.
1) A PowerPoint for an introductory lesson to a year 12 Authority English unit in Australia. Overview of school rules, my rules and expectations for Authority English. A term overview, a list of spelling words, goal setting prompts, an introduction to poetry and why it matters, & a brief writing activity.
2) A handout with the questions for the student self-reflection.
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)
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.
4 resources designed for a year 8 poetry unit. The first is a PowerPoint which takes students through the STEP UP acronym which they will use to analyse poems in their upcoming assessment: subject matter, theme, emotions, poetic devices, your interpretation, purpose… It includes prompting questions that students should ask themselves to help guide their response for each category. It then includes a poem about a refugee and slides which work through the STEP UP process.
The second is a worksheet for modified students which has most of the notes written so that they only have to write a few.
The third is a handout which explains STEP UP which could be used as a poster.
The fourth is a typed version of the analysis of the refugee poem (in a Word Doc)
A year 8 Eng PowerPoint designed to introduce students to the concept of intended reading while touching on the idea of resistant reading. It includes questions they should ask themselves when reading a poem to help them identify the intended meaning of the text. It includes the words to Donald Bruce Dawe’s poem Homecoming and some follow-up questions to help the students learn to do this together. They are then given a poem to read independently and suggest what the author’s intended reading might be.
The PowerPoint includes definitions and examples of poetic devices including rhyme, repetition, simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, assonance, symbolism etc. There are also slides with famous examples from songs (some oldies but mostly contemporary).
The homework sheet is a match the terms handout to consolidate learning.
A PowerPoint which includes a list of questions for students to ask themselves every time they analyse a poem. The poems to be explored show people’s feelings and emotions about war and the toll it takes on human lives. While some poems talk about bravery, patriotism and pride, this collection challenges this perspective. Both poems contest the notion of war showing it as a senseless waste of young lives. Students read one poem and there are set of writing activities and questions for them to respond to. They then listen to the song 'And the band played Waltzing Matilda' as they read along on their sheet (also provided). Afterwards, there are 11 activities for the children to complete.
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).
This is a history style lesson designed to help children understand the Stolen Generations before the next lesson where they will view poems about this issue and have to analyse them. It introduces students to the assimilation policy, includes images of newspaper advertisements at the time (selling half-caste children) and looks at the beliefs held at the time about this issue. It includes clips from the film Rabbit Proof Fence along with questions to help check for understanding and to develop empathy. Following this, information is provided about what the institutions were like as well as historical sources (testimonies of stolen children remembering the day they were taken). Finally, it looks at the effects and consequences of the stolen generation with information taken from the Creative Spirits website.
Additional resources: A handout with the questions for the Rabbit Proof Fence viewing activity.
A homework handout (mind mapping the effects of the stolen generation.)
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).
This is part of a series of resources developed for a year 8 English class in Australia. The first resource is a list of context-specific spelling words for the first six weeks of the term (24 words per week).
The second is a PowerPoint introducing the unit and key terms. It specifies the difference between a theme and an issue, gives examples of specific social issues and it has a viewing activity to help students understand a particular social issue (poverty). Finally, it includes some images and creative writing prompts to get students thinking and writing themselves.
Two PowerPoints:
Explaining the assessment task (Create an informative multimodal presentation that discusses how bias may be present in documentaries and written articles) and the criteria. Learning about the features of a multimodal to prepare you for this task and looking at an example introduction written by a past student. Some example quotes from Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine to use as an example (and practice analysing). Advice on where to find further quotes.
A PowerPoint for the following lesson teaching students how to analyse bias in media articles. Going through the 2 types of bias in texts (over exaggeration and under exaggeration). A quick practice of analysing bias in particular examples from Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. Afterward the PPT looks at three articles about Chernobyl and students are encouraged to determine whether we believe their portrayal was: Balanced (correct), Bias through minor under-emphasis, Bias through extreme under-emphasis, Bias through over emphasis or Bias through extreme over emphasis. Prior to this, there is a brief explanation of what happened and some images and videos. It includes some questions for students to consider as they read the article. Finally, it includes copies of a PPT made by a past student for their multimodal for students to look at and draw inspiration from.
One Word Document (A task scaffold) which contains planning steps for the assignment and a suggested structure.
Other resources which can be given to students during in class drafting lessons or for homework.
In addition to analysing cinematic techniques (aka visual features), students need to analyse the effect of language features in their chosen documentary. This lesson introduces students to a range of language features to watch out for with examples from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 and Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me. These language features include high modality, rhetorical questions, emotive language, repetition and groups of three. It also includes a list of generic questions for students to ask themselves when watching documentaries.
This powerpoint introduces students to key terms which are necessary for a study of documentaries e.g. intertitle, masked interview etc. After these terms the lesson introduces students to audio and visual devices which are used to position audiences in documentaries e.g. narration / voice over, music, sound effects, slow motion and other visual editing effects. After copying these notes students view a small clip about climate change from a biased documentary and have to practice identifying these features.
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.