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.
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.
A PowerPoint explaining the assessment task (students are to write a monologue from the perspective of a character of their choosing). This resource includes: planning steps, the structure of a monologue, the language features that should go in a monologue, a list of character choices and example monologues written by year 10 students in Australia.
This also includes a word document version of the planning booklet which can be printed for students or shared electronically.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 50 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).
A series of resources:
a handout which includes the questions on the slide (to be given to students to answer / shared electronically.)
The PowerPoint. Some information pertaining to the historical context of the play. A summary of each scene with key quotes and questions. Viewing Act Five, Scene Three (the final act) both Baz Luhrmann film and the 2013 version (for comparative purposes). Important things to note from Act 5. Revision questions. Optional extras for if time: questions about themes. Role play activity.
A handout - revision activity - a list of jumbled up events from this act which students have to reorganise into chronological order.
An updated PowerPoint which features all of Act 5 (Scenes 1-3). It includes a warm up activity (explaining what a friar is - with notes to copy). Additionally, it features quotes from the play, checking for understanding questions (some to answer in books and some to discuss as a class) & some brain breaks (viewing activities - two excerpts of the play being staged in The Globe Theatre). This lesson is designed to fit into a unit where students must complete an exam where they respond to an essay which argues that Friar Laurence is solely to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Through studying each scene in depth, students should begin to see that a range of other characters could be referenced in their counter argument.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 10 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).
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.
This PowerPoint is designed to last for a few lessons and contains 54 slides with tips for photo composition. It teaches students about the effects of lines (straight and curved) and activities to check whether students can identify horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines within images. It also has activities and information for shapes and silhouettes, patterns and colours. Additionally, there is information about shot sizes and angles (no activities just discussion) and other general composition tips.
Introduction to the hard-boiled genre of crime fiction (Set in1930s - 1950s America)
This PowerPoint examines the genre conventions of hard-boiled fiction, the typical protagonist of these tales & events that were occurring in American society at the time these tales were written, and how these influenced these texts. Students will watch a trailer for The Maltese Falcon Trailer (a famous example). The movie of The Maltese Falcon is dated 1941, during the War, but the story was published in 1930: it’s a tale of the roaring ‘20s. The PPT also includes a trailer for a recent example (the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire) which recreates this era.
These resources are for the beginning of a crime fiction unit taught to senior English students. This unit provides many opportunities for students to develop an enjoyment and appreciation of language and literature. Students will be exposed to canonical and popular culture texts that explore crime fiction. Great value for money, see the explanation of the six resources included below.
Resource 1: A Brief Introduction PowerPoint (defining crime and genre, introducing students to the crime fiction genre, the three basic elements of crime fiction and listing some subgenres of crime fiction.
Resource 2: One lesson from a unit entitled ‘Revolutionary texts of the past meet popular culture texts of today.’ A PowerPoint introducing students to gothic romantic literature (genre conventions). It explains the social context of the time this genre originated, it outlines its key features and looks at two prominent examples: an extract from Frankenstein and Edgar Allen Poe’s Short Story ‘Tell-Tale Heart.’
Resource 3: Homework handout with questions about ‘Tell-Tale Heart’
Resource 4: A copy of the ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ to email to students.
Resource 5 & 6: Spelling words for the term and a template for students to write their definitions and sentences in.
The unit focuses on the study and analysis of texts including a film, novel extracts and a range of short stories to allow students to judge and value literary works in terms of the insights and truths they offer. Students should come to realise that both popular culture and canonical texts have meaning and value in contemporary society. If you are interested in the other resources from this unit, please visit my shop.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 English class in Australia (ACARA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (with extra activities as a back up if the class is advanced).
A PowerPoint designed to engage students / excite them as they ‘tune in’ to the new unit. It includes: a review of my classroom expectations (as well as the positive and negative consequences). Some interesting facts about Ned Kelly. Some questions about the front and back cover of the novel Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson. After getting the students to make predictions about the novel, they complete a K-W-L chart about what they already know about Ned Kelly and what they would like to know. Subsequently we go through what the two assessments for the term will be. We then review some important parts of the novel and how they work (contents, a map of Kelly Country and the Introduction). Some info about the language features in the novel is provided as well as a spelling list of 24 words taken from the novel and ACARA’s English glossary. Students will define these for homework throughout the week. Some extra information is included at the end of the PowerPoint if you happen to finish early.
2)** A handout containing the map, contents, intro and spelling words.**
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
The lesson opens with a discussion point about a contested issue - the difference between vandalism/graffiti and ‘street art.’ It provides some information about why people are compelled to graffiti. There is a news viewing activity which sheds light on this topic and features an Australian street artist. This is followed by some note taking tasks (defining vandalism and graffiti). There is some contextual information about the history of graffiti and a Venn Diagram (comparison) activity. This is followed by a series of pictures which students need to classify as either graffiti or street art.
A fun trivia PPT designed for an end of the year activity but which would also be useful if you broke it up and used particular rounds as warm ups or brain breaks throughout a year. There are 20 questions per round (12 rounds in total) - each slide features 10 questions which auto appear upon clicking. Each round has a different focus or theme. There are a couple of picture rounds (famous people, famous landmarks, celebrity singers etc.) Additional round categories include: popular culture, true or false, food and drink, science and the human body, English, Geography, History, General Knowledge, Maths and lastly Animals and Birds. After each round is a slide providing the answers for that round. Questions could also be used in a jeopardy style game.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
The lesson begins with a consideration of the role art plays in society. There is a Bansky quote which encourages discussion about whether these murals would be quite as powerful if they were in a gallery or done by legal means.
There is information about how art conveys messages and a series of slides which name and explain language techniques used by artists with relevant pictures of street art supplied. The techniques are: allusion, rhetorical questions, repetition, pun, metaphor, sarcasm, verbal irony, a call to action and parody. This is followed by a series of pictures where the students need to identify which language feature it utilises.
If time remains, this is followed by a Click View viewing activity about street artists in Melbourne.
The significance of the use of atomic bombs during World War II, The contestability surrounding the use of atomic bombs during World War II, The causes and effects of the use of atomic bombs during World War II. The Beginning of the Nuclear Age, why the atomic bomb was developed, how it was tested, why America decided to use it against Japan, why this decision was contested by some scientists, it looks at the discrimination towards victims of the bombing (and how they came to be known as the hibakusha) and President Truman's justification for what he did.
This PPT includes extracts from a documentary which recreates the bombing of Hiroshima (using reenactments) and explains the science behind the bomb. It includes images of the destruction to buildings, medical side effects (e.g. cataracts, scarring, radiation, birth defects etc.) It also includes drawings made by survivors depicting the black rain, bodies in the water etc.
Three resources for a year 8 history unit.
1) A PowerPoint (with videos) explaining feudalism.
2) A scan from a textbook showing a castle set up
3) a typed excerpt from a textbook explaining feudalism
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.
A PowerPoint designed for a year 9 Theology unit on Social Justice. It introduces students to each of the Catholic Social Teachings (What they are and how they can be upheld). This can be a useful starting point for discussion of students own values or can be used to then encourage students to identify scripture which supports each of these CST's.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons (although with drafting time it may take a few lessons depending on the needs and abilities of students).
This lesson begins with an explanation of what students need to put into their introduction to their multimodal. There is an example that can be read and discussed to see where they are fulfilling criteria 1.1 and 1.2. The next slide contains some sentence starters to get them started. After writing their introduction there are some proofreading and editing steps.
This is followed by an explanation of the purpose of a conclusion in a multimodal and the key things the marker would expect to see. There are also some sentence starters to prompt students. After completing the editing steps which follow, I outline some things students need to work on to be ready to present on time (e.g. palm cards). This is followed by a recommended structure for the PowerPoint.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
This lesson is designed to teach students visual analysis skills required for their assessment. Students have to identify at least two of these for each of the stimulus pieces provided. There are images provided for each of the terms which provide useful discussion starters. The techniques include: body language / facial expressions, framing, the rule of thirds, lines (straight and curved), colour, layout and size. This is followed by a range of images which students can practice analysing. Depending on the amount of time and their needs / abilities this can be done verbally or in written paragraph form. I do, we do, you do’s can also be analysed.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store - lrigb4. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons.
A mini lesson used at the beginning of a computer lesson where students have the opportunity to work on the front section of their Inquiry booklet. For part 1C the students need to fill in a graphic organiser listing three types of art and how they convey a message. The PowerPoint provides some information and examples about some of these: yarn bombing, stencil graffiti, bottle cap art, recycled 2D and 3D art and tape art.
A Unit plan designed for a 10 week term of 11 Modern History. It includes a subject description, a description of the unit, a list of unit objectives (from the syllabus), inquiry questions to guide the unit, the recommended teaching and learning cycle from QCAA, a topic specific learning intentions and success criteria, assessment task details and a list of recommended resources. A Scope and Sequence suggesting topics to be covered throughout the term is also included within the document (as taught by me in 2020).
A handout version of the learning intentions and success criteria for students to glue into their books and refer to throughout the term.
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. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay.
A PowerPoint designed to elaborate on the differences between criminal and civil law. I have underlined key points which the students write down in their notebooks. The main content is a definition of criminal law, some examples of criminal laws (divided into 4 categories – traffic/road laws, property, public order and people.) An explanation of where serious crimes are heard and where less serious crimes are heard and the multiple aims of punishments handed down by the courts. Civil law is then defined along with examples including negligence and defamation. This is followed by a clip from The Weekly which includes an example crime and students must determine whether this is a civil or criminal case. After this students watch a video explaining our legal rights and responsibilities (what we must do if we are questioned by police and what would be a violation of our rights). Students are to take dot point notes for discussion. Afterwards information is provided about Legal Aid (a QLD service which provides free legal advice to people unable to afford legal representation). This is followed by information about what happens when you are charged with an offence and how the Magistrates court operates. Students watch a video about how to behave in court. They also learn about jurors and how they are selected.
Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons. The end of term assessment for this unit was a multimodal presentation.
I pride myself on the quality of the materials I produce, I don’t charge high prices because I don’t agree with paying £10 for a word search. If you need to check before you buy, have a look at some of the free resources in my shop for a sample of the quality and depth.’