This lesson is designed as part of an Australian year 9 English unit. The first assessment for this unit is a persuasive essay. This PowerPoint first explains the assessment and the criteria students will be marked against. Subsequently, it goes through essay genre conventions (defining terms like thesis statement, explaining what should go in an intro, body and conclusion, explaining how texts should be referenced in text and in a bibliography). This PowerPoint also includes example paragraphs from a range of texts which show Australian stereotypes including The Simpsons Australia episode, Crocodile Dundee and men of the open spaces. Handout - planning steps to be completed prior to writing Handout - scaffolding for essay which tells students what they must write for each paragraph.

This worksheet can be used as a one on one tutoring resource. Alternatively, you can take activities from here to use as fast finishers or homework activities. This document introduces students to key terms like fact, opinion and embellishment. It includes sentences and paragraphs and challenges students to identify whether they are subjective/objective. It also provides some information about zoos and asks students to write a subjective and objective paragraph about the topic. The second section explores how verbs, adverbs and well-constructed, extended noun groups can position the reader to form an opinion or judge a person. It gives an example of a famous Australian and shows how by changing a few words you can change the connotation of the text. It includes comprehension questions to check the students understanding. In the third section, a subjective newspaper article about the Vietnam war is included for students to analyse. There are comprehension questions which follow this. The final section introduces students to the concept of tone and gives them a list of different words to describe the tone of a text. Students then look at an advertisement and have to suggest the tone. Subsequently, they read a bias newspaper article and answer questions about this. Finally, there is a writing activity for students which encourages them to write persuasively.

About the PPT: This lesson was designed to teach students about dialogue and how it can be used to reveal the personality of the characters. It begins with a definition of dialogue and an explanation of reported and direct speech. Some examples of each are provided and students need to identify which is which. There is an excerpt from the anthology ‘Growing up Asian’ which students can read as an example of how characterisation is driven through dialogue. There was also information about placing dialogue tags at the beginning, middle and end of a quote for variety. There is an activity sheet for variants to the word said. After checking the answers, there is information about how to punctuate dialogue correctly. Following this the story for today ‘Big World’ was introduced. Some of the terms that students may be unfamiliar with have been defined on the slide. After reading the story, there are some discussion questions which I use with the students. Students then share their responses for the retrieval chart. The lesson ends with a 5 question multi-choice quiz about punctuating dialogue correctly. Other resources: A copy of the Short Story and the retrieval chart 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 - Topic 2: Creating representations of Australian identities, places, events and concepts.” During this unit students learned about Australian social groups. They engaged with a range of short stories representing Australia. Their assessment was to write a short story which explored a gap/silence from one of the texts they studied in class.

A revision sheet for students to use in lessons prior to their exam. It gives them an opportunity to practice the types of questions they will encounter in their exam. For each question there are numbers in brackets which indicate to students which criteria is being assessed in this question. It begins with questions about what the cognitive verbs ‘decide, justify and explain’ mean. This is followed by questions asking studetns to define key terms and provide examples e.g. Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act, cisgender, sexual harrassment etc. Following this, a list of scenarios are provided and students must circle which are examples of gender discrimination. Next students must brainstorm some stereotypes about the following groups which are perpetuated in the media: mothers, single women, fathers and single men. After this they explain the impact of these stereotypes (in a short response question). They view an advertisement (men’s underwear) and answer 3 questions about this. They receive a profile of a person and answer 3 questions about this. These are followed by a question about what it means to be feminine and masculine. After this they read a small case study involving discrimination and have to identify and explain the viewpoints in this scenario. Following this they must answer some short response questions about this scenario. The final question is an extended response where students must engage with a range of visual and written sources and use these as evidence within their response. 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 90 minute short response examination.

This lesson was taught in the phase of the unit where students were prepping for their upcoming essay exam. It begins with a worm up where students had to look at a list of 5 characteristics and consider which characters from the novel Deadly Unna? had them. This was followed by an explanation of citing conventions (how to in text reference). Examples were provided to show how to punctuate direct quotes properly. Then students were shown a table which contained quotes from the novel – they had to turn this into a sentence with appropriate referencing. This was followed by information about how to embed quotes into essay paragraphs – with examples for another text. 2 x poor examples and 2 x good examples are provided for ‘Rabbit Proof Fence.’ This is followed by time for students to plan their response to the practice exam question - Are the male characters in the novel realistic, outdated or stereotypical representations of Australian men? Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them. Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.

A PowerPoint which provides an image and summary for the following characters from Deadly Unna? (pictures taken from the film Aussie Rules). Bob Black aka The Old Man Gwen Black (Blacky’s mum) Gary Black Dumby Red Pickles Coach Robertson aka Arks Tim Black aka Best Team-Man Darcy I printed these up and used them as posters in the classroom.

2 practice exams (with scaffolding prompts). Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them. Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.

Two resources: A unit plan which includes: a unit description, key questions for the unit, a breakdown of the learning intentions & success criteria, some planning resources, key details about the assessment, scaffolding notes for the assessment {cognitive verbs, a structure, evaluative language, other expected language features}. A list of the themes in the novel. Questions for a self/peer review (student reflection). Reflection questions to be used at the end of the unit (teacher reflection prompts). A Scope and Sequence which outlines how I taught the unit. (My school has 4 x 70 minute lessons a week). Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them. Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.

A document with over 300 trivia questions (and answers) useful for class competitions, homeroom, school fundraisers etc. Questions include those about Australia, other nations, celebrities, popular culture texts, inventors and scientific discoveries, historical events, true or false etc

A unit designed in an Australian Catholic school which could be easily modified for other contexts. The unit entitled 'Walking in Christ's Footsteps' poses two big questions to students - Do people in my community walk in Christ’s footsteps? Why should I walk in Jesus Christ’s footsteps? It then outlines the learning activities which will occur. The unit has been designed to follow the TELSTAR method of inquiry and has drawn on a range of recommended Inquiry Based Learning pedagogy. It has been designed to be as interactive as possible. Within the unit students will explores how Jesus lived on Earth and the examples he left for us. They will learn how lay people from various Christian churches within their local community walk in Christ’s footsteps (aka live their Christian vocation. They will discover why we have the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation and the eucharist.) They will see how Christians serve Christ through worship and prayer but also through charity (living his mission by serving other people and speaking out against social injustices.) Their final assessment is to interview lay people from a range of churches in their local area and write a report to demonstrate their findings.

During this module students investigate their personality type and explore how people manage conflict. They apply conflict management strategies to real life contexts and make decisions about what strategies are most effective. This is a work booklet pack which was designed for use during the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic. It would also be useful for students who are absent for medical / personal reasons. The content within this resource could be adapted into PowerPoints or worksheets for use in the classroom. This work pack contains three lessons worth of content. Lesson 1 - This lesson has a pre-test for students to fill in - it is supposed to show what students know prior to completing the research task for their assessment. Lesson 2 - This lesson contains tips which students can use to research key terms they need for their report. The tips include ‘skimming and scanning,’ the Big 6 steps for researching & how to do a BOOLEAN search. It also includes information about aggressive, passive and assertive communicators. Reasons why people may opt for each communication style are outlined as well as the pro’s and con’s of each style. Tips for how to be more assertive are shared along with an example assertive conversation (transcript). Following this are tips for how to respond to criticism (using ‘clouding’ or ‘probing). Lesson 3 - students have time to research their key terms for their report. They complete section 1A of their booklet (including a bibliography). 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.

Social & Community Studies focuses on personal development and social skills that lead to self-reliance, self-management and concern for others. In studying Social & Community Studies, students will learn about: personal skills, interpersonal skills and citizenship skills. This resource is a powerpoint for teaching students about conflict and various conflict resolution strategies. It should take 2 lessons. It begins with a warm up activity which encourages students to reflect on what matters to them. This is followed by an activity where students must describe 3 characters (which helps build their vocabulary for describing character traits). Arguments are defined and common causes of conflict are listed. Three discussion questions are posed. Three levels of arguments are outlined. There is a graphic organiser which students will use to fill in their observations of arguments from the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond. There are post-viewing questions for students to discuss. To consolidate their learning students complete a Y chart about what conflict looks like, feels like and sounds like. Afterwards the lesson zooms to focus on conflict in the workplace. 5 common strategies for dealing with conflict are explored (some are better than others). Students should consider the pros and cons of each strategy and which personality types might gravitate to which strategy. The lesson concludes with a research activity.

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.

A Unit plan designed for a 10 week term. It includes syllabus objectives, a description of the unit, a marking breakdown which explains what the teacher would expect to see for each assessment criteria, assessment task details and a list of recommended resources. It also includes explanations of some recommended pedagogical strategies (for group work etc.) A Scope and Sequence suggesting topics to be covered throughout the term is provided. 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.

During this module students investigate their personality type and explore how people manage conflict. They apply conflict management strategies to real life contexts and make decisions about what strategies are most effective. This is a work booklet pack which was designed for use during the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic. It would also be useful for students who are absent for medical / personal reasons. The content within this resource could be adapted into PowerPoints or worksheets for use in the classroom. This work pack contains three lessons worth of content. Lesson 1 - Arguments are defined and common causes of conflict are listed. Three discussion questions are posed. Three levels of arguments are outlined. Assertive communication is explained (including examples). There is a ‘how assertive are you?’ quiz for students to complete. A list of assertion techniques are explained and examples are provided. This is followed by a classification activity - where students read examples and label them. Conflict resolution is defined along with a series of conflict resolution strategies. Lesson 2 - focusing on conflicts in our personal lives. In particular looking at conflicts with our friends as these are a natural part of growing up. Students read tips for keeping their friendships strong. Interpersonal skills such as active listening are explained. Advice for what to do if you don’t know how to reply to something a friend discloses to you. Some ‘blocks’ to really listening are described. Looking at when it is a good idea to give people space and if it is ever ok to lie to friends. How to let people in without feeling humiliated. After engaging with these materials, a range of scenarios are presented to students. Students then complete activities in a graphic organiser which help them to a) analyse the conflict / problem & b) recommend a solution. Lesson 3- focuses on conflict in the workplace. It includes advice about what to do if you experience conflict with your boss / manager. It includes information about why people (like customers) become challenging. There is information about what upset people want and a three prong strategy for dealing with difficult people. Tips for handling customer complaints are outlined. A series of comprehension questions follow this material. 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.

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 is a PowerPoint designed to assist students to complete the Inquiry Booklet Section 5 (strategies which students can recommend for conflict resolution). It begins by looking at ‘forgiveness’ and the pros and cons of this strategy. It talks about the benefits of letting go of a grudge. It also talks about the concept of forgiving yourself. Following this students need to pick 4 conflict resolution strategies which could be applied to the scenario argument between person A and B they have been provided. There is a graphic organiser for students to fill in. (There are 2 teacher examples to help them. Afterwards, there is a checklist for students to use to help them to write their ‘recommend and justify’ section of the report. This is followed by a teacher example for a different conflict (Everybody Loves Raymond) and a student example for the ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ conflict scenario which can be evaluated (pros and cons) and checked against the ‘I can’ statements for criteria 2.3. A word document of sentence starters to assist students to write the recommend and justify paragraph Three completed report exemplars for the 2 conflict scenarios given to the students. These all did quite well (High B’s to A’s).

A final lesson for use before the practice exam. The focus is on inclusivity and the importance of stopping discrimination and harrassment in our communities. It begins with a warm up (completing a cloze passage about Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act). This is followed by a review of this act and the additions that were made in 2013 making it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status under federal law. Students have to read an article(LGBT-inclusive education: To teach or not to teach?) and fill in a graphic organiser identifying the different viewpoints within the article. This is followed with a discussion about what is being taught in the Australian curriculum (in particular in terms of the sexual education curriculum). A question is posed: ‘What does LGBTQi±inclusive sexuality education look like?’ Answers from the United Nation are discussed. This is followed by a practice exam-style question. Students have to read the sources and identify the viewpoints within them about inclusive education. They use these to write a TEEL paragraph summarising the key points made in these sources which answers the question: “Why is inclusivity important? Explain what experts recommend should be done to make Australian schools more inclusive of LGBTQIA+ students.” The sources are provided on the subsequent slides. At the end of this lesson, students should be able to: define sex discrimination and provide an example, explain how the Sex Discriminatino Act applies to workplaces and education institutions and list some steps a person can take if they think they are experiencing discrimination.

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.

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)

This is a great resource for high school teachers which can be used as a fun activity for the ends of lessons, in homerooms for National Science Week or for transition / induction days. It includes a combination of multiple-choice questions, true/false questions and fact-based questions. This quiz contains questions about the branches of science, famous scientists & their inventions, modern technology, the periodic table, animals, biology, phobias, representations of science in popular culture and much much more. In the past I have run this like around-the-world or pac man https://reliefteachingideas.com/2013/07/28/pac-man/