Unit plan designed for a 10-week term of 12 Essential English. It includes a subject description, a description of the unit, a list of unit objectives (from the syllabus), my planned teaching and learning cycle, the unit 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 (as taught by me in 2023). The learning resources (PPTs, worksheets etc.) for the unit are also available in My Store.

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. This PowerPoint introduced students to the unit and what the term ‘social issue’ means. Students had to brainstorm some issues and then these were sorted into local, national and international categories. Information was provided about the United Nations as the task for this year was that students would be delivering their speech at a UN youth conference in Brisbane. Following this, students were introduced to their first issue for the term: fast fashion. There was a viewing activity from the ABC. There were underlined notes for students to copy. Information was provided about how to spot a fast fashion brand. Some things to watch out for when purchasing clothes were also provided. There was an opinion piece (text) about fast fashion for students to read and take note of the language features used to position the reader. Finally, some information about fast fashion’s impact on the planet (pollution, water consumption, synthetic microfibres, carbon emissions) is included (via infographics, images and research from websites).

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 lesson plan – designed for a supervision teacher. A worksheet of viewing questions for while watching the documentary. Lines are provided for students to write their notes on. Tip: If you have a small printing budget, worksheet can be copied and pasted into Class Note book and distributed to students that way.

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 begins with a cool down viewing activity – an emotive video from Green Peace which showcases the impacts on Orangutan’s. This is followed by some underlined notes for student to copy (a definition of palm oil). There are some pictures to aid visual learners. A brief history of the uses of palm oil through time is provided as well as information about the two types of palm oil (crude oil and kernel oil). The links to deforestation are then explained and images of endangered species are provided. Some other causes of deforestation are shown as well as information about air pollution and soil erosion. There are some short videos from Better Homes and Gardens from when Dr Harry visited organisations which assist with Orangutan conservation. There is also a short video from Behind the News (an Aussie kids TV program). Afterwards students need to read an article called “How the world got hooked on palm oil” and identify & label the persuasive language features within it. Afterwards, some information about suggested solutions are provided along with an explanation of why boycotting palm oil is not the answer. This is followed by a writing activity where students must write a body paragraph about the issue. There are some suggestions of what to include on the slide and some sentence starters. There is also a sample answer paragraph that I wrote to go through with students after they share their answers.

A PowerPoint taking 12 Essential English students through another exemplar persuasive speech. The lesson begins with a settling activity – there is a jumbled-up list of persuasive techniques, definitions and examples. Students have to match them up correctly. There is a placemat which shows the skill ‘arguing/persuading’ and contains some suggested conjunctions and sentence starters. The parts of the speech and “I can” statements are reviewed. Then students go through a persuasive speech about climate change and consider how it was structured, the language features used and the suggestions made. This is followed by information about the good and bad parts of this exemplar and what they could have improved.

A QCIA cover sheet recommending adjustments to be made and individual learning goals to be assessed A modified task sheet for students on a modified program (called QCIA students in QLD) A modified planning booklet for QCIA students. Many of them chose to make a poster about animal abuse rather than a PPT. A modified writing booklet for QCIA students.

A copy of the PowerPoint I used to go through the task requirements with the students (10 English, Australia). Students had to write a feature article which focused on the moral/ethical dilemmas in the text. A feature article checklist which was attached to the task sheet so provide feedback to students on missing elements (in response to their drafts) Two exemplar feature articles which can be used in handout lessons or when teaching the feature article genre. A planning document to assist students to draft their own feature article.

The PowerPoint which guides the lesson. There is a viewing activity from ABC iView about Juvenile detention and some research which I found online. At the end of this PPT are some slides taking students through our school’s oral assessment policy and rules for submitting pre-recorded speeches. A handout which contains two settling activities to use at the beginning of the lesson. Firstly, there is a jumbled-up paragraph about recycling. Students need to read this and number 1-6 the correct order. Secondly, there is a persuasive text about climate change. Students need to identify and label the persuasive language features in this stimulus text. A homework task [retrieval chart] where students are to research juvenile detention (in Australia). A lesson plan – designed for a supervision teacher.

A resource designed for use with Year 12 Essential English students (Australian curriculum). Students are preparing to sit a response to stimulus exam with one seen source and one unseen source (1 x written and 1 x visual). The document includes a list of language features and text structures commonly found in written stimulus texts (along with definitions and examples). How I used this in my teaching: I printed a class set of the LF on one colour and the TS on another colour and had them laminated. I hand them out in each lesson when students are analysing texts. I also printed one set in A3 and put them up as posters in the classroom.

A PowerPoint which lists each of the characters in the play alongside key points about them (with images from the Baz Luhrmann movie). Activities to check for student understanding (including filling in a character tree.) This is followed by an explanation of key themes in the play (fate, love, hate, authority, time/timing). It concludes with an exploration of The Prologue which opens the play (Act 1). An updated version of this PowerPoint which removed the key themes which has been replaced with information about the life and times of Shakespeare. (It also includes classroom rules as it was used at the beginning of a new term). 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).

A lesson designed for use over 2 x 70 minute lessons of Essential English (Australian curriculum). Students are preparing to sit a response to stimulus exam with one seen source and one unseen source (1 x written and 1 x visual). The focus for the year was Science, Space and Technology – so this source may also be of use to teachers from other countries teaching about these topics. This lesson focused on texts about space exploration – a transcript of John F Kennedy’s “Why go to the moon?” speech & a contemporary article about billionaires exploring space Included in this resource is 1 x Worksheet for students (containing the 2 sources and some scaffolding) 1 x annotated worksheet (teacher answers) 1 x PPT used to sequence the lesson The content of the lesson was around teaching students how to analyse stimulus text and locate: Language Features Text Structures Values, Attitudes, Beliefs or Cultural Assumptions Representations

A task sheet for a year 10 English assessment (Australian curriculum). Also provided is the planning and writing steps in a scaffolding document. The scaffolding is invaluable as it helps students to plan to address the key criteria prior to writing the task. In particular they evaluate how text structures and language features can be used to influence audience response.

Resources designed for the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in The Scramble for Africa. Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. This lesson was delivered as a 2 hour block during the term 4 exam block to introduce the unit for the following year and to allow year 10s and 11s who would be studying the subject together to meet each other. This resource includes: 1 x PowerPoint 1 x Worksheet (designed to step students through the lesson. It includes copies of the sources on the PPT slide and questions for them to answer.) 1 x Match the definitions activity (10 terms) + a glossary of other useful terms for the unit The lesson includes: • An assessment overview for the two-year program • An overview of the 6 cognitions assessed in this subject (analyse, evaluate, synthesise, devise etc.) • A couple of rounds of trivia (to see what students know) • An overview of the Term 1 assessment (IA1) • A brief history of colonialism • Introduction to important terms – ideology, nationalism, expansionism, imperialism • A viewing activity (with viewing questions for students to listen out for) • A map showing European colonial claims in 1900 • Justifications for imperialism – survival of the fittest, social Darwinism, pseudoscientific theories like phrenology, the white man’s burden, political motives, economic motives, religious motives, personal motives, • Introducing an acronym for analysing and evaluating sources: CAMPORUM • Students are given two primary sources (soap advertisements) which they are to unpack. They must then write a TEEL paragraph discussing the ideologies evident in the sources. (This is used as a diagnostic activity. I collect them and mark them.).

Resources designed for the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in The Scramble for Africa. Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. This lesson was delivered as a 2 hour block during the term 4 exam block to introduce the unit for the following year and to allow year 10s and 11s who would be studying the subject together to meet each other. This resource includes: 1 x PowerPoint 1 x worksheet A collection of political cartoons from 2022 for students to analyse in a group work task The PPT structures the lesson which is more skills based than the previous lesson. it begins by defining ‘sources’ and explaining the difference between primary and secondary sources. This is followed by some things students should keep in mind when evaluating sources. 2 rounds of trivia 20 Q’s per round (as a bonding activity). Round 1 2022 Events. Round 2 – Modern History. There are some revision questions about terms like ideologies, paternalism, hegemonic. Then the lesson turns to the major skill for the day: how to analyse and evaluate visual sources. A list of common visual sources is provided along with why each of those types can be useful to historians. There is a viewing activity so that students can Learn about how photographers can influence their viewers by how they frame the subjects in their photographs. There are some photos from the Scramble for Africa that students can discuss. From here, we turned our attention to political cartoons. Students learned about common techniques used in political cartoons. They were taught the PICTURE acronym to help them unpack visual sources. I included images of common symbols used in the sources we will encounter e.g. Uncle Sam, Marianne, Britannia, the Statue of Liberty, Bear (Russia), Bald Eagle (USA), Lion (England), chains (oppression) etc. information was also provided about other techniques which they use including analogy, caricature, exaggeration, irony, juxtaposition, idioms. Students then view a 3 minute video about the power of political cartoons (and answer 4 questions). They have a go at unpacking some political cartoons from the Age of Imperialism. To conclude the lesson each group is given 2 contemporary political cartoons. They create posters where they annotate the features – techniques, people, events – before sharing their results with the group.

Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. The lesson begins with some teaching that both grades can do together before the year 12s are assigned some independent work and the year 11s are given some more focused teaching. Then the year 11’s do independent work while the year 12s share their answers and receive feedback. This lesson includes: 1 x PowerPoint 1 x Source Booklet – containing 8 sources (a mixture of types) for analysis 1 x Handout containing a graphic organiser for analysing sources 1 x Handout explaining CAMPORUM acronym with tips for what to look for when analysing sources The lesson begins with a discussion where students need to recall the 7 features of evidence we look for when analysing sources. This is followed by a definition of ‘analyse’ and a 9 step process for analysing. The C.A.M.P.O.R.U.M acronym is included which hits both the analysing and evaluating criteria. Students are shown the A standard criteria for analysing and they are unpacked. The year 12 students then begin independently analysing sources in the source booklet and filling in the handout (CAMPORUM tables). The year 11’s then receive focused teaching about the difference between primary and secondary sources, things to keep in mind when discussing the source origins in a written analysis, how the origins of the source may impact its reliability and tips for evaluating the reliability of different source types. There is some information about historical context and why it is crucial to understand the creator’s motive when engaging with a source. This is followed by an explanation of what the sources will look like in the exam (i.e. a context statement, an excerpt from a source and an APA reference). Following this, the gradual release method is used to engage with the first few sources in the booklet. (I have done the first one on the slides to show how to complete the table, we do the second one together, they do the third one in pairs and they do the fourth one independently). The sources in the booklet were chosen to deliver content at the same time as teaching the analysis skill. The types of sources in the booklet: Information about Leopold II – King of Belgium, Information about the Belgian Congo, A photograph capturing the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State, An alternative viewpoint (Edward Morel), An online news article from 2020, a political cartoon depicting Leopold II at the Berlin Conference of 1884, an opinion piece published in 2021 & an extract from a history textbook. Resources designed for the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in The Scramble for Africa.

A PowerPoint used to teach a combined class of 11 and 12 Modern History students. It begins with information about significance (one of the historical concepts). The N.A.M.E acronym for determining whether something is significant is explained. Then the Learning Intention and Success Criteria for the lesson are unpacked. The core part of the lesson begins with information about why we reference and what this might look like in an exam vs an assignment. There is a slide explaining how to in text reference (with examples). This is followed by slides about paragraph writing. Students are presented with two acronyms which they can use – extended TEEL and the TEEASC structure from the History Skills website. There is an example paragraph from an essay about the Cold War written by a student. This is followed by information about how to unpack an exam question and what is required of a ‘to what extent’ response. There is also information about how to do a quick plan before writing an essay / paragraph. For the remainder of the lesson students have 3 questions to respond to in paragraph form (about Leopold II and imperialism in the Congo). Resources designed for the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in The Scramble for Africa.

This lesson includes: 1 x list of source types for warm up evaluation activity (can be laminated with a magnet on the back for sorting activity) 1 x PowerPoint 1 x Source Booklet 1 x Independent Work Booklet with various activities designed to help students practice the evaluation skill Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. The lesson begins with some teaching that both grades can do together before the year 12s are assigned some independent work and the year 11s are given some more focused teaching. Then the year 11’s do independent work while the year 12s share their answers and receive feedback. The lesson begins with a warm up activity where students have to place types of sources on a grid in terms of how reliable and useful they typically are. Next students have to brainstorm some synonyms and antonyms for ‘reliable’ and ‘useful.’ Following this, year 12s are given a booklet which has evaluation activities (starting at simple activities and building up to those styled like the short response questions in the Term 4 exam). They begin completing these while the year 11’s get a more teacher centred lesson. In this portion of the lesson we begin with defining ‘evaluate’ before zooming in on the evaluation criteria we use in modern history – reliability and usefulness. There is information about what reliability is and that there are levels of reliability. There are tips for how to write a judgement of reliability and some things to look for when determining reliability. There is a list of reasons why a source may be deemed unreliable. There is an example reliability statement which has been colour coded to show how the writer has included various features of evidence in their evaluation. Following this, the gradual release method is used to engage with the first few sources in the booklet. (I explain the first activity, we engage with Source 1 and then complete the question together – with me modelling my thinking process via think alouds. Students then do Source 2 as a pair and Source 3 on their own). This is followed by explicit teaching on how to determine the usefulness of a source. There is also information about the importance of corroboration (including a video from the History Skills website). This is followed by some sentence starters which can be used when corroborating. This is followed by completing activities from the booklet (first as a we do, then students do one in a pair, then they do one on their own). Following this, the year 11’s continue doing the booklet independently while I go through the answers with the year 12s. Types of sources: a novel, a Wikipedia article, an Encyclopedia Britannica article, a pamphlet written by Mark Twain (from the perspective of King Leopold), a book written by Arthur Conan Doyle about the Congo, a textbook, a range of political cartoons (4), and a book entitled The Fortunes of Africa.

Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). This lesson includes: 1 x PowerPoint 1 x Booklet containing sources and activities which help students to practice synthesising and forming historical arguments based on information from sources Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. The sequence of this lesson: This lesson followed on from a lesson about evaluating sources. It begins with a match the definitions activity to see what students remember. This is followed by a warm up where students are shown 6 example exam questions and they have to explain what they believe the question is asking them to do. Following this, the learning intentions and success criteria are unpacked before turning our attention to the core skill for the lesson: synthesis. It begins by defining this term and looking at some words which may appear in a question which would hint that you are being asked to synthesise. This is followed by a 6 step process that students can use when synthesising. This is followed by an example student response to IA1 (essay under exam conditions) taken from the QCAA’s 2021 Modern History Subject Report. After reading this exemplar the class discusses the merits of this work. Following this, the year 12s begin working through the synthesising work booklet (about The Boer War) while I take the year 11’s through some more explicit teaching. It begins with what questions to ask yourself when interrogating sources. This is followed by tips of how to introduce the authors of sources (as this helps the reader know how credible the points are). There are tips for how to talk about two sources simultaneously. We then unpack how synthesising is assessed in the QLD Modern History criteria (guide to making judgements). The importance of creating a sophisticated historical argument is emphasised. This is followed by an example historical argument for a different topic. This is followed by instruction on how to create a purposeful topic sentence for each body paragraph. Next information about what should be featured in supporting sentences and the final linking sentence is provided. Then year 11’s begin working on the independent work booklet while I go through the answers with the year 12s. Students complete any unfinished portions of the booklet for homework.

A resource taken from an Australian 10 English Unit entitled 'Contemporary literature.' In this unit students compare and contrast the social, moral and ethical themes in a range of contemporary literature texts, including films and the close study of a novel. Students evaluate how text structures, language and visual features can be used to influence audience response. This PowerPoint provides a dot point summary of these chapters and is followed by chapter questions which could have been set for homework or could be used within the lesson to check for student understanding. I have added one YouTube clip showing a relevant scene but you could add more if your learners prefer the broadcast strategy.

Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for Humanities students in other states and countries with an interest in colonialism and Australia’s Frontier Wars (1788-1930s). This PowerPoint teaches a communication skill that students need to know and be able to do for their exam (synthesising). It features a video explaining the concept and a visual chart for how to synthesise. This is followed by some key questions you may ask when interrogating sources, tips for how to introduce (cite) the authors of sources in their paragraphs and tips for talking about two authors simultaneously. Screen shots are used to show how synthesising is assessed in the new Modern History GTMJ. This is deconstructed and key ideas including ‘historical argument’ are explained. This is followed by slides which feature an example historical argument as well as tips for writing topic, supporting and linking sentences. Afterwards we review the synthesizing question from the practice exam looking at the information that was pulled from the 3 sources and how the author used this to write their response. This is followed by exploring sources about the Kalkadoon people of North West Queensland. Students will wrie a paragraph synthesising evidence from Sources A, B, C & D to form a historical argument about whether the Kalkadoons were justified in waging war against the pastoralists. To be successful students must be able to do the following at the end of this lesson: Define synthesise and explain how this differs from summarising and analysing List some questions you may ask when interrogating sources. Write a paragraph synthesising things they have learned from a range of sources about The Kalkadoons. 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 wordsearch. 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.