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.
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)
Item 1: Key points from each chapter plus quotes related to moral dilemmas. This is a useful resource for teachers to save you from re reading the novel each year.
Item 2: A booklet to give students as they work through the novel. It includes key questions, some artistic activities (e.g. drawing a map from what they have read, creating a comic strip summary of a key chapter etc). Activities can be assigned for homework or completed in class.
Item 3: A word document containing quotes showcasing moral dilemmas from the novel. Can be used as a poster in the classroom.
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.
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.
As part of a year 9 English unit investigating means to be Australian, this PowerPoint looks at one of the earliest stereotypes about Australians: that of the rugged bushman. It focuses on the bushman stereotype and poems written by Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson.
This PowerPoint was designed to teach students how to:
Evaluate the use of stereotypes in the texts
explain how the poet’s use of language helps to create meaning in the poem and positions readers in a certain way.
Explain what is accurate and what may be inaccurate about the Aussie bushman stereotype
This lesson explains the origins of this bush myth and why it was adopted by Australians. It introduces students to poetic ballads including the Man from Snowy River (which they watch a youtube clip of and must then respond to a series of questions). It also includes a summary of challenges often depicted in these poems. Subsequently, students read a Henry Lawson Poem (Ballad of the Drover) to compare the writing styles of Lawson and Patterson. Poems are included in this resource (as a handout).
This PPT also explains the link between bushmen and diggers, lists recent films which continue this stereotype etc.
PowerPoint: Watching an Australian music video to identify the various Australian identities and pastimes it features (to discuss whether these are accurate or stereotypical). Watching an excerpt of a sketch comedy program called ‘Big Girl’s Blouse’ (1994) where Kath and Kim originated. The youtube link to the sketch ''Kim's Wedding'' is included. Post-viewing questions and answers are included.
Two PowerPoints for a 10 English class.
defines satire, introduces key terms that students need to know including hyperbole, irony and parody. Introduces Daria as an example satirical text.An example clip and viewing questions.
Defining mockumentaries. How mockumentaries use satirical elements to reflect human experience. View excerpts an example mockumentary (Summer Heights High). 3 clips and responding questions.
3 resources
1) A worksheet which explains the QAR strategy. It then includes a passage (excerpt) from The Time Machine followed by a series of QAR questions.
2) some posters suitable for a year 6-9 English classroom (explaining the QAR terms)
3) a PDF explaining the QAR process for teachers.
PowerPoint. Learning about William Blake and British Colonial Expansion. They will learn about a fundamental ideology of the period: The divine right of kings. Students will read ‘A War Song to Englishmen’ which is accompanied by my annotations (which they may copy into their poetry booklets if they wish). Discuss how everything he wrote was infused with religious meaning so you will see that this poem operates on two levels. We will then compare this to another First World War poem written by American poet Robert Frost. After reading the poem, students will research Frost to gain further context. Afterwards they will highlight the poetic devices used in ‘Not to Keep.’
Venn Diagram for comparing the two poems
a table used for analysing the poems to prepare students for their exam (these will become their revision tools)
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).
Two resources from a grade 9 English unit
A list of unit specific spelling words - 24 words for each week.
PowerPoint - Looking at a few different film clips (and lyrics) in order to see how identity is portrayed in music. After each clip is responding questions. Songs include My Island Home, Land Down Under, I Am Australian and Born To Survive.
Some key points from each chapter. Some questions to check for understanding (multiple choice). An example paragraph about the moral dilemma in Chapter 7.
1) An image of the STEP UP acronym (used for analysing poems)
2) A booklet of poems from the Industrial Revolution which could be used in English or History (source analysis).
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).
A PowerPoint analysing the poem 'Men of the open spaces' with four questions that students have to write paragraphs responding to. There are example answers included. This is followed by the words for The Man From Ironbark and Waltzing Matilda and other post-reading questions.
Teaching about 'parts of speech' and how action words vary depending on what tense you are using. This includes creative writing activities based on visual stimuli. It also includes scanned sections from worksheets with activities for students to work through independently or as a class depending on their level.
Perfect for NAPLAN preparation. This resource explains what is assessed in year 9 NAPLAN tests (Australia's national testing). It includes various stimulus examples and planning steps.
Document 1: A table scaffolding for students how to write an effective introduction, two body paragraphs analyzing, one comparative body paragraph and a conclusion. It also includes how to reference a print advertisement.
This scaffold was created for the following task but can be adapted for other advertisement analysis tasks.
GENRE: Expository Multi-modal Oral
ROLE/RELATIONSHIP: This is an individual task where each student will prepare and present a speech and PowerPoint to an audience of their peers.
PURPOSE: To understand how advertisers use specific techniques in order to influence and shape consumer attitudes and behaviour.
TASK: Compare and contrast the following print advertisement to a visual print advertising campaign of your choice. (An advertising campaign can be a single advertisement). Using your knowledge of AIDA, you will analyse and evaluate the various techniques used in both advertisements and draw conclusions about how the advertisers have attempted to persuade and appeal to their demographic/target audience.
• Write a 500 word speech that compares and contrasts the advertising techniques used in the different advertisements. You must draw conclusions and provide both opinions and reasons as to why each advertisement succeeds or fails in motivating the target audience.
• Create a PowerPoint presentation that discusses your findings.
• Present your PowerPoint and explain your findings to the class.
LENGTH: Use a minimum of 6 slides and 500 words, and a maximum of 10 slides and 650 words.
Document 2: Key terms including definitions of the AIDA method of analysing advertisements.
Two assessment tasks written for a Macbeth Unit and the unit plan showing the lesson outlines for an 8 week unit.
This English unit has been developed for a year twelve class (in Australia) studying William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. The focus for this eight week unit has been taken from the Queensland Studies Authorities suggested work program “The human condition – Shakespeare.” Within this unit, the student’s engagement with Macbeth will emphasise “the aspects of the human condition evident in the play through the representations of central characters and their relationships and motivations.” As part of this focus, “students will consider such aspects as the impact or role of power, fear and violence in the play and their relevance to contemporary times.”
Included are two summative assessment pieces – a spoken ‘persuasive text’ (summation speech) and a written ‘reflective text’ (feature article) and marking rubrics.
A powerpoint. This lesson was used in a year 12 Authority English unit on war poetry (to give students context to the war prior to reading poems from this period) however, it is basically a history lesson. It includes information about the cause of the Vietnam and war what led America to become involved in what was initially a civil war (in Vietnam). It includes who was involved in the conflict, how the tropical conditions and nature of guerilla warfare impacted the US troops, the weapons used and the impact of the war on Vietnamese civilians. It includes famous images from this period, clips from films including Forrest Gump, Good Morning Vietnam and Love and Honor. It shows why people became disillusioned with the war, discusses how conscription worked, reasons why that war is unique and what happened in the aftermath of the war.
A handout which contains the homework questions