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 lesson (PowerPoint) was designed to have a short explicit teaching episode at the start followed by for students to develop key inquiry question. This lesson was a review of the key skills required for writing a question for their research essay. It begins with a summary of the assessment task. This is followed by looking at an example key question from QCAA for a different topic (The Cold War). Beneath this is some annotations from QCAA explaining how this addresses the ‘Devising and Conducting’ portion of the criteria. There is some advice about writing a key inquiry question and a graphic organiser showing how you could dot point ideas before narrowing this into a question (examples about the American Civil Rights Movement). There are also example questions written to demonstrate / centre on each of the 7 historical concepts. This is followed by an example key question for our topic (Vietnamese Independence Movement). Students must identify whether it is an open or closed question. They are provided with some information about each question type to help them make this decision. Three more questions (of varying degrees of suitability) are provided for students to evaluate against the criteria. Afterwards students have time to write their first draft of their key question (due the following week for feedback). If time permits, there is feedback about the Tet offensive and the famous photograph entitled ‘Saigon Execution’ which they were to research for their homework task.
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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. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay.**
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
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.
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.
This resource will last multiple lessons. It begins with an introduction to the setting of Macbeth, the globe playhouse, the characters. It then goes through Act one of the play (summaries plus key quotes). It includes a fun video from Thug Notes which summarises the play. It also has a modernised script for Act 1 Scene 3.
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)
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)
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. 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)
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.
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.
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.
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
1x synthesis poster that I made on the Canva website
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 some advice about evaluating taken from the QCAA’s 2021 Modern History subject report. This is followed by a warm up where students are shown 5 example exam questions and they have to explain what they believe the question is asking them to do. This is followed by viewing a visual source and students have to suggest what the explicit and implicit meanings are. This is followed by another visual source where they have to suggest the intended reading and the ideologies showcased by the source. 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 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 lesson designed for 12 Authority (now 12 General) English in Australia.
It includes:
Chapter summaries
Key Quotes
Questions to check for understanding
One video excerpt from Patrick Stewart Macbeth Film
I have also attached an updated PPT which includes more group work activities to build discussion and knowledge of text in preparation for External Exam (unknown question)
Several word documents which are useful for teaching about The Avengers
Song lyrics for ‘Everybody Knows’
Notes I took while watching the film
A table I made containing quotes from key characters in the film which students can come back to when writing their review for evidence of character VABs.
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.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to develop student assessment literacy. It begins with an explanation of the criteria broken down into “I can” statements which students will understand. It then offers students two potential structures for the review (depending on whether they have the ability to synthesise or not). In this lesson I used a film that students are not doing for their assessment to co-construct a response. The subsequent slides take students through my thinking process (selecting a hero and villain to discuss). Then I show a structure for body 1 broken down into dot points. I then showed them how I would write an extended TEEL paragraph about Aquaman. Students then had to repeat this process to write body 2 (about the villain). Afterwards, we went through an example I had written. We then looked at what needed to happen in body 3 and a potential structure, before reading an example I prepared.
About the word documents:
Sentence Starters and an example response (written about Aqua man)
I Can statements which explain the criteria in student specific terms
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.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to be used after students have viewed the film Batman Forever. It begins with an explanation of Two Face and his back story. There are images of his costume which students can describe in the Language Features portion of the retrieval chart. There are slides going through colours and their meanings – maroon, yellow and black. Some information about his props is provided. Students can mention any others that they have noticed. A quote from the news reporter from the orientation of the film is included. Students are asked to volunteer what attitudes they noticed. Some key scenes from the film are summarised to generate opportunities for students to identify his Values, Beliefs and Cultural Assumptions. These scenes include – his escape from Arkham Asylum, Murdering the Flying Graysons, Forming an alliance with the Riddler & Gate crashing Nygma’s event. A similar structure is followed for Batman and The Riddler.
About the Word Document: A table I made containing quotes from key characters in the film which students can come back to when writing their review for evidence of character VABs.
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.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: The PPT begins by explaining what film reviews are and their common features. Following this students watch the trailer for season one of Wednesday (the TV series on Netflix). This is followed by some questions to prompt discussion. Students then read a review and use a highlighter to note the various language features used by the reviewer. Afterwards students are introduced to the second film they will be viewing. They watch the trailer for The Incredibles and some quick facts are shown. They add the director details and others to the retrieval chart. There is a brief synopsis of the plot and some inspiration about what inspired the characters. Following this students are given a quote sheet which they can look at and complete an activity talking about what the characters words say about them (i.e. their personality, beliefs, values).
About the Word Documents:
A copy of a review written about the Wednesday TV series.
A handout which contains some key quotes from the characters from The Incredibles for an activity explained in the PPT slide.
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.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.
About the PPT: A PPT designed to be used after students have viewed The Incredibles. It begins with an exploration of Mr Incredible and his two costumes. Students are to discuss what VABs they noticed in the film. I have provided some answer slides with possible options. This process continues with Elastigirl and Syndrome. Some information about supporting characters including Violet and Dash are also provided.
About the word documents:
A table I made containing quotes from key characters in the film which students can come back to when writing their review for evidence of character VABs.
A teacher version of the report card.
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.” During this unit students learned about Hero and Villain films and how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to portray them and create an intended message. Their assessment at the end of this unit was to write a 4-6 minute multimodal (speech) to be delivered live or pre-recorded reviewing one of the three films shown within the unit.