Extracts from the Hobbit used to exemplify the different parts of a short story structure. Some clips from the film used as well. Additional examples from the set text for this year 12 unit (An Autobiography called Slave by Mende Nazer).

Includes 6 weeks worth of homework activities including chapter questions, a vocabulary list (and activities) and tips for creative writing. It steps students through an assessment task which requires students to write a short story (a transformation of a section of the novel and a preface justifying their creative decisions). Specific task details are below. Mode/Medium: Imaginative Written short story (fiction). Subject Matter: Throughout time short stories have captured the imaginations of both readers and listeners. A good short story will capture the interest of its audience and hold it to the end. Purpose: To entertain and demonstrate your knowledge of the short story genre. Task: For this task you have a choice: 1. Write an imaginative short story that creates a character or “gives voice” to a silenced or marginalised character in the novel that you have studied in class. 2. Place the character into the novel which you have studied in class. This can be at the beginning, the middle or end of a scene. For example, you might write from the perspective of someone who observed an event, assisted the protagonist or befriended them. Or you may create a new character. E.g. A new best friend for the protagonist. Your teacher will explain what it means to “give voice” to a character in a novel. Your character must interact with the novel’s protagonist. You may change the storyline and plot to accommodate your character if you desire, however, your story must remain true to the themes and setting of the novel. (E.g. you can’t turn it into a comedy or change the country where the novel is set). Requirements: Length is to be 400-500 words plus a 100 word preface explaining how the story is both original and imaginative. You must demonstrate that you have a sound knowledge of short story conventions and adhere to the short story structure. You can make your story both original and imaginative in the following ways: • Creative use of the conventions of a short story, for example a twist at the end. • Create non-stereotyped characters that make unpredictable choices. • Juxtapose related texts. • Promote alternative beliefs and values through your writing.

A PowerPoint designed for a 50 minute lesson which includes summaries of key scenes and important things to note in this act. It also features questions to check for understanding. An updated version of the Act One (Scenes 1-4) PowerPoint for a school with 70 minute lessons. It includes a warm up activity (definitions to copy), extra quotes and questions to check for understand. A lesson plan has also been included. A PowerPoint focusing on the Party Scene (Act One, Scene 5). It begins with a mini lesson on characterisation (with definitions and examples). Subsequently students act out the scene and discuss the perspectives of various characters. Afterwards, we watch the 1997 film version and prepare to explore the balcony scene in a future lesson. A 5 page script for the party scene which has been translated into modern language (more accessible for students). A homework sheet with questions about the party scene (Act 1, Scene 5). A handout - revision activity - a list of jumbled up events from this act which students have to reorganise into chronological order. 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).

Perfect resources for a protest poetry unit. These poems show the Indigenous Australian viewpoint at various points in History. There are poems about colonisation, the stolen generations and land rights struggles. Some of the poems are by famous artists like Oodgeroo Noonuccal, others are from Inside Black Australia: An Anthology of Aboriginal Poetry (published 1988).

A PowerPoint exploring the origins and evolution of film (1895-present). Information about The Seven Ages of Film and the advent of sound. Video clips from 'Singing in the Rain' which depict how film studios began to make talking pictures. Looking at the advent of colour in films with clips from The Wizard of Oz showing the use of technicolour. Information about the introduction of The American movie rating system in 1968. The phenomena of Midnight movies - with clips from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

PowerPoint 1: Paragraph writing. This ppt uses the I do, we do, you do approach. Firstly there is a slide explaining the PEEEL paragraph structure. There is also an example paragraph about Taylor Swift’s You Belong with Me music video. Afterwards, students watch another music video (Caught in the Crowd) and construct their own paragraph based on what they observed in the teacher example. PowerPoint 2: Explaining the assessment task (analytical essay). Document: Scaffolding booklet for assessment task.

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.

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).

3 resources used in a 9 English unit. 1) A homework sheet which includes the poem 'Then and Now' by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and comprehension questions which are designed to help students begin to analyse the text. This poem touches on the dispossession of land and the consequences for the poet and her people. 2) A PowerPoint which teaches visual source analysis using the picture book 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden (illustrated by Shaun Tan). Students have to respond to the images by answering the following questions: What do you feel about the imagery? What does it mean to you? What is the idea of Australian identity portrayed in the picture? Afterwards, the PPT explains that this story is an allegory. The PowerPoint also includes some examples of Australian slang (as this is part of a stereotypes unit). 3) A PowerPoint which points out that for a long time there were “entrenched negative stereotypes” about Aboriginal people in Australia and how the media’s focus on negative Aboriginal issues creates much hurt when it presents the problems of individual Aboriginal people as problems of all Indigenous Australians. It explores the negative stereotypes about Indigenous people as shown in Bran Neu Dae and the positive attributes shown in The Sapphires. The clips I have selected from Bran Neu Dae are humorous but touch on serious issues and often generate good classroom discussions.

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.

A great resource for revisiting punctuation basics with high school students. 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 the three major uses of the apostrophe: to make words possessive, to make contractions and to make odd plurals. Each section includes a range of activities for students to apply what they have learned (short response and some multiple choice questions taken from past NAPLAN tests). It also includes some follow up activities that can be set for homework.

A PowerPoint which was created to scaffold a short story task where students are required to, "Write an original, imaginative short story that utilises the literary techniques and literary devices that are appropriately employed in a specific crime genre." It also includes a 10-page booklet with similar information if you have students who need to be provided with a hard copy.

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

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)

About the PPT: the lesson began with a checking for understanding brainstorm – students had to think of types of characters who commonly appear in stories. After sharing their responses, I have a list for students to copy. There is information about the types of things authors need to plan and consider before they begin writing. I have a slide defining characterisation which gives examples of direct and indirect characterisation. Following this the text for today’s lesson ‘Soil’ is introduced. I provide some information about the author Ellen Van Neerven who was awarded the 2015 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Indigenous Writers Prize for the collection ‘Heat and Light’. 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. This is followed by some information provided by one of the Bundjalung teachers from our school about some of the sensitive issues raised in this story. Students then consider what gaps or silences they could draw on in a short story. I located images from children’s picture books and the internet which students could draw on to develop their setting. Following this, students were given a writing prompt which they had to plan for (which they would write about in the literacy lesson). The slides from the literacy lesson are also included. 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.

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.

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 began with 10 minutes of silent reading as a settling activity. This is followed by a reminder of what social issues are. This is followed by a viewing activity on ABC iView – You Can’t Ask That’s episode on ‘Domestic Violence’ (from series 4). There are 7 questions for students to answer as they watch. This is followed by some slides of research I found. It includes a definition of domestic violence and the types. There is some information about the QLD Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (2012). Some key points from the Act are included in dot point form. After this students were split into groups and had to design a poster. There were 7 different options. This was followed by some information about conjunctions as a cool down. A worksheet with the viewing questions

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 PowerPoint which structures the lesson. It begins with a reminder of what we are learning about and persuasive techniques (the P.E.R.S.U.A.D.E Acronym). Students are asked to list some persuasive texts which they encounter in their daily lives. A review of the 3 types of appeal (reason, character and emotion) is included. Following this, students have 4 questions to write down for as they view the “You Can’t Ask That” episode about Indigenous Australians on iView. There are some answers providing on the subsequent slides. There is also a viewing activity (an anti-racism PSA called “The Invisible Discriminator”) which is good for generating discussion. To conclude the lesson, there is a paragraph writing activity for students to write a paragraph a out the social issues which Indigenous Australians experience. I included additional information for if the lesson finished early. It includes information about kinship, the role of elders and texts which are useful for gaining an understanding of Indigenous histories.

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.

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 – Aussie_Resources. A PowerPoint designed for use in a 70 minute lesson. A warm up game of real news vs fake news. This is followed by several slides which explain what students need to do to get good marks for their spoken presentation. This is followed by a variety of prompts for ‘30 second speeches’ every student has the opportunity to practice using the verbal and non-verbal speech techniques they learned earlier in the lesson.