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.
The significance of the use of atomic bombs during World War II, The contestability surrounding the use of atomic bombs during World War II, The causes and effects of the use of atomic bombs during World War II. The Beginning of the Nuclear Age, why the atomic bomb was developed, how it was tested, why America decided to use it against Japan, why this decision was contested by some scientists, it looks at the discrimination towards victims of the bombing (and how they came to be known as the hibakusha) and President Truman's justification for what he did.
This PPT includes extracts from a documentary which recreates the bombing of Hiroshima (using reenactments) and explains the science behind the bomb. It includes images of the destruction to buildings, medical side effects (e.g. cataracts, scarring, radiation, birth defects etc.) It also includes drawings made by survivors depicting the black rain, bodies in the water etc.
Three resources for a year 8 history unit.
1) A PowerPoint (with videos) explaining feudalism.
2) A scan from a textbook showing a castle set up
3) a typed excerpt from a textbook explaining feudalism
This lesson was designed for the second phase of the unit where students are preparing to write a persuasive text about Ned Kelly. This lesson focuses on reading the events in Chapter Four of Black Snake, responding to questions and considering whether Ned’s actions make him a hero or a villain (or a victim of circumstances). There is a video excerpt of the shootout at Stringybark Creek (from the Heath Ledger film). There is also a clip from the Victoria Police which is intended as a memorial for the policemen killed in action by the Kelly Gang members. It also includes information about the two letters Ned famously wrote expressing why he turned to a life of crime (The Cameron Letter and the Jerilderie Letter). It concludes with information about how the public opinion of Ned shifted from a negative one to a more positive one after the 1960s. The lesson tries to present all points of view so that students can make up their own minds about Ned Kelly and whether he deserves to be held up as an Aussie icon.
Handout - proofreading activity (an excerpt from the novel).
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in colonialism and Australia’s Frontier Wars (1788-1930s).
This is a PowerPoint which can be used in the the first few lessons of the term. It is part of a Frontier Wars unit which culminates in a 2 hour examination (short response to stimulus). The first part of this lesson explains what history is (followed up with a clip), an overview of the assessment for the year, goal setting, rules and expectations. This is followed by an introduction to The Frontier Wars including terms to be copied into their glossary. Subsequently, contextual information is provided to set the scene: an explanation of what Indigenous life was like pre-contact, how Indigenous people came to be in Australia, the cultural achievements of Indigenous people, their beliefs about the land, language and learning, social organization, the role of elders, weapons, art, face & body painting. Finally, I explain what other groups the first Australians met before Cook, touch on the colonial mentality of the English and the reasons why BRitain wanted to colonise Australia (a place so far away).
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.
A lesson PowerPoint. It begins with a proofreading activity (an excerpt from Chapter 4). Followed by a review of the events in Chapter 4 of Black Snake. It then includes activities based on the opening section of Chapter 5 (including answering comprehension questions.) Students will be successful if they can: Identify the motivation of the narrator at the beginning of chapter 5 and explain the narrator’s viewpoint. Students will review the term modality and consider whether the language used by the writer (narrator) is high / low modality. There is also a creative writing activity for students to complete (an imaginative recount based on an excerpt from this chapter).
A copy of the lesson plan
Chapter 5 handout - the activities contained in the PowerPoint for distributing to learners.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
Part of a set of resources created for a year 7 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). The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson.
PowerPoint 1 ‘Taking a closer look at One Stray Bullet’ - **
Reviewing what happened in the opening of chapter 3 ‘One Stray Bullet.’ This short piece of fiction told from the perspective of Ned’s sister Kate is one of the passages that students can choose for their written literary transformation {imaginative recount / short story}. The focus of this lesson is exploring characterisation (one of the creative writing techniques the author has used effectively in this extract) in order to prepare learners to develop their characters adequately within a small word limit. It includes a highlighting activity (colour coding the action/dialogue/actions/descriptions of the various characters in the passage.) The lesson also provides further historical context into the Fitzpatrick incident. It also includes scaffolding for if they were to re-write the opening of this narrative from the antagonists (Constable
Fitzpatrick’s) perspective. There are 8 sentence starters to aid students to begin writing a practice narrative from Fitzpatrick’s perspective. There is a proofreading checklist for students to use after they have written their orientation. This passage can be used to gauge the students current writing abilities.
PowerPoint 2 - Developing setting
Assessment expectations – what language features students need to use to get a C, B & A. Reviewing key parts of speech that students need to know and use in their short story assessment (adjectives, adverbs, verbs & abstract nouns). Learning how to establish setting in a narrative. Top writing tips with example sentences. The importance of showing not telling. The importance of avoiding cliches. Planning to write a story from Mrs Kelly’s perspective (based on the events in One Stray Bullet). The lesson concludes with a creative writing activity where students write their own description of The Kelly House imagining that they are Ned’s mother.
A comprehensive scaffolding booklet which students are to use to conduct their inquiry prior to writing their essay. Teachers may opt to provide some or all sections of this to students based on their ability. It can also be broken up into handouts and used within specific lessons (chunking) with incremental deadlines to ensure students are on track to have found useful sources and analysed/evaluated these making notes about key features to mention within their essay.
The booklet includes:
• A brainstorming mind map for students to reflect on what they have learned throughout the term (used to aid them to select a topic to focus on in their essay)
• A list of key individuals, groups and events prior to and during the Vietnam War (they must investigate an individual / group) to learn about their social, political or ideological views & their impact on the independence movement
• Tips for developing a key inquiry question (including an example for another topic)
• Tips for developing apt sub questions which are open and incorporate any of the 7 historical concepts which are prioritised in the Queensland syllabus
• A graphic organiser for the student to reflect on their key and sub questions
• A retrieval chart for students to keep their research organised. Students were advised that they needed to “Locate at least 10 historical sources (minimum two books and five primary sources – the rest can be from journal articles / websites / online sources) that present the perspectives of different people in response to your questions.”
• Graphic organisers (using T.A.D.P.O.L.E acronym for students to note key details from sources that are worthy of analysis in their essay. I also added a section where they are prompted to reflect on the usefulness and reliability of the source (as students should be evaluating some of the sources within their essay).
• Tips for developing a hypothesis (students should do this prior to writing their essay).
• Tips for writing the essay including a suggested word count breakdown for each paragraph. There is information about the TEEASC body paragraph structure recommended on the History Skills website (as an alternative to TEEL).
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 designed to teach the students how to write a critical summary of evidence for their assessment. It begins by explaining what it is and what the term justify means. There is an overview of the required elements and three potential structures from the History Skills website that students can choose from. There is a video (online tutorial) from YouTube about how to write a critical summary. I have some tips that students should keep in mind when writing their critical summary. Finally, the QCAA example is included along with the marking notes showing which criterion are being addressed. Afterwards, students have time to write their own.
Two resources:
A worksheet for students to complete while watching the 2020 film ‘Misbehaviour’ which is about events which took place in the UK during the second wave of feminism (protests against the 1970 Miss World competition).Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly-formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. There are 9 questions and 2 post viewing questions. Teaching tip: I utilise the broadcast strategy approach (Barry & King, 1998) previewing the questions prior to playing the film so that students know what to listen out for.
A PowerPoint to use after viewing the film to unpack the key ideas. It includes a synopsis of the film and goes through the answers to the worksheet (also providing information from press around the movie and about the women who inspired it).
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.
An example IA1 task for the ‘Women’s movements since 1893’ which is studied as part of Unit 2 of 11 Modern History in Queensland, Australia.
The examination is an 800-1000 word essay in response to historical sources (2 hrs + 15 minutes planning time). Included in this resource are:
12 relevant sources which showcase a range of perspectives on second wave feminism, have a mix of primary and secondary sources and include some visual sources, a song, extracts from textbooks, newspapers etc.
The reference details and appropriate context statements for these sources.
A booklet of lined paper for students to write their response on
An exemplar response which received top marks (the student redacted some words using a black highlighter during the exam as they knew they were over the word count). This essay has been annotated by the marker which colours representing the various criteria (analysing, evaluating) or important features (e.g. putting forward historical argument, linking back to that argument etc.)
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.
A PPT explaining the Soweto uprising and its aftermath.
The last slide contains a homework activity which requires students to research differing interpretations of the Soweto uprising and write a response to questions.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa (1948-1994).
A worksheet to be used while viewing the Bio pic ‘Long Walk to Freedom.’ It includes during viewing questions and post viewing questions about key people, key events, ideologies/beliefs/motives and some empathy-based questions. There is also a homework activity which requires students to do some further research about Mandela.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa (1948-1994).
The PPT begins with a warm up to help students to retrieve prior knowledge. This is followed by Carlton university’s tips for analysing and evaluating primary sources. Students are then given a worksheet which contains the O-P-V-M chart with some elements removed which students will fill in as the lesson takes place. The PPT goes through each source type beginning with letters giving information about things to keep in mind regarding origin, purpose, value and limitations. There is a letter from Nelson to Winnie which we read and discussed the language choices. There was also one from Winnie to Nelson (1970). Following this information about Winnie Mandela from the South African History website was provided. The next source type was photographs. I utilised a range of photographs about Winnie Mandela. Following this, political cartoons. This was followed by an acronym called P.I.C.T.U.R.E which is handy for unpacking visual sources. There is information about techniques which cartoonists often use to convey meaning (including allusion, symbolism, irony). Then some cartoons from Zapiro and Len Sak were included for students to get an idea of different styles. The next source type was news media which covers newspapers, tv reports, radio reports and eye witness accounts. Following this, official government documents and other government records e.g. speeches and memorandas.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa (1948-1994).
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).
An interactive lesson created for use after the practice exam to introduce students to the key historical figures and events they needed to know for their actual exam.
Students were given a topic and their own guiding question - they were provided with a PowerPoint full of sources to use as a starting point they were also allowed to conduct their own research on The State Library of Queensland Website. Afterward they were to create a poster (to be completed for homework) so that in the following lesson they could teach the class about their ‘expert topic.’
This resource includes a sheet of the topics (Kalkadoons, Battle Mountain, Native Mounted Police, Sub-Inspector Beresford and Sub-Inspector Urquhart) and guiding questions. It also includes the four PowerPoints of sources which students accessed.
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.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in German Nationalism between 1914–1945 (World War I begins –World War II ends).
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 Handout + an answer sheet
The lesson includes:
• A brief history of Germany (political structures)
• Information about conflict which existed pre WW1 (including changing statehoods in Europe.)
• Definitions of important ideologies – nationalism, expansionism, imperialism & militarism
• Introducing the concept of alliances and the war climate in the build up to World War One
• The assassination of Frans Ferdinand and its significance
• Germany’s experiences in WW1 (initial success followed by stalemate and defeat)
• The Treaty of Versailles and its ramifications for Germany
The lesson ends with a group work activity where students are assigned key sections of the Treaty of Versailles which they have to locate online. Once found they must fill in a graphic organiser with a summary + a speculation about the motivation (intended result) for each article.
There is a handout of the graphic organiser for this activity. There is also a teacher answer sheet.
Resource 1: A worksheet for a documentary viewing lesson. I utilise the broadcast strategy approach (Barry & King, 1998) previewing the questions prior to playing the documentary so that students know what to listen out for. The documentary In the Turmoil of the Russian Revolution (2017) is available on ClickView.
There are 24 questions for students to record information about as they watch. Additionally, there are 5 extended response post-viewing questions for students to complete for homework.
Resource 2: A scanned copy of my handwritten answers which I completed during the lesson and then used to check students’ understanding.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in German Nationalism between 1914–1945 (World War I begins –World War II ends).
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 Handout
This lesson includes information about:
• Revising what we learned about the Treaty of Versailles – what the Big 3 wanted + the key terms of the treaty
• Fallout of the Treaty of Versailles (issues with the reparations payments and the war guilt clause)
How to analyse and evaluate visual sources
A visual source analysis activity
• Germany becoming a Republic
Goals of the Weimar Republic
Political opposition in the early stages of the Weimar Republic
• The Stock Market Crash + Great Depression and how this impacted Germany
• The Golden 20s
Problems which still impacted Germany in this period
The emergence of the Nazi party
The 25 points program (1920) + a groupwork task to engage with this source
The Beer Hall Putsch (1923)
Mein Kampf
• Hitler’s ideologies, VABs and motives
Anti Semitism
Nationalism
Anti-democracy
• Hitler’s Rise to Power
The worksheet is designed to be used at key points in the lesson
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for English students in other states and countries with an interest in German Nationalism between 1914–1945 (World War I begins –World War II ends).
Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. This revision activity was used as an engaging end to the second session in exam block to check for understanding and recall of the content covered over the 2 sessions. (These resources are sold separately in my store).
Resource can also be used as a template to create your own jeopardy quiz.
Two resources: A PowerPoint and Worksheet. The worksheet is designed to step students through the lesson. It includes copies of the sources on the PPT slide and questions for them to answer. It also includes space for them to copy the notes that have been underlined in the PPT presentation.
The PPT begins with answers to the homework analysis activity – analysing a visual source about the revolution. This is followed by information about two key revolutionaries: Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. There is a YouTube viewing activity about how these two men rose to power. Students have a graphic organiser to fill in as they watch. ‘Leninism’ is explained followed by information about the return of the Bolshevik revolutionaries from exile. Information about why this is a turning point is provided. After this ‘The July Days’ is explained as well as lessons that Trotsky took away from this. Information about the rising political support for the Bolshevik party is provided. Subsequently, information about how the provisional government was overthrown is included. A timeline of the October revolution is provided followed by some checking for understanding activities. The homework task is then explained. (I usually tell students to take a photo of the homework instructions). Additional videos are linked for if you need to kill time.
Designed to meet the requirements of the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019), this unit falls under the category of ‘Ideas in the Modern World.’