3 resources for a year 12 English unit. 1) A PPT for a mini lesson on nouns, verbs and adjectives + another mini lesson on adverbs. 2) A PowerPoint engaging with 2 WW1 poems: ‘I have a rendezvous with death’ and ‘In Flanders Fields. After reading the first poem there are discussion questions. I have also included some of my observations about each of the poem (modelling analysis), some info about the author, activities encouraging the students to consider how langauge features have been used in the text. Following this, students read the second poem on their own and complete the comparison activity (3rd resource). 3) A handout with the table for the comparison activity (for students to complete electronically)

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.

Anyone who thinks that slavery went the way of the nineteenth century will be disabused of that belief when reading “Slave: My True Story”  written by Mende Nazer, a Sudanese Nuba, along with Damien Lewis, a British journalist. This book gives a chilling overview of the modern slave trade from the perspective of one who was victimized by it. Human trafficking, unfortunately, is alive and well as a weapon of war in the late twentieth and twenty-first century. This resource is a PowerPoint presentation designed for use in a 12 English Authority class in Queensland Australia. It introduces students to the concepts of cultural context and social situations and how both can influence the author. This lesson prepares students to answer the following question: What is the social impact of the text? i.e. is it recycling or reinforcing cultural assumptions? Within this lesson students will learn about the Nuba people – cultural practices e.g. scarification, beads, wrestling, religious beliefs, dwellings, diet, languages & female genital mutilation. In addition to information, images and videos of some of these are provided. It also includes some information about save trading in Sudan. At the end of the PowerPoint are some sample answers to the chapter questions for chapters 1-8.

Resource 1: PowerPoint This lesson introduces the concept of lying broadly before zooming in to focus on how the moral issue is shown in the novel. Students are introduced to the types of lie (white lie, fabrication, bold faced lies). Discussion questions are posed on the PowerPoint to encourage students to share their views on the issue. There is a short clip from the film Liar Liar to provide a humorous stimulus for discussion. Following this students will read the feature article 'Are white lies dead in the age of social media?' As they read the various language and visual features will be pointed out to them (as they will be writing a feature article for their mid term assessment). After reading the article there are activities for students to complete including defining some terms from the article and answering literal, inferred and applied level comprehension questions. Subsequently, the lesson introduces the various types of lies in the novel. The PPT includes extracts from the text where people are shown discussing lying or telling a lie. These extracts are followed by discussion/comprehension questions. Resource 2: a feature article taken from 'The Australian' (newspaper) in 2017 about white lies which students will explore in this lesson.

1) PowerPoint: The construction of characterization, plot and setting in Slave. This PowerPoint was designed to help prepare students for a short story assessment where they were to write from a marginalized character's perspective in the autobiography Slave. Within the lesson students will explore how Mende and her journalist co-write established characters and setting within the novel through the use of various writing techniques. 2) Document for students to take their notes into with extracts from the text for students to analyse.

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.

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.

6 resources utilised in a 12 English Authority unit in Queensland Australia. 1) A PowerPoint taking students through the history of Sudan. It begins by introducing students to key terms including: coup, constitution, fundamentalist, Islam, junta and secession. These terms are integral to understanding the events in Slave as the author's life was influenced by the political events occurring in society at the time. After a brief overview of the early history, it delves into the civil war (1980s-1990s). Lastly it looks at contemporary politics (since 2002). 2) A handout of the notes about the history of Sudan (which were taken from the Oxford dictionary of contemporary world history). This can be given to students who struggle to summarise or used for purposes of revision. 3) Further research about Slave and the Nuba culture. 4) A handout to be given to students at the beginning of the term explaining the purpose of the unit and outlining what the two items of assessment are. 5) A diagram which shows the various influences on the author as she wrote her autobiography.

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). A PowerPoint designed to engage students / excite them as they ‘tune in’ to the new unit. It includes: a review of my classroom expectations (as well as the positive and negative consequences). Some interesting facts about Ned Kelly. Some questions about the front and back cover of the novel Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson. After getting the students to make predictions about the novel, they complete a K-W-L chart about what they already know about Ned Kelly and what they would like to know. Subsequently we go through what the two assessments for the term will be. We then review some important parts of the novel and how they work (contents, a map of Kelly Country and the Introduction). Some info about the language features in the novel is provided as well as a spelling list of 24 words taken from the novel and ACARA’s English glossary. Students will define these for homework throughout the week. Some extra information is included at the end of the PowerPoint if you happen to finish early. 2)** A handout containing the map, contents, intro and spelling words.**

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. 1) Lesson PowerPoint The PowerPoint begins with teaching students some important features of narratives as students will be writing a short story {aka imaginative recount} for their first assessment task. There are slides on how to write in first person and the difference between first person and third person. The use of full stops to create short, sharp sentences in narratives (and the effect of this technique) is explored. As a class read the ‘what if you were there?’ section at the beginning of chapter 2. There are 5 ‘quick quiz’ questions and some discussion questions {related to the assessment}. An introduction to key narrative features {point of view, contrast & juxtaposition} with examples from what we just read. There are tips about how to write dialogue in a narrative and punctuate it correctly. There is some information about considering the aesthetic and social value of texts (to be discussed). Students read the remainder of Chapter 2. Finally foreshadowing is discussed with an example from Chapter 2. 2) A handout to be used in conjunction with the PowerPoint.

This 9-page booklet/resource provides 8 tips to improve your writing. These can be applied to a range of text types including narratives, essays and newspaper articles. Each tip comes with examples, activities or a suggested word bank for students to try to incorporate in their writing going forward.

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. The focus text is ‘Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly’ by Carole Wilkinson. 1) A PowerPoint for a lesson designed for the introductory phase of a 7 English unit on Ned Kelly. It is designed to provide context (teach students what Australia was like during Ned Kelly’s lifetime). By the end of the lesson, students should be able to explain what you think life would have been like for early settlers (and add some key points to the ‘L’ section of their KWL chart). There are slides on: what men and women wore, the various social groups {convicts/ex convicts, free settlers, selectors, squatters, troopers & hawkers}, bushrangers, transportation, housing and housekeeping, common foods, lifestyle, the gold rush and tools/resources. The slides include descriptions and images. Subsequently, students glue in the character table (retrieval chart) and begin reading the ‘What if you were there’ section at the opening of Chapter 1 of Black Snake. They should be recording key details about the various characters they come across as they read. The students should also be developing novel-specific vocabulary – keeping a track of any slang words, idioms or other language features we notice as they read. There are 3 checking for understanding questions at the end. 2) Character Retrieval chart (handout)

Useful resource for English or Theology classes. Defines key terms and presents students with scenarios to discuss.

This powerpoint introduces students to the key features of magazine covers. It defines key terms including Mast Head, Main Cover Line, Cover Lines, Strap Line, The issue number, The date, Cost of a magazine, Main image, Background colour, Promotional material and Barcode. It includes pictures of magazine covers with annotations which recognise the effect these features have on the reader

This is part of a series of resources developed for a year 8 English class in Australia. The first resource is a list of context-specific spelling words for the first six weeks of the term (24 words per week). The second is a PowerPoint introducing the unit and key terms. It specifies the difference between a theme and an issue, gives examples of specific social issues and it has a viewing activity to help students understand a particular social issue (poverty). Finally, it includes some images and creative writing prompts to get students thinking and writing themselves.

100 quiz questions which can be used for a range of games including 'around the world.' Topics include famous texts like Harry Potter, the works of Roald Dahl, Lord of the Rings, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, Jungle Book and some Greek Mythology questions.

A concept which can be used to understand Macbeth. It is connected to the idea of the ‘divine right of kings’ and the class structures of the time (feudalism). The PowerPoint includes a definition of this concept and visual representations. Students then apply this to the play and have to draw their own chain of being. It looks at characters who maintain / disrupt this chain and how they do so. It also looks at the imagery and techniques used to show a disruption to the chain of being.

A lesson aimed to help shape student's understanding the lived experiences of soldiers in Vietnam. It focuses on two key texts: I was only 19 and Homecoming. The PPT includes a video of the song I was only 19 which students will listen to. They will then view key lyrics and talk about the representation of the Vietnam war in this text (including the literary devices used). After this is some information to help students empathise with what this would have been like especially for the conscripts. Some brief info is provided about 'fragging' and how the treatment the Veterans received upon their homecoming severely damaged countless veterans. It briefly looks at lyrics from Khe Sanh which discuss the experiences of a returned soldier. The remainder of the PowerPoint explores the poem Homecoming (which I ran as a separate lesson). 2) a handout with questions about Homecoming. We will then turn our focus to the major poem for this war in our booklet (Homecoming). We will talk about the difference between these representations.

3 Resources 1) A handout with questions for the three poems in the booklet about the atomic bombing (for students to complete as revision 2) A PowerPoint which first explores survivor's recounts of the bombing. This is to help students to understand how witnessing the bombing would influence the worldview of a person and be able to explain how this would insert subjectivity into poems written by survivors. View an excerpt of a documentary on the atomic bomb (which simulates the blast and includes interviews with survivors – one of which is a poet who will be studied in the next lesson. Students will read the poem 'At the makeshift aid station' together stanza by stanza, taking time to address the questions in the prompts down the side. The significance of the reference to the cherry blossoms will be explained so that students can reflect on the effect of this symbolism. It includes some other discussion questions which will help them to think like they need to for their feature article under exam conditions... 3) A PowerPoint which analyses Takashi Tanemori’s Blades of Grass in a Dreamless Field. Information about the author and something which shaped his belief system (the bushido code). What must be understood about the author in order to best interpret the poem. There are questions, discussion points and other annotations alongside each stanza of the poem.

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.