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.
A PPT summing up the key events in the second half of the 1970s. It includes information about the 1976 Internal Security Act, the renewed use of death sentences, the emergence of the Black Consciousness Movement, the trade embargo established by the UN (1977), Botha’s ascension to PM (1978). There is also some information about the beginning of the 1980s including the formation of the United Democratic Front.
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 match the definitions warm up activity where students have to identify the correct meanings of various cognitive verbs.
A PowerPoint which I think Legal Studies / Civics teachers will find helpful. If you use it, and like it, please give me a positive star rating / review. I usually get students to copy the underlined text. The lesson then focuses on how the adversarial court system works in comparison to an inquisitorial system. There is an explanation of which section of the constitution provide for the creation of federal courts. There is an explanation of the various types of courts in Australia. The following roles are explained: magistrate, judge, jury,
Prosecution, defence, solicitor, barrister, bailiff, interpreter, media, clerk, defendant and witness. Information about specialist courts and tribunals is also provided e.g. the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
NB: My lessons have been designed for use in Australian classrooms and will often feature examples from Queensland legislation.
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 writing booklet which I made to scaffolding the writing portion of the assessment. Tip: I keep these in the classroom so that I have evidence of student work for if they are absent on the due date. I also share this booklet to students electronically on the class One Note for if they would prefer to type into it.
A PowerPoint to take students through the first writing session – developing their thesis statement and writing body paragraph 1.
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.
This unit teaches students to be media literate and prepares them to do a speech where they analyse 1 x print news item and 1 x audio visual news item.
This lesson focuses on the visual features and text structures of print-based news media texts. It begins with the requirements of news stories and some activities e.g. make a headline from a prompt, read a headline and make it more emotive. This is followed by information about how print based news media is structured (an intro to the inverted pyramid structure). A discussion of layout and reading paths follows. There are images of news stories with the features annotated (e.g. headline, byline, lead, images, captions, pull quotes, columns). Important terms like pull quote, foregrounding, bolded text, text enhancement etc. are explained and examples are provided. There is also an explanation of things to discuss when analysing pictures including colour and the mood evoked by it. There are also some checking for understanding activities which can be done as a class discussion / a written activity depending on the preference of the teacher.
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.
A lesson PowerPoint. It begins with a proofreading activity (an excerpt from Chapter 5). Followed by a mini lesson on using an apostrophe to make contractions. This includes examples and non examples and a series of activities which progress through the I do, we do, you do phase of the gradual release of responsibility pedagogy. In upcoming lessons, students will write a persuasive essay to convince their readers of their perspective about Ned Kelly’s guilt or innocence. Students will read chapter six of Black Snake and complete activities so that they can use evidence from the novel to develop their argument about whether Ned Kelly was a victim, a villain or a hero. They learn about mood and tone and apply their new knowledge to the fictional passage at the beginning of the chapter. The PowerPoint ends with a summary of the chapter and some questions to be completed for homework.
A handout with the activities for Chapter 6 which students will complete throughout the lesson.
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 - Aussie_Resources. 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 beginning of the PowerPoint introduces students to some of the key language features used in the novel Black Snake with definitions, examples and examples from Black Snake. The language features are colloquialisms, idioms, figurative language {similes / metaphors} & descriptive language {adjectives.} Afterwards there are some comprehension questions. Afterwards we look at a picture book – ‘Ned Kelly and the Green Sash’ written by Mark Greenwood and illustrated by Frane Lessac. As we read the story, students are encouraged to think about the language and visual features used and the effects they create in telling the story. Afterwards, the students can read the remainder of chapter 1 filling in the retrieval chart. If there is time at the end, there is a slide about how to identify factual information from evaluative language and a slide summing up the events in chapter 1.
2) A retrieval chart for students to summarise what they have learned while reading Chapter 1.
A PowerPoint and worksheet used to introduce students to beverages commonly served in cafes. It begins with a video explaining how to froth milk (YouTube) and some key take away points from this video. This is followed by a list of recipes that use frothy milk. The next couple of slides include pictures of different types of mugs as well as when they should be used and their liquid capacity. Students are to copy the underlined text on these slides. Then students watch a clickview video about how to make the various types of coffee – they have a worksheet (also included here) to complete as they watch it. After the video there are slides that go through this info (for those who need repetition to process). There are notes for students to copy. Coffees explained are: espresso, long black, flat white, caffe latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha & vanilla chai latte. There are some additional videos at the end for if the class got through everything.
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). Unit 1: Introduction to Hospitality, Topic 1: Beverage operations and services. My school has 70-minute lessons. The assessment at the end of this unit was an examination (short response).
A PPT designed to teach the following skills:
• HOW TO MODIFY A RECIPE FOR A LARGE QUANTITY (30+)
• HOW TO APPROPRIATELY PRICE A RECIPE (FORMULA)
• HOW TO FILL IN AN ORDER FORM
A worksheet for students to complete the activities on
A teacher answer sheet (with prices as per date when lesson was planned in 2023)
Resources designed for use in an 11 Hospitality Practices class in Australia (2019 curriculum). Unit 1: Introduction to Hospitality, Topic 2: Cafes, preparation and service of non-alcoholic beverages. My school has 70-minute lessons. The assessment at the end of this unit was running a pop up café. Students had to complete a planning booklet documenting their decisions in the lead up to the event.
A PowerPoint used to teach a combined class of 11 and 12 Modern History students. It begins with information about significance (one of the historical concepts). The N.A.M.E acronym for determining whether something is significant is explained. Then the Learning Intention and Success Criteria for the lesson are unpacked. The core part of the lesson begins with information about why we reference and what this might look like in an exam vs an assignment. There is a slide explaining how to in text reference (with examples). This is followed by slides about paragraph writing. Students are presented with two acronyms which they can use – extended TEEL and the TEEASC structure from the History Skills website. There is an example paragraph from an essay about the Cold War written by a student. This is followed by information about how to unpack an exam question and what is required of a ‘to what extent’ response. There is also information about how to do a quick plan before writing an essay / paragraph. For the remainder of the lesson students have 3 questions to respond to in paragraph form (about Leopold II and imperialism in the Congo).
Resources designed for the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The syllabus objectives would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in The Scramble for Africa.
A PowerPoint used during the assessment phase of the unit. It reviews the requirements for the source analysis and evaluation table for this task (IA2). It also provides students with a list of upcoming checkpoints so they know what they are expected to work on for homework. The lesson begins with a review of how to determine whether a source is trustworthy (reliable). The TADPOLE acronym can be used to help make this assessment. Some preparation tips are provided (as to fit within the word count students should have a plan in place before they begin writing). There are some example source tables for students to learn from. Then, at the end of the 17 slides, there is time for students to begin annotating the sources they have found and make dot points in their planning booklet. They are expected to have 3 tables done before the next lesson.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). The end of term assessment for this unit was an Independent Source Investigation.
The content would also be useful more broadly for students in other states and countries with an interest in the China (1931-1976). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources.
Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019).
This lesson includes:
1 x list of source types for warm up evaluation activity (can be laminated with a magnet on the back for sorting activity)
1 x PowerPoint
1 x Source Booklet with sources about Hitler Youth
1 x Independent Work Booklet with various activities designed to help students practice the evaluation skill
Context: My school runs this program in Alternative Sequence (yr 11 and 12s in together) due to the small size of the school. The lesson begins with some teaching that both grades can do together before the year 12s are assigned some independent work and the year 11s are given some more focused teaching. Then the year 11’s do independent work while the year 12s share their answers and receive feedback.
The sequence of the lesson:
The lesson begins with a warm up activity where students have to place types of sources on a grid in terms of how reliable and useful they typically are. Next students have to brainstorm some synonyms and antonyms for ‘reliable’ and ‘useful.’ Following this, year 12s are given a booklet which has evaluation activities (starting at simple activities and building up to those styled like the short response questions in the Term 4 exam). They begin completing these while the year 11’s get a more teacher centred lesson. In this portion of the lesson we begin with defining ‘evaluate’ before zooming in on the evaluation criteria we use in modern history – reliability and usefulness. There is information about what reliability is and that there are levels of reliability. There are tips for how to write a judgement of reliability and some things to look for when determining reliability. There is a list of reasons why a source may be deemed unreliable. There is an example reliability statement which has been colour coded to show how the writer has included various features of evidence in their evaluation.
Following this, the gradual release method is used to engage with the first few sources in the booklet. (I explain the first activity, we engage with Source 1 and then complete the question together – with me modelling my thinking process via think alouds. Students then do Source 2 as a pair and Source 3 on their own). This is followed by explicit teaching on how to determine the usefulness of a source. There is also information about the importance of corroboration (including a video from the History Skills website). This is followed by some sentence starters which can be used when corroborating. This is followed by completing activities from the booklet (first as a we do, then students do one in a pair, then they do one on their own). Following this, the year 11’s continue doing the booklet independently while I go through the answers with the year 12s.
A unit introduction PowerPoint for a unit entitled Literary Representations of Australia. Within this unit, students learn about Australian identity and then consider how this is represented in the novel Deadly Unna? By Phillip Gwynne.
The PPT includes an assessment overview, a discussion of what it means to be Australian and how our Australian identity is constructed and defined. Students completed a brainstorming activity based on texts they viewed in the last few weeks of the previous term. A thought-provoking poem entitle ‘How Australian are You’ is included to prompt discussion of the many ways of being Australian and some of the stereotypes which exist about us. This is followed by a think-pair-share activity.
Following this, students are introduced to the term representations. They are then shown the first two verses of the Australian national anthem to explore (with 4 questions). This is followed by a paragraph writing task to consolidate what they have learned.
If time permits, students are introduced to some critical literacy terms: marginalised and silenced. Students are also talked through the elements of their novel study booklet.
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.
A student work booklet for use while reading the novel Deadly Unna?
It includes: a synopsis, a list of the key themes, a retrieval chart for recording language features they encounter, a retrieval chart for recording the most effective textual structures within the novel, a table for recording key details about the characters (character names pre-filled), a set of post reading questions (for once they have finished reading the novel), some information about an event which inspired the novel & some activities to help students gather their ideas for their essay under exam conditions.
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.
A PowerPoint used to teach chapters 16-21 of Phillip Gwynne’s 1998 novel Deadly Unna?
As these chapters weren’t crucial to the task, I summarised them rather than reading them with the class. This PowerPoint contains a summary for each chapter and then slides with chapter questions (no answers). The PPT also includes a creative writing activity for fast finishers (a way of exploring perspective).
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.
A PowerPoint used to teach chapters 36-41 of Phillip Gwynne’s 1998 novel Deadly Unna?
We would read one chapter at a time (or listen to the audio book on CD) and then students would answer the chapter questions.
This PowerPoint contains a summary for each chapter and then slides with answers to the chapter questions. The PPT also includes post reading questions and some assessment preparation. It explains the major text structure of the novel (division of book into ‘summer’ and ‘winter.’) Students are asked to determine what they believe the intended reading of the novel is. There is a paragraph writing activity about the representations of Australia within the novel. There are also key terms for students to define in their glossary.
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.
The lesson begins with an explanation of what themes are, and an image of common themes in literature.
Following this there are slides explaining the following themes:
Masculinity (and toxic masculinity)
Racism
The importance of family
Mateship
Duty and Sacrifice
Examples from the novel are provided.
This is followed by a practice question + some planning activities around this question.
Resources designed for 10 English in Queensland, Australia. It is part of a novel study unit which culminates in a 90-minute examination (500 to 800-word essay). Students had 1 week notice of the question and could bring 100 words of notes in with them.
Within this unit students explored how an author’s use of language features, images and vocabulary contributed to the representation of themes in the novel. They also gained a deeper understanding of key literary techniques, including (but not limited to) characterisation, plot, and setting.