Analysing and Responding to Short Stories
A collaborative activity in which students use a model to design an assignment sheet on a particular short story for another group to complete.

Peer Marking
A collaborative strategy designed to increase grade 12 students’ understanding of essay writing. May be adapted for other writing genres and grades.

Descriptive Writing
Developed to give students some starting points for their creative writing. The prompts given for two specific locations can be adapted to help students use their direct experiences imaginatively in any location.

English Negotiated Task
This package, developed by teachers at Hobart College, includes information for students about the major negotiated task, pro-formas for students to submit proposals for both types of task, and a review pro-forma to help students evaluate their work.

Whose view is that?
A strategy for considering texts from different points of view.

Body words
A kinaesthetic spelling activity.

Ideas for Grades 9 and 10 Negotiated Studies with an information technology focus
Interesting tasks for students to undertake.

Questioning advertisements
Critical questions for students to ask when analysing advertisements.

Reading book covers
Strategies to use when introducing texts

Using texts to ask philosophical questions (1)
A P4C strategy using "The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek".

Using texts to ask philosophical questions (2)
A P4C strategy using "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge" and Using texts to ask philosophical questions.

Create a dictionary
Students make a dictionary on the topic of their choice and learn how to use a dictionary effectively along the way.

Teaching poetry
Great ideas shared by teachers K-12 during the recent on-line poetry forum.

Exploring poetry through film
An activity that uses film techniques to develop interpretations of poetry.

Strategies for teaching students to write a range of text types:

• Narratives
• Information reports
• Recounts
• Expositions
• Procedural texts

Media Study
Investigating journalistic practice through film study. Many feature films are suggested for this activity which highlights the ethical dimension of news creation.

Crafting Oral Histories
Oral histories are the stories people tell that can be molded and reworked into a crafted piece of writing.

Introducing Poems
Ideas to help students get to know and make meaning from poems.

Revisiting a Book
Using readers theatre to revisit a guided reading text.

Teaching Writing through Talk
Establishing the right kind of climate for students to talk and share their writing.

Using WebQuests: Fairytales
Sally Gill explains how she used two fairytale WebQuests with her Grade 6 class.

Alphaladder
A fun collaborative game to help students learn about the structure of words.

Hard-working titles
A set of activities to help students create powerful titles for their writing.

Oral response to Remembering Babylon
Students work in pairs to create oral texts based on the novel.

Angela's Ashes: a group oral presentation
Students work in groups to investigate texts related to the novel and present their findings.

Ideas for Reluctant Writers
Teachers from Illawarra Primary School share their sure-fire strategies for encouraging students to write.

Forms of Poetry
A collection of poetry forms to inspire and delight student writers of all ages.

A flexible (and quite cheap) resource for writing and speaking activities - grades 7-12

Group Work for Senior Students: Some guidelines
A resource to help students understand what's involved in group work.

Autumn Leaves - moving adolescent poetry writing from angst to art
A lesson sequence to give students the tools to craft their poetry.

Using Word Ladders for Poetry
A strategy to develop vocabulary and give students a stepping-stone to poetry.

Circle Drama
An activity to develop oral language skills, self-confidence and self esteem.

What I did for my Negotiated Study
Examples of successful negotiated study topics.

Writing the News
A collection of writing and speaking activities based on the news.

Developing a rubric to evaluate students’ research
An explanation of the process involved in developing a rubric with grade 6 students.

Ghost - a spelling, vocabulary and active listening game
A collaborative game that students can enjoy in any English lesson.

Edward Britton
In exploring this novel by Gary Crew, students learn about the Point Puer Boys' Prison at Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Secrets in the Fire - a celebration of the human spirit!
Students investigate the issue of landmines in this deeply moving story from Mozambique.

Performing Poetry
A set of guidelines to encourage students to perform poetry.

Questioning Circles
A structured framework for developing questions about a text.

Fun with Parts of Speech
A multimodal, cooperative learning strategy for students in years 5-12.

Using Verse Novels
Verse novels combine the power of narrative with the rich, evocative language of verse. There are many ways of using them in the classsroom.

Thinking About Language - The Odd Seventh
A collaborative thinking activity which allows students to explore language terms and ideas.

The Plot Generator
A simple strategy to help students to generate ideas for narrative writing.

Create a Novel Showbag
A practical activity designed to help students share a favourite novel with others.

28 Ways to Transform a Poem
A collection of classroom-tested ways of engaging students with poetry.

All Alone in the Southern Ocean
A collaborative small group ‘hypothetical’ which encourages students to listen carefully to their peers, articulate reasoned points of view and reach consensus.

Individual Webquests
A wide range of individual Webquests from the New Zealand English Online site.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin - a unit plan for grades 5-8 designed by Scott Johnston. The outline contains too many strategies to be used in any one class, instead offering a range of active learning strategies from which teachers can choose. Most of the activities could be adapted for use with any literature text.

Photographs - A unit for grade 3-4 students designed by Sue Clennett - Sue developed this unit through action research while participating in the English Key Teacher Program. Some of the features of this unit that make it effective for teaching students about visual texts include:

• the focus on a limited number of aspects of visual text at any one time
• the balance between production and analysis of visual texts
• the opportunities for students to reflect on their learning at various stages and make connections with their own experience.

A Visual Literacy Unit for Students in Years 7 and 8  has been developed by Annette Moult. This unit is highly adaptable for any year group and logically looks at the construction of a range of visual texts starting with photographs and moving through to cartoons. The relevant contextual understandings, the linguistic structures and features along with strategies used to interpret visual texts are all featured and provide strong links to the English statement and profile. The unit offers valuable supporting notes, proformas, visuals and teaching techniques for any teacher.

Windows - A Unit about Viewing - This unit was developed by Helen Behrens for her kindergarten students at a Hobart primary school. Although the work has been completed successfully by kindergarten children, the application of these ideas could extend to other class groups.

Charisma or Conformity - An English unit of study of the film Dead Poet's Society designed by Pam Powell with grade 10 students in mind.

Stand and Deliver An English unit of study designed with year 10 students in mind. This unit, based upon the film Stand and Deliver (1993 Warner Home Videos), was written for students studying English in grade 10 at Huonville High School. The film tells the true story of a teacher at the worst school in Los Angeles who inspires his students to pass a very challenging Maths exam and changes their lives and aspirations, too.The unit considers relationships between teachers and students and the changes to students' lives that education brings. This unit was developed by Josie Robinson, Jean Walker, Andrew Kowaluk and Pam Powell.

Film Unit Outline - Cry Freedom This unit was developed by Kathy McLean for use with senior English students. It is easily adaptable for use with other films.

Film - Integrated Unit (Cry Freedom) This is an integrated unit for senior secondary students, designed by Daniel Konzelman who is a post-graduate student at Appalachian State University.

Blueback by Tim Winton - An English unit of work developed with grades 7 and 8 students in mind.

Wolf Lullaby - resource material This material has been developed by Katrina Churchill, Andrew Gibson, Mark Nicholson, Betty Reeve, Norma Watt and Chris Wilson to support the study of the play by senior secondary students.

Newspaper page production was designed by Lynne Collidge for year 11 students. Students work collaboratively to learn about the roles and tasks involved in newspaper production. They then construct and publish their own newspaper page featuring a range of forms of writing and visual text. This unit encourages students to take increasing control of their learning as they make decisions about focus, role allocations, time-schedules, use of technology and assessment.

Writing a class play based on a novel was designed by Tania Gretton-Flood for grade 8 students. In this unit, students compare the novel, John Marsden’s So Much to Tell You, with the script of its stage adaptation. They then work collaboratively to create a script for a different novel, James Moloney’s Buzzard Breath and Brains. The strategies used are appropriate for a number of other suggested texts and grade levels.

Writing Short Stories was designed by Lynne Collidge for a year 11 class. Students learn how to plan effective short stories before they start writing their own. They then work in groups to edit and revise their writing, focusing on specific aspects of story-writing. Finally, the stories are published in a class anthology.

Sports telecasts: Skills and Thrills is a unit outline developed by Pam Powell. This critical literacy unit enables students to investigate attitudes, values and assumptions in sports telecasts. Students compare telecasts of netball and football as one of the activities. There are also opportunities for students to take social action.

English Online - New Zealand  These units are produced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. They are exceptionally well-conceptualised, comprehensive and classroom-oriented with multiple links to other sites. Highly recommended.

The WebQuest Page  An excellent site for those who want to teach with the web. WebQuests are inquiry-oriented and designed to use students’ time well and support high level thinking. There are WebQuests for students k-12.

The TOLS Collection. These units have been developed by teachers in the Tasmanian Open Learning Service.

Teaching Poetry. You will find many useful ideas to include in a poetry unit from the recent on-line discussion by teachers on the English classroom forum. The ideas are relevant for primary, secondary and college teachers.

Survival. A unit for grade 9 students developed by Gail Harris and Prue McCausland at Exeter High. It includes study of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and involves students in a range of survival scenarios.

What's in a Bag?
In this unit by Sally Gill, students learn how to critically analyse shopping bags as visual texts. They also create their own bags to match particular design briefs. The unit was originally designed for grade 6 but is adaptable for students of other ages.

Moses Beech: Student Activities
Designed by Doug Bruce, this unit includes oral and group activities. The students also create visual and written texts.

Looking for Alibrandi - a collection of activities and resources
Ideas for studying one of Australia's best-loved texts for young adults. Includes successful classroom strategies contributed by Cherie Scott, Colette Chinn and Elizabeth Robinson, as well as links to reviews and other resources for studying the novel or the film.

Intertextuality and Poetry
Intertextuality and Poetry was designed by Angela Bird for pre-tertiary English 821C. Starting with Roger McGough's 'The Railings', students explore issues associated with fatherhood. They work with newspaper articles, films and other texts, before producing their own response in the form of a feature article.

What's so good about Alibrandi?
A unit of work developed by teachers at TOLS.

Approaching drama: experiencing language in a social context
This unit, presented by Ida McCann, is based on Jonothan Neelands’ pre-conference institute for the Leading Literate Lives conference. There are three sets of teaching activities outlined: introductory activities; an extended drama exploring issues in teen life; and an extended drama exploring the issue of bullying. The extended dramas presented are designed for students in grades 7-8 and 8-9, but the generic drama strategies described are applicable to a wide range of ages.

Inventions
A unit developed by Linda Heerey, Andrea Dare and Monika Glover. Inventions focuses on report writing within an integrated unit designed to develop Essential Learnings.

Romeo and Juliet
Anne Kostaras shows how to use drama to deeply engage students when working with texts.

The River
A unit of work for upper primary students on Libby Hathorn's intriguing picture novel.

 

Frames of Inquiry; a participatory approach to connecting with texts
Teaching units devised by teachers who attended PD with Jeff Wilhelm.

An Introduction to the Units of Work Inspired by the Jeff Wilhelm Residential
In the introduction Rosalind Walker, a teacher at Hobart College and a participant at the Jeff Wilhelm residential, has outlined the underpinning theory and the terms used by the teachers.

The Divine Wind
Christine Cox used "The Divine Wind" with her students at Rosny College in this Inquiry Unit.

A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove
This Inquiry Unit was developed by Jenny O'Shannessey and Maureen Mann with a mixed ability Grade 9 at Queechy High School.

What is Good Friendship
Mandy Jak who teaches at Port Dalrymple School and Alison Brooks teaching at Rocherlea Primary designed this Inquiry Unit for upper primary school students.

A Fair Go!
The outline plan for this sequence of work was devised by Peta Kelly, Gianna Staples and Andrea Long. It was subsequently refined and taught to a group of mixed ability students in Grade 9 at Clarence High school.The unit of work is based on the issues and themes raised in the novel Deadly Unna, a longer and more challenging text than many students in the class would normally choose to read. Students needed assistance to be able to go beyond the literal level of the book and identify the underlying themes relating to social justice issues in Australian life.

King Lear
Rosalind Walker teaches pre-tertiary English Literature at Hobart College. In the design of this unit she has incorporated the theory and strategies outlined by Jeff Wilhelm. She has also written the introduction which precedes the teacher devised units. In the introduction Rosalind has given a succinct overview of the underpinning theory and clear definitions of the terms used in the text of the units.

What do you need to be a survivor?
Alison Ruddle teaches English and Integrated Studies at Wynyard High School. This Inquiry Unit showcases Gary Paulsen’s “Hatchet” and was developed for a Grade 8 Integrated Studies class in a middle school setting.

Become a Media Megastar
Libby Robinson teaches English at Rose Bay High School. This unit was developed in a team teaching situation with Teacher of the Deaf, David Buchanan. It was designed as a cross curricular inquiry unit for a bilingual grade 8 class. There are 3 deaf students in the class.

In an environmental ecosystem who has priority?
Angelique Susnja teaches in Fairview primary. This Inquiry Unit crosses a number of areas of the curriculum: English, SOSE, Science, Health and Well-Being.

How do people's beliefs affect the way they act?
Jennifer Davey teaches English at Exeter High School. In this Inquiry Unit the central text is Dougy by James Maloney.

The Struggle for Equality and Civil Rights
Robyn Spalding teaches English at Newstead College. Her Grade 12 Applied English students were enthusiastic about this Inquiry Unit. Their interest in what they were learning was sustained over time.

What makes a good relationship: Inquiry Unit
Gianna Staples teaches English at Clarence High School. This inquiry unit isa study of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Gianna says her students found that exploring Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of the types of relationships that it portrays, gives it meaning for today.

What do texts tell us about being a boy or a girl?
In this inquiry unit 'What do texts tell us about being a boy or a girl?' Sue Tucker invites students to explore how texts construct ideologies. Sue Tucker is District Literacy Officer in Arthur District and based at Acton School, Burnie.

Lionheart
This unit on the adventure/autobiographical text Lionheart - A Journey of the Human Spirit was designed by Beth Coombe for Grade 9 and 10 students. A range of approaches to the text are suggested, including debating, diary writing, poetry writing, small group discussion, reflective journal writing, website exploration and essay writing.

Understanding Narrative Writing: Practical Strategies
A set of activities designed by Steven Figg to increase students' understanding and enjoyment of narrative writing. Suitable for a wide range of ages.

Advertising and Image
An award-winning WebQuest designed by Clarence High School teacher Ann Jones for students in years 8-10. This online unit explores the concept of what is real and what is illusion. It highlights how gender representation in advertisements can affect self esteem and helps students realise that the images they see are only versions of reality and not the truth. A particularly effective unit which encourages the development of higher-order thinking skills.

Essential Learnings units with an English Focus
A range of new English units and snapshots have been published on the Learning, Teaching and assessment Guide.