Blueback and Literary Devices – constructing analytical sentences
Year 11 are studying Tim Winton’s Blueback as their text for the Reading to Write module. If you type ‘blueback’ into the search bar of this blog, you’ll notice this novel is […]
Love and Desire – immersive moments at the National Gallery of Australia
A beautiful Canberra day beckoned as I drove south to explore the Love and Desire exhibition, showcasing Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces from the TATE, works from British and Australian galleries and private collections. […]
Writing Effective Sentences – Reading to Write: Transition to Senior English
This post shares a recent lesson with my Year 11 Standard English class within the Stage 6 Reading to Write – Transition to Senior English module. As the first module […]
O Canada – Missy Higgins shares human experiences of refugee children
O Canada (2016), a haunting ballad, was written by Missy Higgins in response to the drowning of Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi. The first person perspective challenges our understanding of this […]
Transforming Texts – building creative capacity
In studying Past the Shallows and considering short texts as related material, I chose Simon Cowdroy’s highly commended ‘Particularly Complicated When The Snakes Show Up’ from Bath Flash Fiction Awards. The […]
The Lighthouse Song – human experiences of isolation and protection
An all time favourite music video, The Lighthouse Song by Josh Pyke works beautifully as related material for Favel Parrett’s haunting novel Past the Shallows. Reading Australia has an excellent teaching resource which, though […]
#Let’s Create: Creating Poetry Zines: ETA Writing Teachers Retreat at Q Station
When thanking Peter, David and Amy for sharing their work after the keynote address on Friday morning, I reminded delegates that each would have received a zine in their conference […]
#Let’s Create – ETA Annual Conference bursting with creativity
Such a wonderful way to finish the professional development calendar with the English Teachers Association annual conference! This year, we took the 200 year anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as our […]
Life Writing at Wombat Hollow
This year, Writer in Residence at Moss Vale High was Lucy Palmer, author of A Bird on My Shoulder and Playing the Game: Life and Politics in Papua New Guinea – Sir Julius […]
Fabric Dyeing with Plants – exploring a new skill
I love learning, and developing new practical skills give me the chance to create something concrete and tangible, which is a welcome change from the world of English teaching. The […]
