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Listed under:  Language  >  Text types  >  Imaginative texts
Video

Heywire: Woolly holiday

For Genevieve Wright, the first day of school holidays means heading to the shearing shed to spend a day of back-breaking work! As you listen to her Heywire audio story, explore Genevieve's characterisation of herself. How does she reflect her personality through the descriptions of her actions and environment?<br /><br ...

Video

ABC Open: Australian Children's Laureate, Jackie French

Jackie French is the Australian Children's Laureate for 2014-2015, and the author of the famous Wombat series of books. Watch this video to find out how a wombat inspired and conspired against her literary ambitions! What are your inspirations when you write?

Video

Thinking about story themes

Noa and Francis are two young writers who've had their stories published. Listen as they talk about the main ideas they chose to explore in their stories. Find and watch the clips of Noa and Francis reading their pieces at the Melbourne Writers Festival (also found on Splash). How did they build their stories around the ...

Video

Creating character 'trade marks'

Leigh Hobbs says that his character Old Tom's black eye, fish bone and comb are visual devices - Tom's trade marks. What do you think he means by this? Can you think of other fictional characters with trade marks or something that encapsulates who they are?

Video

BTN: Andy Griffiths' writing tips

Watch this clip as Andy Griffiths offers his tips on how to write a story. See if you can come up with your own story that begins with you opening a box marked, "DO NOT OPEN". What's in the box? What happens next? Keep in mind Andy's three tips!

Online

What is Shakespeare Unbound?

Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this. Actors from Australia’s famous Bell Shakespeare Company, including Artistic Director John Bell, present key scenes from six of Shakespeare’s best-known works before joining conversations to dissect the playwright’s use of character, plot and language. Custom-made for Australian ...

Video

Teddy Rock's 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'!

Sing along with Buzz, Belle and Bop as they perform 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' in this animated music video. Then have some fun exploring rhyme and description as you create your own verse for this classic nursery rhyme.

Interactive

Bear and Chook by the Sea

This learning object is designed around a series of videos with Lisa Shanahan, author, and Emma Quay, illustrator, including a reading experience of their collaborative work, Bear and Chook by the Sea. Taken as a whole, this sequence of lessons is a Stage 1 unit of work that results in students working in pairs to produce ...

Video

How to write fiction that comes alive

This short video for students shares some vividly illustrated tips on how to use language to make your fiction really come alive using metaphors, sensory imagery, onomatopoeia and avoiding cliches.

Interactive

Big battles!

Students explore music and dance through body percussion and singing as they learn the story of the unicorn and lion's big battle. They create a collage artwork using images of lions and unicorns that they can find.

Interactive

Tristan Bancks

This resource is a series of videos featuring writer Tristan Bancks talking about his writing. Related resources and teaching notes are included.

Interactive

Alison Lester – writing your own books

This twelve video resource contains video of author and illustrator Alison Lester guiding students to create, first a collaborative whole class book and second, an individual book using digital technologies. In each video Lester discusses aspects of her creative processes and the books she has written. Her books are aimed ...

Online

Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man

The Seven Ages of Man is a monlogue from Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It' which is depicted in a series of stained glass windows at the State Library of NSW. Inspired by the text and the visual representation, a sequence of two activities guide students to write the 'Seven Ages of Women' and design stained-glass windows ...

Online

Class blog

Students unpack elements of English and Digital Technologies and investigates the concept, purpose and critical features of a good blog.

Video

Andy Griffiths' advice for becoming a brave writer

Are you sometimes a bit scared to share your writing with other people? Find out what Andy Griffiths recommends. If you don't have a journal or a diary, why not get your hands on an exercise book and start writing a little bit every day to practise. As Andy says, you can write about any crazy thing you like! It's only for ...

Interactive

A New Kind of Alchemy

'A New Kind of Alchemy' is an interactive online graphic novel about a future world threatened by extinction. It is based on a short story by Australian writer, James Roy. The graphics can be downloaded and used to create your own story.

Online

Cats, Dogs and Us: Lesson Plans (years 3-4)

This teacher resource is an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) resource designed to encourage students to examine the physical characteristics and natural behaviours of cats and dogs, and discuss the various ways we live with and care for cats and dogs around the world. It consists of nine lesson plans, two worksheets, ...

Online

Cats, Dogs and Us: Education pack (years 5-6)

This education pack is an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) resource designed to build students' understanding about the special place domestic cats and dogs have in people's lives. The pack consists of a teaching guide, a student magazine and five student worksheets focusing on topics such as the physical characteristics ...

Video

Romeo and Juliet: Growing up in a hurry

Act 3.2 in 'Romeo and Juliet' is a pivotal moment in Juliet's character development. Shakespeare manages to compress months of growing up into a single potent scene. Join James Evans as he explores Juliet's soliloquy from the beginning of this scene, and what it reveals about her coming of age, with Miranda Tapsell and ...

Text

Introduction to Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew

This resource for students is the second in a series entitled 'Introduction to Shakespeare', based on a study of 'The Taming of the Shrew'. This resource looks at selected scenes, with activities based on each. Students are asked to: translate speeches into modern English; analyse the use of puns to create humour; discuss ...