English / Year 10 / Language / Expressing and developing ideas

Curriculum content descriptions

Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of sentence and clause structures as authors design and craft texts (ACELA1569)

Elaborations
  • recognising how emphasis in sentences can be changed by reordering clauses (for example, ‘She made her way home because she was feeling ill’ as compared with ‘Because she was feeling ill, she made her way home’) or parts of clauses (for example, ‘The horses raced up from the valley’ as compared with ‘Up from the valley raced the horses’)
  • recognising how the focus of a sentence can be changed through the use of the passive voice (for example compare active, ‘The police had caught the thief.’ with passive ‘The thief had been caught.’)
  • observing how authors sometimes use verbless clauses for effect (for example, ‘And what about the other woman? With her long black eyelashes and red lipstick’)
  • understanding that a sentence can begin with a coordinating conjunction for stylistic effect (for example, ‘And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it’)
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Sentences (Grammar)

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Performing a Haiku: How can spoken word transform a poem?

In this lesson, students will reflect on small moments of peace or happiness to write an original haiku. Students will demonstrate spoken word to perform a haiku for an audience.

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Learning From Lyrics

In this lesson, students will research the lyrics of contemporary songs to analyse how social issues, are expressed through music and other art forms. Students will interpret song lyrics to create original art expressing the theme, issue, point of view, and/or facts from the song.

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Slessor: Selected Poems: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the poetry collection Slessor: Selected Poems which explores the themes of art, death and time. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Peter Kirkpatrick.

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The 7 Stages of Grieving: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the play script 7 Stages of Grieving. This one-woman show follows the journey of an Aboriginal ‘Everywoman’ as she tells poignant and humorous stories of grief and reconciliation. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Melissa Lucashenko.

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The Book That Made Me: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support The Book That Made Me which is a collection of interviews with writers identifying the books that stimulated their love of writing. The book can be used to support any close study of books, alongside a wide reading unit or as part of a Reading to Write unit. This unit provides ...

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Death Sentence: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the non-fiction book Death Sentence which explores the power of language to shape our imagination and, therefore, our world. It is a text about how language is used and misused. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task, an essay by Bernadette Brennan and ...

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It’s Raining in Mango: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel titled It’s Raining in Mango. Set in nineteenth century Queensland, it explores the theme of Aboriginal dispossession. This unit of work enables students to develop an appreciation of the relationship between critical analysis and the craft of writing. This unit provides ...

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Away: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the script of the play Away. The play explores the themes of Australian identity, belonging, coming of age, connection to place, death, family, reconciliation and redemption. This unit provides practical teaching, an assessment task and two essays about the text.

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Work sample Year 10 English: Essay on the Romantic poetry movement with visual representations

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 10 English. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

Interactive

Samuel Wagan Watson

This sequence of videos is an interactive resource for Stage 4/5 English and or Stage 4/5 Aboriginal Studies. It assists students to develop knowledge and understanding about Indigenous cultures of Australia. Students will respond to the poet, his texts, and at least one other Aboriginal poet, as well as composing at least ...

Interactive

Syllabus bites: Visual literacy

A resource with information, study guides and resources on visual literacy to support the English K-10 Australian Curriculum in English. It provides a series of activities, guidelines and tasks about visual texts from a variety of sources. Contains writing scaffolds, templates and proformas for responding and composing ...

Interactive

Syllabus bites: types of sentences

A web page resource with information, teacher guides and activities on types of sentences to support the Australian Curriculum in English K–10. It has detailed activities, links to resources and quizzes.

Interactive

Syllabus bites: Active and passive voice

A web page with information, teacher guides and activities on writing sentences using the active and passive voice. This resource supports the BOS NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Video

Heywire: To disconnect or not to disconnect?

How often are you ever truly alone? Today's technology can mean that we're in constant contact with friends and family. In this Heywire audio story, Dayna Duncan shares a time when she both needed to be connected and to balance her use of social media with other priorities in her life.<br /><br /> Could you write or record ...

Video

Heywire: Fortissimo frogs frustrate family

How could words convey the nightly racket of hundreds of croaking frogs outside your bedroom window? Can you think of ways to engage readers' senses so that they 'experience' the frog chorus? A use of imagery is one of them. It's something we'll explore in this humorous story about the perils of frogs. Could you write or ...

Video

Heywire: Sussing out the similes in a footy game

If you've ever tried to describe an experience to a friend and said, 'It was just like', you were using a simile. Similes and their close pals metaphors are figures of speech that writers of all sorts of texts use. As you listen to this Heywire audio story, explore Taylor Smith's use of them in his recount of a Saturday ...

Video

Heywire: Razia's refuge

Australia welcomes thousands of refugees from around the world every year, and Razia Gharibi is one of them. Her Heywire audio story about a journey from Afghanistan to Shepparton provides a personal perspective on Australia's refugee program. You could consider it in any discussion about whether or not Australia should ...

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Heywire: It's all in the tone

Feel the effect of David Martyr's skilful use of tone in this Heywire audio story of life in a mining camp. How does he create it, and what is its effect on how we respond to his subject matter? Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community? The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories ...

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Heywire: Tension in the air

In this Heywire audio story, explore how Marguerite Donaldson builds tension as she recounts a nerve-wracking incident that happened while she was flying one day. Find out what this incident has revealed to her and how she shares her thoughts. Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community? ...

Video

Come to a poetry slam!

Do you love words and the way they sound out loud? Have you ever been to a poetry slam? The Bankstown poetry slam is a monthly spoken word competition that celebrates the cultural diversity of south west Sydney. Slam poets perform original poems on any subject in front of a live audience. Recently the first Poetry Slam ...

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

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 ...

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Can We Help?: Naming words: significant social effects

The names we give people and places hold great significance for us. But have you ever thought about how this simple act can impact on others? Naming is a powerful tool. Watch this clip as Professor Kate Burridge explains the ways that language can have significant social effects.

Interactive

How to use indirect speech

This resource focuses on how to use indirect speech correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Interactive

Writing a feature article

The resource contains information, activities and tasks on how to write a feature article. It includes writing and publishing templates for students for a print and online contexts. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

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.

Interactive

Visual humour

This resource focuses on how humour is created in images, films and multimodal texts. It includes activities and reading strategies to support the analysis and understanding of the processes of visual humour in texts. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Interactive

When do I use a colon?

This resource focuses on how to use colons correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Interactive

Laptop wrap – putting the apostrophe in its place

This resource focuses on how to use apostrophes correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Interactive

Syllabus bites: Exploring Asia-related texts

This resource has information, links and study guides on Asia-related texts to support the Australian Curriculum in English for Year 7, 8, 9, 10.

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Syllabus bites – responding to literature

A web page with information, teacher guides and resources on responding to texts. This resource supports the NSW English K-10 syllabus.

Interactive

When do I use a semicolon?

This resource focuses on how to use semicolons correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Interactive

Putting the comma in its place

This resource focuses on how to use commas correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Video

Romeo and Juliet: Galloping towards tragedy

Have you ever waited for someone with such anticipation that you felt you might burst? That's exactly the feeling experienced by Juliet, played by Miranda Tapsell of Bell Shakespeare, in this soliloquy as she calls on night to arrive and bring her new husband. Shakespeare's masterful use of dramatic irony puts the audience ...

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Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 5: In conversation with David Malouf

David Malouf is an internationally-acclaimed Australian author, poet and essayist. In this conversation with radio host Tom Tilley, Malouf discusses his The Complete Stories, a collection of thirty-one short stories published since 1982. What emerges in this compilation is a diverse range of representations of Australian ...

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Romeo and Juliet: True love's passion

One of the most famous love scenes of all time is when Romeo and Juliet pledge their love for each other. Shakespeare's imagery evocatively captures the passion of two young lovers torn apart by their feuding families. Explore this pivotal scene as it is brought to life by Miranda Tapsell and Damien Strouthos of Bell Shakespeare.

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Romeo and Juliet: The language of true love

There are moments of extraordinary light and beauty amid the tragedy of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Join James Evans and actor Damien Strouthos from Bell Shakespeare as they discuss Act 2.2. Damien explains how Shakespeare's use of language reveals the intense passion, as well as frustration, experienced by Romeo and Juliet.

Interactive

Putting speech marks in their place

This resource focuses on how to use speech marks correctly, with information, links and activities. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

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Animal Farm Writing Tasks: Animal Farm Newspaper

This resource for students is the last in a thirteen part series based on a study of the novel 'Animal Farm'. This resource asks students to create a newspaper that could be published by the pigs on 'Animal Farm', including important events and in the style of thinly disguised propaganda. Information is provided on writing ...

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.