I am, and always have been, an avid reader (and writer!). Reading is many things, including: a habit; a skill; a tool; a challenge; a pleasure; a terrible seven-letter word; a wonderful opportunity. I’m lucky – I know a lot about reading! One of my jobs as a mentor to gifted students is to recognise […]
This post serves to present some of the pedagogical matters I seek to address in mentoring gifted students, and to demonstrate the methods by which these different matters may be achieved. For a word document version of much better presentation and formatting than what is shown here email me at [email protected]. Van-Tassel Baska (1986) describes […]
The aim of this piece was to exercise the skill of composing a narrative using an interesting structural device. There are many such narrative devices that can be exercised to form a narrative that realises greater suspense or intrigue at different stages of the story, including epigrams, flashbacks, cliffhangers etc. In this piece, the structural […]
This is yet another 20 min short creative writing piece, this time in response to the image/prompt of a set of clocks. For a word document version of much better presentation and formatting than what is shown here email me at [email protected]. Remember, your goal is to produce focused writing by: • illustrating the context, […]
VCE English does require students to analyse texts, both in Outcome 1 and Outcome 3. The curriculum is not the same in Scotland where the focus for the analysis of literary techniques is much greater. I have found the pursuit of strong literary analysis to be extremely beneficial to students. In VCE English, students can […]
For a word document version of much better presentation and formatting than what is shown here email me at [email protected]. Outcome 2 – Ideas and Arguments Focus Questions and Topic Sentences/Prompts The challenge of Outcome 2 is in part to consider complex ideas and form certain arguments and conclusions for the chosen context. The terms […]
One good trick in short story writing is to achieve a variety of perspectives through the narration of different, and even conflicting, viewpoints. I do this using ellipsis ( * * * ) to present a transition from one narrator to another. The two submissions here using this technique are both 20 minute pieces written […]
The following presents two sets of activities to engender responses to the text The Web 2027 with respect to the concepts of “Connectivity” and “Virtual Reality”. Gifted students specifically benefit from study that focuses on concepts and relations between concepts, and enables engagement with content through differentiated learning activities (eg. Paradox, Attribute Listing etc…). Although […]
For a word document version of much better presentation and formatting than what is shown here email me at [email protected]. Literary techniques test Name: ______________________ 1. In your own words define the poetic/literary techniques of: Rhyme: _______________________________________________________ Rhythm: _______________________________________________________ Simile: _______________________________________________________ Metaphor: _______________________________________________________ Personification: __________________________________________________ Assonance: _______________________________________________________ Alliteration: ______________________________________________________ Symbolism: ______________________________________________________ Onomatopoeia: ___________________________________________________ Imagery: _______________________________________________________ […]
For a word document version of much better presentation and formatting than what is shown here email me at [email protected]. Focus An integral skill in successful short story writing is the ability to truly capture the imagined scene in writing. Unfortunately (at first) when writers are told both to “describe more” and to “keep your […]
