English: Asking and Listening

Welcome to our toolkit for using What's Your Story? in your Senior Phase English lessons. These resources are categorised into two sections: asking and listening and telling. We recommend you always begin with asking and listening to build a helpful foundation for your learners. View the content for telling here.

In this section, there are five lesson plans that cover three topics. The lessons include presentations, keywords, handouts and audiovisual materials, which can be viewed and downloaded from the lesson module, or downloaded individually from our resources page.

In addition, we have two teacher training videos that can be downloaded or watched online:

We also have a PDF of all the lesson plans available, if you would prefer to use them that way.

CAPS Alignment


Topic 1: Listening and speaking

Types of language texts used:

  • Conversations
  • Dialogues
  • Interviews
  • Prepared speeches
  • Storytelling
  • Informal discussion/conversations
  • Lesson 1: Active listening
  • Lesson 2: Empathy
  • Lesson 3: How we view the world
  • Lesson 4: Pyramid story structure
  • Lesson 5: Telling the stories of others

Topic 2: Reading and viewing

  • Reading processes and strategies
  • Interpretation of visual texts
  • Lesson 1: Active listening
  • Lesson 2: Empathy
  • Lesson 3: How we view the world
  • Lesson 4: Pyramid story structure

Topic 3: Writing and presenting

Types of writing texts used:

Essays

  • Narrative essays
  • Reflective essays

Transactional texts

  • Diary entries
  • Posters
  • Contracts
  • Speeches
  • Interviews

Literary media texts

  • Personal recounts
  • Dialogues
  • Newspaper articles
  • Documentaries
  • Lesson 4: Pyramid story structure
  • Lesson 5: Telling the stories of others