This engaging Australian poetry analysis activity is based on Banjo Paterson’s humorous bush ballad A Bush Christening and is designed to strengthen Australian poetry comprehension, close reading, and analytical writing skills in Secondary English classrooms.
Students explore characterisation, storytelling techniques, humour, and representations of Australian bush life while developing confidence in identifying and analysing language features. The workshop-style format makes it ideal as a short poetry study, exam preparation task, or focused literacy unit within a broader High School English program.
Structured to run across approximately 2 – 3 lessons, this resource requires minimal preparation and supports clear, scaffolded skill development.
Best suited for:
• Australia – Years 9 – 10
• New Zealand – Years 10 – 11
• UK – Years 9 – 10 (Key Stage 4)
• USA – Grades 9 – 10
What this Secondary English poetry resource includes:
• A carefully selected overview of key poetic techniques for analysis
• A guided close reading framework to support structured responses
• Targeted language analysis tasks focusing on selected techniques
• Four differentiated extension activities to deepen understanding
• A marking guide for assessment alignment
• Teacher reference notes with sample analytical insights
This poetry unit supports students to:
• Develop close reading strategies
• Identify and analyse imagery, tone, and structural features
• Strengthen paragraph writing for analytical responses
• Practise exam-style extended writing
• Engage with classic Australian literature in an accessible way
Teachers appreciate this resource because it is:
• Classroom-ready and low-prep
• Flexible for whole-class, independent, or relief teaching use
• Clear and supportive for lower secondary learners
• Aligned with analytical and assessment-focused writing tasks
This Banjo Paterson poetry analysis workshop provides a practical and engaging way to teach Australian bush poetry while building essential High School English comprehension and essay-writing skills.
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Years 7-11
12 pages
3-4 lessons
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