I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess how successful Elizabeth’s policy of plantation in Ireland really was.
Students begin by plotting areas on a map of Ireland and are required to explain previous Tudor policy in Ireland with some prompts when needed.
After being given the context to Ireland in 1558, they then analyse Elizabeth’s policy in Ireland and rate how effective each was, bearing in mind rebellions such as Shane and Hugh O’Neill.
There is some exam extract analysis practice to complete if required, complete with markscheme.
The plenary focuses on some interactive flashcards which recall the learning in the lesson.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the reasons why England went to war with Spain.
A first part of the lesson is focused on Elizabeth’s policies in the Netherlands and how this antagonism finally led to war.
The second part of the lesson analyses the reasons why the Spanish Armada failed. Whilst students appraise Philip’s plans for the invasion, they also have to make connections throughout its voyage as to why it was doomed from the start.
Included is a significance activity to complete, where students rate how important each event is in relation to Philip’s decision to go to war.
There is some exam practice to complete if required and a plenary which tests students’ ability to debate and counter argue. This is accompanied with a detailed markscheme.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to assess the significance of migration and its influence today.
Some key questions and misconceptions begin the lesson. This is extended by using some key words to students have to elaborate on, with help given if required.
There are also some Case Studies from various countries to analyse and study, as students give reasons for the migration from them.
There is also a chance to guess (with hints and prompts) which countries various people are from using modern day scenarios.
There is some extended writing to complete as well as links to video and images to consolidate understanding.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to assess how influential the first settler were to Britain.
Students are given the context as to why Britain was a good place to settle before deciding which tools unearthed were used for what.
The main task is to assess what different tribes brought with them and their legacy today.
There is a differentiated extended writing tasks and video links to accompany the lesson.
The plenary is a family fortunes quiz which students have to decide the most common answers given from a survey of 100 people.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to assess which individuals from the Caribbean had the greatest impact on British society before the Windrush generation.
This lesson is therefore the first part out of two focusing on Caribbean migration to Britain.
I have selected four individuals to discuss, address, highlight and evaluate: Mary Seacole, Mary Prince, Harold Moody and Walter Tull.
Each character is assessed using information given on their contribution to Britain, from autobiographies to sport, to medicine and changes in the law. Ultimately using some select criteria, students have to make a judgement on who had the biggest impact upon Britain at the time.
There are video links, source analysis as well as literacy and extended writing tasks on each person.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The Middle Ages
The aim of this lesson is to decide what happened to the Princes in the Tower.
The lesson begins with some context of the Wars of the Roses and who was next in line to the throne after King Edward IV.
Students are required to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the two Princes (Edward & Richard) and are introduced to the main suspects in this murder-mystery investigation.
As they examine a range of sources, they will begin to piece together an idea of what happened to them. They will then be required to complete an extended writing task with key words and help if required.
This lesson is ideal for sparking curiosity about historical mysteries and encouraging independent thinking. It also includes recently discovered new evidence by Professor Tim Thornton, which sheds new light on the investigation.
This lesson includes:
Fun, engaging and challenging tasks
Storytelling, critical thinking and source analysis
A family fortunes style plenary
Links to video footage
Printable worksheets
Differentiated tasks
Suggested teaching strategies
PowerPoint format, which can be changed to suit
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the causes and consequences of Irish migration to Britain and its significance today.
The lesson is split into three sections: the consequences of the Irish famine, the impact of Irish navvies to the Industrial Revolution in Britain and Irish culture and significance in Britain today.
Students are given the context to Irish migration to Britain before they analyse the causes of consequences of the Irish famine. They can complete part of a GCSE style question if required.
They are then given information on the part played by Irish navvies in the Industrial Revolution and prioritise there impact.
Finally they study Irish culture in Britain today and evaluate how it has impacted upon Britain today through an extended writing task. They is help given with structure here if required.
There are video links to the lesson and an odd one out activity at the end to consolidate the learning of the lesson.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The Industrial Revolution
This lesson aims to analyse the changing population demographic and the reasons why these changes were happening at the time.
The lesson begins with a high tempo start, revealing what’s behind the boxes and follows onto a true or false quiz using a clue mat.
Each student is also given a character card and they analyse how their person impacts upon the population changes happening.
They have to explain these changes using various learning tasks, including an extended writing piece with help given if required
Finally students have evaluate the various reactions people would have felt at the time and justify their decisions.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
This is a summary revision guide tailored to the OCR Conflict and Cooperation 1918-1939 unit for GCSE (International Relations: The Changing International order 1918-2001).
The resource is in booklet form and is ideal for the student who wants a quick recap before the exam as it set out all the main details in bullet form.
It is also extremely useful and cheap for printing and giving out to the students who can also use it for interleaving and homework.
The resource is editable and can be changed to suit with PDF and Word formats included.
Any reviews of this resource would be extremely welcome.
This lesson aims to introduce the main contenders to the vacant throne of England in 1066 with the deat hof Edward the Confessor. Students have to understand why a chair (a throne) would cause a war and read a script to understand who the main contenders were and the reasons they put forward for having a claim to the English throne.
Diffetentiated bloom’s questions aim to deepen their understanding and get them to analyse who has the best claim and why (thus extracting fact from fiction). A brilliant video link to English heritage and extra work sheets will give them all the knowledge required to create a newspaper report or table to ultimately evaluate these claims of the contenders
The resource comes in PDF and Powerpoint formats if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included. The accompanying script for the lesson can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/medieval-britain-script-for-the-normans-who-had-the-best-claim-to-the-english-throne-in-1066-11456418
If you like this resource, please visit my shop where I have created further resources on Medieval Britain which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/PilgrimHistory
This lesson links to my previous one on the causes of the Great Fire of London.
In this lesson, students have to decide how lucky London was to have the fire in the first place.
They are introduced to conflicting arguments before they are given a plethora of evidence from which they will be able decide and make judgements on how to break the news to the current Mayor of London.
They are subsequently given argument words to help them construct a persuasive letter.
For extra challenge students have to decide if London was lucky or not in the short and long term and break down the evidence into political, social, economic or religious reasons.
This is a fun, entertaining as well as a challenging lesson and would also suit a non specialist.
The lesson is aimed at key stage 3, but can be delivered at key stage 2 also.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This double lesson aims to explain the treatment soldiers received on the battlefield for their injuries and the new treatments available or being developed to aid their recovery.
Students will analyse and evaluate the work of the RAMC, F.A.N.Y, V.A.D.'s as well as the role played by Regimental Aid Posts, Advanced Dressing Stations, Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals,
There is also a case study of the underground hospital at Arras.
They will focus on the significant advances in the treatment of the wounded including the Thomas Splint, the Carrel-Dakin method of using a sterilised salt solution in the wound, mobile and static x-ray units and portable blood transfusion kits as well as the ability to store blood.
Furthermore there are case studies involving the pioneering work of brain surgeon Harvey Cushing and the reconstructive facial surgery of Harold Gillies,
Activities include recall and retrieval, evaluation and analysis, summarising, discussion and debate, source analysis, the use of video evidence as well as GCSE exam question practice.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This lesson aims to show how fighting in the trenches led to terrible injuries, infection and problems in treated the wounded.
Students judge which medical conditions were the worst and rate them according to their severity.
Case studies include trench foot and shellshock with an excellent BBC link to treating infection on the battlefield.
They also learn the difficulties of transporting the wounded and which facilities were available for this at the beginning of 1914 and how this changed over time.
Activities include recall and retrieval, evaluation and judgement, discussion and debate, a thinking quilt linking ideas together, as well as GCSE question practice, with help given if required.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
World War II
The aim of the lesson is to question if it is right to help your enemy.
Once the students decide what a collaborator is and the punishments involved, they have to make a judgement if they agree with collaborating in times of war or not. Their opinions are challenged throughout the lesson.
They analyse the reasons for collaboration and complete a thinking quilt which challenges their literacy and evaluation skills.
There are some brilliant sources to accompany the lesson, including visual images from the time as well as a case study of Chaim Rumkowski who helped the Nazis believing it was the key to Jewish survival in the ghettoes.
The plenary is a retrieval practice activity deciding which is the odd one out.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work.
The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
The slides cover the following words and their definitions: Anglo-Saxons, allegiance, authority, cause, chainmail, change, Christianity, conqueror, consequence, continuity, defence, economic, features, feigned retreat, Fyrd, hierarchy, Housecarl, invasion, knights, landscape, medieval, Normans, oath, pagan, political, rebellion, religion, siege, society, victorious.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This lesson aims to explore how Elizabeth approached the difficult subject of religion in Tudor England.
Students are given the context of the religious situation left to Elizabeth by her predecessors, which will then give them answers as to why she took a calm and pragmatic approach to it.
Furthermore they have to decide through a colour coding exercise which were the smallest and major problems she faced with religion before deciphering her religious settlement using a text mapping activity.
Key questions can be used to understand the decisions she took.
A sequencing activity reinforces the learning of the lesson and its significance.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to examine push and pull factors which contributed to the American migration west.
Students are introduced to the Oregon Trail and learn how the Government promoted its use by providing $30,000 for an expedition led by John Fremont to map it out and report how exciting and achievable it was to travel along it.
An excellent accompanying video in contrast shows the realities however of travelling to the American west.
Students are given various scenarios which they have to decide are push and pull factors and for extra challenge decide if they are social, political or economic factors.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘consequences’ question worth 8 marks.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice is also included on spelling key words.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the importance of the Tudors and assess how much the students know about them.
The key skill of chronology is introduced from the start as students decide which Tudor came first to which came last.
Key questions floating past the screen as well as the wall of mystery give clues and answers to some interesting and gruesome facts on the Tudor family.
Students have the chance to create their own timelines, factual displays, key question and answer quizzes or an A-Z of Tudor facts.
The lesson finishes which two plenaries to choose from which both test their new found knowledge.
The resource comes in PowerPoint formats if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies and differentiated resources to deliver the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The aim of this lesson is to challenge and question the role of the Church in Medieval Society and after the Norman Conquest.
On face value, the power it had over people was enormous and with power came great wealth, often at the expense and help of the population.
But was it all corrupt and how much did people willingly give over their goods in return for salvation? These questions are explored through statistics, facts and video evidence.
Students are ultimately required to justify if the Church was corrupt by colour coding and rating batteries (linked to a final post it note challenge) and evidencing their choices.
There are also introduced to a number of key words which they are required to recall in the plenary.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
This lesson explores the role of monks and nuns in Medieval society and Norman England and questions their importance.
Students learn how people joined the monastic community and how they helped the local community.
Students also analyse their dress code and the reasons behind it, before engaging in literacy tasks such as linking their daily life to particularly headings and writing a narrative account.
There are accompanying worksheets and video links to reinforce the learning.
The plenary of ‘find and fix’ challenges the students to rewrite and correct a number of statements made.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.