I have been teaching history since 2002 and I have been head of History at a school for 10 years which sees many of my students opt for GCSE, A level and beyond. I am passionate about History being taught well, and believe that this largely stems from good resources (as well of course effective delivery). My lessons and various teaching resources are therefore produced with the intention of inspiring students to think for themselves, to be challenged yet engaged.
I have been teaching history since 2002 and I have been head of History at a school for 10 years which sees many of my students opt for GCSE, A level and beyond. I am passionate about History being taught well, and believe that this largely stems from good resources (as well of course effective delivery). My lessons and various teaching resources are therefore produced with the intention of inspiring students to think for themselves, to be challenged yet engaged.
An easy cover lesson to set having studied the medieval realms. It uses the Horrible Histories compilation and there are a number of questions to answer.
There is then a blank word search so that students can create their own with written clues.
A simple chart for student’s to complete to show Hitler’s steps to war and the response of Europe (largely Britain and France).
This resource then works brilliantly with the “Was the Policy of appeasement a mistake?” resource, as students are able to understand Hitler’s actions and understand why people changed their minds about appeasement.
A super lesson that encourages students to identify the various actions and events surrounding the end of the 1905 revolution.
The resources are within the ppt and can be printed off and used around the room for students to collect the information or used as part of a group task/ discussion. They are to discover the reasons why the Tsar survived and if he was strengthening or weakening the country. At the end students are asked to think about the short and long term impact of the Tsar's actions. This then leads onto a super assessment essay question - Did the Tsar's response to the 1905 revolution make Russia stronger or weaker.
A source from the Southern Manifesto document and an appropriate AQA AS style question that encourages students to evaluate the primary source in relation to the exam criteria of provenance, tone, content and argument. By encouraging students to break down and analyse the source in relation to these specifics, it encourages them to always formulate their answer with the exam criteria in the forefront of their mind.
This is only one source and it is therefore worth mentioning that for AS purposes they would need a futher source which they must then compare and decide which one offers more value. For A2 they would need a further 2 sources but they are not expected to compare the sources.
This document works well with the How to answer a Primary Source flow chart document - one of my other resources available.
This is 3 pages of blank charts headed with key criteria for students to complete along side their own work/ notes to help them have all key policies, events and issues in one place. Please note, this does not have teachable content - it is for student’s to complete using their prior work , knowledge and is something they can then use to test themselves.
Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy in terms of their Domestic and Foreign policy and Civil rights agenda. In line with the AQA American Dream A level unit.
This is a Knowledge Organiser (KOs) which covers the reasons for the restoration in 1660. As KOs, this only cover the absolute basics, however in conjunction with lessons and learning homework, the idea is that students gain valuable specific knowledge that they can then incorporate into their written answers.
This KO could be used as a starter, recap, or as a learning homework that is then assessed in subsequent lessons.
Some homework ideas that could be used along side this KO could be…
1)Create 2 PEEL Paragraphs – 1 to show the restoration occurred because of the popularity of the monarchy and the 2nd to explain why the republic was weak.
2) Look, cover, write – The 5 reasons why the monarchy was restored.
3) Create a mnemonic to explain the Declaration of Breda
4) Create cue cards to show how the restoration settlement differed from the Grand Remonstrance.
5) Quiz on Socrative.
The second sheet is exam specific criteria to help students identify the key skills for the GCSE Modern World A - Personal Rule to Restoration depth study.
Attached is a knowledge organiser that covers briefly the reasons for USA’s involvement in Vietnam. The tactics of both the VC and the USA, a timeline, reasons for loss of support for the war in the USA and the impacts of the war on the USA.
The second page gives some suggested ideas on how to use the knowledge organiser within starters, plenaries or as homeworks.
A quick and simple revision game! This can be played as a whole class, in pairs or small groups, or even individually! Students will need a dice, they roll twice to gain the coordinates for the subject they must then explain. If they can talk relevantly about the topic for over 30 seconds they can double their dice score.
This game covers the OCR specification Explaining the modern world from Treaty of Versailles up to the War on Terror.
This is a Knowledge Organiser (KOs) which covers the settlement problems after the English Civil War, through to the execution of the king. Obviously as KOs, this only covers the absolute basics, however in conjunction with lessons and learning homework, the idea is that students gain valuable specific knowledge that they can then incorporate into their written answers.
This KO could be used as a starter, recap, or as a learning homework that is then assessed in subsequent lessons.
Some homework ideas that could be used along side this KO could be…
Create 2 different revision pieces showing Parliament’s division. (Revision cards/ mindmap/ Mnemonic, Look, copy cover etc)
Create a flow chart of escape, 2nd Civil War and execution.
Create a revision piece showing how the social and religious order had changed (The world turned upside down).
Create a piece of revision showing all the divisions with trying to create a settlement (use the divide symbol to help you locate all the divisions)
Create your own quiz on this page, to test someone else!
Quizzes on Socrative.
The second sheet is exam specific criteria to help students identify the key skills for the GCSE Modern World A - Personal Rule to Restoration depth study.
A whole lesson, that starts with some recap questions with answers on the Red scare in 1950s America.
There is a link to the clip - He may be a communist.
Students then need to complete a display page with images and words to complete about the reaction of the American government to the red scare using the text books - students
The following slides are then advice on how to answer certain exam style questions on the American paper.
There is advice and guidance for a 2 mark question and a 5 mark source work question.
This is a game of strategy and planning designed specifically to help understand the difference and importance of feudal knights and vassels etc and how conflicts required vast amount of resources.
This links to the OCR explaining the modern world Paper 2 war and society unit and deals with Edward I’s wars with Wales and Scotland.
Students would ideally need to have completed their lessons on these conflicts first.
Students have to strategise what they would take for each of the campaigns.
The game is then a sequence of historical scenarios which sees them lose or gain points depending upon their earlier decisions.
This has worked really well with our GCSE classes but is also something that could be done as a drop down day needed skills of collaboration, maths, strategy, planning and organisation.
This is a 38 slide ppt which includes printable resources for students to make notes plus a sheet which explains the various roles of each of the soldiers.
A lesson that explores parliamentary democracy in the UK and brief comparisons to other nations and its importance when examining human rights.
The lesson contains some questions to accompanying clips, gap fill activities as well as plenty of discussion opportunities.
There is also a quiz to be used at the end of the session
The ppt is 64 slides in length including worksheets for students and various quizzes.
This is just one lesson exploring the role and responsibilities of British people in the slave trade. It introduces the idea that whilst some were heavily involved in the slave trade there were many ordinary British people invested in the slave trade. This is great for discussions on diversity, acceptance, societal ‘norms’ and a great introduction into abolition.
The lesson involves 2 clips from BBC teach. There is a work sheet to go with the two clips. The first part of the worksheet has a space to make notes under Britain’s forgotten slave owners and the second clip which covers abolition and why it was opposed has a number of questions.
The PPt is only six slides in length but has a hinge question to check knowledge and understanding.
A KS3 lesson to introduce the Early Modern Period and some of the key changes across the period.
There is a a timeline included which encourages students to examine chronology and look at big periods of time identifying changes that occurred.
Students should then select 2 examples and write them up and draw a picture to go with it.
The final takes encourages students to identify which change they considered to be the most important and why.
An attractive timeline covering some of the key events from the Early Modern Period such as the Reformation in Europe, the dissolution of the monasteries, the English Civil War and the Jacobite rebellions.
This is to support student’s chronological understanding and so that they can begin to see how the events link rather than just view them in isolation.
Each student has a copy of this in their books and it forms part of their knowledge organiser.
This is part of a lesson examining the beginning process of how a historian work. It doesn’t deal with second order concepts - it is just an introduction for Yr 7 students.
There is ppt with a printable worksheet that explains the basics of how a historian works.
There are video links examining primary and secondary sources which students can make notes on and is a hinge question at the end.
A revision overview for students to complete. It is made up of a chart which is broken down into the three eras - Medieval, Early Modern, Modern and all the various wars. There is sections for students to complete key events and then spaces for the impact on the people, the government and other impacts.
On the back page there is exam guidance for Paper 2 OCR War and society for the 4 exam questions.
I usually print this off as an A4 booklet. The fact that it is in eras, really helps students then pull across the themes for the significance 14 mark Question and the comparing and contrasting period 24 mark question…
This follows on from 3 previous other lessons (also available), but could be a stand alone lesson. Within this lesson there are 3 documents. A ppt, a word document which has the layout of the Framlingham castle ( I suggest having this blown up to A3) and a chart comparing form and function throughout the ages - this can be used as a tick sheet for weaker students and a chance to explain and justify for more able students.
The ppt has a variety of slides that can be printed out for students to work in groups - or an around the room activity. Students will need to examine the specific key physical changes to Framlingham's form under the various nobility and then add the info or picture to the A3 word document. They should then annotate the layout with the correct century, to show how the castle's form evolved over time.
The final word document is to be used to show an overview of the function of the castle and again to see how this evolved over time. Weaker students could tick the castle's use ie, as security, as an impressive home, or as a charitable institution, and more able students could give examples of justification.
