This is a great little starter activity when teaching castle design. Students divide themselves into three teams - research, design, and construction. Then using only scotch tape, scissors, and a tablet/computer or textbook, they need to design their own castle using the labels provided. Works especially well when accompanied by Mission Impossible music! I hope you enjoy using this resource as my students do. And if you like this free resource why not check out my shop for more goodies?

This is a simple but effective way to spruce up any History display. Key terms and words. Just print and stick on your displays. Et voila! Have a wonderful day.

The Key Question in this lesson is ‘why did Spanish decline in the Philippines?’ and it is fully resourced. The lesson begins with a Who Wants to be a Millionaire starter activity in which student are invited to place in order (fastest finger first) the duration of occupancy of the British, Japanese, Americans, and Spanish. They are then introduced to a six-pointed hexagon with the key reasons for the decline of the Spanish Empire in the Philippines (these include conditions under Spanish rule, maritime competition, the opening of the Suez Canal, the growth of Filipino resistance, Moro rebellions, and the Spanish-American War. After this starter activity the class are then introduced to their aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/some will/most will). The class then begin their main activity which is an Escape Room activity. There are six tasks which can be placed in a padlocked box. Students can use internet devices or own knowledge to figure out the clues. For example, the first clue is when did Magellan die? The answer is 1521 so a padlock can be coded for this. It is a lot of fun but if time is against you, you can of course just print the clues back-to-back and ask students to reveal their answers on paper/mini whiteboards. Once they have cracked the code, they then have an activity to answer which relates to the six key reasons on the hexagon and they complete these activities on the worksheet provided (works best when printed on A3). When students have cracked all six boxes there is a ‘boss level’ box in which they are invited to explain the reasons and offer a conclusion. The lesson concludes with a plenary in which they are required to vote on the main reason using a hexagon (six reasons, they place a post-it note to write their key explanation/factor down. The closer to the centre the more important they see it to be.) There is a written piece of homework set also. The emergence of the Philippines as an independent nation is of massive importance to the world and I take great pride in this lesson because it helps students understand some of the key reasons for this. It is written in UK-English and pitched at high achieving Year 7-9 high school students.

In this 61-page PowerPoint students address the Key Question ‘What impact did the Spanish conquest have on the Philippines?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity in which an image of the fiesta of the Black Nazarene is revealed. It is a ‘What’s Behind the Squares’ Activity and students are invited to say what they see as each square is revealed. This leads to a discussion about the impact Roman Catholicism has had (positive and negative) on the country. Students are then provided with aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/most will/some will). There are then some detailed slides on a range of ways in which Spanish colonisation impacted on the Philippines and these are discussed via teacher exposition. These include changes to place names (not least the country name), people names, religion, holidays and fiestas, architecture, loss of land for the first settlers, food and drink, treasures plundered, disease, beauty, language, and education. Students have been asked in the objectives to explain 1, 3, or 7+ areas using their mind maps (these are broken down into neutral, positive, and negative aspects of Spanish colonisation) and are invited to attempt the main task which is to draw a street scene showing some of these changes. An example is given. Once the class have completed this there is then a plenary activity in which students are asked to vote with their feet by standing up and moving to one side of the class or the other. The question is ‘should Spain apologise/pay reparation to countries it colonised?’ (Spain to this day has refused to do so). A homework activity is also included which is intended to consolidate the lesson. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. It has been written in UK-English and is designed for high achieving high school students.

This is a fully-resourced History Mystery and is part of my unit on the History of the Philippines. The lesson begins with an Odd One Out Starter Activity which is about people who have died for their countries, and this invites conversation about who Andres Bonifacio was. There is then some background information and links to two short videos which portray very different deaths. The lesson title is introduced and clear aims and graduated objectives (all will/most will/some will) are given. The main activity is then a drip-fed History Mystery activity. Students are issued 12 different information cards one at a time which give key pieces of information about the life and death of Bonifacio. Using these they complete a History Mystery evidence grid which asks them to infer from each piece of evidence. After this is complete suggested inferences are provided on the PPT. The class are asked to refer back to the lesson objectives and the final plenary task is a voting task in which they are asked to stand on one side of the room to show if they believe Bonifacio was killed because he broke the rule of war or whether they think his death was unfair and a political assassination by his rival Aguinaldo. A homework task (newspaper activity) is set also.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Ancient China. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

This fully resourced lesson begins with a Starter Activity in which students are invited to play a game of Play Your Cards Right in order to test chronological understanding of some of the key reasons for the invasion. The title is then introduced along with graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will). There then follows some slides of teacher exposition on what actually happened as well as the international response/consequences and students are given a template (a newspaper template with headings which match the eight points discussed) on which to jot down key names, dates, people, places, events, quotations, and statistics. When they have achieved this, they then write up their own newspaper (you can give them the editable PPT template or just print it off). A completed example is given, and students are brought back to the criteria to show progress made. Areas/subheadings which will have been covered include: What was the Wal Wal Incident Full on invasion and weapons on both sides Nature of the fighting The Emperor of Abyssinia Facts and figures Speech at the League of Nations The international response Consequences There is then a charades plenary for students to recap the knowledge of key vocabulary covered (this also words as a game of Pictionary.) I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as mine always do.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Imperial Russia. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Shanghai - Local History Unit. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

I give my students a learning journey sheet for each topic covered for Core Content B: International Relations since 1919 and also the B and C Depth Studies on Germany 1918-45 and Russia 1905-41. These come as PPT and are easily editable but ensure students constantly know where on there learning journey they are. Each separate journey includes inquiry questions, lesson headings, assessment information, and tips on how to challenge oneself further. I hope they are of use to you and please do email me if you have any questions about this resource.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Twentieth Century China. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Stalin’s Russia The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about the USA in the 1920s and 1930s. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about the Triangular Trade. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Weimar and Nazi Germany. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Medieval Realms. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

I have designed this lesson as part of a local History unit on the Philippines but it works just as well as a stand alone lesson if you are teaching war in the Pacific. It is titled ‘What was life like for Filipinos under Japanese occupation?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity about a Primary school teacher, Miss Fernandez. Students are asked to say what they see as squares are revealed. Ultimately it shows her as a guerilla fighter with 200 Japanese scalps to her name. This invites the question why her life took such a change and this in turn introduces us to the graduated learning objectives (all will/most will/some will). The main task is outlined - to create a museum exhibition which answers the key question. There is then very detailed information given on 7 areas of life under Japanese rule. These are the Bataan Death March, the Battle of Manila, Japanese war crimes, resistance movements, rule and government, Kamikaze fighting, and the Leyte landings. After information on each area there are suggestions for possible exhibitions. Students then present these exhibitions before a plenary in which they are encouraged to review over 40 pieces of vocabulary they have been introduced to as well as a homework task in which they write a letter as Miss. Fernandes explaining her actions to future generations. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. Have a great day, Daniel

I take great pride in leading my students to the Manila US military cemetery every year. Now you can purchase my 27-page pack which focuses on the areas of background, civilians, POWs, war crimes, the Battle of Manila, resistance, technology, the fallen, the chapel, Leyte Gulf and much more. This pack is designed to complement in-class studies and comes with a staff copy with answers. It has been designed specifically for this historic site and is of use only to teachers leading a trip to the cemetery. Please let me know if you have any questions and I wish you a wonderful day.

After reading through the background information students sift through the twenty four incredibly detailed evidence cards provided to create columns which show how power, politics and people explain the reasons Caesar was killed on the Ides of March. This is an ideal task to help scaffold student responses to a piece of extended written work or timed assessment. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine do!