“My purpose is to engage students in dialogue so they can see others’ points of view – in a world that needs this more than ever. I do this by sharing lessons on this site which connect students with the past and inspire critical thinking. Please read below to find details about this one.” Dan This is a terrific first lesson if teaching a unit on Russia from the turn of the Nineteenth Century until the Revolution. Students are introduced to the lesson with a ‘what’s behind the squares PPT’ which reveals a Social Revolutionary poster displaying Russian society as a wedding cake. They are then given a detailed 8 page set of notes broken down into population, cities, geography, rule and government and so forth and are asked to research and present 8 physical items that explain what life was like for different groups for their main task. They are given some examples (such as Faberge eggs or rubles buried under peasant homes or Cossack knouts/whips to guide them). I have also included a plenary (Dingbats) with some of the key terms students come across in this lesson to test comprehension at the end of their presentations. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine do. It is designed for secondary aged students who can use detailed information as well as their own research to present their findings. Any questions please let me know and I’m always happy to help.

“My purpose is to engage students in dialogue so they can see others’ points of view – in a world that needs this more than ever. I do this by sharing lessons on this site which connect students with the past and inspire critical thinking. Please read below to find details about this one.” Dan This lesson is titled “What was life like in the Crusades?” This lesson begins with an Odd One Out Starter Activity in which the class are asked to pick out one untruth from a choice of four. This then introduces the Key Question and aims and there are graduated learning objectives (all will/most will/some will). There are then slides of background knowledge for teacher exposition. After this, students are placed in groups of four and given a character card. They need to then walk around 10 portraits in a Gallery Walk exercise to jot down knowledge and information to help them create a TV Chat show to answer the Key Question. After this they perform their responses. The lesson objectives are revisited to ensure students have made progress and the lesson concludes with a plenary activity in which they are invited to write on speech bubbles on a Crusader to help explain what life was like for him. Wishing you a terrific day.

“My purpose is to engage students in dialogue so they can see other’s points of view – in a world that needs this more than ever. I do this by sharing lessons on this site which connect students with the past and inspire critical thinking. Please read below to find details about this one.” Dan The title of this lesson is “What was the most significant artefact in the push towards gender equality? Dragon’s Den Project.” This is a great project-based lesson designed to promote the second-order concept of significance and includes graduated learning outcomes (all of you will/most of you will/some of you will). The lesson begins with a Who Wants to be a Millionaire starter activity where students are asked to place four countries in the correct order in which women were granted the vote. There is some background knowledge to enable teacher exposition. The class are then introduced to the idea of how historians decide what makes an event or discovery significant and they explore the acronym GREAT: G = ground-breaking, R = remembered, E = extent of importance to people at the time, A = affected the future, and T = turning point. For the main task students are placed in groups and given a card with three different artefacts on with some background information (these range from Rosa Parks’ bus ticket to Malala’s bloodied uniform to Emily Davison’s Suffragette banner and many more). They need to choose one of their artefacts and explain in presentation form why they feel it is so significant. They can make models and sales pitches to accompany their explanations to the ‘dragons’ (get senior teachers to come in to act as these if they’re good sports). Students can use the internet, class texts, or library to help them research. The lesson concludes with a peer assessment class voting plenary on which they felt was the most important and why. This lesson has been designed for high school students. I’d be so grateful if you can find time to add a positive review if you enjoyed this lesson. And before you leave be sure to follow Dan’s History Highway for more info on hundreds of fully-resourced lessons for busy teachers! Wishing you a terrific day.

“My purpose is to engage students in dialogue so they can see other’s points of view – in a world that needs this more than ever. I do this by sharing lessons on this site which connect students with the past and inspire critical thinking. Please read below to find details about this one.” Dan This lesson is titled “The French Revolution in 8 Objects – Museum Lesson” This 40-slide PowerPoint begins with a Starter Activity in which the class is invited to guess the top 6 things a museum exhibition requires to be successful (this is done in the form of a Family Feud-style game). This leads to a discussion of the purposes of a good exhibition with a clear theme/concept and quality content displayed in an accessible manner. This introduces the lesson title and graduated aims (all will/most will/some will). The class is then invited to consider some key areas of the period, and an example of each is given (e.g, a coin for economic problems, a toy squishy brain for the Enlightenment, a tennis ball for the Tennis Court Oath etc.) The class then create their own exhibitions, ensuring they only select a maximum of 8 items and explain and analyse them as they relate to the period. This takes a couple of lessons. When they present, the class peer-assess using the criteria on the sheet (which link back to the Starter Activity). The lesson aims are revisited before the lesson concludes with a plenary in which students address the Key Question and discuss their thoughts on a range of artifacts (these are provided in one slide, but it works best if you use those that students came up with themselves in their own exhibitions). I designed this lesson for high-achieving high school students, and it works well to introduce a topic on the French Revolution or to conclude it. This lesson is written in UK English and requires students to have some research skills. I’d be so grateful if you can find time to add a positive review if you enjoyed this lesson. And before you leave be sure to follow Dan’s History Highway for more info on hundreds of fully-resourced lessons for busy teachers! Wishing you a terrific day.