This KS3 lesson should take at least one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and accompanying resources are all included. Aims and Objectives: To know what the Commonwealth was/is. To know the type of work carried out by Commonwealth members during the war. To understand why Commonwealth members signed up. To reach a judgement on how well people from different races were treated during the war. Activities include a starter which defines the Commonwealth and asks students to memorise countries from a map against the clock before playing last man standing. A series of sources are then used to list the reasons why Commonwealth members signed up. There are three versions, including a simpler SEN version and a subsequent version which involves highlighting instead of writing. After watching the BBC newsreel “West Indies Calling” to note done the range of jobs carried out by members of the Commonwealth, we then analyse their treatment using a series of source cards. We test the hypothesis “Commonwealth members faced racism during WW2” by arranging them from agree to disagree. Consideration is also given as to whether relations improved. This leads into the final verdict on whether the BBC newsreel was being truthful about the treatment of Commonwealth members during the war.

This KS3 lesson provides an overview of events and then analyses the reasons for the Allied victory in WW1. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities. After a brief introductory video, the students rate the level of the Allies’ success through seven closing stages. Having gained an overview of events, students then carry out a range of analytical activities using the cause cards provided. They are asked to group the cards into Allies’ strengths vs. German’ weaknesses, long vs. short term and then group them into social, military and economic. After reading a worked example of an explanation of military reasons, students select either social or economic reasons and produce an explanatory paragraph to demonstrate their understanding.

IMPORTANT: Some of these worksheets refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c 1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To learn about new approaches to prevention: mass vaccinations and government lifestyle campaigns. The Power Point leads students through all activities with answers/feedback and exam technique advice for answering 12 mark questions. Activities include a source inference starter, note-taking and weighing up of improvements v. continuing problems in treatments and access to care. This leads into a 12 mark exam question “Explain why there was rapid progress in disease prevention after c1900.” An essay planning sheet is included. Students are encouraged to review each others’ plans and peer assess the written answers.

IMPORTANT: One of the activities in this unit (Night of Long Knives fact file) refers to the textbook "Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939 (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127347 and will not be usable without a copy of this text or another text which explains the events of the Night of Long Knives. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 2+ lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the Reichstag Fire. The Enabling Act and the banning of other parties and trade unions. To understand the threat from Röhm and the SA, the Night of the Long Knives and the death of von Hindenburg. Hitler becomes Führer, the army and the oath of allegiance. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include a video starter asking students to consider how the Nazis overcame the obstacles to their dictatorship, conversion of a staged written explanation of the events into condensed bullet points, colour-coding of actions into legal and illegal, a Night of Long Knives fact file and an exam interpretation question on this topic including a possible structure.

This KS3 lesson should take around one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and all accompanying resources are included. Aims and Objectives: To know what Hitler’s aims were for young people in Germany. To know the methods that’s the Nazis used to indoctrinate/control young people. To use sources to reach a verdict on how successful the Nazis were in controlling young people. Activities include a starter which asks students to translate Hitler’s aims into an illustration of the ideal Nazi boy and girl (using symbols). A series of sources with questions are then used to investigate various elements of life in Germany from the Hitler Youth, to education and resistance groups. An SEN version of this exercise is also included. Finally, students write a paragraph answer/verdict on how effective the Nazis were in controlling young people.

Three one-hour lessons with all activities explained on Power Point. The focus is on continuity and change between 1750-1900. Once students understand the basic changes which took place during the Industrial Revolution, they carry out more detailed research and analysis using the information provided. They also develop their knowledge of key terms for this unit via a homework and key terms test. The lessons end with an assessed piece of writing analysing areas of change and continuity (writing frame and mark sheet included)

IMPORTANT: The final revision task refers to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. The rest of the lesson works independently. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand how the Great Plague in London, 1665, was dealt with: approaches to treatment and attempt to prevent its spread. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. These include information prioritisation, categorising/analysing information, creating an illustrated table, a 4 mark exam answer and some end of unit revision using the textbook.

This unit will take approximately two hours including assessment writing time. The starter activities ask students to pool their prior knowledge about Robin Hood using video clips as prompts. This then leads into a discussion about fact, fiction and legend and how the modern tale came into existence. Students then use a collection of sources to complete a research table considering whether or not Robin Hood was a real historical figure or a fictional character. A simplified SEN collection of sources is also included. The final assessment is a discursive essay which asks student to consider both arguments before reaching an overall verdict. A mark scheme is included.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the growth of unemployment- its cause and impact. The failure of successive Weimar governments to deal with unemployment from 1929 to January 1933. The growth of support for the Communist Party. To understand the reasons for the growth in support for the Nazi Party, including the appeal of Hitler and the Nazis, the effects of propaganda and the work of the SA. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include starter video analysis on why the Wall Street Crash helped the Nazis, source analysis on the effects of the depression, a cut and stick activity categorising the effects, comprehension questions on the failing of the government and the rise of extreme parties, photo source analysis on Hitler’s appeal, note-taking on this topic with provided grid, card sort activity on reasons Nazis appealed to different sections of society and a full interpretation exam question with advice, examples and writing frame.

IMPORTANT: One of the activities refers to the textbook "Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939 (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127347 and will not be usable without a copy of this text or one which explains the roles and functions of the various institutions of the Nazi police state. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 2-3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the role of the Gestapo, the SS, the SD and concentration camps. To understand the Nazi control of the legal system, judges and law courts. To understand the Nazi policies towards the Catholic and Protestant Churches, including the Reich Church and the Concordat. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include a video starter on who controlled Germany and how, a research table on the role/function of each institution, source analysis on the ways in which they justified their activities, a 12 mark exam explanation question with advice, paired discussion on methods for ensjuring fair sentencing, thought-shower on Nazi control of the legal system, problem-solving starter using a range of symbols and images to compare Nazi and Christian values, analysing a written passage on the church looking for evidence of co-operation and oppression and a final summary revision diagram. The Power Point also contains answers and fedback at intervals.

This KS3 unit should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying resources provided. Having spent considerable time looking at the causes, I tend not to get too bogged down in the events themselves as I’ve found that the students like the lessons on the trial and execution more. This is why I’ve condensed it into two hours. Aims and Objectives: To know who fought who during the English Civil War and to compare the differences between the two sides. To use sources to learn about what life was like at the time in England. To know the key events of the Civil War and select the main reasons why Parliament won. To consider how King Charles might have done better. Activities include a video starter on fighting in the 1600s which enables students to visualise this period of time. Students then label a Roundhead and Royalist soldier and consider which side was better equipped. They analyse a range of sources including a painting, cartoon and written passage to gain insight into what life was like. In the second lesson, they read a passage in pairs to highlight reasons why the king lost. There is also a card sort on this topic which I use as an extension or with my G&T groups. Students then use their understanding to write a letter to King Charles during the war advising him on ways in which he could be more successful.

This KS3 lesson should take at least one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with an accompanying student task booklet. Aims and Objectives: To know the key events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. To understand why it happened and with what consequences. To understand its significance in changing the course of history. Activities include a quick starter recap on communist dictatorships vs. capitalist democracies, followed by the necessary background information. Students label a political cartoon and then create a caption. They then analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the various options open to Kennedy. Using the time line of events, students create a tension chart to demonstrate the rise and fall of tensions. They then consider reactions to and effects of the crisis before a final plenary discussion on what can be learnt from this.

This KS3 lesson should take one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and accompanying resources are included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main reasons why each of the contenders thought they should be king. To understand why it is difficult to know what really happened. To consider who had the strongest claim and explain our choice (reach a judgement). Activities include a fun and slightly silly Pictionary starter on the key words for this unit. Students then use the information sheet to make notes on each individual’s claim to the throne. There is an SEN version where students can draw lines from facts to people. There is also a G&T extension which asks students to look more closely at source material on this topic. Students then show their understanding through writing a paragraph answer to the question “Who should be king?”.

This KS3 unit should take around 2 hours to complete depending upon how detailed you want the final letter to be. The Power Point leads students through all activities, giving answers when required. All accompanying resources are included. I showed my classes an extract from the film Goodnight Mr Tom as part of their research, although I have not included a clip here and you would need to source your own DVD or find a clip on YouTube. This would officially make your department the only one in the country not to have this DVD in a store cupboard. Aims and Objectives: To know the main facts surrounding evacuation- who, what, why, where and when? To understand the great range of experiences and types of people effected, considering the impact upon their lives. To create a piece of empathetic writing exploring these ideas. Activities include a short video starter where students use the clip to answer the who, what, why, where, when and how questions about evacuation. A cloze exercise quickly summarises the key facts. Students then sort the attitude/feeling cards from positive to negative. Using the source booklet, they carry out independent research into the range of evacuees, hosts and feelings/attitudes expressed. They are to try to find concrete examples to illustrate the attitudes/feelings on the cards. The following lesson has a quick recap quiz. Students then demonstrate their understanding through writing an evacuee letter home, describing the process of evacuation and expressing thoughts/feelings to show empathetic understanding.

This Key Stage 3 unit explores the causes of WW1 and then goes on to analyse the reasons why the German Schlieffen Plan failed, leading to trench warfare. It will take around two lessons to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities. There are a number of very nice short video clips on the causes of WW1, including a great Horrible Histories clip (when available) but I particularly like the Blackadder clip attached. Be warned- the final punchline is “bollo**s” and I often censored this with a timely cough much to the annoyance of the class. The lessons start by contextualising Europe in 1914 with some map work and identification of alliance systems. We then identify and analyse the causes of WW1 using the passage provided. The following lesson, the students start by problem-solving Germany’s dilemma and proposing their own war plans- I’ve had some very interesting and intelligent responses to this, along with some quite frankly bizzare/amusing. After studying the Schlieffen Plan, students translate the actual events into a series of annotated maps before analysing the reasons for the plan’s failure and writing this up in an extended paragraph.

This KS3 lesson should take at least one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To consider the problems which William faced immediately after the Battle of Hastings. To understand that he applied different methods to each of these problems. To empathise with people who lived through the Norman Conquest. Activities include a think, pair, share starter considering what William’s potential problems might be and how he may address them. His problems are then summarised as 1) Controlling population 2) Resistance in the north 3) Collecting taxes and tackled separately. An extended source is analysed to understand how the resistance in the north was handled. The nature of hierarchies is introduced via modern-day examples before students complete their own diagram of the feudal system using the structure and jumbled phrases. An SEN version is also included. Students consider who they would most/least like to have been. A five minute video is finally used to explain the Domesday Book.

This KS3 unit of work should take at least two hours to complete (depending upon how long you allow your class to spend on the board game activity). The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know how medieval people practised their faith and the key words that are linked to this. To understand why religion was so important to them. To understand medieval views on Heaven and Hell and apply this by creating a board game. Activities include key words/definitions matching, independent reading and summary note-taking, analysing a medieval wall painting, sorting actions into good deeds/sins and ranking these and creating a medieval religion snakes and ladders board game.

IMPORTANT: Many of these activities refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, The American West, c1835-c1895” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127309 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: Specification area: The early settlement of the West, c.1835-1862 To understand the Plains Indian’s social and tribal structures, ways of life and means of survival on the Plains. To understand the Plains Indian’s beliefs about land and nature and attitudes towards war and property. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. It also provides feedback/answers at intervals and advice on exam approach. Activities include independent note-taking, card sorting, group discussion, timelines and a narrative account question “Write a narrative account analysing the ways in which the US government policy towards the Plains Indians developed in the period 1835-51.”