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Ruth Messenger's Shop

Average Rating3.44
(based on 19 reviews)

I've been teaching history for four years, and I aim to provide lessons that are ready to go with minimal tweaking just to personalise the resource to your class and their prior learning. I'm a big fan of paired discussion, group work, debates, living graphs and hot seating, and I provide a variety of tasks in each lesson to ensure learning happens at a pace and that all learning styles are catered for. All feedback gratefully received.

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I've been teaching history for four years, and I aim to provide lessons that are ready to go with minimal tweaking just to personalise the resource to your class and their prior learning. I'm a big fan of paired discussion, group work, debates, living graphs and hot seating, and I provide a variety of tasks in each lesson to ensure learning happens at a pace and that all learning styles are catered for. All feedback gratefully received.
Overview of Tudor England as  part of a study of Crime and Punishment
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Overview of Tudor England as part of a study of Crime and Punishment

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Intended to give a very quick overview of Tudor England for students in KS4, this lesson gives students the key information they need to begin to study the crimes and punishments of Tudor times. Learning Objectives: ALL Students will be able to recall key facts about life in Tudor Times MOST Students will be able to consider how these facts impacted on the monarch of the time SOME Students will be able to predict what kind of laws the monarchs would have brought in to deal with threats to their rule.
Crime and Punishment - How was Tudor Law Enforcement different from Medieval Law Enforcement?
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Crime and Punishment - How was Tudor Law Enforcement different from Medieval Law Enforcement?

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Designed for GCSE students either studying the OCR course, or the Edexcel course, you will need a textbook for this (OCR, SHP and Edexcel are all appropriate for this) and prior learning on law enforcement in medieval times. Students will compare tudor law enforcement with law enforcement from medieval times: ALL Will be able to describe one difference and one similarity MOST Will be able to describe several differences and several similarities using detail SOME Will be able to analyse the extent of change
Why did Capital Punishment End? Crime and Punishment in the Twentieth Century
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Why did Capital Punishment End? Crime and Punishment in the Twentieth Century

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Intended for GCSE students either studying the OCR or Edxecel spec for Crime and Punishment, appropriate for both the new GCSE and the old, this stand alone lesson is designed to be used with a textbook. The SHP, OCR and Edexcel textbooks will all be fine for this lesson. Lesson Objectives: ALL Will be able to describe some of the reasons capital punishment ended MOST Will be able to support their points with detailed evidence SOME explain how these factors led to capital punishment ending This lesson includes a clip about Derek Bentley, a table to be completed using the textbook, a triangle of importance and then an essay question that asks students to compare factors.
Communism and The First Red Scare in the USA 1917-1920
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Communism and The First Red Scare in the USA 1917-1920

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This is an active lesson that meets the following objectives: ALL will be able to detail events of the scare MOST will be able to explain why Americans were threatened by Communism SOME will be able to predict its ramifications on the political system. I taught this to my year 12 class two weeks ago and it was easily the best lesson I have taught so far this year, they loved it and they refer back to it still to inform their understanding of the fear of communism in the US. There is no writing involved in this lesson, it is purely talking and listening, questioning and thinking. It allows students to move around the room, investigating like in a murder mystery, and ad libbing for their own characters. Overview of the lesson: Set up the classroom like a 1920's speak easy, or at least create a big space in the middle with some chairs around the edge. Students get a character card, these include steelworkers, anarchists etc. They are allowed to tell the truth about their character, but they aren't obliged to - they can lie as much as they like. They have to find out who the communists are in the room and they do this by making conversation. One student is a journalist and this student moves events along by informing other students. You give them each event as it happens (eg bombs in the post) and they have to stir up a fuss with other students. All other instructions are included in the downloads including the character cards, events, and questions for you to use to consolidate learning and pull out the themes necessary to help students achieve the objectives. I will admit I used chocolates to get students going, but motivation really wasn't a problem - they got fully into their characters and the whole witch hunt. enjoy!
Politics, Presidency and Society in the USA for KS5
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Politics, Presidency and Society in the USA for KS5

3 Resources
These are resources I created for an AS spec focusing on US presidents and changes in society between 1968-2001. To make use of these resources you need a textbook by Vivienne Sanders 'Access to History: Politics, Presidency and Society in the USA 1968-2001' These resources challenge students to analyse the reasons various presidents triumphed in each election, and why they failed in others.
Understanding Significance
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Understanding Significance

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This lesson is an introduction to the historical skill of significance and explaining significance. It gets students to discuss why someone might be significant in history eg. They changed peoples lives at the time, or they made a lot of money, or they achieved something extraordinary. Students put these in order of the most effective way of measuring historical significance to the least. I designed this for year 7, but have found myself using this lesson over and over again with all secondary year groups as it helps to reset the basics for understanding significance. The second part of the lesson is the balloon game, I would get students to play this in groups rather than as a class.
Digging up the Past: An Introduction to using Evidence as a Historian
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Digging up the Past: An Introduction to using Evidence as a Historian

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This lesson is great for a brand new year 7 class and requires minimum preparation. You will need a suitcase of your possessions though as the lesson requires students to handle objects and make inferences as to what kind of person might own that stuff. I have done this lesson several times and I take things such as: a travel guide the case to Resident Evil V for Xbox 360 a picture of my goddaughter an old pipe a jar of marmite a caribena a copy of George Orwell's 1984 The better the objects, the better this lesson will go. I once encountered a teacher who used the contents of her handbag and the lesson flopped. You want to create some intrigue and use this lesson as the basis for building a relationship with your students and allowing them to get to know you. The homework task allows students to select their own objects as evidence of who THEY are, all the while making inferences before they even get it drummed into them that that is a skill. Speaking of skills, here are the learning outcomes: ALL students will know what evidence is and how we use it to build a picture MOST Students will be able to make inferences from the evidence and link evidence SOME Students will be able to explain how evidence can lead to misunderstandings
A Play about Henry VIII and his 6 wives
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A Play about Henry VIII and his 6 wives

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It was the end of term, my lovely year 7 asked me for a drama lesson, so I wrote this play. We rehearsed and performed it within just one lesson, minimum props needed. The play is several very short chunks that allows up to 32 students to have a named part. Each scene is written for between 2 and 5 students and there are 10 'scenes' so lots of people get to be Henry and lots more get to be various wives. I provided yellow cardboard crowns and some cardboard swords and we used our imagination for the rest. After each group had had 15 minutes to rehearse, to plan their entrances and props and actions etc, I gathered them all into an arena shape with a half circle of chairs in front, several tables behind so all could sit and all could see. The groups performed the scenes in order as I called them, it was a beautiful farce that was lots of fun, and lots of clapping. The most memorable part was when a group of boys enacted Jane Seymour giving birth.. lots of ad libbing! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did, I will definitely be using this again. NB I wrote it with a mixed ability class in mind so the reading isn't too challenging. To beef it up you could have a selection of keywords, or historical terms on the board and give points for groups that include them.
How to Make a Revision Plan
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How to Make a Revision Plan

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This PowerPoint guides students through how to make an effective revision plan. It is aimed at students aged 16-18 and encourages them to make a long term, practical and realistic plan. Here is one slide: Mark on the calendar the days you will NOT be working. Eg family events, birthdays, rugby matches, hairdressing appointments. Split the remaining days into 3 parts – morning, afternoon and night. Work only 2 of these parts. So crack on in the morning, take the afternoon off to paint your toenails/ go for a run/ whatever it is you do, and do more in the evening. Use your list of chucks to plan which topic you will do on which day. If you like a bit of variety, you can do two chunks from different subjects on one day. Write on the calendar the subject areas/ chunks/ topics/ chapters you will get done. Make sure you have leisure / kickback time. TRUST YOUR PLAN and change it if you really need to
Student friendly CV writing guide
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Student friendly CV writing guide

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Before teaching, I worked in recruitment. When I became the Head of Year 12 I combined my expertise in recruitment with my experience working with young people and put this guide together to help students write a CV that will show off their skills to potential employers. Suitable for all teenagers and young people, but aimed at teenagers aimed 16 and above, this resource could be used in form time or PSHE, or you could upload it onto your VLE for students to access as and when they need it. Here is the beginning so you know what you're buying, but please be aware that all formatting has been taken out as TES doesn't support it in this blurb. This guide is designed to help you write an excellent CV which will show off your talents to a potential employer. For each section I will tell you first ‘What the Employer wants to see’, then ‘How YOU can do this’ and finally ‘Traps to avoid’. I’ve given you some examples of how you might want it to look, but don’t forget its your CV, so try experimenting with different fonts etc. CONTENTS: P1. Name and Contact Details Section, ‘Profile’ P3. Education Section P4. Work Experience section P5. Key Achievements section P6. Computer Skills, Interests P7. References P8. Need more help? Name and Contact Details What the Employer wants to see - Your name nice and big so they can pick it out of the pile of CVs they have on their desk, your contact details so they can call you and get you in for an interview. How YOU can do this – Don’t take up too much space but make sure they are clearly visible. Get an email address that sounds professional, DON’T use silly ones like fishboy43_@hotmail.com. Example: Mahatma Ghandi 66, Plainsboro Road, Ipsley, Birmingham, B14 7EJ Tel: 0121 444444 Mob: 0789876543 email:mghandi@gmail.com It is not necessary to put your date of birth or marital status on your CV. This is because this information is not relevant under employment law and could only possibility be used to discriminate. If you do chose to include this information then put it somewhere a bit lower down according to your formatting. You don’t want it to distract from the important stuff.
Did Reagan inherit an 'Imperilled Presidency'?
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Did Reagan inherit an 'Imperilled Presidency'?

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This resource for KS5 looks at the challenges faced by Reagan in exerting his power as president, and looks at whether the Presidency was 'imperilled' and power disseminating to Congress. The resources in this pack support students to achieve the first two of these Learning Objectives, the third objective is a holistic objective that asks students to consider their previous learning on Nixon, Ford and Carter. If they haven't learned this, they will still have access to the first two objectives. ALL: Will be able to describe how it was difficult for Reagan to use his power MOST: Will be able to explain how the obstacles Reagan faced would impede his policies SOME: Will be able to make links between these obstacles and the failures of the previous presidents to explain how the Presidency had become ‘imperilled’
How did Reagan go from a B list actor to President of the USA?
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How did Reagan go from a B list actor to President of the USA?

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This resource contains a great game of 'Reagan bingo' where students listen to Reagan facing off against Carter and note off the issues as they arise. This is a good task to introduce students to Reagan, to understand his policies and note the absent topics. There is also a note making task using the Vivienne Sanders textbook (link at the bottom of this blurb) but any decent textbook on this topic will do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9qDRZ6pSRE&safe=active
Gerald Ford, the 'Half a Term President'
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Gerald Ford, the 'Half a Term President'

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This lesson gives students the task of working together in a group to publish a short newspaper and it is designed for KS5 as independent research skills are central to this lesson. They have to chose whether they use a Pro Ford headline, or an Anti-Ford headline and need the resources available to research aspects of Ford's presidency. I strongly suggest that you make textbooks available such as 'Access to History, Politics, Presidency and Society' to support this piece of group work. Within this PP are prompts for the group to research on the economy, women's rights, racial equality and politics within the Republican Party. At the end, students have to decide whether to include a political cartoon about Ford being the 'the mender'.
Why were Martin Luther King’s Northern campaigns less successful than his campaigns in the South?
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Why were Martin Luther King’s Northern campaigns less successful than his campaigns in the South?

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Civil Rights, KS5, students need an existing knowledge of MLK's Southern Campaigns before they can access this lesson effectively. All resources included, no need for additional textbooks although they are always useful for extra material. The starter asks students to look at the Moynihan Report and decide why MLK turned his attention North. The main body of the lesson is a card sort on the Northern Campaign, students separate 'event' cards from 'analysis' cards, then use the event cards to put together a chronology. Students then colour code their cards to align with various reasons the Northern campaign was unsuccessful, then they either make three bullet point lists, or write three paragraphs to answer the question.
What did Protestants Protest about? The origins of the Protestant Church
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What did Protestants Protest about? The origins of the Protestant Church

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This lesson is an introduction to the basic issues that Martin Luther had with the Catholic church. It touches on the central role of the priest, indulgences and the financial profligacy of the church. There is one task that uses a page from the SHP Year 7 textbook, but most textbooks will have a page to help answer the question 'what were the main differences between Protestants and Catholics?' This is the question that students use the page to answer, so if you have a similar resource then this lesson is still good for you. Here are the lesson objectives this lesson is designed to satisfy: ALL: Will be able to identify differences between the Catholic and Protestant Churches MOST: Will be able to explain the differences based on what the Protestants protested about SOME: Will be able to make supported inferences about why some people were unhappy with the Catholic church
Doom Paintings and the Church in the Middle Ages
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Doom Paintings and the Church in the Middle Ages

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This is a pretty relaxed lesson that guides students towards the following objectives: ALL: Will be able to describe doom paintings and their message MOST: Will be able to make inferences from primary sources SOME: Will be able to analyse sources to make an inference as to how powerful the church was in the middle ages. This lesson features a 'see it, describe it, draw it' starter, some paired discussion and a written task to demonstrate understanding. NB. there is no text or clip detailing what a doom painting is, or where they were found. This lesson relies on you having subject knowledge to support students in their inferences.
How much did the Black Death of 1348 change life for Peasants in Medieval England?
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How much did the Black Death of 1348 change life for Peasants in Medieval England?

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This is a lesson for HA year 7 students. It gives them the opportunity to write an essay aiming to hit the old NC levels 5,6 and even 7. I have had a 7A essay handed in using this lesson and most were L6 so if you want to challenge your HA, give this a go. Be aware though that this resource covers three lessons and is mostly concerned with essay structure. I haven't indicated in the PP at which point the students write the essay, so here is how I did it: Lesson 1: students use a card sort to examine the consequences of the black death, they work in pairs and groups to find the most significant/substantial change and the least significant/substantial change. They then choose three pieces of evidence that show significant change, three that show medium change and three that show no change. These will make up their paragraphs. Lesson 2: Students look at a dummy essay on how much school rules changed life for students. I have labelled a paragraph with structural necessities such as 'point, evidence, explanation' and they use highlighters to spot where the author of the essay has done this. Students get started on the essay, aim to finish one paragraph in class, then set one for homework. Lesson 3: You can allow students to peer assess each other's essay so far (in the same way they highlighted the dummy essay), or you can just give them half an hour to finish the essay. They need to have completed their third paragraph before you show them how to write the conclusion. There is a conclusion to the dummy essay that students analyse the structure of before having a go themselves. Most likely, you will want to set this for homework as if your HA class are like mine, they are crazy perfectionists. Please note, this lesson is not differentiated. You would have to approach this essay in a completely different way for a class that is targetted L3-5 and a L4 student would need support to access it. But if you want to push your HA, this resource is really strong. Learning Objectives: ALL students will be able to Describe some of the ways in which life changed using some detailed evidence. Write a conclusion to say how much life changed. (L5) MOST students will be able to Explain how the black death changed the lives of peasants by thinking about the short term and the long term effects of the changes. Supporting all comments with detailed factual knowledge (L6) SOME students will be able to use a lot of detailed factual knowledge to analyse how much change has taken place. This means that you really pick the facts apart to show how much life changed. (L7)
Using the caption to investigate Factory Conditions during the Industrial Revolution
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Using the caption to investigate Factory Conditions during the Industrial Revolution

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This lesson should follow on from either your own lesson on factory conditions, or my other lesson on factory conditions. The focus of the lesson is not new learning, it is practising the skill of assessing reliability based on the caption of the source. It doesn't go as far as NOP but allows students a more organic, paired or group discussion on whether a source is reliable. First you analyse reliability together, then students pass round sources and add their own notes to the bottom before completing a worksheet task. NB. This lesson does not use the word 'bias' when examining sources as in my opinion, this leads students to stop analysing once they have decided that the source is biased. If instead they examine reliability, they are more able to take a balanced view on source reliability. Learning Objectives: To know how to make inferences from the source (L5) and to know how to use the caption to decide how reliable the source is (L6)
City Living in the Industrial Revolution
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City Living in the Industrial Revolution

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A source based lesson on life in cities during the industrial revolution focusing on making and supporting inferences. A mixture of picture sources and written sources are used and a homework suggestion is included. The Learning Outcomes this lesson targets are: ALL will be able to use sources to find out information (L4), MOST will be able to make inferences from the sources (L5) SOME will be able to explain our inferences by linking the sources to each other, or our own knowledge (L6)
Children in Factories during the Industrial Revolution
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Children in Factories during the Industrial Revolution

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Straightforward lesson on factory conditions with the following tasks: A picture source starter, a 6 minute clip with accompanying questions, then a source analysis of a grisly factory death. Its totally gross, but year 8 love this disgusting source, particularly the bloodthirsty ones! Learning Objectives: ALL students will be able to describe how factories were dangerous for children MOST students will be able to explain why factory owners employed children and how the children ended up there. SOME students will be able to analyse the caption of a source to assess reliability.