The Holocaust This lesson explores the significance of two shoes found at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Students begin to ask questions about them, relating to their state, gender, laces and condition to final decide what we know for sure about the owners. There are differentiated questions given for those who require extra help. Students are also given the testimony of Rudolf Hoss, the camp commandant of Auschwitz and have to decide which parts of it are the truth or not as the case may be. They are also given the chance to learn why badges were given out to certain inmates or why Primo Levi testified as to how he was able to endure and survive the brutality of Auschwitz until its end. Richard Dimbleby also gives his harrowing account of his first impressions of entering Bergen- Belsen extermination camp. A prioritisation exercise at the end will check recall, retention and understanding at the end of the lesson. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe. The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

The Holocaust The aims of this lesson are to explain how discrimination and persecution of the Jews within Germany led ultimately to their extermination and genocide. Therefore this lesson must be delivered with care; it is also recommended that it is taught and delivered over two lessons. The first part of the lesson is to explain the increasing persecution of the Jews within Germany as students analyse the events of Kristallnacht and evaluate its significance as a prelude to the holocaust. There are worksheets to accompany and excellent video footage explaining the carnage that followed. The second part of the lesson focuses on the Nazis change of direction on the Jewish question as war prevails and the Jews are rounded up and put into Ghettoes. Students study the Human Rights Act of 1998 and prioritise which are the most significant and meaningful rights to them. They then apply these right to what happened in the ghettoes and focus on which rights were taken away from the Jews living in them, much to their horror and anger. The final part of the lesson looks at the Wannsee Conference and the different ways the Nazis tried to exterminate the Jews. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe. There is an accompanying source task and more excellent video links to life in the ghettoes and the Wannsee conference of 1942. The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

The Holocaust The aim of this lesson is to analyse and evaluate the reasons why anti-Semitism became the norm in Nazi Germany and how Hitler and the Nazis fuelled the flames of discrimination. Students build up a picture of the ideal Aryan according to the Nazis and how the Jews were made and expected to feel inferior using source analysis. They will also organise themselves into a continuum line of importance in Germany pre 1933, only to see their roles reversed according to the numbers on the German citizen lists provided. They also complete a colour coding exercise which maps the persecution of Jews within Nazi Germany as well as a plenary linking exercise to challenge understanding. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe. There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson and printable worksheets. The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

The Holocaust The aim of this lesson is to analyse and evaluate the reasons why anti-Semitism prevailed in Europe and in particular Britain during the Middle Ages. Students study the causes and consequences of this hatred and jealousy and have to decide and justify why so little was done to defend the Jewish community leading to their expulsion in Norwich. A case study of Mosse Mokke and his wife Abigale, Jewish tax collectors in Medieval Norwich shows how anti-Semitism was rife in Britain in the Middle Ages and how they were portrayed by the local community. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe. There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson and printable worksheets which are differentiated. The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

The Holocaust The aim of this lesson is to understand why we should remember the holocaust and why we commemorate it every year. Some misconceptions are given at the start, such as what the holocaust actual means and the differences between concentration and extermination camps. Throughout the lesson the students build up their ideas and add them around a lightbulb to focus on the central aims of the lesson. Students are also given numbers and have to decide the significance of each from 6 million to 2 minutes and 2 seconds or 90cm by 90cm for example. The final part of the lesson refers to the powerful and moving story of Erica, thrown off the train by her parents before she reached Auschwitz and therefore knowing very little about herself. The plenary focuses on some odd ones out exercises and recent genocides to emphasise the importance of remembering the holocaust. There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson. The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

Norman Conquest The aim of this lesson is to challenge and question the role of the Church in Medieval Society. On face value, the power it had over people was enormous and with power came great wealth, often at the expense and help of the population. But was it all corrupt and how much did people willingly give over their goods in return for salvation? These questions are explored through statistics, facts and video evidence. Students are ultimately required to justify if the Church was corrupt by colour coding and rating batteries (linked to a final post it note challenge) and evidencing their choices. There are also introduced to a number of key words which they are required to recall in the plenary. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The Norman Conquest This lesson explores the role of monks and nuns in Medieval society and questions their importance. Students learn how people joined the monastic community and how they helped the local community. Students also analyse their dress code and the reasons behind it, before engaging in literacy tasks such as linking their daily life to particularly headings and writing a narrative account. There are accompanying worksheets and video links to reinforce the learning. The plenary of ‘find and fix’ challenges the students to rewrite and correct a number of statements made. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

Norman Conquest The aim of this lesson is to assess how scary the Black Death was in1348. Students are introduced to the idea of why the Black Death was so scary, learning about the symptoms of the Bubonic Plague and Pneumonic Plague and the devastation that lay in its wake from empty villages today to paintings showing devastation and death. They learn key words such as contagion, flagellants, humours and miasmas and how these words link to the learning objective through a thinking quilt. They will also find out how the peasants gained in status as a result of the reduction of the workforce and how this gave them more bargaining power with their landlords over wages. The plenary is a Black Death connecting wall which requires students to link four key phrases and to explain how and why they link together. This lesson is therefore designed to be interactive, fun, challenging and engaging and could be used over two lessons. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The Norman Conquest This lesson has two aims; to discover if medieval towns were dangerous places to live and to question how dirty and unhygienic they actually were. Students learn how Medieval towns grew up through Charters and Guilds and how shops and their names and surnames became intertwined. An exercise tests their ability to interpret shop signs. They analyse a number of statements about the dangers facing townsfolk and evidence this on a road map (or dirt track) using danger symbols and accompanying road signs. The second part of the lesson focuses on the filth and dirt of Medieval towns and questions how much the local authorities did. Students evaluate how hygienic towns were, colour coding thermometers and rating each step taken by the local authorities (or not as the case may be). This lesson is therefore designed to be interactive, fun, challenging and engaging and could be used over two lessons. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603 This lesson aims to explain how English planning for the Armada was forward thinking, complete with technological innovation, daring courage and just a little bit of luck mixed in. Students have a choice of differentiated materials at their disposal to analyse historical significance of these English innovations and the Commanders involved. Students also have a chance to use causational equations to promote linking ideas together to provide sustained lines of reasoning required for the higher level 4 answers in the marksheme There are some exemplar answers given at the end to emphasise common mistakes and how students can achieve the highest grades, which are typical of those analysed in AQA GCSE courses such as ‘getting to grips with Elizabethan England.’ The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning. The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603 The overarching aim of this and the subsequent lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth asserted her authority and control in the second half of her reign. This lesson aims to explain how the Spanish planning of the Armada was flawed from the start. An analysis of the Commanders involved shows a plethora of mistakes made and how Philip decided to combine the plans of Santa Cruz and the Duke of Palma to placate the two and massage his ego as a superior naval commander. The deteriorating relationship between Philip and Elizabeth is analysed and compared to a pressure cooker – students have to decide which events manipulated Philip’s anger between simmering, boiling and exploding. A thinking quilt aims to challenge assumptions and evaluate the major weaknesses of these Spanish plans and their impact on overall victory. The final challenge is to sort out the bodged names and key words used in the lesson. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning. The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

The Norman Conquest This lesson aims to question the qualities of William the Conqueror as the new leader of England. Students will learn and discover that to many of the English, he was a foreigner and a usurper, who spoke French and only favoured his friends. Therefore this lesson focuses on his policies towards those who opposed his rule and the ‘harrying of the north.’ Students have to analyse the threat level posed by many of these rebels (by colour coding thermometers next to each rebellion) as well as evaluating how much control he was able to exert over them, by making judgements using a control ‘o’ meter. There are accompanying worksheets and video links to reinforce the learning. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

This lesson focuses on the factors which allowed William to win the Battle of Hastings. The aim of this lesson is for the students to recognise how the factors link together (embedding GCSE skills) and how William could just have easily lost the battle. The students have to first decide who might have said or did what in the battle before completing a card sort activity with various statements which they order into the different categories. The learning tasks culminate in writing a narrative account of the events which is differentiated and key skills and prompts advise on how best to answer this. The plenary checks understanding with a true and false quiz. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is for students to analyse and evaluate the winning tactics used in by William in the Battle of Hastings Students commence by analysing the Bayeux Tapestry, sources of the battle and information on the leadership qualities of the two combatants. They then complete a differentiated task using a storyboard to map out the events of the battle before completing a summarising pyramid on William’s skills. There is also a chance to recreate the battle with suggestions of role play before the plenary requires some recall and retention skills. An optional homework suggestion is also provided. The resource is therefore differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is to understand the causes and consequences of Harold Hardrada’s invasion of the north of England. Students learn through narrative and video evidence of the forthcoming battle of Stamford Bridge and how Harold was able to win, despite the hurdles Hardrada’s army put in front of him. Furthermore students have to analyse how much power Harold’s army had and efficiency rate (as with a house) why Hardrada eventually ran out of energy. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is to analyse and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies in 1066. There are differentiated questions and worksheets for the students to answer before they make their conclusions as to whose army was the best using some argument words to base their decisions upon. The worksheets include information and visual images to aid the students and are easy to print off for individual or group work. A guess who plenary tests their recall knowledge from the lesson. The resource is therefore differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is to understand why Britain was such a good place to invade. Students are given a thinking quilt to link words and meanings together and challenge their reasoning skills. Further information will help them understand what Britain had to offer to invaders giving context to its cities, markets and population as well as natural resources and weather. Students are then required to justify why England was a good place to invade in 1066, with prompts and help given if required. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is to explore how historians find out about the past using historical sources. Students are firstly questioned about how we can find out about Castles or Roman artefacts for example with usually some interesting replies. They then have to study four historical sources with differentiated questioning to help decipher and discover their provenance. There is an extended writing task to complete with their new found knowledge, with help and prompts given if required. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this lesson is to establish how much the students know about history, how historians talk about the past and how this can be applied in a historical context. They are introduced to key words such as chronology, where they form a human timeline, millennium, decade, century and periods of history as well as the misconceptions around AD and BC. Students then have to use these words to describe their favourite piece of history, with the challenge to include as many of these time associated key words as possible. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

The aim of this test is to find out how much the students know about history. The results will give you a baseline from which you can build upon. Once they begin to study history, they will begin to show progress in all areas, particularly in the amount of detail required in answers. The test focuses on chronology, cause and consequence, change and continuity, historical enquiry, interpretation and significance. This is a particularly useful assessment for a history department and as a starting point and ideally for Year 7. Most students sadly will not have studied a lot of history at their primary schools (apart from the odd day to study the Victorians or World War 2) as literary, numeracy and SATS still dominate primary school curriculum planning. The resource comes in Word and PowerPoint formats which can be amended and changed to suit.