I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate just how efficient and effective the new weapons of the Twentieth Century were.
Students have two objectives; to rate the effectiveness and killing power of the weapons used during the First World War and to explain how well equipped the soldiers were in the trenches, particularly the British Tommy.
The lesson begins with discussing the type of weapons used and for students to recognise the continuity and change of many of these pre, post and during World War I.
The historian Dan Snow is quoted as saying the British soldier went into the First World War ‘as the best prepared soldier on the planet.’
The lesson subsequently unfolds to explain and evaluate the new weapons used and the advantages (or not) they gave each side.
The plenary requires students to link the effectiveness of the weapons to images and to explain how and why this is the case.
This lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout the lesson and this unit of study to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and 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 bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
The decision to be a Protestant country not surprisingly caused Elizabeth many problems from Catholics at home and abroad. The lesson therefore is in two parts.
The first section deals with the Catholic threats at home, mostly from rebellions surrounding Mary Queen of Scots. Students plot the rebellions on a graph deciding how significant they were before being posed some challenging questions.
The second part of the lesson focuses on the threats posed by Allen and Campion and the Jesuits.
After analysing the evidence they decide on the most important ingredients for their threat to Elizabeth (also focusing on short and long term problems) and place them on shelves (prioritising the most important) ready to go into a cauldron.
The final part of the lesson involves deciding how Elizabeth reacted to these threats and planning and completing a GCSE ‘write an account’ question.
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 bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This fourth lesson looks at the significance of marriage for Elizabeth and the subsequent problems it caused her throughout her reign.
There are retrieval practice activities to start the lesson including an odd one out task and ‘splatting’ the board to choose the correct answers.
Students are introduced to the criteria for why Elizabeth should marry and then check the criteria against the possible suitors, thus coming to a conclusion about the best candidate.
There is also a GCSE practice question to answer. There are sentence starters provided for differentiation and the lesson comes complete with fun activities and video footage.
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 bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
The aim of this lesson is to determine why the Essex rebellion was different to the previous threats Elizabeth faced in her reign.
Students learn about Essex’s life and the reasons for him turning on Elizabeth in his failed attempt to ‘protect’ her from Robert Cecil.
Using differentiated materials and video evidence, they can either create a factfile on Essex or colour code information on his life focusing on different themes of importance.
They then plan and write a significance GCSE question, using the suggested skills and tricks of answering a significance question as opposed to writing a narrative account of his life.
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 bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This lesson focuses on the threat posed by the Puritans and how Elizabeth dealt with this threat, despite prominent members in her Government, such as Walsingham, being Puritans.
Students begin by understanding the nature of Puritanism and how they disagreed with the religious settlement.
They are given information about a number of controversies raised in Elizabeth’s reign and by colour coding decide how much of a threat they posed.
A threat’o’meter give an overall picture which they will have to justify where their judgement lies.
This lesson also focuses on two GCSE questions with a ‘write an account’ and a ‘How convincing is the Source?’ question given for GCSE exam practice.
Students can answer both or choose which one to tackle. The information is included in the lesson to assist in their answers.
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 bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This lesson aims to evaluate the threats posed by the Northern rebellion and the Ridolfi plot to Elizabeth. Students analyse these threats and dangers to Elizabeth both through video footage and written text before coming to their own conclusions based on the criteria set out for them.
They complete an essay question on what they have learnt, using the structure provided and key argument words.
Ultimately they will recognise the seriousness and therefore significance of the threats to Elizabeth in her early years.
The lesson includes learning activities such as structuring an answer, analysing and evaluating the plots, the use of video evidence and using tier 2 and 3 vocabulary and argument words in an answer.
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 Industrial Revolution
This lesson aims to examine and assess factory conditions during the Industrial Revolution.
The poor conditions and punishments are explored through the eyes of a pauper apprentice, whose story tells us the harsh discipline, rules and punishments for factory workers.
Students have a chance to complete a diary entry and evaluate if life was bad for everyone including using causation equations in the plenary.
The lesson alludes to factory owners like Robert Owen who built quality houses, schools, shops with cheap goods and parks for his workers (although factory reform and reformers is dealt with in another lesson).
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
This bundle is the third and final part in a series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship.
As well as focusing on GCSE exam practice questions, the lessons apply the skills necessary to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the period studied from Youth Groups to life in Germany during the war.
They will study (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in the role of women and how their lives were transformed and the causes and consequences of the Final Solution.
The analysis and evaluation of sources (AO3) are used in for example the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht lesson whilst substantiated judgements are made (AO4) on how far the Nazis controlled the Churches in Germany.
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lessons and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resources includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 The Nazis and the economy
L2 The Hitler Youth
L3 The role of women in Nazi Germany
L4 The Nazis and the Churches
L5 Hitler’s hate list
L6 The Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht
L7 The Final Solution
L8 Opposition in Nazi Germany
L9 The German Home Front 1939-45 (free resource)
Please note that setting a full mock examination in class after completing this unit is strongly recommended.
All the examination resources and markschemes are subject to copyright but can easily be found on the AQA website.
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
This lesson focuses on the change in policy towards the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.
Students have to put events into chronological order and understand why the beginning of World War II changed everything.
Students also learn about the Wannsee Conference and the experimental attempts by the Nazis to murder the Jews in Europe from shooting to mobile gas vans before deciding upon the use of Zyklon B crystals.
Using numbers and figures they also discover the sheer scale of the atrocities involved in this genocide and what happened in the concentration camps.
There are some excellent links to video evidence to accompany the lesson, which are suitable to show.
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 Industrial Revolution
The aim of this aim is to assess why coal became known as ‘black gold’.
Students learn how important coal was to the Industrial Revolution and how it was used in a number of areas.
However the interesting facts focus on its extraction and yet again the dangers involved for all concerned, especially children.
Students have to rate how effective the various measures put in place were to overcome some of the problems
They also have to tackle some historical hexagonals to get them thinking and linking all the information together.
A find and fix plenary should test their recall and knowledge from the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The lesson aims to distinguish between inoculation and vaccination, before analysing Jenner’s discovery of the vaccination for smallpox using documentary and video evidence.
Students then have to answer questions, explain the significance of his discovery over time and link factors to his story.
They also have to analyse source information, complete an 8 mark GCSE practice question and understand why, despite his brilliance he received criticism and opposition to his discovery.
The lesson finishes with a true or false quiz and a ‘Have I got news for you?’ 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 to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of this lesson is to assess the significance of John Hunter in his lifetime and beyond and decide if and why he deserves a place in a Medical Hall of Fame.
An analysis of his life, his surgical brilliance and his specimen collection (complete with a brilliant video link to Professor Robert Winston’s short documentary on his life) gives the students the tools necessary to be able to tackle and write a longer analytical essay question with substantiated judgements.
Students ultimately have to judge how far he deserves a place in the Medical Hall of Fame, with help and sentence starters given if required.
The plenary is in the form of a literacy challenge, using key words from the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of this lesson is to assess the contributions made by Pasteur and Koch to the improvements in medicine in the late 19th Century.
By the late 1800’s, the focus had moved away from antiseptic to aseptic surgery.
Students will learn how Pasteur made his monumental breakthrough in 1861 with his Germ Theory, aided through the factors of chance, government and scientific experimentation.
However as he was only a chemist it was the German doctor Robert Koch who applied Pasteur’s theory to human disease to convince doubters that microscopic germs could kill something as advanced as a human.
Students will rate their progress in these discoveries and make substantiated judgements on their effectiveness and performance in the development of vaccines.
There are also links to Bastion and Tyndall and their similar rivalry in Britain.
The lesson includes GCSE practice questions on factors and significance with source analysis and video links throughout.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
The British Empire
This lesson aims to question whether Britain was in India for the right reasons.
The subject matter is the East India Company and a study of how it slowly took over the country of India taking with it a precious diamond and making a fortune out of its trade. There are some great video links used here from the BBC and Dan Snow which help bring reasoning and clarity.
Students are asked if we should return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India, the jewel in the British crown, after analysing some important evidence.
Students are also given key words to help them with their arguments as to whether the diamond should be returned to India or not.
The final activity focuses on the legacy of the East India Company and who benefitted from their rule before the company’s eventual collapse.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question of who benefitted from the Empire posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
This bundle is the complete series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship.
As well as focusing on GCSE exam practice questions, the lessons apply the skills necessary to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the period studied from the Wall Street Crash and the transformation by Hitler of the Nazis into an electable force.
They will study (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in the economic problems facing Germany and the causes and consequences of Hitler becoming Chancellor.
The analysis and evaluation of sources (AO3) are used in for example The Night of the Long Knives lessons whilst substantiated judgements are made (AO4) on the limited opposition in Nazi Germany and the conversion into a totalitarian state.
The lessons are as follows:
L1: Kaiser Wilhelm II (free resource)
L2 The Kaiser’s Government and Weltpolitik
L3 The impact of World War 1 on Germany (free resource)
L4 The Weimar Constitution and Political Parties
L5 The Treaty of Versailles
L6 Political Uprisings – the Spartacists and the Kapp Putsch (free resource)
L7 The Ruhr Crisis and Hyperinflation
L8 The Munich Beer Hall Putsch
L9 Super Stresemann
L10 The Golden Age of Stresemann
L11 The Wall Street Crash
L12 The rise of the Nazis and the transformation of the Nazi Party
L13 How did Hitler become Chancellor? (free resource)
L14 How did Hitler consolidate his power?
L15 The Night of the Long Knives
L16 The Nazi Police State
L17 The Nazis and the economy
L18The Hitler Youth
L19 The role of women in Nazi Germany
L20 The Nazis and the Churches
L21 Hitler’s hate list
L22 The Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht
L23 The Final Solution
L24 Opposition in Nazi Germany
L25 The German Home Front 1939-45 (free resource)
Please note that setting a full mock examination in class after completing each unit is strongly recommended.
All the examination resources and markschemes are subject to copyright but can easily be found on the AQA website.
Each resource gives suggested teaching strategies and are differentiated . They come in PDF and Powerpoint formats and can be amended and changed to suit.
Please note that due to Bundle restrictions of 20 lessons, the free resources (L1, L3, L6, L13, L25) need to be downloaded seperately.
Historic Environment Question for 2024
This nine page Revision Guide is aimed at students to help study, organise, revise and be prepared for the AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England 1568-1603 Historic Environment question for 2024.
I have included 6 possible questions for GCSE exam practice on the themes I believe stand out in the literature provided. Within the guide itself, I have broken down the main details of the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation into manageable chunks.
This guide focuses on the main concepts prescribed by AQA. For example it examines the location of the New World and its growing importance for Drake and his fellow navigators, the function and structure of seafaring as new navigational techniques and ship design allowed more exploration.
It will also analyse the people connected to Drake’s circumnavigation including Sir John Hawkins and Diego as well as giving information on Drake and the different interpretations of him at the time.
Furthermore the culture, values and fashions connected with Drake’s circumnavigation are examined as untold riches such as feathers, pearls, jewels and gold became essential accessories for the fashionistas of Elizabethan England.
Finally important events are linked to Drake’s voyages from his initial slave excursions to his revenge attacks on Spanish shipping and his circumnavigation, as well focusing on the detailed maps and illustrations in his diaries and journals of new lands he discovered.
All the information and more included is advised by AQA through their Paper 2: Shaping the nation resource pack guidance.
I have also gained a brilliant insight into the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation from renowned historians such as Ben Johnson, Miranda Kaufman and the superb Professor Jowett, as well as numerous other sources, including the fabulous BBC History Today magazine and podcasts.
The resource comes in PDF and Word formats if you wish to adapt and change.
Any reviews on this resource which would be much appreciated.
American Civil RIghts
This lesson aims to question the impact the KKK had on America in the 1900’s.
It starts by looking at some of the actions of the KKK and the fear and intimidation black Americans felt at the time.
Students have to analyse a variety of evidence about the group before having to answer some differentiated questions, including voicing their judgements on its impact over time in the Twentieth Century
There is also a link to the KKK today and what they are still trying to represent and promote.
Students can also refer to this to build upon their conclusions as to the impact they had on American society.
The plenary requires students to fix and fix statements using their knowledge gained 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, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Industrial Revolution
The aim of this lesson is for students to analyse the changes that were happening in the Industrial Revolution and then to question if these changes made peoples’ lives better or worse. (Thus focusing on the historical skills of change and continuity and cause and consequence)
The students are given a picture as they walk into the room which describes an invention that has been introduced during the Industrial Revolution. They then organise themselves into chronological order before discussing who it affected, why it would affect them and how it could transform the lives of people.
They also have to decide in a Britain’s Got Talent Quiz which invention is the most important and would win the Golden Buzzer.
Furthermore they analyse further changes which occurred, how they link together and for extra challenge decide how many of the changes refer to economic, social, demographic, political or technological changes.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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 and there are differentiated materials included.
The aim of this lesson is to understand why children were evacuated to the countryside in the Second World War.
However, it also questions the success of evacuation through government propaganda, audio records of evacuees and from written sources of evidence.
Students are led through the evacuation process, which on the surface looks amazingly planned and executed by the British Government.
But, using primary evidence of the time, they realise how the Government failed to prioritise the needs of the children over the need to evacuate large numbers.
Students will also learn how other vulnerable groups in society were also evacuated without due consideration of their needs.
By the end of the lesson the students will evaluate the biggest problems faced by the children during World War II and learn some sad facts about the reality of war on the Home Front.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Why was the slave trade finally abolished in Britain and her Empire and why did it take so long to achieve?
Why were arguments in the eighteenth century challenged so rigorously and overturned in the nineteenth?
Which people inspired its abolition and who was against this?
Students decide which arguments were being put forward to the plantation owners, racists, people who were ignorant and law makers to end the slave trade.
They then prioritise the most important arguments in challenging these peoples’ staunch perceptions.
The second part of the lesson is a case study of William Wilberforce. Through video, audio and source work, students build up a history of the great man and decide how and why he is significant (this is a differentiated task dependent upon ability).
The final part of the lesson uses an interactive spinning wheel with key words used throughout the course, which the students have to define and explain their links to slavery.
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.
