This KS3 unit of work aims to contextualise the unit of study on WW2 by providing an overview of the key events. It should take between 1-2 hours to complete. I use it near the start of the course before focusing on certain events as depth studies. The Power Point leads students through all activities with all accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main events of WW2. To understand why certain events are of particular significance as turning points. To make a judgement on which events were the most important turning points. Activities include a fun competition starter which recaps on the causes of WW2. Students try to guess the words using a series of images (non historical- just sound right). Having defined a turning-point, students then use the detailed information booklet to make brief notes on the significance of each key event. Finally, they produce a paragraph answer explaining which event was the most significant and why.

This KS3 lesson should take at least one hour. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main events of the Great Fire of London. To figure out what caused it, why it spread so quickly and who/what was to blame. To understand how it changed London forever and decide overall if it was a good or bad thing for the city. Activities include a question formation/answer starter whereby students form their own who, what, why, where, when and how questions and then see how many they can answer using the short video. We then sort the cause cards into evidence that the fire was intentional/a plot vs. an accident. We then move on to consider the effects by comparing a picture of London before and after the fire. Having gone though some facts on the extent of the improvements made to the city, students write a paragraph answer deciding whether, on balance, the Great Fire of London was a good or bad thing.

This KS3 lesson should take one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and all accompanying resources are included. This is my first Year 7 lesson at the start of our first unit on Medieval Realms. Aims and Objectives: To know some facts about life in the Middle Ages. To select evidence from sources to answer a question. To apply this evidence to reached a balanced judgement about life in the Middle Ages (good and bad things). Activities include a true/false introductory medieval quiz, a source analysis exercise that encourages students to use source material effectively to support their points (this starts with a collection of negative sources before balancing these with positive sources), a vocabulary homework with test sheet on the next unit- The Battle of Hastings.

This KS3 lesson should take at least two hours to complete. The Power Point leads the students through all activities with accompanying resources. Aims and Objectives: To know the main events leading up to Becket’s murder. To have ideas about who was to blame and why? LESSON 1: Activities include a recap on the feudal system and a discussion on how the role of the Church could cause problems for the king. A whole class reading of the story with initial thoughts on blame. An analysis of Edward Grim’s first-hand account and source bias. A storyboard homework to consolidate the key events. LESSON 2: A starter which recaps the main events through matching pictures to sentences. A card sort where students group information into evidence that either Henry, Becket or the knights were to blame. A final write up with writing frame provided where students explain how each person/group might be to blame before reaching a conclusion.

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 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 KS3 unit should take around two hours + one homework to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with all accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know and understand the main causes of the British Industrial Revolution. To consider which factors are more/less important and how they worked together. To consider the importance of individuals and reach a judgement on how achieved the most. Activities include an odd one out starter, research and mind map activity on the causes with a linking exercise as an extension, group research and information poster on one individual who contributed towards the Industrial Revolution, followed by a carousel/information sharing activity. Finally, there is a class vote on who contributed the most, followed by a homework/paragraph answer explaning who the student thinks contributed ther most.

IMPORTANT: Some of these activities refer 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. 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 the extent of change in care and treatment: the impact of the NHS and high-tech medical and surgical treatments in hospitals. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. It also provides feedback/answers/demonstrations at intervals. Activities include watching the very quaint contemporary promotional cartoon which showcases the improvements offered by the NHS, cloze exercise, thought-shower, analysis of high-tech treatments and discussion/linking of NHS to the introduction of high-tech treatments.

This KS3 unit will take at least two lessons to complete. The Power Points lead students through all activities with accompanying resources included. LESSON 1: Aims and Objectives: To be able to define apartheid. To understand how and why apartheid existed. To be able to explain how apartheid affected people in South Africa. LESSON 2: Aims and Objectives: To know some facts about his life. To understand how Mandela’s life was linked to apartheid. To reach a judgement on whether Mandela’s campaign was more peaceful or violent. LESSON 1: Activities include a role play starter whereby students enter the room according to eye colour and are treated differently. They are asked how this made them feel. Key terms for this unit are then linked to their definitions. A short video is used to answer students’ who, what, why, where, when and how questions on Apartheid. Students then read through the fact cards and pull out those which are untrue. The remaining facts are sorted from the most to the least oppressive. Finally, students write a paragraph summarising what they have learned so far. LESSON 2: Having watched a 4 minute biography, students complete a cloze exercise on Mandela’s life. Using a Mandela quote, they consider what method he claims to have used to end Apartheid (co-operation with enemy). Students then use the timeline to find evidence to test his claim that he worked with his enemies, rather than fought against them. They end the lesson with a paragraph answer to this debate.

This KS3 unit of work should take around 3 lessons to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know the key facts about Oliver Cromwell- who he was and what he did. To use sources critically to learn more about opinions on Oliver Cromwell. To use our evidence to reach a balanced judgement on whether he was a hero or a villain. Activities include a starter which uses the Monty Python Oliver Cromwell song to recall key facts. Students are then unknowingly issued with a set of either positive or negative sources to create a quick thought-shower and feedback before exploring the reasons why their ideas about Cromwell are so different. We then colour-code Cromwell’s actions into “hero” and “villain” before analysing a range of sources to consider whether they show him in a positive or negative light and how far we trust them. Students then complete an assessed piece of writing, using these sources and their knowledge to answer the key question “Oliver Cromwell: Hero or Villain?”. A writing frame is including, along with a mark scheme which assesses their knowledge/understanding, use of sources and judgement.

This KS3 unit should take around two lessons to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Aims and Objectives: To know why the Stuarts and King James I were so obsessed with witchcraft. To know how witches were spotted and tested. To decide how fair these trials were. To balance our view of the Stuarts by considering their scientific advances. The first lesson starts with a mystery image of the trial of Mary Sutton by water. We then examine King James’ theories surrounding witchcraft and consider how the Stuarts’ obsession also linked in with the religious tensions of the time. Students read the passage on the famous Pendle Witch Trial and answer the comprehension questions. There are a lot of individuals involved in this event, so I generally work through it with them. They link King James’ witch spotting techniques to complete a grid determining how many of these criteria are met by each of the suspects. Students then make their on verdict using their grids which will tend to by “guilty”. However, when questioned, most students are already questioning thee methods and feel they were not guilty. The second lesson introduces Matthew Hopkins and the idea of witchfinding. The Horrible Histories witchfinder advert brilliantly demonstrates how ludicrous this process was. The students then complete a piece of writing whereby they go back in time and defend those who were accused of witchcraft using modern-day understanding. We end the unit by balancing out the Stuarts’ superstition with some work on their scientific advances. This worksheet can also be set as a homework.

This nice Christmas themed lesson has helped me to keep both SLT happy with its academic integrity and the students happy with a bit of Christmas cheer in that final week of term! We introduce the 1914 truce with the Sainsburys advert. The basic factual recall quiz afterwards is a nice chocolate winning opportunity. Students then cross-reference the advert’s idealised portrayal with a series of sources to reach a final judgement on how accurate the Sainsburys’ portrayal was. This is written up in the form of a response from the Advertising Standards Agency to a complaint about the advert not being accurate.

This KS3 lesson introduces the concept of propaganda and censorship. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying worksheets. The famous Lord Kitchener poster is used to introduce the methods used in propaganda. Students define propaganda and censorship before thought-showering types and availability in WW1. In small groups they freeze-frame a range of propaganda images and discuss their messages/methods. With livelier classes at the end of the day, I’ve sometimes gone straight onto the worksheet analysis and left this part out though. Students then make their own propaganda posters using the techniques they have learnt. I use this as a competition and display. This will either take one lesson and a homework or two lessons.

This lesson uses contemporary sources, including photographs, news reel and written accounts to investigate the Blitz and whether “Blitz Spirit” was real or simply an example of propaganda. In the starter, students contrast images of “Blitz Spirit” with an account of the true horror of the Blitz. They consider the propaganda content of a British news reel clip. Students then complete a card sort activity by placing sources in a line to consider those which support the idea of “Blitz Spirit” and those which discredit it. They can then write-up their overall verdict. The home work activity asks students to study a range of WW2 images, considering which they would censor and which they would publish.

This KS3 topic covers a single lesson and introduces the course on The Tudors by providing students with a complete overview of the monarchs. It’s simple but effective and I’ve had fantastic justified reasons from students when I’ve used it. Aims and Objectives: To know the Tudor family tree and the order in which they reigned. To know a few basic facts about each of the Tudor monarchs. To compare their reigns and make a judgement on who was the greatest Tudor monarch. The starter focuses on the family tree and establishes the order and reasons for reigns. We then work through each of the monarchs, whilst students rank them on a continuum from worst to best. I’ve always made them note down two reasons for each but the information sheet could equally be adapted into cards for them to order. Students are then asked to make an independent judgement on which monarch was the greatest and we discuss the choices at the end.

This KS3 unit should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with support and all resources referred to are included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main events which led up to the outbreak of civil war in 1642. To pick out the key reasons/causes and sort these into categories. To explain your understanding of the causes in an essay using PEEL. To reach a judgement on which causes were the most/least important. Activities include a starter which links this unit to current civil wars and defines “civil war”, an analysis of Charles I’s personality using a portrait and facts determining how this contributed towards the conflict, searching for evidence to support the three key factors of money/religion/power in a written passage (SEN version of passage provided), an introduction and worked example of PEEL paragraphing, an assessment essay aalysing causes with a plan and SEN writing frame (mark scheme inlcuded).

This KS3 unit of work should take around four lessons to complete. It includes the assessment for the unit on the Tudors. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying resources. Aims and Objectives: To learn some facts about Henry VIII and decide whether these make him a good or a bad king. To consider why we have different opinions about Henry VIII and how our sources aren’t completely reliable. To use (critically) a range of different types of sources to reach a reliable judgement on the key question. The first lesson introduces the idea of source reliability by drawing inferences from the Holbein portrait and then considering two source samples- one which supports and another which contradicts the painting. Students are asked to consider why they are different. We then study the six wives of Henry, completing a cut and stick activity (wife to fate) and begin to make our notes on whether he was a good or bad king. The second lesson covers the break with Rome and then a card sort, adding further information to our good v. bad table. The extension activity asks students to use a range of resources to add to their notes. I used our class textbooks but also informatioin that I took from BBC schools. This is also a good homework task at this stage as it can be completd using the Internet. The third lesson is where there students prepare for the assessment using a collection of eight sources. An SEN version of the source sheets is also included. The fourth lesson is the assessment write-up. The students are asked to use both the sources and their own knowledge to present a balanced argument before reaching a final judgement. A mark scheme is included.

This lesson considers why the Nazis lost WW2 and what the longer-term results were for the post-war world. The starter is a memory recall using the bunker scenes from the film Downfall. This also asks the students to make inferences. Students then use their prior knowledge of the events of WW2 to explain why the Nazis ultimately lost. Using the information provided, students analyse ways in which the post-war world improved as opposed to continuing problems. They then end with a consideration of the merits of just revenge versus forgiveness using the example of the Holocaust survivor who forgave the doctor who experimented upon her as a stimulus for discussion.

This KS3 lesson is part of our work on The Stuarts and comes at the start of the course. We therefore introduce King James I with some source work. However, if the lesson is to be completed in the lead up to Bonfire Night, then this first part can simply be removed, leading you straight into the Gunpowder Plot itself. It will take between 1-2 lessons depending upon how many tasks are completed. Aims and Objectives: To use sources to think about what type of king James I was (CAN BE LEFT OUT). To know the key events of the Gunpowder Plot. To understand why some people think the plotters were set up. The lesson starts with the option of some source analysis to investigate what type of person King James I was. There is a more detailed version of this source sheet and a simpler SEN version. We then introduce the Gunpowder Plot with the Horrible Histories clip. The students then use this initial overview to cut out the jumbled events and order them. These are stuck onto the storyboard which is then illustrated (I’ve set this as a homework and competition). The following lesson we look into the conspiracy theory using a range of sources supporting both sides. Students produce a balanced written answer on whether they agree that the plotters were set up before reaching their final verdict.

IMPORTANT: Some of the activities refer 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. 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 Hitler’s early career: joining the German Workers’ Party and setting up the Nazi Party, 1919-20. The Power Point leads students through all activities with an accompanying task booklet. Following a starter which answers 5W questions about the origins of the party using a short passage, students work in pairs to discuss the steps that would need to be taken to set up a new party. The booklet tasks then work through each stage, charting the early development of the party. Activities include colour-coding of a selection of the 25 Points into nationalist and socialist, making inferences from sources to understand why membership grew, note-taking/table on the impact of the changes Hitler made, an analysis of what key members bought to the party and a series of comprehension questions on the early SA.