This lesson contains: A background to U.S. policy towards the Indians before 1830, including assimilation and the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A mind mapping activity to note down why policies began to change, including the failure of assimilation, Manifest Destiny, U.S. peoples’ dislike of Indians and the changing government agenda. These slides could be printed and used in groups, or done on-board. A reading and retrieval task to use the information provided to complete the worksheet to acknowledge the major changes in policy, including Indian Removal Act and the Permanent Indian Frontier. A plenary to consider a narrative-style question. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter to consider what a castle means to the students. Two images are used to get a discussion going. An introduction to castle building and locations. The students debate which place they would build their castle and why. A background into William’s intention of building castles, where they were build and how. Students read about the Motte and Bailey and label their copy of the castle with the correct features. A task to determine the advantages and disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles. An overview of where these castles were build and what the spread (on the map) shows about the danger areas. A plenary quiz to test student knowledge. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Word File

This lesson contains: A starter with questions about the Norman conquest. An introduction to the detective work historians do. An overview of the types of sources, with students feedback on this. This leads to a larger discussion of which sources are more useful to a historian. A discussion of the criteria for the lesson - nature, origin and purpose and what they mean. An activity to study a series of sources about the death of Harold. Students consider the nature, origin and purpose of each and for each explain what theory it has about the death and a positive and negative based on the criteria. An opportunity to come up with their own theory as to what happened to Harold in reality using an on-board criteria. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter to consider the role of hierarchy in a school and comparing to society. A YouTube video that summarises the aftermath of Hastings and how William increased his control over the country. This is followed by a gap fill exercise which can be printed and filled in from the handouts provided. An overview of the Feudal System and its uses. Students write down the new hierarchy and then answer questions about the advantages for William by using the information provided. An introduction to the Domesday Book and the reasons behind it, including a short YouTube video and then information which students use to complete follow up questions about why and how the survey was carried out. A plenary to consider the method which may have had the biggest impact. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Word File 1 x Publisher File

This lesson contains: A starter which is useful if you have taught Motte and Bailey castles, and recaps their appearance to start the lesson. A task for students to stick in a picture of a castle and label what is different between this and the old Motte and Bailey (i.e. stone walls etc.) and there is a slide to go over the major changes and definitions. An on-board run through of the evolution of castles with examples from Cardiff Castle and Framlingham Castle. Students consider the advantages and disadvantages of these new castles. Beaumaris Castle is used to explain the idea of concentric castles. Students use a card sort to match up the castle design feature with the name and explanation. Students finish by studying five castles and identify their features from the previous activity. They determine which castles they would use for different purposes. A plenary quiz with differentiated levels. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 4 x Word Files

This lesson contains: A starter to consider what assumptions we can make about a fictional person based on the criteria on the board. This gets students into the thinking of using evidence to make guesses. An image of the Tollund Man and gets students discussing what may have happened to him. Background about the story of the Tollund Man, followed by a YouTube video on bog bodies and the Tollund Man himself to give the background. A task for students to use the information booklet provided to note down the facts. This helps them seperate theory from fact. Once they have what they know as fact, they can then use the sources to add a bit of flavour to their notes. Students are then asked to consider their theory of what happened from an option of murder, religious sacrifice and execution. The students use the facts and the source evidence to come up with a theory about what happened and defend it with historical reasoning. This is good fun and they also get to use historical skills and PEE etc. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Publisher File

This lesson contains: A starter to excite the students about the number of states, current president and the flag. An overview of the exam paper and question types. A Cornell Notes activity to make notes as the on-board PPT goes through the backstory of the USA up until the start of the course in the 1830’s. This covers the 13 Colonies, Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase, explorations of Louis and Clark and the move West. If you don’t want to use the Cornell Notes format, you could have them make a mind map, or split their page into 6 boxes. A brief introduction to the Plains (a central part of the course) and the geography of the U.S. A YouTube video from Ray Mears about the Plains and the dangers. Students make notes on the dangers people will face in this course. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Word Files 1 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A background to early farming and the effect of the Indian Appropriations Act on settling Indians further West. An on-board summary of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the parcelling up of land to be newly settled. The students can stick the map in an annotate around it. A brief introduction to these new farmers as Homesteaders. More comes in later lessons on them though. A guided reading/research task on the difficulties the farmers faced. Students use the information to complete the table for problems of farming the Plains and problems of living on the Plains. A plenary to assess whether life was harder for miners (previous lesson) or farmers. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 3 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A task to introduce the reasons why people went West using a map of my own creation (editable on the PPT) and annotating the Mormon trail, California Trail and Oregon Trail with info from the PPTs. The slides will give info on the importance of the Oregon Trail also, and why it was traversed. A introduction to the belief of Manifest Destiny. A worksheet task to study the reasons people went West and to sort them by importance as pushes and pulls, but also overall. A task to study what problems the migrants faced along the way. This can be extended by looking at the Donner Party using the information provided and answering some comprehension questions on this. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Word File 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter with a match up exercise to match the year, the Act signed against eh Indians and the effect of the Act. Leads onto the Indians War lesson. A task for students to create a mind map of why Indians lives changed. Student sake notes from the on-board slides (which can also be printed if you prefer) on Gold, Cattle and Railways. An introduction into the steps that usually occurred starting each war and ending with a reduction in Indian Land. A task to take notes, on the A3 worksheet provided, on Little Crows War. There is a YouTube video and on-board support to help students fill in the relevant section. A further task on the Sand Creek Massacre using a combination of on-board information, a YouTube video and word bank for the gap fill. An activity to use the information provided to complete the sections on Red Cloud’s War. A choice of two plenaries: one to review and peer mark and exemplar, another to explain the most important event in the form of writing a news program for the BBC. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This double lesson contains: A starter to consider some images of Plains Indians doing a buffalo dance and what we can learn. An introduction into the lives of the Plains Indians. Students can have a copy of the worksheet. This has always been most effective as an A3 organiser. For the tribe structure, this is done on the PPT, teacher led. The importance of horses and buffalo uses the information sheet provided. The Plains Indians beliefs is done by a YouTube video and student take notes in the relevant boxes. Then for attitudes to war, this is a YouTube video and the information sheet in combination. This will spill over from lesson 1 into lesson 2 on this topic. A final activity in which students connect the problems Indians faced on the Plains with the solution they found. A plenary quiz drawing on both lessons of this topic. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Word Files 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter to get students’ ideas about what Cowboys looked like and acted like from their knowledge of Westerns and popular culture. An activity to label the cowboy on their worksheets with the correct equipment listed on the board. An annotating activity where information I gone through on-board (or can be printed if you prefer group work) and students annotate the different roles on the cattle drive, from point riders and flank riders through to the drag rider. An introduction to life on the trail and what it must have been like. Students then complete a highlighting task on a piece of guided reading to note the difficulties faced on the trail. Students then compare this with life on the range and whether the roles differed much. A choice of two plenaries: the first to determine whether cowboys were the heroes they are portrayed as in popular culture, and a second with sentence gap fills as a recap summary. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: An introduction to the America Civil War. Students learn about the two sides and why they were fighting, then apply this to a consolidation gap fill which can be stuck in their books. A discussion of the railway project to connect East and West. There is a YouTube video and students write the reasons the railroad was built. A task to stick a map of the railroad into their books and annotate from the board the facts about each railroad company and the difficulties they faced on each side. An activity to determine the consequences of the railroad on the Indians, the farmers and settlers, and the U.S. economy. This is a worksheet that can be colour-coded and stuck in. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 3 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter to study a source and say what we can learn about life in the towns. An overview of the impact of the mass migration of people West. An activity to note down the major issues with crime from on-board information, including the corruption, the unemployment, geography, racism and numbers of wild settlers. An exercise to study the types of crimes on the worksheet and summarise the ones that may have caused the biggest problems. A task to use the information provided to complete the worksheet mind map to note the roles of the different lawmen in the West and consider who would be in the best position to help. This includes vigilante committees, sheriffs and marshals. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: An overview of how the Civil War affected homesteaders with details about the role and purpose of the Homestead Act 1862. Students take not eon the function of the Act and can watch a YouTube video on it. An activity to note down the successes of the Act as well as the limitations from the on-board information. A task to use the information provided to complete the worksheet on other Acts that followed the Homestead Act and what they did. Students can weigh up the successes of these Acts. An activity to study the information on the changes to farming practices. Students complete a table to show what was done about each problem farmers faced and judge how successful each measure would likely have been. A plenary to consider how much life improved for the Homesteaders. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 3 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter quiz to recap previous information from the last few lessons. A discussion of the situation with ranching before the Civil War and the aftermath of increased beef needs in the East and the availability of the Texas Longhorn. A task for students to complete the worksheet (better in A3) using the on-board information about the problems of cattle ranging and drives, including the Texas fever and the length of the drives. A task to complete the gap fills on the worksheet for Joseph McCoy, Goodnight-Loving and John Illif using the on-board word bank and the information provided. This gets a wider picture of the cattle ranching developments. An opportunity to develop an exam-style answer about the development of the cattle industry. There is also a second plenary to rate the reasons for the cattle industry into a diamond 9. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: An introduction to the reasons for lawlessness in the new cattle towns and the link to the growing railways and cattle ranching that boomed these towns. Students select the most important and can explain why they chose them. An activity to determine the crime which took place in these towns. A YouTube video is shown, followed by an activity to consolidate knowledge. An opportunity to do an exam question in full based on the past few lessons on law and order and cowboys. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: An introduction to the ‘open range’ and why the cowboys moved from working on the range rather than performing cattle drives. A task to study the reasons why the cattle drives ended and the role of cowboys declined. Students read the information provided and put the reasons into order of importance. A discussion of the winter of 1886-87 and the consequences of the great ‘die-up’. An opportunity to study the role barbed wire played in the decline of cowboys by studying an exam exemplar and picking out facts and importance words in the answer, then having a go at their own exam question using similar criteria. A plenary crossword with the keys words from the cattle ranging and cowboys lessons. Attachments 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Publisher Files 2 x Word Files

This lesson contains: A starter task to recap previous learning from the course. A YouTube video introducing the gold rush and how it began, followed by some basic comprehension and thinking questions. An activity to study the information provided to complete questions on why people went for gold and how mining towns grew. A larger activity on the consequences of the growth of mining, from effects on Indians, violence, the economy etc. Students use the information provided to complete the mind map worksheet. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 2 x Publisher Files

This lesson contains: A starter to discuss what students know about America and what comes to mind when they think about it. It’s a good intro to the topic as a whole as somethings they know about will come up in the course. A discussion about the American Dream and what they think it means, or offers. Students study a short excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. This is followed by two videos from YouTube which give different interpretations. Students then summarise, in their own words, what this is. An informative video full of footage from the 1920’s showing the boom years. Students note-take on a mind map of features of the booming 1920’s. An activity to study information on a handout about people’s experiences in the USA in the 1920’s and use it to complete a worksheet showing on one hand, on the other, those that lived, or didn’t live, the American Dream. A plenary for a judgement on the enquiry question. Attachments: 1 x Powerpoint Presentation 1 x Word File 1 x Publisher File