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.

Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship The aim of this lesson is to evaluate how effectively the Nazis controlled its Youth. The lesson is split into two parts and can be delivered over two lessons. The first part looks at the Hitler Youth, the activities organised for boys and girls and the purpose behind them. Students then have to analyse four pieces of evidence and evaluate how much they are being controlled. Some differentiated questioning and higher order thinking allows you to see how much they are making progress in the lesson. The second part focuses on education and what the young people are taught at school. Again the students are challenged and questioned on how effective this diet of propaganda was, with an emphasis that not all lessons were anti-Semitic. Various and excellent video footage is used to consolidate understanding. 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.

American Civil RIghts The aim of this lesson is to show a different approach to achieving Civil Rights pursued by Malcolm X. The start of the lesson asks why Malcolm Little changed his name and makes a link to the film by Spike Lee. It follows his early life chronologically and some higher order thinking questions are posed. The lesson then looks at his later life and beliefs and analyses some of his views and most famous quotations in a fun and engaging way. Students have to finally decide the most important aspects of his legacy and prioritise them, as well as deciding the fundamental differences of his beliefs and approach compared to Martin Luther King. 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 aim of this lesson is to evaluate the role the Black Tudors played in Tudor society. Students are given the context of the Tudor times, where they use some source scholarship and questioning to decide how and why Black Tudors came to Britain. Students then have to ascertain which roles and forms of employment they had using a dual coding activity to decipher them. There are video links included as well as a thinking quilt, which is designed to challenge concepts and judge the value and importance of their impact upon Tudor England. The main task is some research which requires students to analyse five Black Tudors in some differentiated Case Studies. The plenary concludes by checking what they have learnt in the lesson using an odd one out activity or by linking symbols and images used throughout 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.

Cold War The aim of this lesson is to understand the causes behind the building of the Berlin Wall and the consequences for Berliners during the height of the Cold War. Students analyse the differences between life on the East and West sides of Berlin to understand why thousands of Germans continued to cross the border to make a better life in West Berlin. The second part of the lesson focuses on the building of the wall, using statistics, graffiti art and the personal account of Conrad Shuman in a thinking quilt to develop further understanding and evaluate its significance in the context of the Cold War. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives? 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 the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. 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 Industrial Revolution The aim for writing this lesson is to challenge the traditional view that Jack the Ripper targeted prostitutes or sex workers in Victorian London. Whilst much has been written about the Jack the Ripper and how clever he was to avoid detection, very little has been written about the lives of his victims. Therefore with this in mind, students will learn how difficult it was for Victorian women to lead comfortable lives as marriage, children, work, alcoholism, the workhouse and poverty took its toll on them. Students begin the lesson with an overview by learning what is known about Jack the Ripper, who he killed and how the police had little evidence or clues to go on. There is a video link and a true or false activity to complete this. They will then have to use a number of images to decide how hard life was for Victorian women and the pressures they were under. A differentiated missing word activity can be completed to piece together many of these problems, based on the lives of the five women murdered. A case study of Annie Chapman, the Ripper’s second victim, will centre around her privileged life before alcoholism took over, forcing her to separate from her husband and children as she moved from a village near Windsor Castle to the doss houses of Whitechapel. Here, students have to colour code the main factors and problems which affected her life. An extended writing task can then be completed, with a writing structure and key words given to help if required. The plenary poses some differentiated questions from the learning completed in 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 and there are differentiated materials included. A big thank you goes to Hallie Rubenhold, whose fabulous book ‘The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women killed by Jack the Ripper’ inspired me to write this lesson.

The Tudors The aim of this lesson is to decide which Tudor explorer deserves the most recognition in a seafaring ‘Hall of Fame’. Students are led through the journeys and discoveries of sailors in Elizabethan England from the Cabot brothers to Gerardus Mercator and his brilliant Atlas. (This was to give the navigator a map, where a line of constant bearing would cross all meridians at the same angle) The sailors achievements and the problems they encountered are given through learning activities such as a play your cards right, video evidence, a true or false quiz and a plotting exercise of Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe on a blank world map. The main task is to analyse and evaluate the achievements of the Tudor explorers - Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh with differentiated resource materials. Students are given specific criteria to judge this before ultimately deciding who had the greatest impact and should be given the most recognition for Elizabethan exploration. The lesson concludes with a literacy key word game. 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 Britain: Power and the People, c.1170 to the present day This 33 page Revision Guide is broken down into four sections: challenging authority and feudalism, challenging royal authority, reform and reformers and equality and rights. The Guide starts by explaining the 4 questions types asked in the exam and gives suggestions and tips on the easiest way to tackle these. The Revision Guide gives over 20 typical exam questions asked on each topic (from significance, to how useful, to similarities and differences to factors) and how to put these questions into practise with model answers. This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be adapted and changed to suit with PDF and Word formats supplied. This Guide can be used for revision, interleaving, within the classroom as well for homework purposes. Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated.

Cold War The aims of this lesson are to explain what the Cold War was in post war Europe and how it developed between the two existing Superpowers in 1945. The USA and the USSR had different ideologies and students will learn the differences between Capitalism and Communism. Furthermore, despite cordial relations at the three meetings held before the end of the war at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, suspicions were soon aroused. Students will analyse the preceding decisions made about the divisions of Germany and Berlin and make informed judgements as to why these suspicions developed. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives? 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 these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. 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 French Revolution The aim of this lesson is to investigate if Napoleon was a hero or villain. Students are introduced to Napoleon and make some initial judgements with reference to his upbringing and his early life. The main task is to analyse some giebn evidence which is focused on his career, personal life, his reforms in France and how he became Emperor of France. They are required to complete their analysis with some extended writing, complete with key words and a writing frame if required. The plenary questions whether we should regard him as a legend with links to people in the modern era. The lesson comes with differentiated materials, suggested teaching and learning strategies and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning. It is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.

The Holocaust The aims of this lesson are to explain who was put on trial at Nuremberg, the crimes they were charged with and their category of criminality ranging from major offenders to followers. Students begin by learning about Denazification and how this was implemented immediately after the war, before Cold War tensions took over. They also learn why Nuremberg was chosen as the place for the trials. The main task requires them to analyse up to 8 individuals and how they ‘conducted’ themselves during World War II. Students then have to decide which of the four war crimes they committed and which category of prisoner they would come under. They also have to judge whether their sentences would be death by shooting, hanging or a prison sentence. The verdicts are given later in the Powerpoint so students can check and compare their answers. There is an accompanying video task which looks at Nuremberg 75 years on, with some brilliant footage of holocaust survivors and the son of Hans Frank, the Butcher of Poland. The central enquiry of this and the other lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust? Students 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 and is differentiated. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

Britain: Health and the People, C.1000AD to present With revision constantly in full swing, I have started to make these revision workbooks which my Year 11 students love (as an alternative to death by Powerpoint). We pick certain sections each lesson to revise and come up with model answers and discuss the best way to tackle each question in the best way, considering exam time constraints. I print out the sheets in A5, which the students stick in their books and use to colour code Students answer the questions next to or underneath the sheets. They can also be used for homework or interleaving. The resource comes in Word format if there is a need to change or adapt.

The aim of this lesson is to assess how ready Elizabeth was to become Queen of Tudor England. What was the young Elizabeth like and how did her background and Tudor upbringing prepare her to be a Queen? Moreover how did the foundations of her life enable her as a woman to be strong in a man’s world? This lesson attempts to examine her attributes growing up but also shows how luck and ruthlessness also played a later part in her life. Students build up a picture of her early life through pictures, sources and video evidence before explaining her character and noting the problems she faced and how she overcame them from a young age. Activities include a a chronology exercise, a true or false quiz, video and source analysis as well as using a tree to connect her early problems (branches) and character traits (leaves). 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.

This lesson aims to question the importance of Edward VI and his priorities when he became a Tudor King. Recent research has claimed Edward was not a sickly boy at all and therefore this is not the emphasis of the lesson. Instead students have to think about the importance of religion and the changes he made, even to the extent of altering the Tudor succession. The lesson starts with a play your cards right game, the cards turning and the dates revealed as students are tested on their chronological understanding. In true world cup fashion, they have to narrow down his fixtures culminating in a final and winning priority. This lesson challenges students using numbers, a true or false quiz, source work as well as video evidence to give the students a thorough knowledge of his six year reign. 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 British Empire This lesson focuses on the upheaval of the lives of the indigenous peoples of Australia with the coming of the Europeans. The lesson starts by looking at their customs and traditions and how these were quickly attacked through the attitudes and settlements of the colonists. A ‘Horrible Histories’ version of events is also scrutinised and questioned on its accuracy. I have included some comprehension questions and source scholarship using an extract from the brilliant ‘Empireland’ by Sathnam Sanghera which explains the atrocities committed in Tasmania by the colonists. Paintings from Governor Davey of Van Diemen’s Land can also analysed so the students are able to prioritise the most significant changes the colonists made to Australia and the legacy of the British Empire. The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies, differentiated materials and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question 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.

Cold War The aim of this lesson is to analyse the causes and consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis , its significance and its effect on future relations between the USA and USSR during the Cold War. In an anger management task, students link various emotions to emojis as they learn why tensions (and therefore anger) between the USA and Cuba escalated following the coming to power of Fidel Castro and his subsequent alliance to the USSR. In a text mapping exercise they analyse how Castro defied the West by organising the placement of nuclear missiles on Cuba and how Kennedy reacted to this report and the stark choices he faced, urged on by the Hawkes and Doves in his assembled special committee, Excomm. Furthermore students undertake an interactive quiz which is designed to be engaging and challenging as they have to make 13 decisions in the 13 days of the crisis. The plenary is an interactive blockbusters and there are links to video evidence as well a recall, retention and retrieval task. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives during the Cold War? 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 the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. 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 Suffragettes The lesson focuses on the main differences between the Suffragists and Suffragettes, but also looks at their similarities. Students are asked as to why women wanted the vote and how they were going to achieve it? Further into the lesson, students have to analyse the various methods used by both groups and have to question, prioritise and justify their effectiveness. Included is a thinking quilt which tests pupils’ understanding and links the key ideas, dates, people and definitions together. A differentiated plenary questions and checks their understanding of 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.

AQA GCE A Level 1C, The Tudors: England 1485-1603 This 59 page Revision Guide is broken down into 5 main sections: Henry VII, Henry VII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. This Revision Guide includes practice exam questions on both types and gives examples and tips on how to answer each. I have been inspired to write this Guide by my students after they had complained about the difficulty of accessing and understanding the content provided by other Revision Guides and resources, including the AQA Democracy and Nazism course too. The Guide is therefore clear, concise and content driven. It will enable all learners to achieve the higher grades with clear guidance on how to achieve them. The information is also broken down into an easy to use format to aid the students. The Guide can be used for revision, interleaving, home learning as well as class teaching. This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be edited and changed to suit, It comes in both Word and PDF format. Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated. This Guide also compliments the lessons I have put on TES for the delivery of the whole course. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. My email address can be found by visiting my shop at TES: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/PilgrimHistory

This lesson sets out to explains how Hitler set Germany on the road to the Second World War in 5 steps. Students are challenged to find out how and why was he able to defy the Treaty of Versailles so easily with little or no consequences (shown through a causal spider’s web). Students analyse video footage and a number of sources, using the COP technique (modelled for student understanding) which has proved invaluable for evaluating sources at GCSE. A final chronological recap of the events and evaluation of the most and least important of the events that led to war, will give students an in depth understanding of why World War II started. This lesson is ideal as preparation for GCSE if you are embedding source skills or teaching the interwar years or WWII at Key stage 4. It is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout 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.