Rise of Dictators The aim of this lesson is to decide if Idi Amin was either an idiot or just simply evil. Students learn about his early life with an absent father and a poor education, completing a missing word exercise, Thus their initial leanings of sympathy towards him may lead them to question the aims of the lesson. However they will soon have to analyse information of how he came to power and his subsequent rule of Uganda. By rating each episode of his life, this should be able to challenge their original assertions and begin to make valid judgements about him. Further video evidence will enable them to make an overall evaluation on his reign as Ugandan President. Being a heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda gives a nice link to a ‘boxing’ debate on his leadership qualities and personality. The debate also recaps on some key words used as with the plenary which requires them to complete a literacy race. 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.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to introduce the A Level course to students. Students are given an overview of the course content, as well as the requirements for the exam questions. The lesson recaps on previous knowledge of the Tudors before introducing Henry VII and questioning which will be his main priorities on becoming King in 1485. Students are also introduced to the Tudor timeline and begin to conceptualise how the Tudors and Henry VII came to power and how legitimate and secure his hold on the crown was. There is also an introduction to Tudor society to set the scene for the course and students learn how society, agriculture, industry, the Church were organised. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is analyse how Henry used propaganda to cement his hold on power. Students are given a number of sources to analyse from which they have to identify the type of propaganda used, the messages given, the target audience and how effective it really was for Henry VII. The plenary required students to link numbers to what they have learned in the lesson. There is an exam practice question to complete. Help is given here with a planning sheet, suggested topics to focus on if required and a generic markscheme. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies as well as a number of tasks for some retrieval practice.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is understand how Henry consolidated his power at the beginning of his reign. Students have to recall his previous problems before deciding how he would overcome these problems. They are then given the solutions to his problems which they categorise into short and long term problems as well as financial and political security and the succession. The plenary challenges student to think outside the box by linking key themes using the octagon to what they have learned in the lesson. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to decide Henry’s priorities on becoming King of England Students have to think which were Henry’s most pressing problems, before being given some help and guidance. They then have to prioritise which four things would be paramount to him and explain why. Using the information acquired, they can then begin to piece together which problems he faced and why, and plot this on a grid. The plenary requires them to write down the questions to the answers provided during the lesson. They are also introduced to a written answer to an exam question, which they analyse and evaluate before deciding which mark it could be awarded. There is some feedback from the exam board given here and a mark awarded. They can also plan an answer to this question themselves, before looking at the exam commentary, with a writing frame provided. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the character of Henry VII and to question how legitimate his claim to the throne really was. The timeline of the houses and York and Lancaster are again analysed, as students are given more information of John of Gaunt’s line and the marriage to his third wife, Katherine Swynford. Using extracts from two renowned historians, students study Henry’s character traits to build up more of a picture of what he was like as a person. They are also introduced for the first time to some GCE exam question practice. This is their first attempt at a validity question. Some guidance is given on how to approach this and a generic markscheme is supplied to allow feedback once completed. The plenary uses picture prompts to recap on the learning from the lesson. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is analyse how Henry ruled the country through his government and to make comparisons to how the country is ruled today. Students are given information on Henry’s government, including his relationship with Parliament and the controversial Council Learned and his use of Justices of the Peace. To check their understanding, students undertake a quiz with 150 points up for grabs to give it a competitive edge! A final odd one out activity uses some retrieval practice from the lesson. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies and retrieval practice activities.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to assess the threat the nobility posed to Henry VII during his reign. Students begin the lesson by summarising the importance and duties of the nobility and naming some important nobles throughout the country. They then have to assess the threat level posed by the nobles and decide how successful Henry was in reducing their power by plotting this on a grid. Their final task is to take on the role of Henry and decide how he dealt with eight nobles during his reign, whether that be through Acts of Attainder, imprisonment, fines, execution, confiscation of land or other choices given. The plenary asks students to link a number of statistics to the nobles learned throughout the lesson. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to judge the threat Ireland posed to Henry and evaluate how much control he exerted over it in his reign. Students are reintroduced to Henry’s foreign policy aims and have to decide which one might be applied to Ireland. This will be revisited at the end of the lesson. They are also given information on Henry’s policies towards Ireland and by using a colour coding activity, assess how much in control he actually was. Students are also introduced to Poyning’s Law and the views of two renowned historians to help them justify their conclusions. The plenary revisits Henry’s aims and students have to justify which aim is his main priority with Ireland and why. There is also some extract exam question practice, complete with scaffolding and a generic markscheme if required. There is an enquiry question posed and revisited to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is decide how much of a financial genius Henry really was. Students are given the information on how Henry collected his revenue and are introduced to key terms which they try to unpick. They then complete a colour coding task to judge and ultimately decide which source of income was he most successful at collecting and justify this with the evidence given. A recap on the Council Learned as well as challenging two opposing views of Henry, will allow students to plan and write a 25 mark exam practice question. There is a writing frame and help given if required. There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work. The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit. The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.

The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel This lesson aims to assess the importance of Wyatt Earp and the continuing problems of law and order in the West. It follows on from the previous lesson on Billy the Kid. Students learn why Wyatt Earp was employed in Tombstone and then have to emoji rate each part of his story to judge how wicked he ‘possibly’ was. They have to give reasons for each of their judgements before they give an overall assessment on his life. There is an excellent link to a documentary on Earp and well as a clip from the film Tombstone to reinforce the learning. There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘consequences’ question worth 8 marks, with help given if needed. The plenary is a literacy challenge which requires definitions of key words. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice is also included from the beginning to think of the similarities and differences between Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp. It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 The aim of this lesson is to analyse the events leading to the Berlin crisis of 1948 and the actions of the Allies to unite a divided Berlin into Trizonia with its new currency, the Deutschemark. Students begin by analysing maps of Berlin to understand its unique position in East Germany; they also use text to find out key information and decipher key words as well as evaluating how the crisis unfolded using a dual coding and text mapping exercise. The plenary requires the students to use causational equations to explain how and why the crisis happened. There is some GCSE exam question practice to complete, with tips on how to answer the consequences question, with model answers given if required. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout this and subsequent lessons to show the progress of learning. The lessons in this bundle are therefore linked together to build up a picture of how diplomacy, propaganda and spying led two Superpowers with opposing political ideologies to create tensions, rivalries and distrust as well as subsequently forming mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question. The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE exam practice. It also comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

Rise of Dictators The aim of this lesson is to decide how evil Tsar Nicholas was. Students are given facts about Tsar Nicholas and his family which suggest he is a caring and devoted family man as well as a competent ruler. Inferences will be made using video, source and photographic evidence. Students are then given more information which will challenge their original assumptions. Incompetence, an ambitious and influential wife, a massacre as well as the growing influence of a ‘mad monk’ will enable students to give him an ‘evil rating’ out of 10. An extended written piece using argument words and a writing frame if required will allow students to give their final judgements and be able to justify their conclusions as to how evil they think he was, or not as the case may be. In the plenary activity, students have to prove they are not a robot by ticking the correct images which link to the learning 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 some retrieval practice on Dictators, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

Rise of Dictators The aim of this lesson is to decide if Castro was a callous or courageous leader of Cuba. Students will learn about how important Cuba was to the USA geographically as well as economically, with the rule of Batista and the corruption in his Government. They will have to decipher some text mapping and dual coding to find this out. They will also be introduced to Castro using video evidence, before given key facts about his rule. They will then have to decide where this evidence fits in with their judgements of him being callous or courageous with the extra challenge of judging how strong or weak the evidence is. An extended writing activity with a writing framework and key words to help will enable students to show off their judgements and new found knowledge. The final task is a road mapping exercise with differentiated questioning to see how far they can travel in Cuba. 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.

Rise of Dictators The aim of this lesson is to question if Saddam deserves his reputation as the ‘Butcher of Baghdad’. Students are at first questioned as to what they know about Saddam and are given information on the importance of Iraq and the Middle East with its oil rich economies. Some source scholarship analyses the death of Saddam and the reasons why he was executed. Together with a thinking quilt, students learn about Saddam’s brutal reign of terror together with the Iran-Iraq war and his invasion of Kuwait. Thus so far, the lesson appears straightforward and there is little to argue against his reputation. However students will also learn through video and source evidence of revisionist ideas of Saddam and the consequence of his execution with the instability within Iraq today. Thus they will be challenged on their original assumptions and evaluate how this reputation has been given to Saddam; is it a just a Western perception? Whilst Iraqis may not necessarily doubt his brutal regime, do they insist life was better than now? 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 some retrieval practice on Dictators, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

Rise of Dictators The aim of this lesson is to decide if Robert Mugabe was a hero or a villain. Students are introduced to his early life in a text mapping exercise which they have to decipher to understand his credentials for Presidency. They are given information about Mugabe’s career from which they then have to give a number of ratings as to whether he was indeed a hero or villain. Subsequent video footage gives the thoughts of people from Zimbabwe today as well as other commentators to help them in their comprehension of the task in hand. An extended written piece, using a writing frame, will allow students to demonstrate their understanding and give a full evaluation of his rule. A fragment exercise as well as a find and fix plenary recaps on what they have learnt in the lesson and reinforces their judgements of him. 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.

This is a summary revision guide tailored to the OCR Conflict and Cooperation 1918-1939 unit for GCSE (International Relations: The Changing International order 1918-2001). The resource is in booklet form and is ideal for the student who wants a quick recap before the exam as it set out all the main details in bullet form. It is also extremely useful and cheap for printing and giving out to the students who can also use it for interleaving and homework. The resource is editable and can be changed to suit with PDF and Word formats included. Any reviews of this resource would be extremely welcome.

Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, 1060-87 This resource sets out the whole course in two sides of A4. This is ideal for the student who wants a quick recap and summary before the exam or an internal assessment, as it sets out and gives all the main knowledge required. It is also great for quickly printing and giving out for revision lessons, especially when the students claim they cannot remember anything you have taught! It covers the main events, issues and people connected to the topic, with a focus on the exam requirements at the beginning. I have included both PDF and word documents in case there is a wish to adapt and change.

The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel This lesson aims to assess the importance of Billy the Kid in the continued problems of law and order in the West. Students learn about his story from a young age to him acquiring his notorious reputation and have to emoji rate each part of it to judge how bad he really was. They have to give reasons for each of their judgements before they give an overall assessment of his life. There is an excellent link to a documentary to reinforce the learning. There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘importance’ question worth 8 marks, with help given if needed. The plenary uses key letters of the alphabet to link to the learning of the lesson. The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included linking their prior knowledge of law and order in the towns It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

Cold War The aim of this extended lesson on the Vietnam War is to analyse its significance; from its dubious beginnings and inception to the types of weapons used, the war crimes which followed and the ensuing lack of support at home as well as the consequences for the civilian population of Vietnam. So why did America fail to win this war despite overwhelming manpower, control of the air and sea and the most modern military weapons available at the time? As a starting point, students focus on Paul Hardcastle’s 19 song and his reasons for writing it and analyse the photograph of Kim Phúc before examining the details surrounding the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. They are given a number of differentiated tasks to analyse both American and Vietcong tactics to win the war (using printable worksheets) and the horrors surrounding search and destroy and the My Lai massacre, the tunnelling system as well as the use of napalm and agent orange. At the end they will prioritise the reasons for Vietcong success and American failure and how this war played its key part in the Cold War. 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.