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.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to question whether the Government was right to punish conscientious objectors during World War 1 and how frightening it was for individuals to refuse.
This is a controversial subject and was extremely difficult to understand and address at the time.
Therefore the lesson explains why many people in World 1 refused to fight, despite government propaganda and pressure from society for them to do so as they became targets of abuse.
Luckily now there is a wealth of video and audio evidence in this lesson (linked to the BBC in particular) which deconstructs and challenges the old arguments of cowardice and shame as well as understanding individuals’ rights to uphold their beliefs and consciences.
Students are given two case studies to analyse before engaging in a mini debate on the right or wrongs to conscientiously object to war.
The plenary challenges them to decide if the given statements from the lesson are true or false.
The lesson 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.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to understand the importance of the Poppy on Armistice Day. The lesson is split into two parts.
The first part of the lesson analyses the causes of the war ending in 1918.
Using a causal spiders web (an idea taken from Emily Thomas), students link the ideas together by drawing lines and then justify their reasons to create a spider’s web.
The second part of the lesson analyses the significance of the use of the Poppy with students giving their own reasons for this on the poppy leaves (a template is included).
They then have to prioritise the most important reasons why the Government introduced Poppy Day with a diamond nine activity.
Students also have the chance to evaluate John McCrae’s in Flanders poem
with some ‘clever question stems’.
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.
World War I
This lesson is split into two parts:
The aim of the first part of this lesson is to focus on the roles women played in World War 1 and how significant a contribution they made to the war effort.
Students have to prioritise which jobs also contributed the most to the war effort.
The second part looks at the Woolwich Arsenal weapons factory as a case study, using documentary and audio evidence from the time as students consider how frightening it was to work in an arms factory.
Furthermore, students decide how significant women were in the short, medium and long term. They have a chance to justify their ideas with a differentiated extended writing task, with help given if required.
A plenary Bingo tests and challenges students’ understanding at the end.
The lesson 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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
World War I
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 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 1.
The historian Dan Snow is quoted as saying the British soldier went into World War I ‘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.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to assess the reasons why air power became an increasingly important part of warfare in the First World War.
As each side became more aware of the potential of reconnaissance, observation and bombing raids, they quickly built and developed their planes.
However the sudden need to shoot down these aircraft quickly gave rise to dog fights and flying aces. Therefore the enquiry question of how frightening was the First World War’ is quite apt here.
Students have decide how the planes were used using photographic evidence and then categorise information under the following headings: reconnaissance, fighting, bombing cities or attacking trenches.
Much of the excellent video footage uses links to the documentaries posted by Dan Snow on the BBC.
The first half of the lesson concludes by questioning the early effectiveness of air power.
The second part of the lesson analyses the fighting prowess of a flying ace from Kent, Jimmy McCudden.
Having scrutinised his life and achievements, students have to judge how frightening his daring exploits were before deciding if he deserves more recognition for his gallantry other than an inscription on a gravestone and on a war memorial. They can also create their create their own war memorial or obituary of his life.
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.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to question how frightening it was to fight on the Western Front.
This lesson centres around the case of Private Harry Farr who was shot for ‘misbehaving before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice.’
Students re-enact his court martial using the witness statements before his sentencing and ultimately decide if his sentence was justified…
The start of the lesson requires them to define a coward and more importantly question what shellshock is, which the Government at the time refused to recognise.
Students will analyse why so many soldiers refused to fight and preferred to desert instead fully aware of the consequences of their actions.
The students will use visual and source evidence and apply higher order thinking skills at the end of the lesson in an extended piece of writing.
The plenary questions students’ beliefs on cowardice and challenges their original assumptions at the beginning of the lesson.
The lesson 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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
World War 1
The aim of this lesson is to question how frightening trench life really was.
This lesson begins with a familiar look at trench life. An analysis of sources, audio clips and prose using higher order thinking skills as well independent learning will bring students to the conclusion that trench life was extremely tough for soldiers.
A chance to write a letter home, before realising the problems of censorship, will suggest to students that soldiers had to struggle in the mud and squalor surrounding them.
However historians such as Dan Snow question how long soldiers spent in the trenches and discovered that in fact 45% of their time was spent behind the lines and in relative safety.
Therefore the overriding aim of the lesson of evaluating how frightening trench life was now becomes more apparent.
Finally the use of historical hexagons will challenge thinking and challenge students to link ideas together.
The 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.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to question how successful Lord Kitchener’s recruitment drive was in 1914 and how ‘frightening’ it might be to sign up.
The lesson shows students how the themes of heroism, patriotism, shame and anti-German feeling led to thousands of young men volunteering to join the army.
Students are led through video footage, an extract from Private Peaceful and Government posters to analyse how these four key themes were utilised.
They also learn about the success in the recruitment of Pals Battalions from the Caribbean and India, to the Footballers Battalion of Walter Tull, as well from towns across the country.
They will also learn about the horror and frightening consequences of this policy especially with what happened to the Accrington Pals in 1916.
The 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.
World War I
This lesson aims to analyse how the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the spark for World War 1 to start.
Students will question how frightening the assassination was and the speed of European countries to mobilise for war.
As video evidence is used to explain the events that led to the shooting in Sarajevo, an analogy is made to a bar brawl as students try to ascertain the causes of it and link these to the events which unfolded after 28th June, 1914.
Students also have to complete a chronological exercise of the events as well as deciding the personalities of the main countries involved.
The plenary is a catchphrase check (complete with music) on key words used in the lesson.
The lesson 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.
World War I
The aim of the lesson is to understand why alliances and rivalries at the beginning of the Twentieth Century led to the outbreak of war.
This lesson sets out the long term causes of the First World War based on four underlying principles: Nationalism, Imperialism, Alliances and Militarism.
The lesson asks the students who and why were countries arguing with each other based on their geographical as well as their historic national rivalries.
Students then have to decide who could sit next to each other at a dinner party after they have justified their reasons for distrust and paranoia.
The alliances are plotted and colour coded on maps, culminating in a task prioritising and linking the reasons as to why the world was ready for war in 1914.
The lesson 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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
With the National Curriculum in mind, I have created a set of resources which focus on ’the development of the British Empire' with depth studies on India and Australia.
Furthermore I have been inspired to review and adapt these teaching resources due to recent debates about the impact of the British Empire on the indigenous peoples it conquered and the legacy of Empire and how it influences us still today.
I would like to thank Sathnam Sanghera for his brilliant book ‘Empireland’ and his enlightened debate on the British Empire and how and why it should be taught in schools.
This bundle includes historical concepts such empire and colonisation, continuity and change with a focus on the East India Company, the causes and consequences of British rule in India, similarities and differences within the British Empire, the analysis of sources and different interpretations of colonisation such as Australia and finally the significance of people such as Robert Clive, Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Kitchener and their legacy today.
The 13 lessons are broken down into the following:
1) An introduction to Empire
2) The American War of Independence
3) The British East India Company
4) Robert Clive
5) Focus Study – India
6) Gandhi and Indian independence
7) Focus Study - Transportation to Australia
8) The colonisation of Australia
9) The Scramble for Africa
10) The Zulu Wars
11) The Boer War
12) Apartheid and Nelson Mandela
Bonus lesson:
13) Empire soldiers in World War 1
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies, retrieval practice activities, differentiated materials and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be adapted and changed to suit.
The British Empire
This lesson aims to find out whether we should be proud or ashamed of gaining an Empire and how the indigenous peoples we conquered ‘benefitted’ under British rule.
This lesson will best be delivered over 2 lessons . The opening slides give some context to the debate and define what an Empire is and which countries Britain owned by 1900.
Through video and source analysis, the students have to explain their choice of being proud or ashamed or both and as the lesson progresses justify whether they are sticking to their decisions.
Analysis focuses on Victorian propaganda, the recent views of British Prime Ministers as well as how museums refuse to engage about how they have obtained their imperial artefacts.
The second part of the lesson examines a number of countries acquired by Britain and focuses on the ‘benefits of Empire’. Students then make their final decisions at the end before drawing conclusions on the legacy of the British Empire.
A homework task is to design an Empire plate (photographic examples given) to celebrate Empire day from 1902.
The lesson comes with 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.
The Middle Passage and its horrendous journey for the slaves is shown in this lesson through video, audio and source based evidence.
Students analyse how the slaves were treated and the conditions they endured.
They then have to catalogue these conditions in a grid before trying to persuade a film director, who is making a film on slavery, that he is being misled about the journey. The advise the director is being given is from a slave ship owner, Captain Thomas Tobin.
Some differentiated key questions check their understanding through the lesson.
Students finally have to prioritise the worst conditions the slaves faced and justify their choices in an extension activity.
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.
The British Empire
This lesson focuses on the role Gandhi played in achieving Indian independence from Britain which ultimately cost him his life.
The first part of the lesson looks at why the Indian population were unhappy with British rule, from the Indian Mutiny of 1857, events happening abroad to the Rowlatt Act culminating in the Amritsar Massacre.
They are then introduced to Gandhi, his philosophy of passive resistance (or as he called it satyagraha) and why he set up his Independent Congress Party. This is accompanied with some excellent video footage from the BBC as well as clips from the film ‘Gandhi’ by Sir Richard Attenborough.
The second part of the lesson centers around his life and by analysing various sources from which they complete either a table or grid; students then have to decide how big a part Gandhi played in many events leading to Independence and his lasting legacy for India in 1947.
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.
This lesson examines the different punishments that the slaves endured on the plantations.
Different sources are analysed showing the positive and negative aspects of plantation life as students have to extract fact from fiction.
Students then look at the different forms of resistance from passive to active resistance and decide the best and most effective form of resistance and justify their reasons.
There is also a chance of being more interactive as students are selected to take on some forms resistance which the class have to find out and decide.
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 has been designed to look at specific countries which were part of the British Empire.
Claimed by Captain James Cook in 1768, students study how and why the British used Australia as a penal colony.
Using a real life example of a young boy sent there for petty crimes, students analyse his and others stories from the start of the voyage through to life in the colony.
They track and ultimately decide the worst aspects for the convicts.
There is lots of video footage to consolidate understanding and the plenary evaluates the conditions and lives led by the convicts
The lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
What happens at a slave auction? How are the slaves prepared? Who attends the auction? Who is chosen and why?
This lesson attempts to answer these questions and more; from branding to advertisements and the auction itself.
Students also learn of the heartache and pain of those who are sold and how and why slaves are sold at different prices.
They are also challenged in a task to think who would be more expensive and why.
By the end of the lesson, students have to give examples in a true or false quiz of what they have learned in the lesson, including having to decide the worst aspects of the slave auction.
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
This lesson sets out to ask the question if Abraham Lincoln was the ‘Great Emancipator’ that history claims him to be.
By analysing his statue at the Washington memorial and using video evidence as well as a brief summary of the 13th Amendment and the American Civil War, students are given evidence (which is differentiated according to ability) from which they question this belief.
Their ideas are then presented on a Venn diagram and presented to their peers.
A true or false quiz at the end will attempt to consolidate their learning as well as questioning how emancipated the slaves were after the amendment became law.
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.
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
This lesson analyses the reasons why Hitler executed the leaders of the SA.
After a recap of the previous lesson, students start unpicking the events leading to the Night of the Long Knives.
Students are put into Hitler’s shoes; who should he choose to lead him forward in his new Third Reich - the Brownshirts or the Army?
The conclusions are never totally clear in favour of one or the other, making sure the students are challenged and have to think things through and justify their choices.
The events are also explained through a text mapping grid which the students also have to decipher as well as video evidence.
There is also a choice of two plenaries from Connect 4 to a talk like an historian quiz and some GCSE exam question practice to complete if required.
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.
