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.
This bundle follows the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum - challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world, 1901 to the present day with a focus on the conflicts of the Second World War.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand significant aspects of World War II on a global scale and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by this conflict.
In the first 12 lessons, students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as continuity and change in the role and use of propaganda in World War II, the causes and consequences of the policy of appeasement, breaking the Enigma Code or the evacuation of children, the similarities and differences of life on the Home Front, the significance of Winston Churchill and VE Day and interpretations about whether there really was a Blitz spirit.
In lessons 13 to 23 students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as change and continuity in the types of warfare used, the causes and consequences of the evacuation of Dunkirk and the similarities and differences of Hitler’s invasion of Russia as compared to Napoleon. They will also learn about the significance of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan, refugees in World War 2 as well as interpretations as to whether Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris should be considered a war hero or not.
I have created and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Causes of World War II
L2 Appeasement
L3 Winston Churchill
L4 The Home Front - preparations
L5 The Home Front - propaganda
L6 The Home Front - rationing
L7 The Home Front - women (free lesson)
L8 Evacuation of children
L9 The Blitz
L10 The Enigma Code
L11 Prisoners of war (free lesson)
L12 VE Day
L13 Overview of World War 2 (free lesson)
L14 Invasion of Poland
L15 Evacuation of Dunkirk
L16 The Battle of Britain (free lesson)
L17 The Battle of the Atlantic
L18 Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union
L19 Sir Arthur Bomber Harris
L20 D-Day landings
L21 The attack of Pearl Harbour
L22 Dropping the of Atomic Bombs on Japan
L23 Refugees in World War 2
Unfortunately due to TES restricting bundles to 20 resources, the free lessons of 7, 11, and 16 will need to be downloaded separately.
This bundle includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials.
All lessons come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have created a set of resources for ‘the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ which focus on Civil Rights in America.
The aims of this bundle are to understand how black people were treated in the USA in the Twentieth Century and how they began to fight for their civil rights.
I have created, readapted and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the continuity and change in the rights of black people in the USA, the causes consequences of the Civil Rights movement which followed, the similarities and differences of the tactics used, the significance of key figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and various interpretations about how far black people have achieved equality today.
Each lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable and can be changed to suit.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Abraham Lincoln
L2 Jim Crow Laws
L3 Little Rock Nine
L4 Emmett Till
L5 Rosa Parks
L6 Protesting
L7 Martin Luther King
L8 Malcolm X
L9 Ku Klux Klan
L10 Jesse Owens
L10 Civil Rights in America today
L12 Black people in the American Civil War (bonus lesson)
These lessons are designed to meet the needs of the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum and cover the development of the Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509; the Norman Conquest.
This bundle addresses key historical skills from the outset. Using history enquiry and evidence, student will find out who William the Conqueror was and how did he establish and maintain his rule in England. What were the causes and consequences of Castle building throughout the British Isles? What were the similarities and differences between the role of the Church, monks and nuns and Doom Paintings? What was significant about the Black Death and its effect on the population of Britain and Europe and how dangerous and unhygienic were Medieval towns?
These skills are addressed in each of the lessons and allow students to be able to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and be able to create their own structured accounts and written narratives.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 William the Conqueror
L2 Castles (+attacking a Castle game)
L3 The Domesday Book
L4 The Feudal system
L5 The Church (free resource)
L6 Doom Paintings
L7 The Role of monks and nuns (free resource)
L8 Medieval Towns
L9 The Black Death
L10 Crime and Punishment
L11 The Bayeux Tapestry’
L12 The Crusades
(+ Key Word History Display)
These lessons are designed to be fun, challenging, interactive and engaging.
I would strongly recommend the students undertake an assessment at the end of this unit, using GCSE exam style questions from your own chosen exam board.
All the lessons are differentiated and come with suggested teaching and learning strategies and link to the latest interpretations of the conquest from the BBC and other sources.
All the resources come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have created a set of resources for ‘the causes and events of the civil wars throughout Britain’ which comes under the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745 in the National Curriculum.
These lessons are also useful if you are studying this period at GCSE (such as AQA 9-1 GCSE Power and the People and OCR Explaining the Modern World)
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable in Powerpoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a couple of free lessons to give an idea of what is being offered.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 Who was James I?
L2 The Gunpowder Plot
L3 Who was Charles I
L4 The Causes of the English Civil War (free resource)
L5 Cavaliers and Roundheads
L6 How did the two sides fight?
L7 The execution of Charles I
L8 Who was Oliver Cromwell
L9 Witches and Witchcraft (free resource)
L10 Charles II and the Restoration
L11 The Glorious Revolution
Additional lessons:
L12 Causes of the Great Fire of London
L13 Consequences of the Great Fire of London
( + Key Word History Display included)
Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.
I have created these set of resources for the History GCSE 9-1 Edexcel Historic Environment for the British sector of the Western Front, 1914-1918.
The central question throughout these seven lessons is to find out how medicine developed throughout the conflict of World War 1. They are closely linked together and address all the content required for this unit.
Pupils will learn about the injuries, treatment and life in the trenches for the soldiers. Key ideas include:
The historical context of medicine in the early twentieth century and the move to aseptic surgery
The trench system and its construction and organisation
The context of the British sector including Northern France and Flanders
The problems with communications and infrastructure due to the nature of the terrain
The nature of wounds received and the conditions requiring medical treatment
The work of organisations such as RAMC and FANY
The significance of the Western Front for experiments in surgery and new techniques used.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1: Introduction and the trench system
L2: Flanders and Northern France
L3: Move to aseptic surgery (free lesson)
L4: Deadly weapons and injuries
L5: Trench warfare and the problems of transport
L6: Helping and treating the wounded
L7: GCSE exam question practice
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and ideas used by current history teachers on twitter.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint and can be changed to suit. I have included a free lesson to give an idea of what is being offered.
These lessons are designed to meet the needs of the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum and cover the development of the Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509; the struggle between Church and crown, Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament.
This bundle addresses key historical skills from the outset: What made a successful Medieval Monarch? Why did King Henry II want more power over the Church and why was he forced to publicly say sorry? What were the differences and similarities between the reigns of King Richard and his brother King John? What were the causes and consequences of King John signing the Magna Carta? What was significant about the Peasants’ Revolt or Edward II’s promotion of his favourites?
These skills are addressed in each of the lessons and allow students to be able to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and be able to create their own structured accounts and written narratives.
Moreover this bundle allows students to understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims on the reputations of King Richard and King John.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 Medieval Monarchs introduction
L2 The murder of Thomas Becket
L3 Was King Henry II really sorry?
L4 King Richard the Lionheart
L5 King John
L6 The Magna Carta
L7 The siege of Rochester Castle (free resource)
L8 The Peasants Revolt
L9 King Edward II
L10 Bonus lesson - Genghis Khan
These lessons are designed to be fun, challenging, interactive and engaging.
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start and revisited at the end to show the progression in learning and who held the power in Medieval England.
All the lessons are differentiated and come with suggested teaching and learning strategies and link to the latest interpretations from the BBC and other sources.
The resources come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Conflicts and conquest, The American West c.1876-c1895.
This bundle is the third part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 The American West, c.1835-c1895
Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the conflicts and conquest with changes in the farming industry, the cattle industry and settlement.
Students will learn about the establishment of law and order across the period. They will recognise the significance of key people such as Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Benjamin Singleton.
They will study the destruction of the Plain Indians way of life with events such as the Wounded Knee Massacre as well as the Range Wars and extermination of the Buffalo.
Lessons will also target the cause and consequence of US government policy with the Dawes Act of 1887 and the declaration of the disappearance of an Indian Frontier.
I have dispensed with individual learning objectives for each lesson to focus throughout on a specific enquiry based question which addresses the knowledge and skills required for the GCSE questions and shows progression in learning required during this course.
Moreover it allows the students to critically think for themselves to decide who was benefitting from this rapid change to America as well as how and why.
The lessons are as follows:
L21 Changes to farming on the Plains
L22 Changes in the Cattle Industry
L23 Exoduster Movement
L24 Billy the Kid
L25 Wyatt Earp
L26 Battle of Little Big Horn
L27 Wounded Knee Massacre
L28 Range Wars
L29 Extermination of the Buffalo
L30 Dawes Act of 1887
For assessment purposes each lesson is accompanied by one of the three exam questions with help and exam tips given if needed. These can be completed in the lesson or for homework tasks if required.
The lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have created these set of resources for the History Key Stage 3 National Curriculum ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day.
These lessons are also useful if you are studying Germany at GCSE, where never enough time can be devoted to the holocaust in depth and which students find so fascinating.
The central question throughout these nine lessons is to find out who is to blame for the holocaust. They are closely linked together and students continually plot their ideas around a lightbulb, which can be referred back to each lesson (either dated or colour coded) to show progress throughout.
Pupils will learn the significance and impact of the holocaust on the wider world and be able to see the causes and consequences of the systematic attacks on Jewish communities throughout Europe since the Middle Ages.
They will learn key historical terms such as discrimination, persecution and genocide and understand the differences between concentration and extermination camps. They will be given sources to analyse such as the evidence from Anne Frank’s diary or an anti-Semitism tax return from Norwich in the Middle Ages and make historical inferences from them. Furthermore they will be able to write structured accounts and narratives of who was to blame from the Camp Guards or the SS, to Josef Mengele and the Einsatszgruppen units.
The 10 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 An introduction to the holocaust
L2 Anti-Semitism in Britain
L3 Anti-Semitism in Europe
L4 Extremism to Extermination
L5 How was it organised?
L6 Who was to blame?
L7 Jewish Resistance
L8 Liberation of the extermination camps
L9 Diary of Anne Frank
L10 Nuremberg Trials
L11 The hunt for Josef Mengele
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and ideas used by current history teachers.
The lessons are fully adaptable in Powerpoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a couple of free lessons to give an idea of what is being offered.
I strongly recommend using GCSE style questions from your chosen exam board and markschemes to assess the pupils at the end of this unit, which are always available on line.
This bundle is the first part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991.
The lessons are all differentiated, fully resourced, amenable on Powerpoint and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the period studied from the formation of the Grand Alliance to the outcomes of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam as well as the ideologies of East and West and the Berlin crisis.
They will explain and analyse (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in tensions between East and West, the causes and consequences of the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact as well as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Origins of the Cold War
L2 Conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
L3 The Kennan and Novikov Telegrams
L4 Soviet Satellite States
L5 Truman Doctrine
L6 Marshall Aid
L7 Cominform and Comecon (free resource)
L8 Berlin Crisis 1948
L9 NATO and Warsaw Pact
L10 Significance of Arms Race (free resource)
L11 Hungarian Uprising
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lessons and revisited throughout 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 form mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resources include retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE exam practice questions and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
This bundle follows the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum - the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745.
I have designed these lessons to be challenging and engaging as well as fun and enjoyable.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand how peoples’ lives were shaped by the Tudors from Henry VII to Elizabeth I, how they changed the course of British history and why we are still fascinated by their lives today.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout; for example, the concepts of continuity and change with the Wars of the Roses and the accession of Henry VII to the throne, key historical terms such as dissolution, Catholic and Protestant and vagrancy, recognising the causes and consequences of Henry’s break with Rome, analysing the significance of the Black Tudors, Edward VI and Elizabeth I as well as evaluating sources and interpretations such as the reputation of Mary 1.
The 20 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The War of the Roses
L2 Henry VII
L3 An introduction to Henry VIII
L4 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for love?
L5 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for faith?
L6 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for money?
L7 The dissolution of the monasteries
L8 The sinking of the Mary Rose
L9 Edward VI
L10 Bloody Mary
L11 Black Tudors
L12 The young Elizabeth
L13 The Elizabethan Settlement (free resource)
L14 Elizabeth and the problem of marriage
L15 Elizabeth and her portraits
L16 How did Elizabeth deal with Mary, Queen of Scots?
L17 Famous explorers (Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh)
L18 The Spanish Armada
L19 Elizabeth, poverty and the Poor Law
L20 Elizabethan Theatre and the Globe
Due to TES restrictions on Bundles, the introduction to the Tudors, which is a free lesson, must be downloaded separately.
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a free lesson to give an idea of what is being offered.
Although this bundle is aimed at Key Stage 3, it is ideal if you are studying the Tudors for GCSE as it covers the main themes, concepts and skills required.
I have created these set of resources for ‘Britain as the first industrial nation and its impact on society’ which comes under the ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain 1745-1901 in the National Curriculum.
These lessons are also useful if you are studying this period at GCSE (such as AQA 9-1 GCSE Power and the People and OCR Explaining the Modern World)
Pupils will learn the significance and impact of the changes in Britain as a result of the new inventions and be able to understand the causes and consequences of these.
They will learn key historical terms such as migration, entrepreneur, industrialised and patent as well as being able to see the change and continuity of transport.
They will be given sources to analyse such as the evidence of child labour in the coal mines as well as the lives of Victorian women and make historical inferences from them.
Furthermore they will be able to write structured accounts and narratives of the changes as a result of Factory Reforms as well as answering GCSE style questions using structured thinking quilts.
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and ideas used by current history teachers.
The lessons are fully adaptable in Powerpoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a free lesson to give an idea of what is being offered.
I strongly recommend using GCSE style questions from the exam board and markschemes to assess the pupils at the end of this unit, which are always available on line.
The 12 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 An introduction to the Industrial Revolution in Britain
L2 Why were people on the move?
L3 What were the industrial towns like?
L4 Transport in the Industrial Revolution
L5 Richard Arkwright – a case study (free resource)
L6 Factories and working conditions
L7 Coal mining
L8 Reform of working conditions
L9 Victorian crime and punishment
L10 Victorian prisons
L11 The Metropolitan Police Force
L12 Jack the Ripper
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
**The development of the Plains, American West c.1862-c1876. **
This bundle is the second part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 The American West, c.1835-c1895
Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the early development on the Plains with the passing of the Homestead Act of 1862 through to the second Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
They will focus on the advantages with the coming of the Pacific Railroad but how this accentuated the problems of settlement and the growth of the towns.
Students will learn about the life of cowboys and what was involved on the long drive and life on the ranch. They will recognise the significance of key people such as Joseph McCoy, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving and John Iliff and how they changed the cattle industry.
They will study the conflicts which arose between ranchers and homesteaders as well as between the US Government and the Plains Indians such as Little Crow’s War and Red Cloud’s War.
Lessons will target consequence such as the US government policy of moving the Plains Indians to reservations where they could be ‘protected’ and the changes to their way of life.
Furthermore I have dispensed with individual learning objectives for each lesson to focus throughout on a specific enquiry based question which addresses the knowledge and skills required for the GCSE questions and shows progression in learning required during this course.
Moreover it allows the students to critically think for themselves to decide who was benefitting from this rapid change to America as well as how and why.
For assessment purposes each lesson is accompanied by one of the three key exam questions with help and exam tips if needed. These can be completed in the lesson or for homework or used for interleaving.
The lessons are as follows:
L12 The Homestead Act
L13 The Pacific Railroad Act
L14 Problems of Homesteading (free resource)
L15 Growth of the Cattle Industry
L16 Life of Cowboys
L17 Rivalry between Ranchers and Homesteaders
L18 Impact of Settlement o n the Plains Indians(free resource)
L19 Little Crow’s War and the Sand Creek Massacre
L20 Red Cloud’s War
The lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades. Each lesson also contains some retrieval practice.
The lessons come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
This bundle has been designed to meet the National Curriculum requirements at Key Stage 3 History for women’s suffrage as part of the theme, ’challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day.’
It can however be used as a springboard for teaching at GCSE, particularly if you are teaching AQA Power and the People or OCR Explaining the Modern World.
Each year I cannot wait to teach this fascinating topic. It also never fails to ignite the excitement and interest of the students studying this part of history.
From the controversy of universal suffrage, to how women were treated in society in the 19th century, the questionable suicide of Emily Davison to the militant actions of the Suffragettes including the Cat and Mouse Act and their involvement in World War 1. How can anyone ever argue that history is dull?
Moreover this bundle addresses key historical skills. How did World War 1 show change and continuity for women? What were the causes and consequences of the industrial revolution on universal suffrage? What were the similarities and differences in the actions of the Suffragists and Suffragettes? What was significant about the imprisonment of the Suffragettes or the death of Emily Davison?
These skills are addressed in each of the lessons and allow students to be able to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and be able to create their own structured accounts and written narratives.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Dying for the vote
L2 An introduction to the Suffragettes
L3 Suffragists and Suffragettes
L4 Emily Davison – martyr or fool?
L5 Propaganda and the Cat and Mouse Act of 1913
L6 The impact of World War 1 on women’s rights
L7 The roaring twenties
L8 How far have women gained equality?
(+ Key Word History Display)
Each resource comes 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess the impact of humanism and the arts upon the reign of Henry VII.
Students begin with some source scholarship on the Renaissance before assessing the significance of three humanist scholars as well as the invention of the printing press.
They also begin to plan an exam practice question by evaluating the importance of education, drama, music and the arts upon England and giving each an impact percentage rating.
Some scaffolding, hints and tips as well as a generic markscheme enable students to answer the exam question in detail.
The plenary checks the understanding and how much they can remember of the lesson completing the sentences given.
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 GCSE A Level 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
I have produced this bundle of resources on Henry VII to help A level history students access the course and make the transition from GCSE to A Level smoothly.
Henry VII is a fascinating character to study and these lessons explore the difficulty and demands of becoming a King in the Fifteenth Century.
The enquiry question throughout this bundle of resources will be to question the extent of Henry’s hold on power from the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 through to his death in 1509.
Students will learn how effectively Henry restored and developed the powers of the monarchy from the chaos of the Wars of the Roses. They will assess his character and aims and his continuing use of Government institutions, from councils, parliament and local lords to the changes he made in his collection of the royal finances.
They will judge the significance of individuals in his reign as will as the economic development of trade and exploration.
Students will look at his limited aims in foreign policy and the consequences of his diplomacy and treaties with Scotland and other foreign powers.
Finally they will gauge the role of religion and the Church in Tudor England under Henry VII as well as the development of the arts and learning and the rise of humanist ideas.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction
L2 Wars of the Roses
L3 Character of Henry VII
L4 Battle of Bosworth Field (free resource)
L5 Aims of Henry VII
L6 Consolidation of Power
L7 Henry VII and propaganda
L8 Henry VII and Government
L9 Henry VII and the nobility
L10 Henry VII and finance
L11 Stafford and Lovell Rebellions
L12 Lambert Simnel
L13 Perkin Warbeck
L14 Introduction to Henry VII’s foreign policy
L15 Breton Crisis
L16 Henry VII and Ireland
L17 Economy and Trade under Henry VII
L18 The Church and religion
L19 Humanism and the arts
The lessons include the two types of exam question used, with examples of how to tackle them, using model answers, helpful hints and tips, structuring and scaffolding as well as markschemes. However, please refer to the AQA website for further assessment materials as they are subject to copyright.
The lessons are also differentiated and fully resourced and allow students to reach the very top marks.
This is the first of four bundles I have created for the Tudors A Level history course.
If you have any questions about the lessons, please email me via my TES shop, or any other information about the course. I would also welcome any reviews, which would be gratefully appreciated.