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 II
The aim of this lesson is to understand why children were evacuated to the countryside.
However, it also questions the success of evacuation through government propaganda, audio records of evacuees and from written sources of evidence.
Students are led through the evacuation process, which on the surface looks amazingly planned and executed by the British Government.
But, using primary evidence of the time, they realise how the Government failed to prioritise the needs of the children over the need to evacuate large numbers.
Students will also learn how other vulnerable groups in society were also evacuated without due consideration of their needs.
By the end of the lesson the students will evaluate the biggest problems faced by the children and learn some sad facts about the reality of war on the Home Front.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end 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.
Why was the slave trade finally abolished in Britain and her Empire and why did it take so long to achieve?
Why were arguments in the eighteenth century challenged so rigorously and overturned in the nineteenth?
Which people inspired its abolition and who was against this?
Students decide which arguments were being put forward to the plantation owners, racists, people who were ignorant and law makers to end the slave trade.
They then prioritise the most important arguments in challenging these peoples’ staunch perceptions.
The second part of the lesson is a case study of William Wilberforce. Through video, audio and source work, students build up a history of the great man and decide how and why he is significant (this is a differentiated task dependent upon ability).
The final part of the lesson uses an interactive spinning wheel with key words used throughout the course, which the students have to define and explain their links to slavery.
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 English Civil War
The aim of this lesson is to be able to distinguish between the two sides in the English Civil War.
Students will be researching how they differed from their dress, their mannerisms, what they believed in and their goals.
They will also be analysing some real life examples from people today who discuss which side they would prefer to be on and why.
Students will be using various written sources and video evidence to find out which side they would support.
Ultimately they will have to produce a propaganda leaflet encouraging people to join their campaign as a Royalist or Cavalier using persuasive literacy techniques and song lyrics. Exemplars and scaffolding is included if required.
This is a fun lesson with a number of activities designed to get all students involved actively and to enjoy their learning.
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.
**AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603 **
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This first lesson is an introduction to the reign of Queen Elizabeth and starts by finding out what the students know already using a true or false quiz, source material, video evidence and portraits of Elizabeth.
The emphasis is also on the precarious nature of her early life which has a major impact on how she rules when she becomes Queen.
The second part of the lesson uses differentiated resources and requires the students to plot, explain and prioritise her early problems on a tree (using the trunk, branches and leaves).
The third part focuses on a typical GCSE question on the usefulness of a source giving tips and notes on how to answer this question.
The lesson also gives a brief introduction to the course and includes a tracking sheet which the students stick in their books detailing the assessment objectives of the course and the four main question types.
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 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
The aim of this lesson is to determine why the Essex rebellion was different to the previous threats Elizabeth faced in her reign.
Students learn about Essex’s life and the reasons for him turning on Elizabeth in his failed attempt to ‘protect’ her from Robert Cecil.
Using differentiated materials and video evidence, they can either create a factfile on Essex or colour code information on his life focusing on different themes of importance.
They then plan and write a significance GCSE question, using the suggested skills and tricks of answering a significance question as opposed to writing a narrative account of his life.
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 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This fourth lesson looks at the significance of marriage for Elizabeth and the subsequent problems it caused her throughout her reign.
There are retrieval practice activities to start the lesson including an odd one out task and ‘splatting’ the board to choose the correct answers.
Students are introduced to the criteria for why Elizabeth should marry and then check the criteria against the possible suitors, thus coming to a conclusion about the best candidate.
There is also a GCSE practice question to answer. There are sentence starters provided for differentiation and the lesson comes complete with fun activities and video footage.
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: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of this lesson is to assess the significance of John Hunter in his lifetime and beyond and decide if and why he deserves a place in a Medical Hall of Fame.
An analysis of his life, his surgical brilliance and his specimen collection (complete with a brilliant video link to Professor Robert Winston’s short documentary on his life) gives the students the tools necessary to be able to tackle and write a longer analytical essay question with substantiated judgements.
Students ultimately have to judge how far he deserves a place in the Medical Hall of Fame, with help and sentence starters given if required.
The plenary is in the form of a literacy challenge, using key words from the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The lesson aims to distinguish between inoculation and vaccination, before analysing Jenner’s discovery of the vaccination for smallpox using documentary and video evidence.
Students then have to answer questions, explain the significance of his discovery over time and link factors to his story.
They also have to analyse source information, complete an 8 mark GCSE practice question and understand why, despite his brilliance he received criticism and opposition to his discovery.
The lesson finishes with a true or false quiz and a ‘Have I got news for you?’ plenary.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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.
The Norman Conquest
This lesson has two aims; to discover if medieval towns were dangerous places to live and to question how dirty and unhygienic they actually were.
Students learn how Medieval towns grew up through Charters and Guilds and how shops and their names and surnames became intertwined. An exercise tests their ability to interpret shop signs.
They analyse a number of statements about the dangers facing townsfolk and evidence this on a road map (or dirt track) using danger symbols and accompanying road signs.
The second part of the lesson focuses on the filth and dirt of Medieval towns and questions how much the local authorities did.
Students evaluate how hygienic towns were, colour coding thermometers and rating each step taken by the local authorities (or not as the case may be).
This lesson is therefore designed to be interactive, fun, challenging and engaging and could be used over two lessons.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format 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.
This bundle is the third and final part in a series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship.
As well as focusing on GCSE exam practice questions, the lessons apply the skills necessary 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 Youth Groups to life in Germany during the war.
They will study (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in the role of women and how their lives were transformed and the causes and consequences of the Final Solution.
The analysis and evaluation of sources (AO3) are used in for example the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht lesson whilst substantiated judgements are made (AO4) on how far the Nazis controlled the Churches in Germany.
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lessons and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resources includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 The Nazis and the economy
L2 The Hitler Youth
L3 The role of women in Nazi Germany
L4 The Nazis and the Churches
L5 Hitler’s hate list
L6 The Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht
L7 The Final Solution
L8 Opposition in Nazi Germany
L9 The German Home Front 1939-45 (free resource)
Please note that setting a full mock examination in class after completing this unit is strongly recommended.
All the examination resources and markschemes are subject to copyright but can easily be found on the AQA website.
The aim of this revision bundle for AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People c.1000 to present is to help and thoroughly prepare students for the GCSE exam in the summer.
It contains the following:
A complete Revision Guide with 18 GCSE practice questions, model answers and tips on how to access the exam questions.
Flashcards to help improve recall, retrieval and retention skills. Each of the individuals from the course are summarised and explain the significance of each to achieve the higher marks in the GCSE exam.
A Summary Revision Guide which summarises all the course on two sides of A4. This is easy to print and great for the student who wants a quick refresh on the course content when revising.
A Health and the People work booklet revising the 4 main question types in the exam.
All the resources are in Word format so can be easily changed or adapted to suit.
These lessons have been written to deliver the unit for AQA GCSE 9-1 Conflict and Tension, 1918-39.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to understand the complex and diverse interests of different individuals and nation states in trying to preserve the peace and the setting up a League of Nations.
They will focus on the national self determination of states, the ideas of internationalism and the challenges of revising the Versailles Peace Settlement.
Students will also evaluate the causes of the Second World War, how it occurred and why it proved difficult to resolve the issues which led to its initiation.
They will also study the role of key individuals and groups in shaping change and how international relations were influenced and affected by them.
All the lessons come complete with suggested teaching strategies and differentiated learning tasks.
I have added many of the typical GCSE questions AQA have supplied, from source analysis, write an account, to the longer 16+4 mark questions. Markschemes and tips on how to answer the questions to achieve the higher level marks have also been included.
The lessons are as follows:
L1: Aims of the Peacemakers
L2: Compromise
L3: Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
L4: Satisfaction with the Treaty
L5: The Wider Peace Settlement (free resource)
L6: Introduction to the League of Nations
L7: The structure of the League of Nations
L8: The Commissions
L9: How successful was the League of Nations in the 1920’s?
L10: The decline of International Cooperation (free resource)
L11: The Manchurian Crisis
L12: The Abyssinian Crisis
L13: Was the League destined to fail?
L14: Hitler’s Aims
L15: Reactions to Hitler’s Foreign Policy
L16: The road to war and German rearmament
L17: Reoccupation of the Rhineland (free resource)
L18: The Anschluss
L19: The Sudeten Crisis
L20: The Nazi-Soviet Pact
L21: Why did World War II break out?
Lessons also include retrieval practice activities and come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
As TES restrict Bundle sizes to 20, Lesson 17 (Reoccupation of the Rhineland free lesson) will have to be downloaded seperately.
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
Historic Environment Question for 2024
This nine page Revision Guide is aimed at students to help study, organise, revise and be prepared for the AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England 1568-1603 Historic Environment question for 2024.
I have included 6 possible questions for GCSE exam practice on the themes I believe stand out in the literature provided. Within the guide itself, I have broken down the main details of the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation into manageable chunks.
This guide focuses on the main concepts prescribed by AQA. For example it examines the location of the New World and its growing importance for Drake and his fellow navigators, the function and structure of seafaring as new navigational techniques and ship design allowed more exploration.
It will also analyse the people connected to Drake’s circumnavigation including Sir John Hawkins and Diego as well as giving information on Drake and the different interpretations of him at the time.
Furthermore the culture, values and fashions connected with Drake’s circumnavigation are examined as untold riches such as feathers, pearls, jewels and gold became essential accessories for the fashionistas of Elizabethan England.
Finally important events are linked to Drake’s voyages from his initial slave excursions to his revenge attacks on Spanish shipping and his circumnavigation, as well focusing on the detailed maps and illustrations in his diaries and journals of new lands he discovered.
All the information and more included is advised by AQA through their Paper 2: Shaping the nation resource pack guidance.
I have also gained a brilliant insight into the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation from renowned historians such as Ben Johnson, Miranda Kaufman and the superb Professor Jowett, as well as numerous other sources, including the fabulous BBC History Today magazine and podcasts.
The resource comes in PDF and Word formats if you wish to adapt and change.
Any reviews on this resource which would be much appreciated.
**The early settlement of the American West c.1835-c.1862 **
This bundle is the first 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 settlement of the west from the customs, traditions and lives of the Plains Indians through to the lawlessness of the towns.
They will focus on the settlement of the Great Plains with the coming of the early settlers and the problems they faced farming the land.
They will learn about the conflicts and conquest of the Great Plains such as the Gold Rush of 1849 and the use of the Oregon Trail by the Donner Party for example.
Questions will target consequence such as the US government policy towards the Plains Indians and the treaties which followed such as the Indian Removal Act, the Indian Appropriations Act and the Fort Laramie Treaty.
Furthermore students will be empowered to master the significance of key events such as the Mormon migration west and write analytical narratives such as the perils of the Oregon Trail.
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, with the exception of the first two, 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 tasks if required.
The lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons come in PDF and Powerpoint formats if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction to the Plains Indians (free resource)
L2 Plains Indian society
L3 The Great Plains and the Buffalo
L4 The Spirit World (free resource)
L5 Conflict over land
L6 The Oregon Trail
L7 The Gold Rush and the Donner Party
L8 The Mormon Migration
L9 Early Settlement on the Plains
L10 The Fort Laramie Treaty
L11 Problems of lawlessness
I have produced these Bitesize Cards to help my GCSE History groups revise.
They summarise the content for the Germany 1890-1945, Democracy and Dictatorship course, which can be overwhelming for some students.
They contain the main events, people and key words needed for the exam
Students can use these 14 cards in lessons or for homelearning to help them with recall, retrieval and retention.
I also use them as starters in the lessons or for interleaving to help with the course content.
I have broken down the revision cards down into the following themes:
Kaiser Wilhelm
The Treaty of Versailles
Problems in Germany
Super Stresemann
The Rise of Hitler
Hitler’s consolidation of Power
The Nazi Police State
The Nazi economy
Propaganda
Youth groups and women
Churches
Opposition
Persecution to Genocide
The German Homefront
They have proved a great success as a revision tool. I have also posted them on our google classroom (digital platform) so students can access them, when GCSE practise questions are set or they are required to revise for an assessment test.
They simply need cutting, hole punching and tying with treasury tags, or simply stapling together.
I have included both PDF and PowerPoint versions if you wish to amend or adapt.
If you like this resource, please check out my full Revision Guide for Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship 1890-1945 which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/germany-democracy-and-dictatorship-revision-guide-aqa-gcse-9-1-11764985
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
I have produced this bundle of resources on Henry VIII to help A level history students access the course and make some of the ideas, themes and concepts of the Tudors more accessible.
Henry VIII was a larger than life character who has left a long lasting legacy on our history
Therefore the enquiry question throughout this bundle of resources will be to question how strong and successful Henry was during his reign.
Students will learn how effectively Henry ruled England and how government evolved and the use of Parliament changed during his reign.
They will assess his character and personality and question and evaluate his decision making.
They will judge the significance of individuals in his reign such as Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell as well as economic development.
Students will look at his aims in foreign policy and question how successful he was in his pursuit of military glory under Wolsey and beyond or whether he just played third fiddle in Europe.
Finally they will learn about the political, social, economic and religious upheaval caused by his divorce and the break with Rome.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction
L2 Aims of Henry VIII
L3 Henry VIII and Government
L4 Catherine of Aragon
L5 Rise of Wolsey
L6 Interpretations of Wolsey
L7 Downfall of Wolsey
L8 King’s Great Matter
L9 Break with Rome
L10 Henry VIII & Humanism
L11 Rise of Cromwell
L12 Pilgrimage of Grace
L13 Dissolution of the Monasteries
L14 How Protestant was England by 1547?
L15 Foreign Policy under Wolsey
L16 Henry VIII Foreign Policy 1529-1547
L17 Henry VIII and Society
L18 Henry VIII and the Economy
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 second 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.
The English Civil War
This lesson aims to question the character and personality of Oliver Cromwell.
Students will decide if he set out to kill the King from the start and make himself a despot or did circumstances dictate that this was his only option?
Moreover, with his puritanical ideas, did he make England and the Commonwealth a better place for it, or was it exclusive only to the minority?
This will ultimately be down to students’ own judgement as they plot his actions on a grid and justify their own conclusions.
Analysis of video evidence also helps to track his ideas and personality and gives the students ideas for writing his obituary and question why his burial place in Westminster Abbey bears the inscription 1658-1661.
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.
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
This lesson is an introduction to Kaiser Wilhelm II.
It focuses on the background of Kaiser Wilhelm II, his family and relations, his paranoia and disability, but with a focus on the problems he encountered as a leader of a new Germany.
Included in the lesson is a thinking quilt, a map of Germany, links to informative videos and a summarising pyramid at the end.
This lesson comes complete with a tracking sheet and the noted exam skills required for the students to stick in their books.
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 GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People c1000 to present **
This is an introductory lesson and sets out to establish some key dates, people and discoveries associated with this unit of study.
Moreover it introduces the concepts of beliefs, ideas and treatments through the different time periods and questions whether these improved or regressed over time.
Students plot these key people, events and ideas on a timeline, which they can develop in the class and/or at home.
I have also included a personal tracker which the students can stick at the front of their books and track various assessment points throughout the unit using different colours for achievement.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
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.
