BBC History File—Soviet Communism and The Cold War Ep4. Life in Stalin’s Russ - Supporting Worksheet
A study of the Five Year Plans told through the eyes of an American working in Siberia
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In the first episode of a three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores how the Normans developed from a band of marauding Vikings into the formidable warriors who conquered England in 1066. He tells how the Normans established their new province of Normandy -‘land of the northmen’ - in northern France. They went on to build some of the finest churches in Europe and turned into an unstoppable force of Christian knights and warriors, whose legacy is all around us to this day. Under the leadership of Duke William, the Normans expanded into the neighbouring provinces of northern France. But William’s greatest achievement was the conquest of England in 1066. The Battle of Hastings marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and monarchy. The culture and politics of England would now be transformed by the Normans.
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BBC - Armada: 12 Days to Save England - Episode 2 - Worksheet to support the BBC Documentary
In the second part of a major three-part drama-documentary series, Anita Dobson stars as Elizabeth I, and Dan Snow takes to the sea to tell the story of how England came within a whisker of disaster in summer 1588. Using newly discovered documents, Dan relives the fierce battles at sea and we go behind the scenes in the royal court of Elizabeth as the Spanish fleet prepares for full-on invasion.
Written to provided extension/ enrichment / independent learning options
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BBC - Armada: 12 Days to Save England - Episode 3 - Worksheet to support the BBC Documentary
Written to provided extension/ enrichment / independent learning options
The final episode of a three-part drama-documentary series telling the story of how England came within a whisker of disaster in summer 1588.
Newly discovered documents reveal a remarkable web of misunderstandings that stopped the Spanish from invading, and show how the English victory forged the reputation of Elizabeth.
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BBC Documentary - Genghis Khan - Rise Of Mongol Empire
He was a man who combined the savagery of a real-life Conan the Barbarian with the sheer tactical genius of Napoleon, a man from the outermost reaches of Asia whose armies ultimately stood poised to conquer Europe. His name was Genghis Khan.
Today the name of Genghis Khan is synonymous with dark evil yet in his lifetime he was a heroic figure, a supreme strategist capable of eliciting total devotion from his warriors.
He grew up in poverty on the harsh unforgiving steppe of Mongolia. From the murder of his father, the kidnap of his wife and the execution of his closest friend, he learned the lessons of life the hard way.
So how did this outcast come to conquer an empire larger than the Roman Empire? And was Genghis Khan the brutal monster who ruthlessly slaughtered millions in his quest for power, or was he a brilliant visionary who transformed a rabble of warring tribes into a nation capable of world domination?
Filmed entirely on location in Mongolia, the film tells the truth behind the legend that is Genghis Khan.
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As we entered the 21st century, the world was guzzling oil, coal and gas like never before. Despite fears of ‘peak oil’, Professor Iain Stewart discovers that while huge technological advances are helping extend the life of existing oilfields, new unconventional oil and gas supplies like shale gas and tar sands are extending the hydrocarbon age well into the 21st century.
Given there’s plenty of fossil fuels still in the ground, the spectre of climate change has forced many to ask can we really afford to burn what’s left? In this concluding episode, Iain Stewart argues we face a stark choice.
Do we continue feed our addiction - suck Planet Oil dry - and risk catastrophic climate change, or do we go hell for leather for alternative energy sources, such as nuclear and renewables, to make the transition from our fossil fuel past to a low-carbon future. In which case, how do we make that shift?
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On its hundredth anniversary, Horrible Histories takes a look at the Russian Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II gives us tips for survival in Russia’s extreme climate (clue: a massive amount of wealth helps), and we reveal that Lenin’s European Communism lecture tour took in a trip to London Zoo. Lenin also gives us beauty advice on how to look good even after death! Meanwhile, Dave TDS finds out just how hard it is to invade Russia, and we listen to Uncle Joe Stalin’s Nursery Rhymes and find out that, at one point, he also decided that the key to world domination might, in fact, lie in poo.
‘The Russian Revolution, a roller-coaster ride of an event that changed the world forever, featuring unpopular emperors, mad monks and wild revolutionaries, and it all happened in a huge country that had been ruled by the same Royal Family, the Romanovs, for 300 years’
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Julius Caesar is the most famous Roman of them all: brutal conqueror, dictator and victim of a gruesome assassination on the Ides of March 44 BC. 2,000 years on, he still shapes the world. He has given us some political slogans we still use today (Crossing the Rubicon), his name lives on in the month of July, and there is nothing new about Vladmir Putin’s carefully cultivated military image, and no real novelty in Donald Trump’s tweets and slogans.
Mary Beard is on a mission to uncover the real Caesar, and to challenge public perception. She seeks the answers to some big questions. How did he become a one-man ruler of Rome? How did he use spin and PR on his way to the top? Why was he killed? And she asks some equally intriguing little questions. How did he conceal his bald patch? Did he really die, as William Shakespeare put it, with the words Et tu, Brute on his lips? Above all, Mary explores his surprising legacy right up to the present day. Like it or not, Caesar is still present in our everyday lives, our language, and our politics. Many dictators since, not to mention some other less autocratic leaders, have learned the tricks of their trade from Julius Caesar.
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Dan Snow travels back to a seething Manhattan in the throes of the industrial revolution. Millions fled persecution, poverty and famine in Europe in the 19th century in search of the Promised Land. When they arrived what they found was even worse than what they’d left behind.
New York was a city consumed by filth and corruption, its massive immigrant population crammed together in the slums of Lower Manhattan. Dan succumbs to some of the deadly disease-carrying parasites that thrived in the filthy, overcrowded tenement buildings. He has a go at cooking with some cutting edge 19th century ingredients - clothes dye and floor cleaner - added to disguise reeking fetid meat. And he marvels at some of the incredible feats of engineering that transformed not just the city, but the world.
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Worksheet to support the BBC TV programme hosted by Nick Knowles. Students will work through a series of data collection tasks and questions. The resource was written to support the Ks3 curriculum and can be freely adapted to differentiate for ability. I have used it along side the more challenging Battlefield Britain worksheet:
The worksheet is written in Publisher to an A3 format but can be amended and saved as a PDF for A4 printing
Written as an enrichment/flipped/independent learning activity the worksheet contains a variety of data collection activities for the video.
Covers the Yom Kippur War from start to finish concentrating on both the Syrian and Egyptian fronts. It also briefly covers the six day war of 1967, in which Israel launched a preemptive strike against Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Does not cover one engagement primarily, other than a slight focus on the Battle of Chinese Farm near the Suez Canal. The Palestinian struggle for statehood is heavily emphasized. The episode is filmed in the Negev Desert in Southern Israel, since neither Egypt nor Syria gave permission to film in their countries. Dan Snow learns how to operate an anti-tank missile.
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This edition focuses on how Elizabeth presided over a golden age following the defeat of the Armada. National pride followed in the wake of the flourishing of literature, an age of prosperity and a new sense of England being a world power. But problems continued to plague the Queen as she got older. Elizabeth, the virgin Queen, the most powerful woman in English history. She emerged as a young princess against a backdrop of civil unrest, political intrigue, executions and coups. She ruled for 45 years and presided over a new kind of state. Her reign saw England emerge from the threat of European annexation to burst forth in a unique flowering of culture and became the world’s leading sea power. In this four part series David Starkey charts the rise and fall of her reign and reveals the powerful resonance it has for the present. This series covers one of the most glamorous and exciting reigns in English history, with bloodthirsty tales of sex, lust, murder and mayhem.
Written as an extension and enrichment task for GCSE 9-1 or A Level teaching
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Cold War (TV Series) Ep.23 - The Wall Comes Down - Supporting Worksheet for the BBC / CNN co-production, narrated by Kenneth Brannagh - Written as a extension and enrichment task for GCSE, it would also be appropriate for A Level studies.
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Gorbachev makes clear Eastern European countries were free to determine their own destinies. In Poland Solidarity enters into negotiations with the Government, and would end up winning a landslide election. In Hungary the Government chooses to symbolically re-inter Imre Nagy, and open its frontier with Austria, which is then crossed by increasing numbers of holidaying East Germans. Erich Honecker refuses to implement reforms, despite subtle pressure from Gorbachev and growing protests across East Germany. The bloody end to dissent in China is never far from the minds of protesters. Just as protests reach a peak, Soviet forces in East Germany are stood down, and Honecker is replaced by an unimpressive Egon Krenz. As a concession travel restrictions are lifted but the new regulations are miscommunicated, and the Berlin Wall is suddenly and irrevocably breached by masses of East Germans. In the momentum, the fate of communism in East Germany is sealed. Interviewees include Mikhail Gorbachev, Miklós Németh, Egon Krenz and George H. W. Bush. The pre-credits scene includes Gorbachev explaining that by 1989, force alone could not secure the world.
Cold War (TV Series) Ep.4 - Berlin - Supporting Worksheet for the BBC / CNN co-production, narrated by Kenneth Brannagh - Written as a extension and enrichment task for GCSE, it would also be appropriate for A Level studies.
It is written in Publisher formatted for A3 printing, but can be amended and saved as a PDF for A4 printing.By 1947, the United States placed as a high priority the revival of the German economy, an approach opposed by the Soviet Union. After the introduction of a Deutsche Mark the Soviet Union began to allow increasingly stringent checks on passenger and cargo flows travelling to the French, British and American sectors of Berlin, located in the heart of East Germany. This ultimately led to a blockade on all rail and road transport linking West Berlin, but an extensive airlift operation (Operation Vittles) allowed the city to survive. The Communists were however successful in staging a putsch in the Berlin municipal government, eventually leading to the divisions of both Berlin and Germany. Interviewees include Gail Halvorsen, Sir Freddie Laker and Clark Clifford. The pre-credits scene shows the Berlin airlift in operation.
Cold War (TV Series) Ep.16 - detente - Supporting Worksheet for the BBC / CNN co-production, narrated by Kenneth Brannagh - Written as a extension and enrichment task for GCSE, it would also be appropriate for A Level studies.
Written in Publisher for A3 printing, the document can be edited for printing as a PDF in A4.
Nixon builds closer relations with China and the USSR, hoping to leverage an honourable US exit from Indochina. The Soviet Union is fearful of a US-Chinese alliance, but summits between Nixon and Brezhnev lead to a relaxation of tensions and concrete arms control agreements. Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik strategy also normalises West German relations with East Germany, the USSR and Poland. Although deeply unpopular domestically, US bombing of Cambodia and Hanoi succeeds in bringing North Vietnam to the negotiating table, leading to the Paris Peace Accords in 1972. Deeply resented by South Vietnam, the Accords ultimately fail to prevent Saigon's fall three years later. In 1975 reapproachment continued with the Helsinki Accords, which enshrined human rights and territorial integrity, and the symbolic Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. Interviewees include Melvin Laird, Valeri Kubasov, Winston Lord, John Ehrlichman and Gerald Ford. The pre-credits scene shows a Soviet cartoon demonstrating the futility of the arms race.
9-1 Edexcel History Learning/Topic Placemat for Henry VIII and his Ministers
Topic 1 - Henry and Wolsey 1509 – 1529
Written in PowerPoint
(The reverse side of the placemat remains the same throughout this study unit).
These interactive learning placemats were designed to meet the challenges of the new 9-1 GCSE. They build upon the successful Medicine Through Time Placemats that I previously designed (and which received 5* reviews by all who have purchased them up to the time of launching these new materials – see: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/9-1-edexcel-gcse-history-of-medicine-place-mat-question-structure-11627611 ). The new placemats have been identified as best practice during a ‘Challenge Partners’ review as well as being identified as best practice by other History teachers on the Olevi ‘Outstanding Teacher Programme’.
The new design learning placemats support both teachers and students in addressing the:
a) dramatic increase in the curriculum content needed for the different units
b) support the need for increased literacy demands
c) help students become familiar and more confident in recognising the correct response needed for the unprecedented number of different question styles
The placemats are designed to be double sided. One side focuses on the CONTENT: providing an overview of key knowledge and understanding needed (this will change for each topic area within this GCSE unit).
Every placemat across the GCSE range is designed to encourage greater understanding of:
1. Historical Context - through timelines, picture prompts and key words
2. Awareness of the ‘big picture’ so students can see how individual lessons fit into the unit and make clearer links between prior and future learning – through ‘Big Picture’ questions.
3. Better Literacy – through selected ‘language for learning’ vocab box.
4. Memory prompts to support revision – through the use of carefully selected images.
5. Increased awareness of metacognition – through PME (Progress, Monitor and Evaluation Time) questions to encourage students to deconstruct their learning and identify key factors (eg. Social, economic, political) or key individuals and make links between features. A pictorial metacognition man with 5 question prompts will support student reflection.
The reverse side contains guidance on EXAM TECHNIQUE through:
1. Identifying the nature of the question styles for each GCSE Unit and the allocated marks available
2. Examiners levelled mark schemes
3. Support writing frames with generic sentence starters
9-1 Edexcel History Learning / Topic Placemat - The Historic Environment -
Written in PowerPoint
These interactive learning placemats were designed to meet the challenges of the new 9-1 GCSE. They build upon the successful Medicine Through Time Placemats that I previously designed (and which received 5* reviews by all who have purchased them up to the time of launching these new materials – see: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/9-1-edexcel-gcse-history-of-medicine-place-mat-question-structure-11627611 ). The new placemats have been identified as best practice during a ‘Challenge Partners’ review as well as being identified as best practice by other History teachers on the Olevi ‘Outstanding Teacher Programme’.
The new design learning placemats support both teachers and students in addressing the:
a) dramatic increase in the curriculum content needed for the different units
b) support the need for increased literacy demands
c) help students become familiar and more confident in recognising the correct response needed for the unprecedented number of different question styles
The placemats are designed to be double sided. One side focuses on the CONTENT: providing an overview of key knowledge and understanding needed (this will change for each topic area within this GCSE unit).
Every placemat across the GCSE range is designed to encourage greater understanding of:
Historical Context - through timelines, picture prompts and key words
Awareness of the ‘big picture’ so students can see how individual lessons fit into the unit and make clearer links between prior and future learning – through ‘Big Picture’ questions.
Better Literacy – through selected ‘language for learning’ vocab box.
Memory prompts to support revision – through the use of carefully selected images.
Increased awareness of metacognition – through PME (Progress, Monitor and Evaluation Time) questions to encourage students to deconstruct their learning and identify key factors (eg. Social, economic, political) or key individuals and make links between features. A pictorial metacognition man with 5 question prompts will support student reflection.
The reverse side contains guidance on EXAM TECHNIQUE through:
Identifying the nature of the question styles for each GCSE Unit and the allocated marks available
Examiners levelled mark schemes
Support writing frames with generic sentence starters
Worksheet written to support the BBC Documentary series presented by Thomas Asbridge
Written in Publisher to A3 format, the resource can be edited and saved as a PDF for A4 printing
Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit - Ep 2 -Worksheet to support the BBC Documentary
In the second episode, Mary Beard explores the physical world of the Roman Empire, and finds surprising parallels with our own world. Setting out in the footsteps of the emperor Hadrian, she discovers a vast empire bound together by a common material culture, and a globalised economy of such scale that evidence of its side-effects can still be seen today, thousands of miles away from Rome. Mary unpicks the threads of a huge commercial and cultural network, taking in the vital supply of olive oil to Rome and her armies, the slave trade, and the all-important silver mines of Spain.
Following the famous Roman road network, and the shipping routes connecting the empire’s thriving ports, Mary reveals another side to the Roman Empire, one where builders and traders eclipse soldiers, and starring slaves, not senators, making the most of a hugely connected new world.
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