This lesson is a 25-page PowerPoint presentation in which students are introduced to the topic with two divergent opinions on the impact of sit-ins (which are revisited later) and a Starter Activity in which the teacher asks them to close their eyes as they are read information about a typical Southern diner in the 1960s. Towards the end, a sit-in is described, focusing on the experiences of the participants. Students are given a choice of three options and then watch a three-minute video clip from the movie “The Butler,” which reveals the violence and verbal assaults sit-in protestors experienced (please be aware there is racially offensive language in the clip). They are asked to revisit their response. The lesson title is introduced, along with graduated aims (all will/most will/some will). The class is then provided with background information on teacher exposition slides before beginning the main activity, which is a two-page source analysis activity (5 sources, 15 comprehension questions). There is then a written activity inviting students to respond to the Key Question using the knowledge they have acquired and the sources. Following this, there is an opportunity for group discussion before the conclusion of the lesson. The class listens to the lyrics of the song “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke (or if you prefer “A White Man’s Heaven is a Black Man’s Hell” – also good but harder to make out the lyrics) and relates this to today’s learning, before deciding which of the two earlier historiographical perspectives they now agree with by moving to a designated area. As always, teaching Civil Rights needs to be done maturely and head-on but with a sensitive approach. I hope this PowerPoint resource enables you to do so for this important topic and helps your students see the importance and courage of the sit-in protestors.

This lesson focuses on the historical skill of interpretation, and students are invited to consider two different opinions on Malcolm X: those of conservative analyst William F. Buckley (who calls him a “public menace”) and movie director Spike Lee (who calls him a “freedom fighter”). The lesson has graduated aims (all will/most will/some will), and students are quickly introduced to the Starter Activity. This activity involves two sources showing different opinions on Malcolm X: one is a mural in New York which shows him as a martyr, and the other is a letter written to the FBI complaining about him. They complete a Venn diagram on these two sources to begin conversations about why there should be such duality of opinions on this Civil Rights leader. Then, there is some background information on his early life to enable teacher exposition. The main task is then introduced, and the class divides 18 cards into positives and negatives to help them form an opinion. This then leads to written and verbal explanations before the class concludes with a voting plenary to answer the main question. All topics on Civil Rights must be taught sensitively and head-on, and I hope this resource helps you bring this important leader and his legacy to life in your classroom.

This lesson is a 40-slide PowerPoint presentation with graduated lesson aims (all will/most will/some will) and begins with some images and quotations to illustrate why bus segregation was such an important issue. The lesson then includes a “What’s Behind the Squares?” Starter Activity, which reveals two images: one of Rosa Parks on a bus in Louisiana and a photograph of an injured Freedom Rider. The main activity consists of an 18-piece card sort, in which students are invited to identify strategies, challenges, and impacts of both events (they’re colour coordinated), and then divide these into similarities or differences. Both were non-violent and led to desegregation, but there are also some key differences in terms of participants, scale of impact, and how they are remembered. The lesson concludes by referring back to the lesson aims and asks students to write a three-paragraph piece of work addressing the Key Question. I hope your students find it as useful as mine always do. I haven’t included any YouTube links because the links often expire, but there are many terrific documentary clips you can use. You may also wish to play the Joan Baez song “We Shall Overcome” during the plenary.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the concept of Jim Crow in a ‘What’s Behind the Squares’ starter activity. Once the squares are revealed, they witness a white American pouring acid into a swimming pool which had previously been a whites-only pool. There is then background information for teacher exposition in which students become aware of Plessy V Ferguson and the nature of segregation and discrimination in the USA at this time. Examples are given of various Jim Crow Laws with images before the main task is introduced. Lesson aims are graduated (all will/most will/some will), and the class is asked to create their own ‘museum’ of Jim Crow artefacts. They are only allowed a maximum of 8 objects (examples are given, but they are encouraged to research their own). Students then present and explain their choices as presentations. The lesson concludes with a plenary where they are asked to find one photograph by Gordon Parks online (from his Segregation Story series) and to create dialogue between the people featured based on their knowledge and understanding acquired in the lesson. There is also a homework task at the end of the 49-slide PPT. I hope your students get as much from this very important lesson as mine do. As with all History lessons about Civil Rights, it is important it is taught sensitively but head-on. I hope the materials here allow you to do just that.

This lesson begins with an Odd One Out starter activity designed to get students thinking about those who have given their lives for the Civil Rights movement. This activity then connects to the lesson title, and students are invited to read the graduated learning outcomes (all will/most will/some will). Following this, there is some background information provided for teacher exposition on Emmett. The main activity is then introduced: students work in small groups to sift through 12 pieces of evidence about his murder. As they do so, they write down their thoughts or inferences on the History mystery grid. There are 12 slides in which the teacher can run through each piece of evidence. By this point, students will have formulated a narrative of what happened and are invited to vote in the plenary. A written homework task is also included at the end of the PowerPoint. I hope your students get as much from this crucial history lesson as mine always do.

This lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are asked to sequence four key events of American history in the correct order, the last of which is Ruby Bridges’ first day at an all-white school in Louisiana. The class are then introduced to the lesson title with graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) and the PPT has some background information for teacher exposition. The class then begin their main activity in which they cut out 24 cards. The start and end cards are labelled but all the others need to be placed in the correct order using the heads and tails sentences. This then tells the story of Ruby Parks. The class then use this information to create a rollercoaster map. Examples are given and this enables students to consider which aspects would have been most distressing or dangerous. The lesson then concludes with a plenary in which the class are asked some comprehension questions on a famous Norman Rockwell painting about the incident to consolidate their knowledge and understanding. Lesson aims are revisited and a two-paragraph homework task is set. This lesson on Ruby is one that students always connect with and I hope your students appreciate her as much as I do. I don’t normally include URLs in my lessons because they expire but I’ve put in a link to a great segment from a chat show in which Ruby explains her role in history.

This lesson begins with a Starter Activity in which students are invited to comment on an easy, medium or difficult question on a cartoon which sheds light on the position of Black Americans from slavery to the modern day. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the concept of significance. This invites students to explain their perspective on what makes someone or something important. The acronym GREAT is introduced (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning point) and after a few intro slides on MLK himself, examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these GREAT significance criteria as they relate specifically to Dr. King and his significance. This information is then used as the class begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating his importance.) The lesson concludes with a Design Your Own Question retrieval knowledge activity to check understanding. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question. I created this as a series of 3 lessons and its pitched at high achieving Key Stage 3 students for Martin Luther King Day. Because I am British the words are in UK-English. If you have any questions do let me know and I wish you a wonderful day. Dr. King is one of my heroes and I am proud that this lesson will impact on your students as well as mine.

This lesson begins with a Starter Activity in which students are invited to match up celebrity Hollywood actors with Shakespeare roles they have appeared in. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the concept of significance. This invites students to explain their perspective on what makes someone or something important. The acronym GREAT is introduced (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate specifically to Shakespeare. This information is then used as the class begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating his importance.) The lesson concludes with a Design Your Own Question retrieval knowledge activity. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question. I created this as a series of 2-3 lessons and its pitched at high achieving Key Stage 3 students for Shakespeare Day. If you have any questions do let me know and I wish you a wonderful day.

This lesson begins with a What’s Behind the Squares? Starter activity in which students are invited to shout out what they see in a Medieval interpretation of St. George. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the second order concept of historical significance. The acronym GREAT is used (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning-point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate generally and more specifically to St. George. This information is then used as the class begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating George’s importance.) The lesson concludes with a Design Your Own Question retrieval knowledge activity. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question.

If you need a quick boost to how you provide for your students for whom English is an additional language (EAL/ESOL) this 50-page PDF is for you. 50 of the most popular subject specific words in History translated into the world’s 8 most popular language. Each poster includes a visual clue also. Simply print them off and stick them around your classroom. English words are in UK-English but are almost (!) the same in US English (just civilisation and industrialisation that we spell differently in these 50 words). I hope this resource is of use to you and your students. Wishing you a great day.

I couldn’t find a book on China 1900-89 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 200-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the EdExcel specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

Escape from Sobibor is a terrific movie to showcase both the horrors of the Holocaust as well as one shining example of widerstand/resistance. In this activity there are 50 questions for students to response to as they watch the movie. Answers are provided also for peer and self assessment.

I couldn’t find a book on Russia 1905-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 240-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

Get students to glue this sheet in. It explains graduated criteria for five skills (interpretation, significance, causation, change and continuity, and consequence). Each has criteria for Mastery, Secure, Developing, Emerging, and Beginner grades. I always ask students to highlight their grade on returned assessments and then do the same in another colour to note what they need to do to improve.

I couldn’t find a book on Core Content Option B 20th Century: International Relations since 1919 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 355-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

I couldn’t find a book on USA 1919-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 215-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

I couldn’t find a book on Germany 1918-45 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 233-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

The aim of this lesson is to let students showcase their awareness of the Triangular Trade using plenty of subject specific vocabulary and precise historical details (names, dates, people, places, events, quotes and statistics) and I normally give them a couple of lessons to achieve this. The objective is to write a five-part poem detailing: The causes of slavery Conditions on the Middle Passage Life in the Americas Resistance Abolition Throughout the 24-slide Power Point there are five slides with heaps of precise historical detail to help students decide what to include in their poems, and there are five examples too. Please be aware that the slides are deliberately heavily packed with information to ensure students can write different accounts. I use this lesson to tie together the unit once students have already got a good grasp of the subject knowledge. It’s a powerful way to remember and to allow for some cross-curricular overlap between History and English. If you have any questions about this lesson let me know and thanks for stopping by.

In this lesson students receive background information before sequencing a 33 piece card sort to explain the terrible conditions enslaved Africans endured on Guineamen slave ships. This then leads on to the main task in which students are given a card listing three conditions experienced on the ships. They then create a class oral history project which can be recorded and stitched together. This is always an extremely powerful lesson and one which needs to be taught sensitively and with purpose.

I take great pride in leading my students to the Manila US military cemetery every year. Now you can purchase my 27-page pack which focuses on the areas of background, civilians, POWs, war crimes, the Battle of Manila, resistance, technology, the fallen, the chapel, Leyte Gulf and much more. This pack is designed to complement in-class studies and comes with a staff copy with answers. It has been designed specifically for this historic site and is of use only to teachers leading a trip to the cemetery. Please let me know if you have any questions and I wish you a wonderful day.