Black Death Causes - KS3 History

This lesson explores what people think caused the Black Death. The lesson starts with a song for a bullet point starter. The students then look at a series of factors to categorise things believed at the time and what we think now (these can be displayed on the board and/or printed out). The students are then asked to try to explain why people believed these things and there’s a slide to give them some ideas after they have spent some time coming up with their own reasons. There are two written tasks to choose from (or both can be done). One is an ‘agony aunt’ task where they write a reply to a concerned peasant. The other is a more traditional exam question with some sentence starters to help out. The lesson ends with a fun game which always works well when I teach it. Enjoy!