GCSE Elizabeth L8 - Why Was Mary Queen of Scots a Threat?

This lesson contains:

• A starter that looks at the family tree and as you click, it confirms why Mary has a claim. You may with to supplement this with your own activity, but I find this is really good at showing how closely Mary and Elizabeth are linked, but need to emphasise using your own dialogue that Mary is Catholic and what impact her taking the throne might have for England.
• A few slides dealing with the changes taking place in Scotland and the Treaty of Edinburgh. Before looking at Mary, the lesson introduces that Mary is sent to France to live and meanwhile, Scotland undergoes the change of religion and leadership. There is a video and students answer some questions on the Treaty. This sets the scene because Elizabeth is in a good position in Scotland and doesn’t want that to change.
• An activity to watch a short video and answer questions on Mary’s life’s ups and downs, including her various marriages. This ends with Mary coming to England. A multiple choice sheet is provided or you can set your own questions. As an alternative, you could ask them to do a timeline as the video plays.
• A discussion about which marriage provided different benefits or detrements to Mary.
• A main activity to read statements about why Mary posed a threat coming to England. Students colour-code the severity of each statement and make a judgement about the religious risk posed.
• A final task to study Elizabeth’s choices and the fit the ‘for and against’ statements to the different choices. Students then make their own judgement about what Elizabeth should do based on historian’s ideas that she needed to make the ‘least worst choice’.
• A plenary exam question if there is time.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentation
• 2 x Publisher Files