Source Analysis: King John's Personality and Character

Delve into the reign of King John 1199 - 1216 and explore his personality, character and his ability to govern through these carefully selected historical sources. The twin purpose of this lesson is to develop students ability to infer and evaluate historical sources for their usefulness as well as set the scene for Magna Carta in 1215. The lesson begins by setting the scene and the terms of the historical debate on whether he was ‘evil’ or simply presented in that way by the chroniclers​ because he fell out with the Church. Students can then use the outcome from their investigation to cast their vote on the plenary continuum on his ability to govern or follow up with some consolidation questions.

We have also added in support for an assessment question on ‘which source do you think is the most reliable to an historian on the reign of King John,’ using the CCCJ Model. Please see the detailed preview. At each stage, students are supported with templates which can used to model how to infer with the class and write a CCCJ model answer using NOP.

When you purchase this lesson, you will be able to download a three page worksheet which contains the historian sources and questions, as well as a 36 slide PowerPoint. Both have also been uploaded as PDFs. The PowerPoint contains aims, objectives, differentiated outcomes, starters, plenaries, video links, historical sources, information slides, templates, a word search, optional homeworksm continuum and questions. Basically, everything that you will need.

The aims and objectives of this source lesson are:

Theme: Was King John a bad King?
Know: Who was King John and how did he govern?
Understand: How has King John been represented by people in the past?
Evaluate: Sources for their reliability using the CCCJ
Skills: Source Analysis, Cause, Consequence & Collaboration

WILF – What Am I Looking For?
Can You Describe: Who was King John and how did he govern?
Can You Explain: How has King John been represented by people in the past?
Can You Evaluate: Sources for their reliability and trustworthiness using CCCJ?

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Kind Regards
Roy