Part of the Edexcel Politics A Level UK Politics module A lesson (or series of lessons which can include homework) that asks students to research the pros and cons (for and against arguments) for lowering the voting age to 16 in the UK. Does include that 16 and 17 year olds can vote in Wales and Scotland. Begins with outlining what you can legally do at 16 in the UK - how many of these can they guess? Good starting point to argue ‘if you can do all this, why can’t you vote?’ Provides a basic timeline of the movement, and an extensive list of websites and sources to find information for and against the argument to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds. Students can use these and their own research to produce an argument for both sides of the argument. There is a final task to bring the research together, including seeing what the general view of the class is. This could very easily be turned into a debate too! Note that Tutor2U has a GREAT resource on this, which specifically provides a source question and activities that are a good follow up to this lesson. I always used it, but obviously for copyright reasons can’t include it here.

Detailed lesson looking at the Battle of Agincourt, asking pupils to assess why the Battle of Agincourt is worth remembering, and using a diamond 9 to make a choice as to what the most memorable factor is. Also includes a documentary (free to view on Youtube). Includes a newspaper task and template (can also be used for homework).

This is an introduction Edexcel Route G: Nationalism, dictatorship and democracy in twentieth-century Europe, Paper 1, Option 1G: Germany and West Germany, 1918-89 Gives a brief overview of what will be studied, and dedicates some time to what pupils have previously learned about, assuming they have studied the period previously at KS3 or GCSE. If it wasn’t a topic previously studied, this could instead look at what they know from their own knowledge, and can be a good chance to address any stereotypes or misconceptions. The main tasks involves pupils finding stories from newspapers that reflect the themes that will be studied (Political and governmental change, Opposition control and consent,Economic development and policies,Aspects of life in Germany - although, Britain to begin with) in our own society today. This allows them to gain understanding of what each of the themes will entail. The extension task to this is to see if they can correlate any stories seen in the papers with prior knowledge about Germany. This will require you to buy some newspapers leading up to the lesson. Recommended is a mixture of different types of newspaper, including local, broadsheet and tabloid - this allows for the most productive discussion about attitudes of the press towards similar issues.

Introduces a grid system to help pupils with how to look at pictorial sources. This system can be used again and again! Looks at the purpose of portraits and why historians must be careful when using them. Uses two specific portraits to see how Henry used them to convey an image of himself to the people.

Lesson 17 in Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 1485-1603 spec - for ‘Aspects in breadth: Controlling a fractious nation – changes in Tudor government 1485-1603’. Lesson 5 of 3.2 - Gaining Control of the Localities. This lesson focuses on the answer to the following questions, with specific details in response (many of which go beyond the textbook): How could the monarchy finance itself? What accounted for huge amounts of the Crown’s expenditure? Why was asking Parliament to raise taxes risky? Students then complete notes on the following questions: Taxation before 1513 1513 Subsidy 1525 Amicable Grant Also includes additional links for further reading/research

This lesson is for the AQA GCSE: Conflict and Tension in Asia 1950-1975, Part 2: Escalation of conflict in Vietnam. Lesson 6 - looks at first the events, and then the impact of the My Lai massacre. Introductory details and maps provided. An investigation style lesson, complete with a video clip, ultimately tracking towards to the role of the media and waining public support for the war. Lesson also includes a 4 mark source question as a plenary, using a pictorial source.

A great history mystery! Optional: Start with the ‘Did Richard III kill the Princes in the Tower?’ documentary - this introduces the idea of interpretations, and can make a good start point to contest with the second lesson Talk through the different players, and then pupils use sources to decide who they think might have killed the Princes in the Tower. Can also discuss if they believed the princes were killed at all!

A nice investigative lesson where pupils will consider how unfair or accurate the popular interpretation of Richard III is. This works best following the other WOTR lessons I have uploaded, as it will finish a chain of thinking about Richard III. Starts by looking at depictions of him, and proves he wasn’t a hunchback. So if that’s wrong - what else might be? Word of warning: It will take a lot of discussion to help pupils remember they’re looking at if HISTORY has been ‘unfair’ or ‘accurate’, and not looking at whether each piece of EVIDENCE is ‘unfair’ or ‘accurate’. If you choose to watch the documentary as part of a lesson, there’s also a sheet for pupils to fill in to collect evidence.

A lesson that introduces the big dictatorships of the inter-war era: Stalin, Hitler, Franco and Mussolini. LA and HA version. Starts with a fun game of ‘Pointless’ to introduce the 4. Includes a REALLY useful and interesting venn diagram task to show the differences/similarities between democracy, communism and fascism. This is an extremely useful task for helping students understand what exactly communism and fascism are, and how they operate. Then introduces some of the key policies that each dictator is following, and asks (alongside the knowledge of the political spectrum) which they feel was the most dangerous threat to peace. Also includes an option research project to look at one of the dictators. Adjust the sheet accordingly - it still has all my dates/rooms! All resources included, no textbook needed.

4th lesson in this scheme of work. This lesson focuses on historical interpretation, asking ‘does history have it right?’ There is a short video to get information about the storming. Students must then compare details given for the storming based on accounts by the rioters, and historians, looking for differences in the stories and assessing why that might be the case. There is a good scope here for discussion on differing accounts, utility and reliability. There is then a writing frame for students to assess which account they believe is the most/least accurate and why.

1st lesson in the French Revolution scheme of work - a nice mixture of tasks including some songs/videos. Introduces some initial key words, including what exactly a revolution is. Uses ‘Can you hear the people sing?’ from les Mis and ‘La Marseillaise’ as a good way to introduce some concepts of why people might want a revolution in France, and which people in particular. ALso features a group discussion on what might drive people to overthrow a government. Tasks then introduce the Ancien Régime and people’s attitudes toward the monarchy to look at frustrations there in. All tasks are well structured with writing frames, and there are instructions in the powerpoint notes.

3rd lesson in this scheme of work on The French Revolution This lesson instroduces the main revolutionary groups (Sans Cullotes, Moderates and Peasants), looking at what they wanted from the revolution and exploring why those wants might be different. There is good scope for discussion on why not everyone in a revolution wants the same thing, and why that might be problematic for the revolution. There is also a source activity focusing on Tallrand, exploring why some nobility might also have supported the revolution.

This lessons was written for KS3, but might work for GCSE. Introduces the ‘trigger’ cause, with details on the Assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand through a video. Then students will look at the M.A.I.N (militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism) causes of ww1, collect information and explain how they contributed to war. There are information sheets provided, I’m not sure why, the images appear to have gone very dark on one of them. Apologies for that! The more difficult sheet also has a LA version. Finishes with a source question based on a political cartoon.

A lesson on the formation of the police force. Starts with a fun introduction where students must guess which crimes make up which slice of the pie chart; then uses a video to introduce the Bow Street Runners, and looks at why they were then later replaced with the Metropolitan Police. Main task features a set of questions which range from simple comprehension, to timeline making, into more complex explanation questions. All resources included, no textbook needed.

A nice involved lesson where pupils look into why Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth. Lots of information on his background, a documentary to watch, and an information sheet which pupils can then use to write up an answer. Sets up ready to learn about the Tudors. This lesson works best following my WOTR scheme of lessons, but can work on it’s own. Includes optional extension acivities at the end.

For the Edexcel A Level: Germany and West Germany 1918-89 Part 1: Political and Governmental Change 1918-89 This lesson looks at the specific reasons behind the failure of the Weimar republic by 1933; it focuses specifically on whe the Weimar failed now, when it survived the issues of the 1920s. The lesson culminates in a timeline task. This lesson requires the Pearson ‘Nationalism, dictatorship and democracy in 20th century Europe’ text book.

Works as part of a scheme of work looking at the Medieval Church in Europe/England. Starts with an activity labeling the layout of Gloucester Cathedral using clues. This demonstrates the layout of a cathedral, and looks at how they were added to over time (a completed teacher copy is included) -Follows with a card sort (colour coded - no cutting and sticking needed!) sorting evidence to decide if it suggests cathedrals were really built for power, or worship. finishes with a PEE response to select and explain some of the evidence.

A lesson looking at the development and impact of the growth of the canals and railways in Industrial Britain. Focuses on 2 case studies: Bridgewater Canal and the Liverpool to Manchester line. Finishes with some utility source work about the impact of the railways, and a summary PEE paragraph. All resources included, no text book needed.

A lesson that does a brief overview of the League of Nations, and why it failed. This is aimed at KS3, but could be used for lower ability GCSE as an introduction. This lesson provides some comprehension tasks for an overview of the League, and then presents some source questions. The lesson in finished off with a ‘message of the source’ GCSE style practice question, which could be talked through as a class. Copies of the source are provided for students to stick in/annotate. All resources provided, no text book needed.

An introductory lesson to World War One at KS3, looking at the different types of government and political alliances in Europe in 1914. Could also be useful for lower ability GCSE classes. Provides a map to be annotated, and lots of discussion questions. Really good way to set the scene for the outbreak of conflict - students can find it difficult to understand how some of the causes of WW1 came about without this information. All resources provided, no textbook needed.