I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of the lesson is for students to understand how attitudes towards Public Health finally changed in the Twentieth Century with a ‘new liberalism’ approach which recognised that being poor was not always the fault of the poor and that the government had to do something.
Students begin by analysing the source, 'unqualified assistance’, evaluating its significance and then prioritising the main reasons for this new approach, as the Government reforms aimed to create a fitter and healthier Britain.
Students have to fill in a grid which link the main reforms to the different groups in society and also evaluate the limitations of the reforms.
The plenary focuses on a scrabble game and literacy skills to recap the learning of the lesson
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
This resource in booklet form sets the AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945 Democracy and Dictatorship course out in two sides of A4.
This is ideal for the student who wants a quick recap of the course as it sets out all the main details, people and events in bullet form.
It is also great for quickly printing and giving out for revision lessons, interleaving or for homework, especially when the course content has now doubled for the GCSE 9-1 exam.
I have included PDF and Word formats if there is a need to change or adapt.
This is cheap to photocopy and includes a summary of the exam questions from the start.
If you like this resource, please check out my full revision guide for AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945 here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/aqa-gcse-9-1-revision-guide-germany-1890-1945-11764985
I have produced these Bitesize Cards to help my GCSE History groups revise.
They summarise the content for the Germany 1890-1945, Democracy and Dictatorship course, which can be overwhelming for some students.
They contain the main events, people and key words needed for the exam
Students can use these 14 cards in lessons or for homelearning to help them with recall, retrieval and retention.
I also use them as starters in the lessons or for interleaving to help with the course content.
I have broken down the revision cards down into the following themes:
Kaiser Wilhelm
The Treaty of Versailles
Problems in Germany
Super Stresemann
The Rise of Hitler
Hitler’s consolidation of Power
The Nazi Police State
The Nazi economy
Propaganda
Youth groups and women
Churches
Opposition
Persecution to Genocide
The German Homefront
They have proved a great success as a revision tool. I have also posted them on our google classroom (digital platform) so students can access them, when GCSE practise questions are set or they are required to revise for an assessment test.
They simply need cutting, hole punching and tying with treasury tags, or simply stapling together.
I have included both PDF and PowerPoint versions if you wish to amend or adapt.
If you like this resource, please check out my full Revision Guide for Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship 1890-1945 which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/germany-democracy-and-dictatorship-revision-guide-aqa-gcse-9-1-11764985
I have created a set of resources for ‘the causes and events of the civil wars throughout Britain’ which comes under the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745 in the National Curriculum.
These lessons are also useful if you are studying this period at GCSE (such as AQA 9-1 GCSE Power and the People and OCR Explaining the Modern World)
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable in Powerpoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a couple of free lessons to give an idea of what is being offered.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 Who was James I?
L2 The Gunpowder Plot
L3 Who was Charles I
L4 The Causes of the English Civil War (free resource)
L5 Cavaliers and Roundheads
L6 How did the two sides fight?
L7 The execution of Charles I
L8 Who was Oliver Cromwell
L9 Witches and Witchcraft (free resource)
L10 Charles II and the Restoration
L11 The Glorious Revolution
Additional lessons:
L12 Causes of the Great Fire of London
L13 Consequences of the Great Fire of London
( + Key Word History Display included)
Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.
With the National Curriculum in mind, I have created a set of resources for ‘the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ which focus on the First World War and the Peace Settlement.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand how frightening World War 1 was from its inception with the alliance system and the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand to the battlefields on the Western Front and how industrialisation changed the fighting into a static war of attrition.
I have created , readapted and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the continuity and change in the recruitment of men for Kitchener’s army, the causes of the war and the consequences which followed, the similarities and differences of the weapons used on the battlefields, the significance of women on the Home Front and Empire soldiers in the trenches and interpretations about whether it is fair to call Field Marshall Haig as the ‘Butcher of the Somme.’
Each lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources. The lessons are fully adaptable and can be changed to suit.
The 14 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The long term causes of WWI
L2 The short term causes of WWI
L3 Recruitment in WWI
L4 Why build trenches?
L5 Was life in the trenches all bad?
L6 Is it fair to call Haig ‘the Butcher of the Somme’?
L7 Cowardice in WWI
L8 War in the Air
L9 Weapons of WWI
L10 The role of women in WWI
L11 Conscientious Objectors
L12 The end of WWI and the Armistice
L13 The Treaty of Versailles
L14 Empire Soldiers
Key Word Literacy Display included
All the resources come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons also include differentiated materials and suggested teaching strategies.
I have created a set of resources for ‘the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ which focus on Civil Rights in America.
The aims of this bundle are to understand how black people were treated in the USA in the Twentieth Century and how they began to fight for their civil rights.
I have created, readapted and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the continuity and change in the rights of black people in the USA, the causes consequences of the Civil Rights movement which followed, the similarities and differences of the tactics used, the significance of key figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and various interpretations about how far black people have achieved equality today.
Each lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable and can be changed to suit.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Abraham Lincoln
L2 Jim Crow Laws
L3 Little Rock Nine
L4 Emmett Till
L5 Rosa Parks
L6 Protesting
L7 Martin Luther King
L8 Malcolm X
L9 Ku Klux Klan
L10 Jesse Owens
L10 Civil Rights in America today
L12 Black people in the American Civil War (bonus lesson)
This bundle follows the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum - the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745.
I have designed the lessons to be challenging and engaging as well as fun and enjoyable.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand how peoples’ lives were shaped by the Tudors from Henry VII to Mary I, how they changed the course of British history and why we are still fascinated by their lives today.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout; for example, the concepts of continuity and change under Henry VII after the Wars of the Roses, recognising the causes and consequences of Henry’s break with Rome, explaining the similarities and differences in the reigns of the Tudors, analysing the significance of the Black Tudors and Edward VI as well as evaluating sources and interpretations, such as the reputation of Mary 1.
The 12 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The War of the Roses
L2 An introduction to the Tudors (free lesson)
L3 Henry VII
L4 Henry VIII introduction
L5 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for love?
L6 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for faith?
L7 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for money?
L8 The dissolution of the monasteries
L9 The sinking of the Mary Rose
L10 Edward VI
L11 Bloody Mary
L12 Black Tudors
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a free lesson to give an idea of what is being offered.
Although this bundle is aimed at Key Stage 3, it is ideal if you are studying the Tudors for GCSE as it covers the main themes, concepts and skills required.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate just how efficient and effective the new weapons of the Twentieth Century were.
Students have two objectives; to rate the effectiveness and killing power of the weapons used during the war and to explain how well equipped the soldiers were in the trenches, particularly the British Tommy.
The lesson begins with discussing the type of weapons used and for students to recognise the continuity and change of many of these pre, post and during World War 1.
The historian Dan Snow is quoted as saying the British soldier went into World War I ‘as the best prepared soldier on the planet.’
The lesson subsequently unfolds to explain and evaluate the new weapons used and the advantages (or not) they gave each side.
The plenary requires students to link the effectiveness of the weapons to images and to explain how and why this is the case.
This lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout the lesson and this unit of study to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of eleven lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This second lesson on Elizabeth focuses on the workings of her government. Where did the real power lie in Elizabethan England?
Students question who Elizabeth might want in her government and using a text mapping exercise find out who is who in the different establishments.
The second part of the lesson examines a significance question and compares the inner workings of her government to today’s cabinet and the role of Parliament.
Students have to write about the importance of the Royal Court using the information provided, which is also linked to a brilliant BBC video clip and with a model answer included.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to discover why the Elizabethan Poor Law was introduced and to assess its impact on Elizabethan society and beyond.
Students first of all have to analyse the causes of poverty and prioritise which has been the main reason for its increase whether that be the actions of local landowners and Henry VIII in his break with Rome or the debasement of the coinage.
They are also required to write to the local landowner, using suggested key argument words, to express their sympathy for the poor which was in sort supply in the Elizabethan era.
As well as source analysis, students learn the so called tricks of the trade for begging and how Tudor propaganda shaped these negative views of the poor.
Students subsequently have to assess the details of the new Elizabethan Poor Law, the reasons for a change in attitude towards the poor and assess its significance and impact upon society as a whole.
The final task is to talk like an historian and answer the questions in a quiz picking up points for the harder questions.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to decide which Tudor explorer deserves the most recognition in a seafaring ‘Hall of Fame’.
Students are led through the journeys and discoveries of sailors in Elizabethan England from the Cabot brothers to Gerardus Mercator and his brilliant Atlas. (This was to give the navigator a map, where a line of constant bearing would cross all meridians at the same angle)
The sailors achievements and the problems they encountered are given through learning activities such as a play your cards right, video evidence, a true or false quiz and a plotting exercise of Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe on a blank world map.
The main task is to analyse and evaluate the achievements of Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh with differentiated resource materials.
Students are given specific criteria to judge this before ultimately deciding who had the greatest impact and should be given the most recognition for Elizabethan exploration.
The lesson concludes with a literacy key word game.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This lesson focuses on the threat posed by the Puritans and how Elizabeth dealt with this threat, despite prominent members in her Government, such as Walsingham, being Puritans.
Students begin by understanding the nature of Puritanism and how they disagreed with the religious settlement.
They are given information about a number of controversies raised in Elizabeth’s reign and by colour coding decide how much of a threat they posed.
A threat’o’meter give an overall picture which they will have to justify where their judgement lies.
This lesson also focuses on two GCSE questions with a ‘write an account’ and a ‘How convincing is the Source?’ question given for GCSE exam practice.
Students can answer both or choose which one to tackle. The information is included in the lesson to assist in their answers.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The aim of this lesson is to explore how historians find out about the past using historical sources.
Students are firstly questioned about how we can find out about Castles or Roman artefacts for example with usually some interesting replies.
They then have to study four historical sources with differentiated questioning to help decipher and discover their provenance.
There is an extended writing task to complete with their new found knowledge, with help and prompts given if required.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The Norman Conquest
This lesson is an introduction to the Bayeux Tapestry and follows the enquiry question of the previous lessons which seek to understand how much control William the Conqueror had over the population.
The lesson explains some key facts about the tapestry and its propaganda purposes for the Normans.
There is a crossword to fill in as well as some analysis of the tapestry itself.
A brilliant animated video of the tapestry brings it to life and students are questioned to how the Normans and Saxons are portrayed.
Students are also challenged in a Bayeux Tapestry thinking quilt, which requires them to link key words and definitions together and explain their overall significance.
The lesson is interactive and gets students moving around the classroom. It is also ideal for non-specialists.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies and notes on the slides for further information.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
The aim of this lesson is to understand how the Soviet Union reacted to any deviation from Soviet policy and control in 1968-9.
Students will learn how and why Dubcek introduced a series of reforms to give his people greater freedoms.
Having analysed the reforms, students have to decide if they were social, political or economic and which problems were the greatest threat to the stability of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Students will also study Dubcek’s road map to peace and are asked some challenging questions using the information provided.
The Soviet reaction is evaluated in a series of options for the students to choose and some differentiated source analysis.
Finally, the impact of the Brezhnev doctrine is assessed for Czechoslovakia, relations between the satellite states, relations between the USA and the Soviet Union as well as the reputation of the USA internationally with their response to the crisis.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout this and subsequent lessons to show the progress of learning.
The lessons in this bundle are therefore linked together to build up a picture of how diplomacy, propaganda and spying led two Superpowers with opposing political ideologies to create tensions, rivalries and distrust as well as subsequently forming mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated material and GCSE question practice.
It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Rise of Dictators
The aim of this lesson is to assess whether Mussolini’s legacy can be compared to Julius Caesar. Did he match up to his accomplishments such as the Julian calendar, being a successful military leader, a consul of Rome as well as an Imperator.
Students begin by explaining what they already know about Italy and its historical past.
They also analyse the rule of Julius Caesar and what he achieved in his lifetime.
They will then be given facts about Mussolini’s early life and use the information to make a judgement about him as a person, using key words and a writing framework if required.
The main task will then involve them plotting Mussolini’s life on a graph taking into account his successes and failures.
From this, they will then be able to evaluate if he indeed deserves to have a similar reputation and legacy to Caesar, whom he admired and attempted to emulate in his Fascist Dictatorship from 1922-43.
There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson, together with challenging tasks culminating in a ‘what is the question task’ and an ‘odd one out’ activity.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes some retrieval practice on Dictators, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The French Revolution
The aim of this lesson is to judge how terrible the Reign of Terror was in France.
The lesson begins with an chronological recap task of the events of 1789.
Students are introduced to Maximilien Robespierre and using the information provided have to explain the context and introduction of the Reign of Terror.
The main task is to rate how terrible some of the events were in the years 1793-5, by colour coding a ‘terror o meter’. For each event and explain why they have made these decisions.
Using these judgements, they will then complete a thinking quilt on whether they think the Terror was justified or not.
The ‘Are you a robot?’ plenary gets them to make links with the images all connected to the learning of the lesson.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, differentiated materials, suggested teaching and learning strategies and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess and judge the strength of the economy under Henry VIII.
Students begin by recapping Henry VII and the measures he undertook to deal with a changing economy.
This is then compared to Henry VIII as the students have to test the judgement made by John Guy who said England was ‘economically healthier, more expansive and more optimistic at any time since the Roman occupation’.
Students are also required to give an efficient rating on Henry VIII’s policy on the economy and explain if he could have been more efficient (as with a household energy rating).
The plenary asks students to expand their explanations, which is a brilliant idea taken from @MrFitzHistory
There is some exam practice to complete with a supplied writing frame and markscheme to use if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The Industrial Revolution
This lesson aims to describe and explain the conditions of Victorian prisons through the eyes of a young person awaiting trial.
Students learn how a poor diet, pointless tasks and a payment system for every amenity meant a miserable existence for inmates.
So why did things begin to improve? How did key prison reformers change attitudes and make the government of the day reform the prisons?
These questions and more will explored through prose, quizzes, video links and knockout tournament competitions to see and judge how far the prison reforms went and how effective they were.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess the threat posed by Mary, Queen of Scots throughout her life to Elizabeth.
The lesson begins with some context of Mary’s life before students’ decide her threat to Elizabeth before she flees to England from Scotland.
In the second part of the lesson, students learn about the different plots against Elizabeth involving Mary and how Elizabeth and her Privy Council dealt with each in turn.
There is also a diamond nine prioritising exercise as to the main reasons why Elizabeth was so reluctant to execute Mary after the Babington plot.
Some literacy and extract exam practice is also included with help given and a markscheme supplied
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
