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.
**The First World War **
The aim of this lesson is to question how frightening trench life and trench warfare really was.
This lesson begins with a familiar look at trench life. An analysis of sources, audio clips and prose using higher order thinking skills as well independent learning will bring students to the conclusion that trench life and trench conditions were extremely tough for soldiers. Trench foot and diseases were common place on the Western Front.
A chance to write a letter home, before realising the problems of censorship, will suggest to students that soldiers had to struggle in the mud and squalor surrounding them.
However historians such as Dan Snow question how long soldiers spent in the trenches and discovered that in fact 45% of their time was spent behind the lines and in relative safety.
Therefore the overriding aim of the lesson of evaluating how frightening trench life was now becomes more apparent.
Finally the use of historical hexagons will challenge thinking and challenge students to link ideas together.
The 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.
**The First World War **
The aim of this lesson is to understand the importance and significance of the Poppy on Armistice Day at the end of the First World War.
The lesson is split into two parts. The first part of the lesson analyses the causes of the World War I ending in 1918.
Using a causal spiders web (an idea taken from Emily Thomas), students link the ideas together by drawing lines and then justify their reasons to create a spider’s web on remembrance.
The second part of the lesson analyses the significance of the use of the Poppy with students giving their own reasons for this on the poppy leaves (a template is included).
They then have to prioritise the most important reasons why the Government introduced Poppy Day and why we commemorate Armistice Day with a diamond nine activity.
Students also have the chance to evaluate John McCrae’s in Flanders poem
with some ‘clever question stems’.
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 A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is for students to assess the significance of Brittany to Britain’s national security under Henry VII.
Students use the information provided, such as the Treaty of Redon, to also explore Henry’s relationship with France and judge if his foreign policy was a success with his political machinations with the French King Charles VIII.
There is also some exam practice to complete, using extracts on Brittany to evaluate the aims of the lesson and judge Henry VII’s success in foreign relations with France.
Help is also given to the students if required on how to structure an answer, using some scaffolding, helpful hints and a generic markscheme supplied.
There is an enquiry question posed and revisited 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is decide how much of a threat the Lovell and Stafford rebellions were to Henry VII.
Students are given detailed information about the two rebellions and then have to categorise them into causes, consequences and events.
There is an odd one out activity included to check understanding where students have to justify the correct and incorrect answers.
The plenary requires the challenge and thinking of but, because and so on these early threats and challenges to Henry VII’s rule.
Students have to opportunity to plan and write an essay on how much of a threat to Henry VII both Yorkist rebellions were. A planning sheet, markscheme and help is given if required.
There is an enquiry question posed and revisited 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is understand how Henry consolidated his power at the beginning of his reign to secure the Tudor dynasty.
Students have to recall Henry VII’s previous problems and early challenges before deciding how he would overcome these problems.
They are then given the solutions to his problems, which they categorise into short and long term problems, as well as financial and political security and the succession.
The plenary challenges student to think outside the box by linking key themes using the octagon to what they have learned in the lesson about Henry VII’s power and governance.
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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is analyse how Henry VII used propaganda to cement his hold on power.
Students are given a number of sources to examine from which they have to identify the types of propaganda used, the messages and symbolism given and the target audience.
Furthermore they must analyse how effective control of public opinion really was for Henry VII to boost his image and legitimacy.
The plenary required students to link numbers to what they have learned in the lesson on Tudor propaganda.
There is an exam practice question to complete. Help is given here with a planning sheet, suggested topics to focus on if required and a generic markscheme.
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 as well as a number of tasks for some retrieval practice.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade KS3
The aim of this lesson is straightforward - Why was the slave trade finally abolished in Britain and her Empire and why did it take so long to achieve?
Furthermore, why were arguments in the eighteenth century challenged so rigorously and overturned in the nineteenth?
Which people inspired its abolition and who was against this?
Students decide which arguments and abolition movement strategies were being put forward to the plantation owners, racists, people who were ignorant and law makers to end the slave trade.
They then prioritise the most important arguments in challenging these peoples’ staunch perceptions and opposition to the abolition of the slave trade.
The second part of the lesson is a case study of William Wilberforce. Through video, audio and source work, students build up a history of this key figure and decide how and why he is significant.
The final part of the lesson uses an interactive spinning wheel with key words used throughout the course, which the students have to define and explain their links to slavery.
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 A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the character and personal qualities of Henry VII and to question how legitimate his claim to the throne really was.
The timeline of the houses and York and Lancaster are again analysed, as students are given more information of John of Gaunt’s line and the marriage to his third wife, Katherine Swynford.
Using extracts from two renowned historians, students study Henry VII’s character and personality traits to build up more of a picture of what he was like as a person and his insecurities as a monarch.
They are also introduced for the first time to some GCE exam question practice. This is their first attempt at a validity question.
Some guidance is given on how to approach this and a generic markscheme is supplied to allow feedback once completed.
The plenary uses picture prompts to recap on the learning from the lesson.
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.
Suffragettes
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate how far the vote had given independence to women in the Roaring Twenties.
Students have to assess how and why women became more confident and empowered with new technology and the introduction of the reckless flapper, shocking society with her wild behaviour.
There is video evidence, text mapping and source analysis for the students to complete to aid them in justifying their decisions on women’s rights in the 1920s.
Students will also evaluate the role of four pioneering women in a differentiated task by colour coding batteries to rate their contribution to ‘girl power’.
There is a chance to complete some extended writing using importance words as well as adding appositives to simple sentences in the plenary for cultural changes to women on the 1920s…
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 Suffragettes
The aim of this lesson is to analyse perceptions of women and their role at home and in the family (the Angel on the House).
Students scrutinise how women were treated in Victorian Britain with discrimination from society as well as the law and give their own analysis and judgements using sources from the time.
They can do this through discussion or through an extended writing task, with help given if required.
There are examples of how women were treated and a case study of a wife in an abusive marriage in Victorian Britain.
The lesson includes written sources and video evidence.
The plenary requires the students to show their new knowledge and comprehension of life for women at the time.
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, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
American Civil Rights
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the impact of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till on the Civil Rights Movement in America.
This lesson starts with the Bob Dylan song ‘The death of Emmett Till’.
The question is posed as to why Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, had an open top casket at his funeral?
Students are given sources to piece together the story before they find out what happened to him, including the trial and the role of the media (the story is differentiated according to ability).
Video footage of his short life from the time reinforces their learning. Students then have a choice of answering some differentiated questions or completing an extended piece of writing.
The plenary questions the impact of his death upon the Civil Rights Movement and help is given on how students can justify their reasons.
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, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Civil Rights in America
The aim of this lesson is to assess how far Jesse Owens inspired the Civil Rights Movement.
Students begin by analysing his early childhood and how his athletic talents was spotted at a young age.
Students will also assess how Jesse coped in the segregated south with the Jim Crow Laws and judge how far this impacted upon his athletics career.
There is a chronological exercise to complete, together with video footage of Hitler and the Berlin Olympics and some differentiated questioning on his medals, achievements and legacy…
A true or false quiz at the end will attempt to question how Jesse Owens was received back in the USA after the Berlin Olympics and how far his life changed.
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, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is judge how Protestant England became under Edward VI.
There is also a distinction made with the Protestant views of Edward and the contrast between the Edwardian Reformation under Somerset and Northumberland.
Students begin the lesson by studying an overview of the main religious changes during the Edwardian Reformation and analysing the Protestant views of Edward. They learn the distinct religious differences between the rule of the two Dukes before their evaluate how Protestant the country had become under both.
There is some guidance on some learning trouble spots concerning the spread of Protestantism within the country and therefore how hard it is to judge and answer this question.
There are some additional tasks if needed concerning the major players in the Reformation under Edward VI as well as some source analysis and details on the significance of the Chantries Act.
There is some exam practice to complete at the end, using sources with help, prompts and a markscheme is 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.
AQA GCSE Conflict and Tension 1918-1945
This 28 page revision guide is tailored to the above AQA specification for GCSE. It is broken down into 3 main sections: Peace Keeping, the League of Nations and the Road to War.
This Revision Guide includes practice exam questions and gives examples on how to answer each. This revision guide will enable all learners to achieve the higher grades with clear guidance on how to achieve them. The questions target the four main questions in the exam from source analysis, chronology, cause and consequence, significance and evaluation.
The information is also broken down into an easy to use format to aid the students. The Guide can be used for revision, interleaving, home learning as well as class teaching. For home learning, each student taking GCSE History in my school has a copy assigned to them on the google drive and it is used frequently when using google classroom assignments, such as homework and revision for assessments.
This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be edited and changed to suit, It comes in both Word and PDF format.
Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated. Please email me for a free copy of any of my resources worth £3.00 if you do.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the success and impact of Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement.
Students begin by analysing the various intricacies of the Religious Settlement, from the Royal Injunctions, the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer to the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.
Using this information, they then have to decide which historian’s viewpoint appears the more accurate on the settlement and Elizabethan religious policy and explain why.
Moreover students have to discover which parts of the settlement are from Elizabeth’s own personal beliefs and which parts did she have to compromise on.
There is some exam practice to complete if required with help and prompts given.
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.
This bundle is the third part in a series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE Britain: Health and the People, c.1000-present.
I have taught this course for more than 20 years now and have again decided to completely overhaul my lessons to bring them up to date with the latest teaching and learning ideas I have picked up and with a focus on the new 9-1 GCSE.
Furthermore I have dispensed with learning objectives to focus on specific enquiry based questions which address the knowledge and skills required for the GCSE questions.
As well as focusing on GCSE exam practice questions, the lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the period studied from the brilliance of the surgical skills learnt during wars and conflict to the growth of the pharmaceutical companies such as Wellcome.
They will study (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in the development of ideas about disease and the causes and consequences for health care with the introduction of the NHS.
The analysis and evaluation of sources (AO3) are used in for example in the Factors Question whilst substantiated judgements are made (AO4) on the progression of medicine from twentieth century developments in sulphonamides and the discovery of Penicillin.
The lessons are as follows:
L16 The Liberal Reforms
L17 Medicine and War (free resource)
L18 The Pharmaceutical Companies
L19 Penicillin
L20 The NHS
L21 The Factors Question
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint and can be changed to suit.
Please note that setting an assessment in class after completing this unit is strongly recommended. All the examination resources and markschemes are subject to copyright but can easily be found on the AQA website.
This bundle follows the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum - challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world, 1901 to the present day with a focus on the conflicts of the Second World War.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand significant aspects of World War II on a global scale and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by this conflict.
I have created 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 change and continuity in the types of warfare used in World War II, the causes and consequences of the evacuation of Dunkirk and the similarities and differences of Hitler’s invasion of Russia as compared to Napoleon.
They will also learn about the significance of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan,VE Day, collaborators and refugees in World War II as well as interpretations as to whether Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris should be considered a war hero.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Overview of World War II (free lesson)
L2 Invasion of Poland
L3 Evacuation of Dunkirk
L4 The Battle of Britain (free lesson)
L5 The Battle of the Atlantic
L6 Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union
L7 Sir Arthur Bomber Harris
L8 D-Day landings
L9 The attack on Pearl Harbour
L10 Dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Japan
L11 The role of Collaborators
L12 Refugees in World War II
L13 VE Day
This bundle includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials.
All lessons come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included two free lessons in the bundle to give an idea of what is being offered.
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 I 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 as well as interpretations about whether it is fair to call Field Marshal 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 on the First World War. 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
All the resources come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons also include differentiated materials.
Any reviews would be extrememly welcome.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to understand how and why Cardinal Wolsey rose to become Henry VIII’s chief minister from such humble origins.
Students are at first given a quick summary of Wolsey’s rise and subsequent fall from power with some differentiated questions to answer.
A more detailed and in depth study with some focused reading will require them to assess Wolsey’s character and strengths on his rise to prominence and royal favour.
Further Information is given on Wolsey’s role in Government and administrative skills before they give an analytical written account using key evidence.
The plenary focuses on some key spellings, knowledge and statistics learned in the lesson on Cardinal Wolsey.
There is some question practice to complete if required, together with a writing frame focusing on the factors helping Wolsey in cementing his position as Henry’s right hand man.
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 evaluate the problems within Industrial towns and the impact they had on the growing population during the Industrial Revolution.
The lesson starts by analysing the source from Punch in 1852, 'A Court For King Cholera’, which is later annotated to help aid discussion.
Various images, video evidence and headlines allow students to build up a picture, which they then have to explain to a friend in a letter - using scaffolding and a writing frame if required.
Students also evaluate how and why the living conditions became like this and question if this was the case across the country as they are given further evidence from the wealthy in Victorian England, comparing the dwellings of the rich and poor.
Students will therefore be able by the end of the lesson be able to give an effective and balanced answer to this 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.
