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.
I have created these set of resources for ‘Britain as the first industrial nation and its impact on society’ which comes under the ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain 1745-1901 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)
Pupils will learn the significance and impact of the changes in Britain as a result of the new inventions and be able to understand the causes and consequences of these.
They will learn key historical terms such as migration, entrepreneur, industrialised and patent as well as being able to see the change and continuity of transport.
They will be given sources to analyse such as the evidence of child labour in the coal mines as well as the lives of Victorian women and make historical inferences from them.
Furthermore they will be able to write structured accounts and narratives of the changes as a result of Factory Reforms as well as answering GCSE style questions using structured thinking quilts.
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and ideas used by current history teachers.
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.
I strongly recommend using GCSE style questions from the exam board and markschemes to assess the pupils at the end of this unit, which are always available on line.
The 12 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 An introduction to the Industrial Revolution in Britain
L2 Why were people on the move?
L3 What were the industrial towns like?
L4 Transport in the Industrial Revolution
L5 Richard Arkwright – a case study (free resource)
L6 Factories and working conditions
L7 Coal mining
L8 Reform of working conditions
L9 Victorian crime and punishment
L10 Victorian prisons
L11 The Metropolitan Police Force
L12 Jack the Ripper
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
AQA GCE A Level Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
The Weimar Republic 1918-1928
I have produced this bundle of resources on Weimar Germany 1918-1928 to help A Level students access the course and help them to gain a deeper understanding of Germany’s past through political, social, economic and cultural perspectives.
The enquiry question throughout these lessons will be to question how weak or strong Germany was politically, economically or socially.
Students will learn how the impact of war had a profound effect on the establishment of the Weimar Republic and the significance and consequences of the Peace Settlement.
They will also learn about political instability, with extremism from the left and right, the problems of coalition government and the state of the Republic by 1923 with the invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation.
Finally students will assess the issues facing Germany from 1924 and the role of individuals such as Stresemann and his impact on the Golden Age of Germany in his domestic and foreign policy.
The resources provided include detailed lesson plans, case studies, source documents for analysis, chronological tasks and exam practice questions with comprehensive mark schemes.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction and pre-war Germany
L2 Political crisis of 1918
L3 The German Revolution
L4 The Weimar Constitution
L5 Treaty of Versailles
L6 Hyperinflation
L7 Invasion of the Ruhr (free resource)
L8 Political instability and extremism
L9 100 Days of Stresemann
L10 Economic miracles
L11 Weimar Women
L12 Weimar Youth
L13 Jewish people in Weimar
L14 Weimar Culture
L15 Weimar Politics, 1924-8
L16 Germany’s international position
The lessons include the two types of exam question used, with examples of how to tackle them, using model answers, helpful hints and tips, structuring and scaffolding as well as markschemes. However, please refer to the AQA website for further assessment materials as they are subject to copyright.
The lessons are also differentiated and fully resourced and allow students to reach the very top marks.
I am currently completing further lessons for the course. The second bundle, The collapse of democracy, 1928-33 can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-collapse-of-democracy-1928-1933-13046790
Further resources will appear on TES shortly.
If you have any questions about the lessons, please email me via my TES shop, or any other information about the course. I would also welcome any reviews, which would be gratefully appreciated.
World War I
The aim of this lesson is to assess the reasons why air power became an increasingly important part of warfare in the First World War.
As each side became more aware of the potential of reconnaissance, observation and bombing raids, they quickly built and developed their planes.
However the sudden need to shoot down these aircraft quickly gave rise to dog fights and flying aces. Therefore the enquiry question of how frightening was the First World War’ is quite apt here.
Students have decide how the planes were used using photographic evidence and then categorise information under the following headings: reconnaissance, fighting, bombing cities or attacking trenches.
Much of the excellent video footage uses links to the documentaries posted by Dan Snow on the BBC.
The first half of the lesson concludes by questioning the early effectiveness of air power.
The second part of the lesson analyses the fighting prowess of a flying ace from Kent, Jimmy McCudden.
Having scrutinised his life and achievements, students have to judge how frightening his daring exploits were before deciding if he deserves more recognition for his gallantry other than an inscription on a gravestone and on a war memorial. They can also create their create their own war memorial or obituary of his life.
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.
The Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to challenge the assumption that Henry broke with Rome on account of his faith.
This lesson explores this argument using a 2p coin, which brings the lesson some relevance with today.
Students complete reading a script, or can opt for actors’ voices.
They then have to complete a card sort activity, prioritising Henry’s reasons for his decision to become the Supreme Head of the Church.
In their final task, they are required to write a letter to the Pope explaining in no uncertain terms their reasons for the break with Rome. There is an excellent writing frame to complete this task if required.
They also have to justify their choices on a timeline, whether it was love or faith alone which had the final say in his religious decisions.
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 aims of this lesson are for students to recognise how theatres changed under Elizabeth.
They will analyse their early days as travelling performers with a poor reputation playing in pubs and fields to purpose built theatres such as the Globe, paid for by wealthy Patrons such as the Earl of Leicester.
Students know through their links to their English lessons quite a lot already about Shakespeare and this lesson taps into their knowledge and builds upon it with a thinking quilt to examine how theatres developed.
Furthermore there is a focus on Shakespeare’s plays and inspiration as well as an analysis of the Globe theatre.
There is some excellent video footage to complement the learning tasks.
The lesson finishes with an odd one out task which will revisit the aims of the lesson and how Tudor theatres and plays still have an impact on society today.
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.
This lesson links to my previous one on the causes of the Great Fire of London.
In this lesson, students have to decide how lucky London was to have the fire in the first place.
They are introduced to conflicting arguments before they are given a plethora of evidence from which they will be able decide and make judgements on how to break the news to the current Mayor of London.
They are subsequently given argument words to help them construct a persuasive letter.
For extra challenge students have to decide if London was lucky or not in the short and long term and break down the evidence into political, social, economic or religious reasons.
This is a fun, entertaining as well as a challenging lesson and would also suit a non specialist.
The lesson is aimed at key stage 3, but can be delivered at key stage 2 also.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, 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.
This lesson focuses on the factors which allowed William to win the Battle of Hastings.
The aim of this lesson is for the students to recognise how the factors link together (embedding GCSE skills) and how William could just have easily lost the battle.
The students have to first decide who might have said or did what in the battle before completing a card sort activity with various statements which they order into the different categories.
The learning tasks culminate in writing a narrative account of the events which is differentiated and key skills and prompts advise on how best to answer this.
The plenary checks understanding with a true and false quiz.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This double lesson aims to explain the treatment soldiers received on the battlefield for their injuries and the new treatments available or being developed to aid their recovery.
Students will analyse and evaluate the work of the RAMC, F.A.N.Y, V.A.D.'s as well as the role played by Regimental Aid Posts, Advanced Dressing Stations, Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals,
There is also a case study of the underground hospital at Arras.
They will focus on the significant advances in the treatment of the wounded including the Thomas Splint, the Carrel-Dakin method of using a sterilised salt solution in the wound, mobile and static x-ray units and portable blood transfusion kits as well as the ability to store blood.
Furthermore there are case studies involving the pioneering work of brain surgeon Harvey Cushing and the reconstructive facial surgery of Harold Gillies,
Activities include recall and retrieval, evaluation and analysis, summarising, discussion and debate, source analysis, the use of video evidence as well as GCSE exam question practice.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This lesson aims to set the scene for the beginning of trench warfare and the problems for medical treatment on the battlefields of World War 1.
Students will analyse the setting up of the trenches, how and why they were dug, which equipment they needed and how they used the trenches to defend and attack the enemy.
They also assess the lie of the land and how this impacted on medicine and the wounded and the problems created.
Activities include retrieval practice, evaluation of the terrain, use of video evidence as well as GCSE question practice, with help 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.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This lesson aims to give the context of the British sector of the Western Front and the theatre of war in Flanders and Northern France, the Ypres Salient, the Somme, Arras and Cambrai. They will also discover that not all the fighting was done in muddy trenches as most students generalise about.
Students will learn why there was a salient around Ypres and the advantages this gave the Germans on the higher ground, including Hill 60.
They will analyse the horrific death and injuries suffered on the first day of the battle of the Somme and why this battle was initiated in the first place.
Furthermore they will investigate the tunnelling system around Arras and the hospital built there, now called the Wellington Tunnels.
Finally they are given information about Cambrai and judge the impact of the tank in the overall outcome of the battle.
Activities include retrieval practice, the use of video evidence, a prioritising exercise as well as discussion and debate.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Edexcel 9-1 Medicine in Britain, Thematic study and historic environment
This lesson aims to show how fighting in the trenches led to terrible injuries, infection and problems in treated the wounded.
Students judge which medical conditions were the worst and rate them according to their severity.
Case studies include trench foot and shellshock with an excellent BBC link to treating infection on the battlefield.
They also learn the difficulties of transporting the wounded and which facilities were available for this at the beginning of 1914 and how this changed over time.
Activities include recall and retrieval, evaluation and judgement, discussion and debate, a thinking quilt linking ideas together, as well as GCSE question practice, with help 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 American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to explore the conflicts between the US Government and the Plains Indians in the 1860’s. It is split into two parts.
The first part analyses Little Crow’s War of 1862 and the second part analyses the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.
Students are required to place themselves in the shoes of Little Crow and have to choose which decisions he took against the US Government as a result of the Dakota Sioux’s plight, which became more and more desperate.
This is completed in the form of a quiz where points are allocated for the right decisions taken by the students. Answers are given throughout if wrong choices are made with accompanying explanations.
There is a printable worksheet included on which they give information about his early life and the reasons for growing tensions with the US Government. The sheet also tracks the decisions made by the students and the points awarded for each decision.
At the end of the task, students will be keen to hear that the results are in and a winner announced!
In part 2 of the lesson a chronological exercise as well as questions around the impact of the Sand Creek Massacre will be posed to the students.
The plenary requires some critical thinking skills around causal equations.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘write a narrative account’ worth 8 marks, with help given if needed.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included linking key words together.
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the large scale mass migration of black Americans to Kansas in 1879.
Students are introduced to a picture called ‘American Progress’, painted in 1872 and have to decide how and why it promotes the inhuman treatment of native Americans.
They also have to answer the following key questions: Where does the word Exoduster come from? Who was Benjamin Singleton and why was there a mass migration of black Americans to Kansas in 1879?
Furthermore they have to pick part and decipher the causes and consequences of this mass migration to Kansas and why black Americans received a positive as well as a negative reaction from white Americans living there.
The plenary uses boxing gloves to spark a number of discussions amongst the students and what they have understood in this and previous lessons.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘consequences ’ question worth 8 marks, with help given if needed.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included which involves splatting bubbles.
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson is to examine the consequences of the extermination of the buffalo and the effect on the Plains Indians way of life.
Students analyse the reasons how the buffalo were exterminated and then discuss why this was possible, with some prompts to help them.
They also have to answer some key questions on the impact of this extermination and are required to plan a debate taking on the role of a white settler or a Plains Indian.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘consequences’ question worth 8 marks, with help given if required.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included using the Blockbusters game, complete with changing colours and music!
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson is to recognise the implications of the passing of the Dawes Act of 1887 and the final assimilation of the Plains Indians by the US Government.
Students begin and end the lesson with a retrieval wheel using key words they have to define, which have been used throughout the course.
Students are also challenged into deciding which policies went before or after 1887 and what constituted this new change in direction.
They analyse the Dawes Act in detail and make inferences from it before they evaluate its impact on the Plains Indians.
There is also some source analysis to complete as well as colour coding a thinking quilt linking key terms and their definitions.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
This lesson focuses on the Satellite States created by the Soviet Union.
Students will be encouraged to question how far these states were willing participants in communism and happy to be part of a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
There is some source analysis as well as differentiated questioning to help them unpick the events which followed the fall of Berlin in 1945.
Furthermore they will evaluate how each eastern country fell into line with the Soviet Union and plot if it was through intimidation and threats and how much they resisted this control.
The plenary asks the students to think outside the box and link particular events to key images.
The final part of the lesson is some GCSE question practice on the ‘narrative account’ with some help given and a markscheme if required.
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 materials and GCSE question practice.
It also comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
The lesson aims to explore the importance of the Kennan and Novikov Telegrams.
The context of the Telegrams is given at the start of the lesson, with students using video footage to explain the consequences if the atomic bomb was used.
Students will also learn of the recommendations each of the foreign ministers proposed to their respective superiors and the importance of their advise.
There is also a home learning challenge which the students can answer a key question and self assess themselves using a model answer.
The plenary make use of an interactive connect four game, complete with differentiated questions.
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 materials and GCSE question practice.
It also comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
The aim of this lesson is to be able to give a narrative account of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Students may already know some of the details of this lesson from their learning at Key Stage 3.
Students are given the context of the pictures taken from the U2 American spy plane and evaluate the significance of this find, studying the photographic sources and maps from the time.
They then take on the role of President Kennedy and see if they can match the decisions he made, collecting points on the way.
This leads nicely into the GCSE question practice of writing a narrative account of the events, making sure they link the events together coherently and in chronological order.
The plenary focuses on analysing the consequences of the crisis for Soviet and American relations.
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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Rise of Dictators
The aim of this lesson is to decide if Idi Amin was either an idiot or just simply evil.
Students learn about his early life with an absent father and a poor education, completing a missing word exercise, Thus their initial leanings of sympathy towards him may lead them to question the aims of the lesson.
However they will soon have to analyse information of how he came to power and his subsequent rule of Uganda.
By rating each episode of his life, this should be able to challenge their original assertions and begin to make valid judgements about him. Further video evidence will enable them to make an overall evaluation on his reign as Ugandan President.
Being a heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda gives a nice link to a ‘boxing’ debate on his leadership qualities and personality.
The debate also recaps on some key words used as with the plenary which requires them to complete a literacy race.
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 understand how Henry consolidated his power at the beginning of his reign.
Students have to recall his previous problems 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.
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.
