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 Britain: Health and the People, C.1000AD to present
With revision constantly in full swing, I have started to make these revision workbooks which my Year 11 students love (as an alternative to death by PowerPoint).
We pick certain sections (as part of a revision programme) to revise and come up with model answers and discuss the best way to tackle each question in the best way, considering exam time constraints.
I print out the sheets in A5, which the students stick in their books and use to colour code
Students answer the questions next to or underneath the sheets.
They can also be used for homework or interleaving.
The resource comes in Word format if there is a need to change or adapt.
**The First World War **
This key word literacy display on World War I has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing this new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work. The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words on the First World War and their definitions:
Alliance, armistice, arms, barbaric, bellicose, conscientious objector, cowardice, desertion, escalate, imperialism, inevitable, Jerry, Kaiser, militarism, munitions, nationalism, naval, propaganda, stalemate, trench foot, tommy, shellshock, shrapnel, trenches, Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, Victoria cross, warfare.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work. The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
Cat and Mouse Act, conciliation, constitution, discrimination, Emmeline Pankhurst, equality, Emily Davison, enfranchise, Epsom Derby, Force feeding, franchise, hunger strikes, Married Women’s Property Act, Matrimonial Causes Act, legislation, militant, Nancy Astor, patriarchal society, petition, propaganda, subordinate, suffrage, suffragette, suffragist, W.S.P.U., World War 1.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students, such as the Cold War.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work.
The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
Agent Orange, Arms Race, Bay of Pigs, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Wall, Cold War, communism, containment, Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis, East and West Germany, exclusion zone, Fidel Castro, ideology, iron curtain, Marshall Plan, McCarthyism, NATO, Nikita Khrushchev, President Kennedy, red scare, soviet bloc, Soviet Union, Superpower, trade embargo, Truman Doctrine, U2, Warsaw Pact, zones of occupation
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to print, change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work. The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
Cavalier. Commonwealth, confess, controversial, civil war, defence, ducking stool, Divine Right, evidence, interregnum, Matthew Hopkins, negotiate, New Model Army, Oliver Cromwell, Puritan, Republic, resonant, Restoration, Roundhead, Rump Parliament, scaffold, scold, ship money, Stuarts, treason, trial, tyrant, witch.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing Norman England to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work.
The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions on the Norman Conquest:
A Church, charter, commemorate, compare, crusade, Domesday Book, Doom painting, evidence, feudalism, function, government, Harrying of the North, historical source, infer, interpretation, laws, martyr, medieval, Motte and Bailey Castle, parish, parliament, penitence, pilgrimage, reign, siege, significant, sin, surrender, The Church, tithe.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work.
The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
The slides cover the following words and their definitions: Anglo-Saxons, allegiance, authority, cause, chainmail, change, Christianity, conqueror, consequence, continuity, defence, economic, features, feigned retreat, Fyrd, hierarchy, Housecarl, invasion, knights, landscape, medieval, Normans, oath, pagan, political, rebellion, religion, siege, society, victorious.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This key word literacy display has been designed to be used on classroom walls (or on display boards outside) when introducing a new History topic to the students.
It is an easy resource to print and will hopefully save an incredible amount of time and effort when incorporating literacy into a new or existing scheme of work. The slides can also be laminated and used as mobiles hanging from the ceiling or used as part of an informative display.
The slides cover the following words and their definitions:
abolition, American Civil War, auction, slave, branding, captive, emancipate, flux, Guinea coast, Harriet Tubman, Indentured servants, lynching, manumission, Middle Passage, plantation, profit, repatriation, resistance, shackles, sharecropper, slave colony, tight pack, Triangular trade, Thomas Clarkson, trans-Atlantic, underground railroad, William Wilberforce.
The slides come in PowerPoint format so they are easy to change and adapt.
This is a great game to be used after having studied attacking and defending a Medieval Castle in Norman England.
Students take on the role of the defenders of a Medieval Castle (in this case loosely based on the siege of Rochester Castle by King John in 1215).
They have failed to pay their taxes and King John and his knights are marching on the Castle.
Their job is to defend the Castle at all costs by making wise choices and thus collecting points as they go.
When they have completed the tasks, they are given a student friendly markscheme which will by the end give them great status as geniuses of siege warfare or not as the case may be!
Students can write out the choices they make or just the numbers and corresponding letters. They can only make one choice per question.
Please note that that it best presented by enlarging onto an A3 sheet.
This lesson aims to introduce the main contenders to the vacant throne of England in 1066 with the deat hof Edward the Confessor. Students have to understand why a chair (a throne) would cause a war and read a script to understand who the main contenders were and the reasons they put forward for having a claim to the English throne.
Diffetentiated bloom’s questions aim to deepen their understanding and get them to analyse who has the best claim and why (thus extracting fact from fiction). A brilliant video link to English heritage and extra work sheets will give them all the knowledge required to create a newspaper report or table to ultimately evaluate these claims of the contenders
The resource comes in PDF and Powerpoint formats 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. The accompanying script for the lesson can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/medieval-britain-script-for-the-normans-who-had-the-best-claim-to-the-english-throne-in-1066-11456418
If you like this resource, please visit my shop where I have created further resources on Medieval Britain which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/PilgrimHistory
The Middle Ages
The aim of this lesson is to decide what happened to the Princes in the Tower.
The lesson begins with some context of the Wars of the Roses and who was next in line to the throne after King Edward IV.
Students are required to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the two Princes (Edward & Richard) and are introduced to the main suspects in this murder-mystery investigation.
As they examine a range of sources, they will begin to piece together an idea of what happened to them. They will then be required to complete an extended writing task with key words and help if required.
This lesson is ideal for sparking curiosity about historical mysteries and encouraging independent thinking. It also includes recently discovered new evidence by Professor Tim Thornton, which sheds new light on the investigation.
This lesson includes:
Fun, engaging and challenging tasks
Storytelling, critical thinking and source analysis
A family fortunes style plenary
Links to video footage
Printable worksheets
Differentiated tasks
Suggested teaching strategies
PowerPoint format, which can be changed to suit
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate why the Titanic sank and ultimately who was to blame for the disaster.
The lesson therefore focuses on the errors made, not just by the Captain, but on the owners and the design of the ship, as well as some sensationalist reports of it being unsinkable in the media.
Students begin by showing their knowledge of the sinking as well as explaining why there is still such a fascination about studying this topic, from exhibitions to books and films.
They are given the context to its maiden voyage as well as some misconceptions about the ship which the students have to decipher.
There are some sources to analyse and infer from, before students are given a number of facts of where the responsibility may lie for the sinking. They will use this information to make a judgement and decide in their opinion who was to blame.
There are some excellent video links to use, including a survivor’s testimony.
A final find and fix plenary will also centre around other misconceptions about the Titanic which they have to pick out and correct.
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, such as a rating grid of responsibility for the disaster.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the causes and consequences of Irish migration to Britain and its significance today.
The lesson is split into three sections: the consequences of the Irish famine, the impact of Irish navvies to the Industrial Revolution in Britain and Irish culture and significance in Britain today.
Students are given the context to Irish migration to Britain before they analyse the causes of consequences of the Irish famine. They can complete part of a GCSE style question if required.
They are then given information on the part played by Irish navvies in the Industrial Revolution and prioritise there impact.
Finally they study Irish culture in Britain today and evaluate how it has impacted upon Britain today through an extended writing task. They is help given with structure here if required.
There are video links to the lesson and an odd one out activity at the end to consolidate the learning of 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, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
This lesson sets out to explains how Hitler set Germany on the road to the Second World War in 5 steps.
Students are challenged to find out how and why was he able to defy the Treaty of Versailles so easily with little or no consequences (shown through a causal spider’s web).
Students analyse video footage and a number of sources, using the COP technique (modelled for student understanding) which has proved invaluable for evaluating sources at GCSE.
A final chronological recap of the events and evaluation of the most and least important of the events that led to war, will give students an in depth understanding of why World War II started.
This lesson is ideal as preparation for GCSE if you are embedding source skills or teaching the interwar years or WWII at Key stage 4.
It is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout 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.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to assess how influential the first settler were to Britain.
Students are given the context as to why Britain was a good place to settle before deciding which tools unearthed were used for what.
The main task is to assess what different tribes brought with them and their legacy today.
There is a differentiated extended writing tasks and video links to accompany the lesson.
The plenary is a family fortunes quiz which students have to decide the most common answers given from a survey of 100 people.
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, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
Migration Nation
The aim of this lesson is to assess the significance of migration and its influence today.
Some key questions and misconceptions begin the lesson. This is extended by using some key words to students have to elaborate on, with help given if required.
There are also some Case Studies from various countries to analyse and study, as students give reasons for the migration from them.
There is also a chance to guess (with hints and prompts) which countries various people are from using modern day scenarios.
There is some extended writing to complete as well as links to video and images to consolidate understanding.
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, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
**The First World War **
The aim of this lesson is to question how successful Lord Kitchener’s recruitment drive was in 1914 and how ‘frightening’ it might be to sign up for the First World World War.
The lesson shows students how the themes of heroism, patriotism, shame and anti-German feeling led to thousands of young men volunteering to join the army and enlist in World War I.
Students are led through video footage, an extract from Private Peaceful and Government propaganda posters to analyse how these four key themes were utilised to recruit young men into the army.
They also learn about the success in the recruitment of Pals Battalions from the Caribbean and India, to the Footballers Battalion of Walter Tull, as well from towns across the country.
They will also learn about the horror and frightening consequences of this policy especially with what happened to the Accrington Pals in 1916.
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.
This lesson aims to find out the real reason for the sinking of Henry’s flagship, the Mary Rose.
The lesson starts with Henry crying (literally) and students have to decode a message to find out why.
Students are then given four options as to why the Mary Rose sank, from which they give their initial opinions.
Further analysis of video footage and written evidence will allow them to form their own judgements to be able to complete an extended writing task.
This lesson uses Henry as a talking head, discussing how it was impossible to sink it in the first place, due to his genius and finally responding to the students’ evidence in a witty plenary.
This lesson is engaging and fun and gives a different perspective of looking at Tudor seafaring and what was aboard the ships of 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, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to question what sort of a monarch Elizabeth promised to be.
Students also have to decide the initial problems she needed to overcome and how she set about rectifying these to some degree.
The obvious starting point with this, is to compare Elizabeth to her sister Mary. Students then to onto the people most influential in her early years and why. They have the chance to rate and debate each of them.
A quiz will check their understanding of the aims of the lesson and a flashcard plenary requires them to categorise her early monarchy.
There is some challenging homework included which enables students to support and challenge the validity of an interpretation on Elizabeth’s character.
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, fully resourced and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The Industrial Revolution
This lesson aims to examine the revolution in transport which affected Britain between 1750-1900.
Students first look at the problems of transport in Britain. They examine the roads (if you could call them that) and look at how they were changed and improved in conjunction with the railways and canals.
There are sources to analyse and a differentiated group work task as well as video footage giving further clarity.
Ultimately students have to evaluate the biggest impact these changes made in Britain, whether it be increased wealth and international trade to the standardisation of time or being connected throughout the British Empire.
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.