IMPORTANT: Many of these activities refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, The American West, c1835-c1895” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127309 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: Specification area: The early settlement of the West, c.1835-1862 To understand the Plains Indian’s social and tribal structures, ways of life and means of survival on the Plains. To understand the Plains Indian’s beliefs about land and nature and attitudes towards war and property. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. It also provides feedback/answers at intervals and advice on exam approach. Activities include independent note-taking, card sorting, group discussion, timelines and a narrative account question “Write a narrative account analysing the ways in which the US government policy towards the Plains Indians developed in the period 1835-51.”

This lesson analyses the reasons why Churchill was such a great war leader. The starter asks students to consider a range of fabulous Churchill quotes and select their favourites and consider those which would be the most motivating in war time. Having established the popular view of Churchill, students then analyse factual information about the leader, categorising this into evidence that he both was and was not a great leader (the point being that he was not perfect). Students then listen to the famous “Fight them on the beaches” speech an annotate their own copy to appreciate the techniques at play. Using this knowledge, they then write their own motivational speech in the style of Churchill.

The lessons starts by testing the students’ prior knowledge of the plague from general knowledge or previous work on the Black Death. They then link the “Ring a Ring o’ Roses” nursery rhyme to the plague. After going through some key knowledge, students label a diagram of a plague doctor and consider which parts of his costume might actually have protected him. They then answer some comprehension questions on Samuel Pepy’s diary extracts to gain a sense of life at the time. The main activity is to create a public information poster to help citizens of London stay safe using only the knowledge available at the time. For the plenary, students consider how this poster would be different if they could have used modern-day knowledge.

IMPORTANT: Some of these activities refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit nominally covers 2 lesson but in practice will take at least 3-4 depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To learn about the work of the RAMC and FANY. The system of transport, stages of treatment and underground hospital at Arras. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets/resources. It also provides worked examples and exam advice. Activities include an ordering of the four stages of evacuation starter, a listening exercise with student diagram, independent note-taking, an 8 mark source evaluation exam question, a plenary of medical scenarios whereby students decide how far to pass the student along the chain of evacuation and when to award the sought after “Blighty” award, a cloze exercise with source extension on the work of FANY, and a four mark follow up question.

This KS3 lesson asks students to evaluate the reasons for Elizabeth I’s successful reign. It will take two lessons to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Aims and Objectives: To know what type of person Elizabeth was- her personality and skills. To understand what problems she faced and how she tackled them. To assess how well she dealt with these problems. After a quick starter using the Armada portrait, students use a collection of sources to learn about Elizabeth’s personality. They then analyse why these aspects made her a successful monarch. We then focus on three key problems and her handling of each of them; Mary Queen of Scots, the Spanish and religion. There are three information sheets on each of these topics. Students complete a summary table explaining how she responded and how successful this was. An SEN cloze version is included (which I’ve also used if short of time- I’ve also divided the class into three and given each group one topic for the same reason). Students finally show their understanding of Elizabeth’s reign through writing a eulogy. This can be set as a homework task.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers between 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the extent of change in care and treatment: improvements in hospital care and the influence of Nightingale. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. These include event ordering of Nightingale’s life, summarising her impact and analysing continuity and change in hospital care. Having carried out numerous assessments already in this scheme of work, the lesson ends with a straight-forward Florence Nightingale obituary which could be set as a homework task.

IMPORTANT: Some of these worksheets refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 2-3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand continuity in approaches to prevention, treatment and care in the community and in hospitals. Change in care and treatment: improvements in medical training and the influence in England of the work of Vesalius. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. It also provides handy feedback/answers at intervals and advice on exam approach. Activities include group and individual note-taking/mind-mapping, group discussion and a 16 mark essay-style exam question with a writing frame included if required.

IMPORTANT: Some of these activities refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, The American West, c1835-c1895” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127309 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 4 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: Specification area: Changes in the way of life of the Plains Indians, 1862-76 To understand the impact of railroads, the cattle industry and gold prospecting on the Plains Indians. To understand the impact of US government policy towards the Plains Indians, including the continued use of reservations. President Grant’s ‘Peace Policy’, 1868. To understand the conflict with the Plains Indians: Little Crow’s War (1862), and the Sand Creek Massacre (1864), the significance of Red Cloud’s War (1866-68) and the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868). The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. It also provides feedback at intervals. Activities include a card sort on the impact of changes upon Plains Indians’ lives, paired/group discussions on options open to Plains Indians, analysis of Grant’s “Peace Policy” (positive and negative), chronological event ordering, a summary/revision table on the Plains Wars, an 8 mark narrative account exam question on the Indian Wars with support.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers 2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand… the reasons for economic recovery, including the work of Stresemann, the Rentenmark, the Dawes and Young Plans and American loans and investment. the impact on domestic policies of Stresemann’s achievements abroad: the Locarno Pact, joining the League of Nations and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include a whole class Stresemann human graph starter where students rate his level of success versus failure in light of new information before reaching an overall verdict (this can be done on a piece of paper with a line labelled from -5 to +5 for a quieter lesson), a summary table on Stresemann’s achievements, extension work considering perspective and how some achievements could also be regarded as failings, a source usefulness exam question with advice and support.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the growth of unemployment- its cause and impact. The failure of successive Weimar governments to deal with unemployment from 1929 to January 1933. The growth of support for the Communist Party. To understand the reasons for the growth in support for the Nazi Party, including the appeal of Hitler and the Nazis, the effects of propaganda and the work of the SA. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include starter video analysis on why the Wall Street Crash helped the Nazis, source analysis on the effects of the depression, a cut and stick activity categorising the effects, comprehension questions on the failing of the government and the rise of extreme parties, photo source analysis on Hitler’s appeal, note-taking on this topic with provided grid, card sort activity on reasons Nazis appealed to different sections of society and a full interpretation exam question with advice, examples and writing frame.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the work of Goebbels and the Ministry of Propaganda: censorship, Nazi use of media, rallies and sport, including the Berlin Olympics of 1936. To understand Nazi control of culture and the arts, including art, architecture, literature and film. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include a short Derren Brown video to introduce the idea of mind control, last man standing on forms of propaganda, source comparison of Hitler and Goebbel’s methods, a Goebbels CV (possible homeowork), analysis of short extract from Triumph of the Will looking for examples of propaganda at the Nuremberg Rally, rearching examples of both propaganda and censorship and a Chamber of Culture simulation exercise sorting art work into keep and dismiss with discussion.

A complete revision guide for Edexcel AS/2 History Paper 1 The Crusades, c1095-1204. Content covers all areas of the specification. Simplified student assessment grids for Sections A/B/C AS and A2. 66 pages long.

This KS3 unit should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying resources provided. Having spent considerable time looking at the causes, I tend not to get too bogged down in the events themselves as I’ve found that the students like the lessons on the trial and execution more. This is why I’ve condensed it into two hours. Aims and Objectives: To know who fought who during the English Civil War and to compare the differences between the two sides. To use sources to learn about what life was like at the time in England. To know the key events of the Civil War and select the main reasons why Parliament won. To consider how King Charles might have done better. Activities include a video starter on fighting in the 1600s which enables students to visualise this period of time. Students then label a Roundhead and Royalist soldier and consider which side was better equipped. They analyse a range of sources including a painting, cartoon and written passage to gain insight into what life was like. In the second lesson, they read a passage in pairs to highlight reasons why the king lost. There is also a card sort on this topic which I use as an extension or with my G&T groups. Students then use their understanding to write a letter to King Charles during the war advising him on ways in which he could be more successful.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 3 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the political developments in 1932. The roles of Hindenburg, Brüning, von Papen and von Schleicher. The part played by Hindenburg and von Papen in Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Activities include a starter/paired discussion testing memory on state of Germany in 1932, a break down of each stage of Hitler’s rise which asks students to create memory jogger images at each point, creation of a summary timeline of key events, colour-coding actions of individuals involved and summarising their actions before ranking them according to level of blame, a usefulness exam source question with support and advice (comprehending written sources and reading in context, strategies for evaluating sources) and a final end of unit quiz.

This unit of work should take at least 3 hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with answers when required along with the necessary contextual subject knowledge. All accompanying resources are included. I have previously broken this unit down into three classroom lessons and one final IT lesson where students researched their Holocaust hero. LESSON 1 (Growing anti-Semitism of 1930s): Aims and Objectives: To know Hitler’s racial theories. To use sources to explore how these were put into practice throughout the 1930s in Germany. To empathise with those effected through producing a piece of creative writing in the first-person. LESSON 2 (Life in a ghetto): Aims and Objectives: To know what ghettos were and where they were set up. To understand the purpose of the ghettos. To carry out independent research into conditions inside the ghettos and demonstrate empathetic understanding of what it must have been like to live in one. LESSON 3 (The Final Solution): Aims and Objectives: To know the key events which led to the construction of death camps in Eastern Europe. To understand why these camps were created and how they eased the process of mass murder. To understand the motivation and psychology of those involved. The three lessons focus on the journey of two fictional Jewish children throughout the period 1933-45. A short diary entry is written at the end of each lesson explaining what has happened to them at this stage. Lesson 1 explores the growing anti-Semitism of the 1930s using a range of sources to chart the development and escalation. Lesson 2 explores conditions inside the ghetto using video clips and handout. The final lessons explains the process of the Final Solution and focuses upon how it was able to happen (from a psychological angle). The student booklet for this lesson uses a series of sources to explore the key issues. To end the unit on a more optimistic topic, students consider those who stood up against the Holocaust and create a information poster on their hero of the Holocaust.

This KS3 unit of work covers several lessons and I’ve generally been quite flexible and allowed classes who are particularly engaged with the topic and research to spend longer on it. The lessons build up the students’ knowledge and understanding of trench structure, purpose, conditions and warfare. The booklet ensures that all students know the key facts surrounding this topic with the Power Point leading students through all of the activities. A few different starter activities are included at the end of the Power Point which can be selected according to the length of time spent on the main activities. Having worked through the key facts and background, the students undertake more independent research. Support materials are included for weaker classes, such as research tables and a source booklet which covers all of the key areas. I have used a great variety of resources depending upon each class- textbooks, library lessons, Internet, videos etc. Once the research is complete, the students complete the Trench Diary assessment task which is levelled according to subject knowledge and understanding of cause/effect. A mark scheme is included. Support materials are also included in this pack, such as a plan outline for students who require a little more guidance and a writing frame for the less able.

This KS3 lesson should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included (although for the research stage the Power Point refers to school textbooks as one source of information and I’m obviously unable to include copies of pages I’d use. Wikipedia has a very detailed page on this topic and the link is included). Aims and Objectives: To know basic facts about a slave’s life and work. To extend this knowledge and understanding through group research and presentation. To be able to empathise with the psychological impact these conditions must have had upon the people effected, considering coping mechanisms. Activities include an inference starter using “The Sabbath among slaves” drawing which appears at first-glance to to be far less sinister than it actually is. Students then make further inferences with support from a range of images. They begin their research into mental/physical health, work and punishments using a ten minute video before breaking into groups of four to specialise in one area. The class collectively produce an assessment criteria for their poster presentations before researching and creating their posters. The following lesson, their poster presentations are peer assessed using their criteria and I use this as a competition. Finally, students add an entry to their ongoing slave diary about living and working conditions.

This KS3 lesson should take around 2 hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main features of a motte and bailey and stone keep castle. To understand how and why castle design changed over time. To weight up the advantages and disadvantages of each type of castle. To compare both types of castles, considering similarities and differences. Students compare the design of a motte and bailey castle to that of a stone keep, looking for areas of similarity and difference. These are recorded in table and venn diagram format. This then leads into an assessed piece of writing on continuity versus change in castle design. A mark scheme is included.

Before looking at the reigns of each Tudor monarch in KS3, I start with this lesson underlining the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. It really helps with the understanding of each ruler’s actions later in the Tudor course. Aims and Objectives: To know how a Catholic and Protestant church look different. To know the main differences in beliefs between the two types of Christianity. To understand why Catholics and Protestants practised their faith differently and why they both felt so strongly about this. After a short parody video on the Reformation, we start by comparing and analysing the diagrams of a Catholic and Protestant church. Students then complete the colour-code activity setting out the different beliefs. There’s an SEN version of the colour-coding which I replace the longer version with when teaching nurture groups. Students then demonstrate their understanding by creating a poster supporting one of the denominations. This is generally set as homework and as a competition. The plenary asks students to identify whether a range of beliefs are Catholic or Protestant using the “C/P” cards to ensure they all have to get involved.