AQA GCSE Normans Historic Environment 2023 Yorkshire Lesson 1-3

Set of 3 lessons looking at the 2023 Historic Environment unit focussed on Yorkshire.

I taught these lessons very recently (September 2022) and was delighted with how they turned out. I have a fairly low-ability GCSE group and the knowledge and understanding my group gained from the tasks and the info was very encouraging (and made the hours of work on these lessons feel more worthwhile!).

Lesson 1 begins with a recap on the Norman invasion (the class finished studying this in May 2022) and then focusses on giving the students an understanding of Yorkshire and its importance before looking at the rebellions of 1068-70. As always we are guessing as to the GCSE question focus but I have tried to introduce some of the themes I will pick up on in Lessons 2 and 3 during the final task of this lesson (which makes use of some of the sources provided by AQA).

Lesson 2 focusses more on the Harrying of the North and the arguments surrounding it - how much was laid to waste and how much is myth. There is a card sort exercise where the students study contrasting views (from the provided sources) regarding the fate of the North and looks at why it may/may not have been completely destroyed,

Lessons 3 concentratea on what I think the question will be around (can’t see how it can be much else!) and building knowledge around the different factors involved in this question and answer. There is a knowledge organiser task focussing on each of the 4 factors I have thought up. By the end of the 3 lessons the students should have a good knowledge of the importance of Yorkshire to the Normans and their attempts to keep it under control. They will also have an understanding of how this fits into the wider context of their Norman studies as I have referenced not only terror but also aspects such as castles and the use of land holding to control the country.

At the end of lesson 3 I have had a stab at predicting the question the students will be asked. The intention is to revisit this topic with a final 2 lessons further into the year where the students will use the knowledge gained so far to structure an exam model.

The lessons make use of the support material provided by AQA. I have attached my edited versions but the full version is freely accessible on their site. I also make reference to a video in lesson 2 - this is from ‘The British’ which focusses on the treatment of North Allerton during the Harrying of the North.