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 A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the problems and challenges Elizabeth faced in 1558 and evaluate if the decisions she took were right at the time.
Students begin with some source analysis and decipher some contemporary opinions of Elizabeth.
They also judge the biggest problems and challenges facing her reign at home and abroad, before linking the views people may have had at the time, from a prosperous farmer to a Marian exile or a town councillor.
The final task is to predict which decisions Elizabeth made for finance, the succession, trade and the economy and choosing her Privy Councillors.
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 to assess how much of a threat Catholicism posed to Elizabeth during her reign.
The lesson begins with an analysis of the Northern Rebellion. Was it a direct consequence of the Religious Settlement or simply a Catholic uprising against Elizabeth?
Further analysis focuses on the role played by Seminary and Jesuits priests who came to England to spread the word of Catholicism and reconvert the masses; students have to decide if they had little influence or posed a direct threat to Elizabeth.
Furthermore students judge how significant the measures put in place to tackle these threats were.
Some exam practice is included with help given if 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 A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess the threat posed by Mary, Queen of Scots throughout her life to Elizabeth.
The lesson begins with some context of Mary’s life and political intrigue before students’ decide her threat to Elizabeth, before she flees to England from Scotland.
In the second part of the lesson, students learn about all the different Catholics plots against Elizabeth involving Mary (Northern Rebellion, Ridolfi, Throckmorton and Babington) examine their impact and assess how Elizabeth and her Privy Council dealt with each in turn.
There is also a diamond nine prioritising exercise as to the main reasons why Elizabeth was so reluctant to execute Mary after the Babington plot.
Some literacy and extract exam practice is also included with help given and a markscheme supplied
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 to evaluate the threat the Puritans posed to Elizabeth and the Religious Settlement.
The lesson begins with a definition and how the Puritans and the Puritam movement were becoming a problem for Elizabeth.
Four areas of Puritanism are analysed - from political influence in Parliament, local reform movements, the Church from within and separatism.
Students analyse and assess the information provided to tackle a practice exam question, with help and prompts given if required, including a detailed markscheme.
The plenary requires the students to discuss and rate how much the threat of Puritanism and religious conflict declined under Elizabeth and the possible reasons for this.
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 to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Elizabeth’s government and her ministers.
Students will analyse a number of key institutions of Government ranging from Parliament, the Royal Court and the Privy Council on a national level to Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and Lord Lieutenants on a local level.
There are a number of slides within this PowerPoint and it is therefore recommended to deliver it over two lessons.
Students will also learn details of conflicts Elizabeth had with Parliament and her Privy Council, the power and factions which developed in her reign and how she was able to overcome these through her diplomacy and strength of character.
A 20 question quiz concludes the lesson as well as some exam question practice if required, with some guidance and a mark scheme provided.
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 to give the context of the religious changes that have happened to the Church in England since the reign of Henry VIII.
Students begin by focusing on the different religions present in England under Elizabeth, such as Lutheranism, Catholicism, Puritanism and Presbyterianism.
They are given a religious road map to complete before analysing the political situation in Europe in 1558 and the threats posed by the Catholic states of France and Spain.
Finally they assess Elizabeth’s personal beliefs and the state of the English Church at the beginning of her reign, before predicting how Elizabeth will tackle religion and religious policy upon her accession to the throne.
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 to assess the importance of courtship and marriage for Elizabeth.
Students begin the lesson by recapping the importance of marriage for previous Tudor monarchs and the reasons for their choice of partner.
They then decide who is Elizabeth’s best suitor and what benefits they might bring politically to England
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. .
There are some key questions posed to the students as well as judging the relevance of some historians points of view, such as Doran, Haig and Jordan.
Some source scholarship can be completed with a themed linked plenary to Elizabeth and the marriage question.
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 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate to what extend Elizabeth presided over a Golden Age.
Students are first introduced to the concept of an Elizabethan Golden Age.
They focus on achievements in the arts, popular culture, improved communication and education, patronage and increasing wealth to decide to what extent a Golden Age existed or whether it was a myth created by a very astute monarch who used propaganda extremely cleverly to put across a cult of Gloriana.
A detailed markscheme accompanies some exam practice towards the end of the lesson.
There are video links and images to accompany the lesson, culminating in some exam question practice at the end., together with a detailed 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to judge the success of Elizabethan exploration and colonisation.
Students are first introduced to the most influential seafarers and martime explorers of the age: Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh.
Students are required to evaluate the significance of their activities, such as slave trading, the colonisation of Virginia and overseas expansion and attacks on Spanish shipping as a result of the attack on Sir Francis Drake at San Juan de Ulua.
They also analyse the reasons why exploration increased with new ship design and navigational techniques.
As well as focusing on Drake’s epic circumnavigation of the globe and the enormous revenue he generated for the crown, some misconceptions are also clarified such as what colonisation meant to the Elizabethans and how much overseas trade expanded as a result of voyages to the New World.
There is some exam practice to complete if required, which questions if Drake’s exploits were the main cause of hostilities with Spain. There is an accompanying markscheme to help.
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 to assess how successful Elizabeth’s policy of plantation in Ireland really was.
Students begin by plotting areas on a map of Ireland and are required to explain previous Tudor policy in Ireland with some prompts when needed.
After being given the context to Ireland in 1558, they then analyse Elizabeth’s colonisation policy in Ireland and rate how effective each attempt was, bearing in mind a number of Irish rebellions such as Shane and Hugh O’Neill were ignited by it.
There is some exam extract analysis practice to complete if required on Elizabethan policy in Ireland, complete with markscheme.
The plenary focuses on some interactive flashcards which recall the learning 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.
This bundle is the first part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991.
The lessons are all differentiated, fully resourced, amenable on Powerpoint 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 formation of the Grand Alliance to the outcomes of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam as well as the ideologies of East and West and the Berlin crisis.
They will explain and analyse (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in tensions between East and West, the causes and consequences of the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact as well as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Origins of the Cold War
L2 Conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
L3 The Kennan and Novikov Telegrams
L4 Soviet Satellite States
L5 Truman Doctrine
L6 Marshall Aid
L7 Cominform and Comecon (free resource)
L8 Berlin Crisis 1948
L9 NATO and Warsaw Pact
L10 Significance of Arms Race (free resource)
L11 Hungarian Uprising
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lessons and revisited throughout 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 form mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resources include retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE exam practice questions and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCSE Conflict and Tension 1918-1939
This series of eight lessons introduce the third part of the AQA Conflict and Tension course 1918-39 and focus on the origins and outbreak of World War II. Lessons come complete with suggested teaching strategies and differentiated learning tasks.
I have included many of the typical GCSE questions AQA have so far supplied, from source analysis, write an account to the longer 16+4 mark questions. The last lesson also gives some GCSE practice questions and examples of how to answer them.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1: Hitler’s Aims & Foreign Policy
L2: Reactions to Hitler’s Foreign Policy
L3: The road to war and German rearmament
L4: Reoccupation of the Rhineland (free resource)
L5: The Anschluss
L6: The Sudeten Crisis
L7: The Nazi-Soviet Pact
L8: Why did World War II break out?
Lessons also include some retrieval practice activities and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
This bundle is the second part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991.
The lessons are all differentiated, fully resourced, amendable on Powerpoint 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 building of the Berlin Wall and its eventual collapse to the end of the Cold War.
They will also explain and analyse (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in tensions between East and West such as détente and Reagan’s Second Cold War and the causes and consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Gorbachev’s new ideas.
The lessons are as follows:
L12 Berlin Ultimatum
L13 Building the Berlin Wall
L14 Cuba and the Bay of Pigs
L15 Cuban Missile Crisis
L16 Prague Spring
L17 Détente and SALT 1
L18 Helsinki Accords and SALT 2 (Free Resource)
L19 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
L20 Reagan and the Second Cold War
L21 Gorbachev’s new ideas
L22 Fall of the Berlin Wall
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question of how close was the world to a nuclear war using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lessons and revisited throughout 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 form mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resources include retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE exam practice questions.
They all come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCE 2O 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 at Versailles.
They will also learn about political instability, with extremism from the left and right, the problems of coalition government and the state of the Weimar 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 Gustav Stresemann and his impact on the Golden Age of Weimar Germany in his domestic and foreign policy.
The resources provided include detailed lesson plans and suggestions, case studies, source documents for analysis, chronological tasks and exam practice questions.
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.
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.
AQA GCE 2O A Level Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
Nazi Dictatorship 1933-39
I have produced this bundle of resources on the beginnings of the Nazi Dictatorship 1933-39 to help A Level students gain a deeper understanding of Germany’s past and the establishment of a Totalitarian State.
The enquiry question throughout these lessons will be evaluate how much of a totalitarian state Germany became under the Nazis.
Students will learn about the impact of the Night of the Long Knives and the significance Hindenburg’s death had on Hitler’s consolidation of power in Nazi Germany.
They will also explore the mechanisms and apparatus Hitler installed to provoke repression and fear and ensure compliance among the population, including the roles of the Gestapo and SS.
Students will assess the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda in controlling public perception and opinion, the economic policies of the Four Year Plan and autarky and the impact upon workers of the DAF, Strength Through Joy and Beauty of Labour programmes.
Finally students will analyse the efficacy of social policies on the young and women and decide how successfully the Churches were brought into line and replaced with the Nazis version of Christianity.
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 One Party State (Free resource)
L2 The Night of the Long Knives
L3 The Terror State
L4 Early Opposition
L5 Propaganda
L6 Economic Policy
L7 Youth Groups
L8 Women
L9 Workers
L10 The Churches
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.
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.
AQA GCSE Conflict and Tension 1918-1939
This series of eight lessons introduce the second part of the AQA Conflict and Tension course 1918-39 and focus on The League of Nations.
Lessons come complete with suggested teaching strategies and differentiated learning tasks.
I have included many of the typical GCSE questions in these lessons from source analysis, write an account to the longer 16+4 mark questions.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1: Introduction to the League of Nations
L2: The structure of the League of Nations
L3: The Commissions
L4: How successful was the League of Nations in the 1920’s?
L5: The decline of International Cooperation (free resource)
L6: The Manchurian Crisis
L7: The Abyssinian Crisis
L8: Was the League destined to fail?
Lessons also include some retrieval practice activities come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
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.
With the National Curriculum in mind, I have created a set of resources which focus on the study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066.
This bundle includes significant events in Crime & Punishment such as the abolition of Capital Punishment in Britain after the high profile cases of Derek Bentley and Ruth Ellis.
It makes connections between crime and punishment through the ages such as between Roman and Modern periods.
Students will be introduced to key concepts of change and continuity between Anglo-Saxon and Norman Crime and Punishment as well as the the beliefs of the Christian Church and its influence on Crime and Punishment (cause and consequence).
Students will analyse sources in the Stuart period and examine different interpretations of terrorism through the ages.
They will be able to use historical terms and concepts in more sophisticated ways such as retribution and rehabilitation.
Finally they will be able to provide structured responses and substantiated arguments, giving written evidence and context to their extended writing.
The 11 lessons are broken down into the following:
An introduction to Crime and Punishment
Roman Crime and Punishment
Anglo-Saxon Crime and Punishment
Norman Crime and Punishment
Tudor and Stuart Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment in the 18 and 19th Century
The Whitechapel Murders
Modern Crimes
Modern Punishments
The case of Derek Bentley
The case of Ruth Ellis
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies, retrieval practice activities and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lessons come in PowerPoint format and can be adapted and changed to suit.
These lessons are ideal as a way of introducing Crime and Punishment if you are teaching it at GCSE or if you wish to add an interesting unit of work to engage and challenge the students to encourage them to take History further in their studies.
AQA GCE A Level 20 Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
I have produced this complete bundle of resources on Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45 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. There are 44 lessons which focus on the following content:
Part 1, The Weimar Republic: Students will learn about the impact of war, political instability, the invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation. They 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.
Part 2, Collapse of Democracy: Students will learn how the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the Depression, the appeal of Communism as well as Nazism, backstairs intrigue, Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, his first Cabinet, the significance of the Reichstag Fire and how democracy ceased to exist as Nazis began to create a one party state.
Part 3, Dictatorship: Students will learn about the impact of the Night of the Long Knives, the roles of the Gestapo and SS. the economic policies of the Four Year Plan, autarky and the impact upon workers of the DAF, Strength Through Joy and Beauty of Labour programmes. Finally students will study young people, women and the Churches.
Part 4, Racial State and Impact of war: Students will learn about the development of anti-Semitic policies and the radicalisation of the state, the events of the Anschluss, Kristallnacht and the invasion of Poland. They will evaluate the effectiveness of propaganda, Albert Speer and the mobilisation of the German economy for armaments production. They will also assess the effectiveness of opposition and the policies of the ‘Final Solution’.
The lessons are also differentiated and fully resourced and allow students to reach the very top marks.
If you purchase this bundle, then please email me for a copy of a free Revision Guide for this A Level course worth £10.99, which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13120888
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.
