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.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson examines the process and problems of migration using the Oregon Trail and the discovery of Gold in California in 1849.
Students analyse the positive and negative effects of migrating to California as well as conflict over resources and are then challenged to link statistics to the various facts shown on the Gold Rush.
There is some text analysis on the Donner Party and its consequences with key questions as well as video footage to reinforce the learning.
Some GCSE question practice focuses of the narrative account question with key exam skills attached as well as some help if required.
The plenary uses an interactive hangman game.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice using the odd one out is also included.
It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson focuses on the impact of Pacific Railroad Act of 1842.
Students analyse maps and original advertisements to evaluate how effective the railroad companies were in encouraging people to move west and the difficulties involved in building a railroad in the first place.
They focus on the effects of the American Civil War and judge the economic impact of the railroad in terms of travel, immigration, the rise of towns, farming as well as the growth of the cattle industry.
They also have to determine the negative impacts the railroad had on the Plains Indians and the Buffalo.
There is some GCSE exam practice on the ‘consequences’ question, with help given if required.
The plenary requires thinking around the popular head, heart, bin and bag activity.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some key word retrieval practice is also included using a spider diagram.
It comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson to analyse the work of the cowboys on the Long Drives and on Cattle Ranches of the American Plains.
At the start, some myths are dispelled about cowboys, many of which can be attributed to Hollywood films and John Wayne.
Students learn the importance of the Long Drives and the roles the cowboys played in bring the cattle to their final destination, including all the hazards on the way.
They also study the life on the ranches and the further difficulties endured by the cowboys in their work.
Students are thus prepared to answer a GCSE exam practice question on the importance of cowboys to the cattle industry worth 8 marks, with help given if required.
The plenary challenges students to decide if the statements can be categorised to the Ranches or the Long Drive.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included.
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 explore the rivalry and tensions that grew up between Ranchers and Homesteaders on the Plains from the 1860’s onwards.
Students have to think why conflict arose on the Plains and what the arguments might be with some initial guidance.
They also learn about the checkerboard allocation of land and the issue of free ‘public land’. Using some typical scenarios which arose, they have to come up with solutions to the problems.
There is some GCSE exam question practice on the ‘consequences question’, with some help given if required.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice linking key words and subject is included.
The plenary links key words from the lesson together to form sentences to reinforce the learning. There is also some retrieval practice at the start.
It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
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
This lesson aims to understand the reasons for the relative success of Red Cloud against the US Government as opposed to Little Crow and Black Kettle.
Students have to piece together the causes behind Red Cloud’s decision for going to war despite his tribe being divided and the awareness of the previous consequences of fighting back.
They learn about Fetterman’s Trap and the second Fort Laramie Treaty. They then have to decide the reasons or limits of Red Cloud’s success (such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse refusing to sign the Treaty).
I have also included an interactive click and drag exercise using activex textboxes which moves text to complete gap fills to reinforce the learning of the lesson.
The plenary uses an interactive flashcard activity linking to Plains Indian Chiefs.
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 understand the rise of the cattle industry and the impact it had on the American West.
Students are given a Texan Cattle Industry Thinking Quilt which introduces them to new concepts and key words.
They are introduced to Joseph McCoy and have to decipher a number of statements relating to him which have specific errors in them to correct.
They analyse various texts and video links on the Goodnight-Loving Trail as well as the rise of John Iliff and have to work out relating statistics as well as key questions which aim to challenge assumptions and beliefs.
There is some GCSE exam practice on the ‘consequences’ question, with help given if required.
The plenary is a talking heads activity.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice on source recall is also included.
It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson is to explore the challenges faced by Homesteaders in moving onto the Great Plains and setting up farms.
Students begin by deciding how different inventions could lead to improved farming techniques.
They also have to complete a true or false quiz, before using a thinking quilt to match up key facts with the correct questions.
The plenary is based around the ‘are you a robot?’ idea which is becoming all too familiar when we are trying to log into a specific website.
There is some follow up GCSE exam question practice using the ‘importance’ 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 a spider diagram.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
Conflicts and conquest, The American West c.1876-c1895.
This bundle is the third part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 The American West, c.1835-c1895
Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the conflicts and conquest with changes in the farming industry, the cattle industry and settlement.
Students will learn about the establishment of law and order across the period. They will recognise the significance of key people such as Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Benjamin Singleton.
They will study the destruction of the Plain Indians way of life with events such as the Wounded Knee Massacre as well as the Range Wars and extermination of the Buffalo.
Lessons will also target the cause and consequence of US government policy with the Dawes Act of 1887 and the declaration of the disappearance of an Indian Frontier.
I have dispensed with individual learning objectives for each lesson to focus throughout on a specific enquiry based question which addresses the knowledge and skills required for the GCSE questions and shows progression in learning required during this course.
Moreover it allows the students to critically think for themselves to decide who was benefitting from this rapid change to America as well as how and why.
The lessons are as follows:
L21 Changes to farming on the Plains
L22 Changes in the Cattle Industry
L23 Exoduster Movement
L24 Billy the Kid
L25 Wyatt Earp
L26 Battle of Little Big Horn
L27 Wounded Knee Massacre
L28 Range Wars
L29 Extermination of the Buffalo
L30 Dawes Act of 1887
For assessment purposes each lesson is accompanied by one of the three exam questions with help and exam tips given if needed. These can be completed in the lesson or for homework tasks if required.
The lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to understand and evaluate the impact of the US Government policy on the Plains Indians.
Students recall previous Government policy pre 1860 and analyse how this started to encroach on the Plains Indians way of life.
They then have to analyse four areas of impact; the coming of the railroad, cattle, reservations and the discovery of gold. Using a cauldron, they have to decide which facts (or ingredients) are the most significant to mix into it. These ingredients are placed on the shelves. The higher the shelf, the more significant the impact of the ingredient.
The plenary uses images (the linkee game) to decipher and recap further problems faced by the Plains Indians . Students then have to decide what happened at a consequence.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘consequences’ question worth 8 marks.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
**The development of the Plains, American West c.1862-c1876. **
This bundle is the second part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 The American West, c.1835-c1895
Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the early development on the Plains with the passing of the Homestead Act of 1862 through to the second Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
They will focus on the advantages with the coming of the Pacific Railroad but how this accentuated the problems of settlement and the growth of the towns.
Students will learn about the life of cowboys and what was involved on the long drive and life on the ranch. They will recognise the significance of key people such as Joseph McCoy, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving and John Iliff and how they changed the cattle industry.
They will study the conflicts which arose between ranchers and homesteaders as well as between the US Government and the Plains Indians such as Little Crow’s War and Red Cloud’s War.
Lessons will target consequence such as the US government policy of moving the Plains Indians to reservations where they could be ‘protected’ and the changes to their way of life.
Furthermore I have dispensed with individual learning objectives for each lesson to focus throughout on a specific enquiry based question which addresses the knowledge and skills required for the GCSE questions and shows progression in learning required during this course.
Moreover it allows the students to critically think for themselves to decide who was benefitting from this rapid change to America as well as how and why.
For assessment purposes each lesson is accompanied by one of the three key exam questions with help and exam tips if needed. These can be completed in the lesson or for homework or used for interleaving.
The lessons are as follows:
L12 The Homestead Act
L13 The Pacific Railroad Act
L14 Problems of Homesteading (free resource)
L15 Growth of the Cattle Industry
L16 Life of Cowboys
L17 Rivalry between Ranchers and Homesteaders
L18 Impact of Settlement o n the Plains Indians(free resource)
L19 Little Crow’s War and the Sand Creek Massacre
L20 Red Cloud’s War
The lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades. Each lesson also contains some retrieval practice.
The lessons come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
