350+ ready to use and fully resourced History lessons. As a British history teacher with 25 years of experience, I understand the challenges you face in the classroom. That's why I created my store — to share high-quality lessons and to save you time. This store shares my love of History, inspires critical thinking, and get students connected with the past. I’m also an examiner and textbook author, so you can trust that my lessons align with current standards and best practices.
350+ ready to use and fully resourced History lessons. As a British history teacher with 25 years of experience, I understand the challenges you face in the classroom. That's why I created my store — to share high-quality lessons and to save you time. This store shares my love of History, inspires critical thinking, and get students connected with the past. I’m also an examiner and textbook author, so you can trust that my lessons align with current standards and best practices.
My students love using these as a revision tool and also as an in class activity. Each of the eleven hand-shaped cards has a key topic about the Treaty of Versailles on it and each finger has a name/date/quote/statistic/fact on. Students learn precise supporting material which really boosts examination success. These aides can be reversed so students can test each other by reading the answers first and guessing the topic also. Once cut out and laminated they make a very handy and mobile revision aide and knowledge on them is extremely precise and exact.
My students love using these as a revision tool and also as an in class activity. Each of the twenty seven hand-shaped cards has a key topic about Weimar & Nazi Germany on it and each finger has a name/date/quote/statistic/fact on. Students learn precise supporting material which really boosts examination success. These aides can be reversed so students can test each other by reading the answers first and guessing the topic also. Once cut out and laminated they make a very handy and mobile revision aide and knowledge on them is extremely precise and exact.
This incredibly detailed set of notes will boost your students’ subject knowledge and is teeming with evidence. The pack also provides a 15 question activity for students as well as a bonus task for those who require an additional challenge.
I’ve always enjoyed this lesson and its one that really helps students develop an expert grasp of a difficult series of events. Students read through background knowledge before completing a card sort of 21 precise pieces of evidence. I then encourage students to make links between these factors and to identify which pieces of evidence they find the most compelling. I worked in the Middle East when creating and delivering this lesson so it carries real meaning for me and I hope you can see how that has come across in the level of detail and precision. Above all though I hope your students enjoy this as much as mine did.
Last year I achieved ninety-four% A*-A in my I G C S E exam results. The year before it was eighty-eight%, making the History Department consistently high achieving and one which students want to sign up for. One of the main reasons for this is the detailed and focused set of revision menus I give to my students to help them prepare for exam success. Now you can have them too.
Of all of my resources these revision menus are my must-haves!
I hope they can be of much use to your students as they are to mine. If you enjoyed this resource please leaf through my collection of other revision menus and resources.
This pack focuses on the Gulf States, includes space for student notes, and includes revision content for the following topics:
Why was Saddam Hussein able to come to power in Iraq?
What was the nature of Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq?
Why was there a revolution in Iran?
What were the causes and consequences of the Iran-Iraq War?
Why did the First Gulf War take place?
My students love using these as a revision tool and also as an in class activity. Each of the eight hand-shaped cards has a key topic about the Collapse of Peace on it and each finger has a name/date/quote/statistic/fact on. Students learn precise supporting material which really boosts examination success. These aides can be reversed so students can test each other by reading the answers first and guessing the topic also. Once cut out and laminated they make a very handy and mobile revision aide and knowledge on them is extremely precise and exact.
I use this as an introduction to Historical skills for my 7th graders and it works really well. Students are given background knowledge and then handed the 13 sources in order. As they receive them they discuss what can be inferred from each piece of evidence and complete the history mystery grid. This is a great lesson designed to get students thinking and handling evidence. I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine do! It also works really well as a transition lesson for students coming to high school and perhaps studying History as a specialist discipline for the first time. This activity sets students up really well for a piece of follow up Historical writing.
In this lesson students read through incredibly detailed notes designed to really boost their subject knowledge and understanding of factors which caused Franco’s nationalists to prevail in the Spanish Civil War. Students then complete a mix and match dominoes activity to test their comprehension before completing the lesson with a ‘find someone who’ activity which involves them interviewing classmates to complete differentiated tasks. This lesson is pitched at very able students and my classes always find these notes and approach an excellent way to grasp the topic. I hope this lesson can be of use to you and if so please feel free to browse through my other resources in my shop. Best wishes, Daniel
This is one of my favourite lessons. Students read through a very detailed set of notes focusing on the roles of Gorbachev, Reagan, economics, Solidarity and people power. Students then test their understanding of their newly acquired knowledge through a game of Jenga (attach the cards to a block - students place them into factors using the colour coordinated bricks. This activity can also be done as a more traditional card sort). Students then complete the lesson with a word search to promote key terms and literacy.
I really hope your students enjoy this as much as mine do. It is pitched at very able 16-18 year old students.
Last year I achieved 94% A*-A in my IGCSE exam results. The year before it was 88%, making the History Department consistently high achieving and one which students want to sign up for. One of the main reasons for this is the detailed and focused set of revision menus I give to my students to help them prepare for exam success. Of all of my resources these revision menus are my must-haves!
I hope they can be of much use to your students as they are to mine. If you enjoyed this resource please leaf through my collection of other revision menus and resources.
This pack focuses on USA 1917-41, includes space for student notes, and includes revision content for the following topics:
The impact of the First World War on the USA
Immigration
Prohibition and gangsterism
Mass production and the stock market boom
The Roaring Twenties
The position of black Americans
The USA in Depression, 1929-33
Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1933-41
The opposition to the New Deal
In this lesson students work through a ‘what’s behind the squares’ starter activity which introduces them to the horrors of the First World War. They then proceed to work through the detailed set of notes and use this knowledge in the main activiation tasks (questions to test comprehension and a mind-map activity) before testing their chronological understanding of the notes in the ‘play your cards right’ plenary. My students always love this lesson and it is a great introduction to life in 1920s USA. I’m confident your students will love it too.
This 30-slide PowerPoint is a fully resourced lesson which addresses the Key Question ‘what impact did the USA have on the Philippines?’ and is part of a unit of lessons on the history of the Philippines.
The lesson begins with a starter activity in which students identify the Statue of Liberty and read the words on her unchained feet. They then explore a famous source which comments on US annexations post Spanish-American War, and this introduces us to the concept of American imperialism.
The lesson title, aims and objectives are introduced, and these are graduated by criteria (all will/most will/some will) and students are invited to refer back to these later to see how much they have learned. The main activity is a 32-piece card sort in which students divide information up into social, political, military, and economic impacts the USA has had. They then use this information to write a mini essay.
The lesson concludes with a discussion plenary. Students are invited to comment on the geopolitical situation in Asia and in particular whether they think the Philippine government should allow US naval forces to station themselves in the islands. They draw on the historical knowledge they’ve acquired to help them form thoughtful and evidence-based responses.
A homework task is set to help students prepare for a follow up lesson in the unit (Second World War).
This lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are invited to cut out and stick together a 12-part jigsaw. This features turning points in Filipino history up to this point (the early inhabitants, the Battle of Mactan, Spanish colonization, and Andres Bonifacio. It also features an image of Jose Rizal.) Once glued in students label the key turning points which introduces us to Dr. Rizal.
The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the second order concept of historical significance. The acronym GREAT is used (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning-point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate generally and more specifically to Jose Rizal. This information is collated onto one slide which can be distributed to the class as they begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating Rizal’s importance.)
The lesson concludes with a fill in the blanks Have I Got News For You? activity designed to remind students that Rizal died for nationhood.
A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question.
In this 41-slide PowerPoint presentation, the lesson begins with a Starter Activity inviting students to examine pictures of 18th Century England and comment on transportation at the time. They write their observations on post-it notes and stick them on the board, outlining how these features might facilitate highway robbery. The lesson title is provided, along with graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will), followed by background information on Turpin for teacher exposition. The main activity is introduced, during which students sift through a 13-piece hexagonal card sort and categorize reasons for the growth of highway robbery into social, economic, and political factors. A written task is assigned, and students are encouraged to share their thoughts with the group. Before concluding, the lesson revisits its aims, and students participate in a ‘Have I Got News For You’ style lesson plenary, where they fill in the blanks to test their acquired knowledge.
This lesson is tailored for Key Stage 4 students in mainstream settings, written in UK English.
In this 39-slide PowerPoint, the lesson begins with a starter activity designed to introduce students to Henry through one of his portraits. The lesson title and graduated lesson aims (all will/most will/some will) are introduced, and there are some slides of background information for teacher exposition. The class then begins the main activity, which is a 26-card hexagonal evidence sort. Students are encouraged to break the cards down into domestic and foreign policy issues and also personal qualities (there is a color-coded version for purposes of differentiation). They then decide for each column if the evidence is positive or negative. This evidence mapping exercise prepares the students for a piece of extended writing to answer the Key Question. There is time for class discussion, and the lesson aims are revisited before students vote on how good a King Henry was in the plenary.
This lesson was written for high achieving high school students and is written in UK English.
This 29-slide PowerPoint presentation is a fully-resourced lesson. Students are introduced to the topic in the form of a Starter Activity in which they are asked to chronologically sequence three big screen adaptations of Cleopatra VII. This leads to a conversation about her appearance (one is white, one is black, and one is Middle Eastern) and why this became such a big issue in Egyptian media in particular. The title and graduated lesson aims are then introduced (all will/most will/some will) and there are some slides of background information for teacher exposition. The main task is an 18-piece card sort (a colour coded differentiated version is also provided for those who need it) and students place the cards into two columns, those that suggest she would have looked Greek-Macedonian and those that suggest she would have looked Nubian/African. When they have completed this the class design their own cut out version, labelling their choices. In the plenary they explain their answer to the Key Question by revealing their collages/drawings.
This lesson was designed for high achieving Key Stage 3 high school students and is written in UK English. I created it when I taught in Cairo and hope your class get as much enjoyment from it as mine always do.
This 45-slide PowerPoint begins with a Starter Activity in which students are encouraged to close their eyes and mime along to a story in which they play the role of Hasan, a merchant on the Silk Road during its heyday. They are then introduced to the lesson title and the graduated lesson aims (all will/most will/some will). Following this, there are background information slides for teacher exposition before the main task is set. Students are given some ideas of things they might find (exotic animals, fruits, incense, religious ideas, new languages, ivory products, etc.) and are asked to create their own museum about the Silk Road with only 8 objects. For each item, they need to explain its significance. Once students present, the lesson aims are revisited, and there is a lesson plenary in which the class writes an account that answers the Key Question using the knowledge they have acquired. An additional homework task is set (they are asked to photograph items in their household that have been discussed in the lesson).
This lesson is pitched at high-achieving Key Stage 3 high school students and is designed to promote independent learning, research, and presentation skills. It is written in UK English.
This lesson is a 27-slide PowerPoint which begins by asking students to place various methods of execution into chronological order, from ancient beheadings to modern lethal injections. Then, students are invited to read two opposing viewpoints on Derek Bentley’s death, to be revisited later in the plenary. Graduated lesson aims are introduced (all will/most will/some will), along with background information for the teacher’s exposition. In the main task, students divide 18 pieces of evidence from the card sort (there is a color-coded version too if needed) into two columns: things that suggest he deserved to be hanged and things that suggest this was a miscarriage of justice. This leads to a class discussion and a written task, utilizing evidence maps. The lesson concludes with a plenary, featuring links to the death scene from the movie ‘Let Him Have It’ and a song entitled ‘The Ballad of Derek Bentley’, prompting students to vote on which earlier viewpoint they agree with.
This is obviously a delicate and sensitive subject, and I hope this fully-resourced lesson helps you achieve this with your high-achieving Key Stage 4 high school students, written in UK English.
This 34-slide PowerPoint initiates with a starter activity introducing General Custer, prompting the class to discern the validity of four facts. They are presented with two contrasting perspectives on why Custer lost (Ambrose and Marshall III). Following this, the lesson title is introduced, accompanied by graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will). Background information slides follow for teacher exposition to introduce the topic prior to the students commencing their main activity—an 18-piece card sort where they categorize information into two groups: those suggesting Custer’s blame and those attributing the Native Americans’ strength. Subsequently, they undertake a written task based on this sorting exercise before engaging in the plenary session, where they vote with their feet, aligning themselves with the perspective they predominantly support.
This lesson, tailored for high achieving high school students, is crafted with desirable difficulty in mind and employs UK English. Wishing you a great day!
This 36-slide PowerPoint begins with a starter activity that encourages students to consider modern police methods and techniques and then to consider which of these would be available in 1829. The lesson title and graduated aims (all will/most will/some will) are introduced, and there are a few slides of background information for teacher exposition. The class then begins its main activities. These begin with some comprehension questions on three sources outlining issues with early Peelers. They then complete a 16-piece diamond card-sort before using this information to create a job advert for an early Peeler (an example is given). The lesson’s aims are revisited, and the lesson concludes with a fill-in-the-gaps, Whose Line is It Anyway-style plenary to test knowledge gained.
This lesson has been designed with the desirable difficulty of Key Stage 4 high school students in mind and is written in UK English.