This is a fully-resourced History Mystery and is part of my unit on the History of the Philippines. The lesson begins with an Odd One Out Starter Activity which is about people who have died for their countries, and this invites conversation about who Andres Bonifacio was. There is then some background information and links to two short videos which portray very different deaths. The lesson title is introduced and clear aims and graduated objectives (all will/most will/some will) are given. The main activity is then a drip-fed History Mystery activity. Students are issued 12 different information cards one at a time which give key pieces of information about the life and death of Bonifacio. Using these they complete a History Mystery evidence grid which asks them to infer from each piece of evidence. After this is complete suggested inferences are provided on the PPT. The class are asked to refer back to the lesson objectives and the final plenary task is a voting task in which they are asked to stand on one side of the room to show if they believe Bonifacio was killed because he broke the rule of war or whether they think his death was unfair and a political assassination by his rival Aguinaldo. A homework task (newspaper activity) is set also.

In this 61-page PowerPoint students address the Key Question ‘What impact did the Spanish conquest have on the Philippines?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity in which an image of the fiesta of the Black Nazarene is revealed. It is a ‘What’s Behind the Squares’ Activity and students are invited to say what they see as each square is revealed. This leads to a discussion about the impact Roman Catholicism has had (positive and negative) on the country. Students are then provided with aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/most will/some will). There are then some detailed slides on a range of ways in which Spanish colonisation impacted on the Philippines and these are discussed via teacher exposition. These include changes to place names (not least the country name), people names, religion, holidays and fiestas, architecture, loss of land for the first settlers, food and drink, treasures plundered, disease, beauty, language, and education. Students have been asked in the objectives to explain 1, 3, or 7+ areas using their mind maps (these are broken down into neutral, positive, and negative aspects of Spanish colonisation) and are invited to attempt the main task which is to draw a street scene showing some of these changes. An example is given. Once the class have completed this there is then a plenary activity in which students are asked to vote with their feet by standing up and moving to one side of the class or the other. The question is ‘should Spain apologise/pay reparation to countries it colonised?’ (Spain to this day has refused to do so). A homework activity is also included which is intended to consolidate the lesson. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. It has been written in UK-English and is designed for high achieving high school students.

The Key Question in this lesson is ‘why did Spanish decline in the Philippines?’ and it is fully resourced. The lesson begins with a Who Wants to be a Millionaire starter activity in which student are invited to place in order (fastest finger first) the duration of occupancy of the British, Japanese, Americans, and Spanish. They are then introduced to a six-pointed hexagon with the key reasons for the decline of the Spanish Empire in the Philippines (these include conditions under Spanish rule, maritime competition, the opening of the Suez Canal, the growth of Filipino resistance, Moro rebellions, and the Spanish-American War. After this starter activity the class are then introduced to their aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/some will/most will). The class then begin their main activity which is an Escape Room activity. There are six tasks which can be placed in a padlocked box. Students can use internet devices or own knowledge to figure out the clues. For example, the first clue is when did Magellan die? The answer is 1521 so a padlock can be coded for this. It is a lot of fun but if time is against you, you can of course just print the clues back-to-back and ask students to reveal their answers on paper/mini whiteboards. Once they have cracked the code, they then have an activity to answer which relates to the six key reasons on the hexagon and they complete these activities on the worksheet provided (works best when printed on A3). When students have cracked all six boxes there is a ‘boss level’ box in which they are invited to explain the reasons and offer a conclusion. The lesson concludes with a plenary in which they are required to vote on the main reason using a hexagon (six reasons, they place a post-it note to write their key explanation/factor down. The closer to the centre the more important they see it to be.) There is a written piece of homework set also. The emergence of the Philippines as an independent nation is of massive importance to the world and I take great pride in this lesson because it helps students understand some of the key reasons for this. It is written in UK-English and pitched at high achieving Year 7-9 high school students.

This lesson includes clear and graduated aims and objectives (all will, most will, some will) and begins with a starter activity in which students have to identify which major groups came to the islands first (the order is Negritos or indigenous peoples, Austronesians, Spanish, Americans) in a Play Your Cards Right Activity. They are then given background information as well as cards and pictures. Using these students create a day in the life of a Negrito by adding the cards to an emotional rollercoaster (discerning between positive and negative aspects of life). They then conclude with a voting plenary. During this lesson they learn about the lifestyle of the nomadic and semi-nomadic Negritos (a word coined by the Spanish colonisers later) and explore such things as the Angono petrogylphs, the Tabon Man, and lots more. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine.

This is my third lesson in a unit on the history of the Philippines and as always includes graduated aims and objectives (all will, most will, some will). The lesson begins with a starter activity asking students to infer from the Boxer Codex, a manuscript of illustrations the Spanish created of Filipinos in the Sixteenth Century. Students are then given the main task which is to categorise information from 48 information cards into areas such as conflict, government, belief systems, trade, and education and skills. There is a colour-coordinated set and a blank set. You decide which to use based on the level of ability of your class. There is then information on the PPT for students to discuss what they have learned. The lesson concludes with a fill in the gaps (Have I Got News For You) activity designed to test their knowledge of information learned. Homework is included which is to create a piece of written work to answer the key question.

This is another in my line of lessons about the history of the Philippines and one I am especially proud of. The lesson begins with a Countdown style starter activity in which students have to figure out anagrams on the four key reasons the Spanish came to colonise the islands (religion, technology, individuals, and economics) which builds on prior learning. They are then given learning objectives which are clearly graduated (all of you will/most of you will/some of you will). The 48 page PPT then gives some background information on the preamble to the battle before students commence the main task. This is a 16 piece hexagonal card sort which students break down into factors (Lapu Lapu’s forces strengths, Magellan’s forces mistakes, technology, geographical factors, and luck). There are two versions provided, one being colour-coordinated, for purposes of differentiation. Once they break these down students are next encouraged to make links between the factors and examples are given (which is why the cards are hexagonal and not rectangular). The lesson concludes with a plenary activity in which students are asked to place a post-it note on the board on a five starred shape to conclude which factor they feel is the most significant in answering the Key Question about why Magellan was killed in 1521. There is a written piece of homework assigned also. Thanks so much for your interest in this resource and please do have a look through my shop for hundreds of other resources for History teachers.

This 61-page PowerPoint is a full lesson to the Key Question ‘why did the Spanish come to the Philippines?’ The lesson begins with clear and graduated lesson objectives (all will, most will, and some will) and proceeds to a lesson starter which is designed to build on existing student knowledge (students match up five dominoes with the correct question and answer). There is then background information in the PPT explaining from the Battle of Mactan in 1521 through to Spanish conquest. The slides then deal with four key factors - the role of economics (and the proximity of the Spice Islands in particular), the role of key individuals (not least King Phillip II who lends his name to the island chain), changing technology (Spanish galleons), and religion (missionaries). From this, students are placed into groups of four and asked to create a short role play to answer the key question. Students are reminded of the lesson objectives to see which level they have achieved. The lesson concludes with a DingBats plenary where students are invited to figure out a key word from the lesson based upon some picture clues (maritime trade routes, canon ball, Spice Islands etc). Thanks for your interest in this lesson which is written in British-English and is pitched at high achieving mainstream high school students. It is one of a series of lessons I’ve made on the history of the Philippines so please do feel free to look through the rest of my store.