As a starter, pupils complete the word-fill that is on slide 1 of the PowerPoint. Video of resignation helps pupils understand how Gorbachev was replaced by Yeltsin. Main activity helps pupils develop their high-order thinking skills by asking them to match the reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union to either political, economic or social causes. Plenary = exam style question where pupils can apply what they have learnt in the lesson.

Easy to understand activities and information about reasons for men to join the Crusades. Writing assessment is highly scaffolded, for students to choose the most important reason and explain why.

PowerPoint and worksheet I created to help pupils understand the debate that surrounds the death of the princes. You will need to find some sources that show different sides to the story (I am unable to upload the sheet I used onto this site).

Resources I created to help low ability year 7s understand the chronology of 1066. Starter = quiz using post-its (you could adapt it to use mini whiteboards). Main = storyboard about the events of 1066. Plenary = Simon Says, with questions relating to what students have learnt in the lesson.

A resource I used as a homework research task for high ability year 7s. Introduces pupils to the idea that there were more than 3 candidates for the throne in 1066

A resource I created that worked well with a year 8 class I teach. This was used in one of the later lessons as part of the Jack the Ripper SOW, when pupils have covered Jack's victims, the conflicting witness statements etc. As an extension task, pupils can write the message that Jack has in his inbox, helping to develop their creative writing skills

This lesson is suited to students who have covered the changes in religion under Henry VIII and Edward VI previously. An excellent way to develop students' critical thinking skills. Starter: Students complete the table on PPT slide 3 (I usually print the table out for studnets). Main: students are split into groups and given copies of the Robert the Preist mystery sheet. They must use the sheet to decide what Robert decided to do once Mary became Queen. They will present their findings to the rest of the class.

As a starter, pupils write down everything they can remember about Oliver Cromwell on the word-splash sheet provided. Using the Horrible Histories video (particularly suited to years 7/8) pupils will plot information into a table, helping them to compare how different life was under Cromwell and Charles. For the plenary, pupils use the writing frame to help them explain what they feel is the most important reason that people were happy to have the monarchy back.

Pupils use the PowerPoint to understand the significance of Doom Paintings in the Middle Ages. They then use what they have learnt to come up with their own version of a Doom Painting.

As a starter, pupils draw a spider diagram listing the qualities they think a good king has. Using youtube clip, pupils then decide whether the Disney film portrays John as good or bad. Pupils then use cards to identify evidence that John was good and bad. Finally, pupils use the information in the cards and their spider diagram from earlier to decide whether they think John was good or bad