This KS3 lesson is part of our work on The Stuarts and comes at the start of the course. We therefore introduce King James I with some source work. However, if the lesson is to be completed in the lead up to Bonfire Night, then this first part can simply be removed, leading you straight into the Gunpowder Plot itself. It will take between 1-2 lessons depending upon how many tasks are completed. Aims and Objectives: To use sources to think about what type of king James I was (CAN BE LEFT OUT). To know the key events of the Gunpowder Plot. To understand why some people think the plotters were set up. The lesson starts with the option of some source analysis to investigate what type of person King James I was. There is a more detailed version of this source sheet and a simpler SEN version. We then introduce the Gunpowder Plot with the Horrible Histories clip. The students then use this initial overview to cut out the jumbled events and order them. These are stuck onto the storyboard which is then illustrated (I’ve set this as a homework and competition). The following lesson we look into the conspiracy theory using a range of sources supporting both sides. Students produce a balanced written answer on whether they agree that the plotters were set up before reaching their final verdict.

IMPORTANT: Some of these worksheets refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c 1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To learn about new approaches to prevention: mass vaccinations and government lifestyle campaigns. The Power Point leads students through all activities with answers/feedback and exam technique advice for answering 12 mark questions. Activities include a source inference starter, note-taking and weighing up of improvements v. continuing problems in treatments and access to care. This leads into a 12 mark exam question “Explain why there was rapid progress in disease prevention after c1900.” An essay planning sheet is included. Students are encouraged to review each others’ plans and peer assess the written answers.

This KS3 unit should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying resources provided. Having spent considerable time looking at the causes, I tend not to get too bogged down in the events themselves as I’ve found that the students like the lessons on the trial and execution more. This is why I’ve condensed it into two hours. Aims and Objectives: To know who fought who during the English Civil War and to compare the differences between the two sides. To use sources to learn about what life was like at the time in England. To know the key events of the Civil War and select the main reasons why Parliament won. To consider how King Charles might have done better. Activities include a video starter on fighting in the 1600s which enables students to visualise this period of time. Students then label a Roundhead and Royalist soldier and consider which side was better equipped. They analyse a range of sources including a painting, cartoon and written passage to gain insight into what life was like. In the second lesson, they read a passage in pairs to highlight reasons why the king lost. There is also a card sort on this topic which I use as an extension or with my G&T groups. Students then use their understanding to write a letter to King Charles during the war advising him on ways in which he could be more successful.

This KS3 topic covers a single lesson and introduces the course on The Tudors by providing students with a complete overview of the monarchs. It’s simple but effective and I’ve had fantastic justified reasons from students when I’ve used it. Aims and Objectives: To know the Tudor family tree and the order in which they reigned. To know a few basic facts about each of the Tudor monarchs. To compare their reigns and make a judgement on who was the greatest Tudor monarch. The starter focuses on the family tree and establishes the order and reasons for reigns. We then work through each of the monarchs, whilst students rank them on a continuum from worst to best. I’ve always made them note down two reasons for each but the information sheet could equally be adapted into cards for them to order. Students are then asked to make an independent judgement on which monarch was the greatest and we discuss the choices at the end.

This KS3 lesson should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included and answers when required. Aims and Objectives: To know what they Trade Triangle was and how it worked. To understand how the Trade Triangle developed over time. To consider who was to blame for the Trade Triangle and why. To reach a judgement on who was the most to blame. Activities include a card sort starter on individuals involved. Students sort these people into a line from good to bad. This helps to break down stereotypes from the outset that all white people were powerful/bad and all black people were powerless/good, encouraging students to judge specific actions and not generalise. A series of tasks then ensure that students have the factual knowledge regarding the trade and its development. Students categorises reasons for the trade into tradition, African divisions and trade before writing a paragraph answer on who or what they feel was the most to blame for the slave trade.

This KS3 lesson should take around one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and all accompanying resources are included. Aims and Objectives: To know what Hitler’s aims were for young people in Germany. To know the methods that’s the Nazis used to indoctrinate/control young people. To use sources to reach a verdict on how successful the Nazis were in controlling young people. Activities include a starter which asks students to translate Hitler’s aims into an illustration of the ideal Nazi boy and girl (using symbols). A series of sources with questions are then used to investigate various elements of life in Germany from the Hitler Youth, to education and resistance groups. An SEN version of this exercise is also included. Finally, students write a paragraph answer/verdict on how effective the Nazis were in controlling young people.

This KS3 lesson should take one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities and all accompanying resources are included. This is my first Year 7 lesson at the start of our first unit on Medieval Realms. Aims and Objectives: To know some facts about life in the Middle Ages. To select evidence from sources to answer a question. To apply this evidence to reached a balanced judgement about life in the Middle Ages (good and bad things). Activities include a true/false introductory medieval quiz, a source analysis exercise that encourages students to use source material effectively to support their points (this starts with a collection of negative sources before balancing these with positive sources), a vocabulary homework with test sheet on the next unit- The Battle of Hastings.

This KS3 lesson covers the reigns of Edward and Mary. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources. Having spent a long time studying Henry and later Elizabeth, I’m afraid these two monarchs have been condensed into one lesson (sorry Edward and Mary). We focus of the religious problems as this is so integral to the students’ understanding of Elizabeth’s problems and indeed later on, the Stuarts and the English civil war. Aims and Objectives: To know and understand the main changes that Edward and Elizabeth made to the church in England. To reach a judgement on their actions- did Mary deserve to be known as “Bloody Mary”? To empathise with people living in England at this time and how these changes must have made them feel. The lesson starts with a whole class recap on Catholic and Protestant beliefs. All students have to get involved with their C and P cards. We then read a series of statements about Edward’s actions deciding which are true and false (based on the fact that he was Protestant). Mary is introduced with the Horrible Histories song. If you have the DVD then you can see the video in full but You Tube currently only has this clip with lyrics alone due to copyright. Students rank the cards on Mary’s actions from best to worst.They finally show their understanding by writing a letter using the framework provided from either a Catholic or Protestant perspective, explaining the religious changes implemented by Henry, Edward and Mary.

IMPORTANT: Some of these activities refer to the textbook “Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History, Medicine through time, c1250-present” (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127378 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To learn about the extent of change in care and treatment: the impact of the NHS and high-tech medical and surgical treatments in hospitals. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. It also provides feedback/answers/demonstrations at intervals. Activities include watching the very quaint contemporary promotional cartoon which showcases the improvements offered by the NHS, cloze exercise, thought-shower, analysis of high-tech treatments and discussion/linking of NHS to the introduction of high-tech treatments.

This KS3 unit of work should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities. All resources referred to are included. Aims and Objectives: To know the key events leading up to and during the execution of King Charles I. To understand both the arguments for and against his execution. To write persuasively for one side of the argument. Activities include an introductory definition of “treason” and discussion as to why this is a controversial accusation in this case. A simple overview of the background events such as Pride’s Purge is given before the students analyse a short clip from the program “The Devil’s Whore” to consider the attitudes demonstrated by those involved. Whilst listening to an account of the execution day, students create a series of illustrations and symbols as memory joggers. They then retell the events as a class using their memory joggers. A Dutch engraving of the execution is used to make inferences before a series of statements are categorised into reasons for and against the execution. Students then use their understanding to write a speech either for or against the execution. We then listen to these speeches and turn it into a competition.

This Key Stage 3 unit explores the causes of WW1 and then goes on to analyse the reasons why the German Schlieffen Plan failed, leading to trench warfare. It will take around two lessons to complete. The Power Point leads students through all of the activities. There are a number of very nice short video clips on the causes of WW1, including a great Horrible Histories clip (when available) but I particularly like the Blackadder clip attached. Be warned- the final punchline is “bollo**s” and I often censored this with a timely cough much to the annoyance of the class. The lessons start by contextualising Europe in 1914 with some map work and identification of alliance systems. We then identify and analyse the causes of WW1 using the passage provided. The following lesson, the students start by problem-solving Germany’s dilemma and proposing their own war plans- I’ve had some very interesting and intelligent responses to this, along with some quite frankly bizzare/amusing. After studying the Schlieffen Plan, students translate the actual events into a series of annotated maps before analysing the reasons for the plan’s failure and writing this up in an extended paragraph.

This KS3 lesson should take around one hour plus a homework to complete (depending upon how much you ask students to write for the diary entry). The Power Point leads students through all of the activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know what The Middle Passage was and how it worked as part of the Slave Trade Triangle. To use source material to investigate how slaves were treated. To consider what this shows us about attitudes towards slaves. To empathise with those who went through this horrific experience. Activities include a mystery image starter of a bird’s eye view of a slave ship below decks, a video and questioning exercise on the story of the slave ship Zong, a source analysis activity whereby students look for specified evidence in a range of source. There are extension questions and a simpler SEN source set provided. The finally activity is to write a diary entry from a former slave describing the treatment endured during the Middle Passage. This activity works in isolation, although my classes build the diary up over this and the subsequent lessons on living and working conditions.

This KS3 lesson should take around two hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included (although for the research stage the Power Point refers to school textbooks as one source of information and I’m obviously unable to include copies of pages I’d use. Wikipedia has a very detailed page on this topic and the link is included). Aims and Objectives: To know basic facts about a slave’s life and work. To extend this knowledge and understanding through group research and presentation. To be able to empathise with the psychological impact these conditions must have had upon the people effected, considering coping mechanisms. Activities include an inference starter using “The Sabbath among slaves” drawing which appears at first-glance to to be far less sinister than it actually is. Students then make further inferences with support from a range of images. They begin their research into mental/physical health, work and punishments using a ten minute video before breaking into groups of four to specialise in one area. The class collectively produce an assessment criteria for their poster presentations before researching and creating their posters. The following lesson, their poster presentations are peer assessed using their criteria and I use this as a competition. Finally, students add an entry to their ongoing slave diary about living and working conditions.

This KS3 unit should take around two hours + one homework to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with all accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know and understand the main causes of the British Industrial Revolution. To consider which factors are more/less important and how they worked together. To consider the importance of individuals and reach a judgement on how achieved the most. Activities include an odd one out starter, research and mind map activity on the causes with a linking exercise as an extension, group research and information poster on one individual who contributed towards the Industrial Revolution, followed by a carousel/information sharing activity. Finally, there is a class vote on who contributed the most, followed by a homework/paragraph answer explaning who the student thinks contributed ther most.

This KS3 lesson should take at least one hour to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To consider the problems which William faced immediately after the Battle of Hastings. To understand that he applied different methods to each of these problems. To empathise with people who lived through the Norman Conquest. Activities include a think, pair, share starter considering what William’s potential problems might be and how he may address them. His problems are then summarised as 1) Controlling population 2) Resistance in the north 3) Collecting taxes and tackled separately. An extended source is analysed to understand how the resistance in the north was handled. The nature of hierarchies is introduced via modern-day examples before students complete their own diagram of the feudal system using the structure and jumbled phrases. An SEN version is also included. Students consider who they would most/least like to have been. A five minute video is finally used to explain the Domesday Book.

This lesson analyses the reasons why Churchill was such a great war leader. The starter asks students to consider a range of fabulous Churchill quotes and select their favourites and consider those which would be the most motivating in war time. Having established the popular view of Churchill, students then analyse factual information about the leader, categorising this into evidence that he both was and was not a great leader (the point being that he was not perfect). Students then listen to the famous “Fight them on the beaches” speech an annotate their own copy to appreciate the techniques at play. Using this knowledge, they then write their own motivational speech in the style of Churchill.

This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers between 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand the extent of change in care and treatment: improvements in hospital care and the influence of Nightingale. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying worksheets. These include event ordering of Nightingale’s life, summarising her impact and analysing continuity and change in hospital care. Having carried out numerous assessments already in this scheme of work, the lesson ends with a straight-forward Florence Nightingale obituary which could be set as a homework task.

This unit will take approximately two hours including assessment writing time. The starter activities ask students to pool their prior knowledge about Robin Hood using video clips as prompts. This then leads into a discussion about fact, fiction and legend and how the modern tale came into existence. Students then use a collection of sources to complete a research table considering whether or not Robin Hood was a real historical figure or a fictional character. A simplified SEN collection of sources is also included. The final assessment is a discursive essay which asks student to consider both arguments before reaching an overall verdict. A mark scheme is included.

IMPORTANT: Some of the activities refer to the textbook "Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939 (editor Leonard A. and published by Pearson) ISBN 9781292127347 and will not be usable without a copy of this text. This Edexcel 9-1 GCSE unit covers around 1-2 lessons depending upon your class and their overall ability/work rate. Aims and Objectives: To understand Hitler’s early career: joining the German Workers’ Party and setting up the Nazi Party, 1919-20. The Power Point leads students through all activities with an accompanying task booklet. Following a starter which answers 5W questions about the origins of the party using a short passage, students work in pairs to discuss the steps that would need to be taken to set up a new party. The booklet tasks then work through each stage, charting the early development of the party. Activities include colour-coding of a selection of the 25 Points into nationalist and socialist, making inferences from sources to understand why membership grew, note-taking/table on the impact of the changes Hitler made, an analysis of what key members bought to the party and a series of comprehension questions on the early SA.

This KS3 lesson should take around 2 hours to complete. The Power Point leads students through all activities with accompanying resources included. Aims and Objectives: To know the main features of a motte and bailey and stone keep castle. To understand how and why castle design changed over time. To weight up the advantages and disadvantages of each type of castle. To compare both types of castles, considering similarities and differences. Students compare the design of a motte and bailey castle to that of a stone keep, looking for areas of similarity and difference. These are recorded in table and venn diagram format. This then leads into an assessed piece of writing on continuity versus change in castle design. A mark scheme is included.