I am a History teacher in the North West, and head of Citizenship in my school. I have been teaching since 2007, in four secondary schools across the area. In between times, in 2012, I taught as a volunteer teacher in Ghana, with English, French and Maths classes (you can read about my adventures in my book, Teaching in the Sun, available on Amazon).
All of my resources have been extensively tried and tested. I hope that you, like me, are able to use them for good and outstanding lessons.
I am a History teacher in the North West, and head of Citizenship in my school. I have been teaching since 2007, in four secondary schools across the area. In between times, in 2012, I taught as a volunteer teacher in Ghana, with English, French and Maths classes (you can read about my adventures in my book, Teaching in the Sun, available on Amazon).
All of my resources have been extensively tried and tested. I hope that you, like me, are able to use them for good and outstanding lessons.
This is a card sort designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise reasons that groups of people have migrated to Britain throughout history.
They can also be arranged as a chronology exercise.
There is a second version of the cards designed for less able students.
The categorising task could be done as a venn diagram using the venn diagram template.
Students complete diamond 9 card sorting activity on the reasons why voting is important.
Students can decide on the key reason(s) and give their own explanation. This can lead on to or be receded by class discussion.
A worksheet differentiated for the higher-, medium- and lower-ability students, containing reasons for the abolition of the slave trade, and slavery itself.
Could be used as a card sort or a colour-coded worksheet. Students can decide which factors help to end the slave trade, slavery itself, or both.
Students can sort for political, economic social and cultural reasons.
Students are invited to make decisions on the most important 3 reasons at the end of the sorting. This can lead to lively debate.
This is a worksheet and lesson powerpoint for Key Stage 2 and 3 Citizenship.
Pupils use worksheet 1 to define the word ‘community’ after working as a pair.
Worksheet 1 invites pupils to look at different people in the school community, and their roles within it. they make a spider diagram on the sheet. They can, as an extension, then choose one person and consider their role using questions on the powerpoint to stimulate their thinking.
Sheet 2 is a layered sheet similar to an inference square on which are problems, causes, solutions and pupil actions. Pupils can consider problems within the school, and what they could do about them, with questions layered on sheet 2 for differentiation.
The powerpoint supports all aspects of learning on the sheet, and invites pupils to discuss the role of a school council.
his is a card sort or diamond 9 activity designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise the ways that people can influence the local council.
Students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on what are more / less effective ways to influence the local council. More able students can make a judgement on how important it is to be able to influence the local council
Categories could include, but not be limited to:
influencing in person
Influencing from a distance
Scrutinising council actions
As an extension, students can choose a local issue, and prepare a speech or letter to the council to address it.
This is a card sort or diamond 9 activity designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise the effects of prison.
Students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on the importance of positive and negatives of the effects of prison.
Categories could include, but not be limited to:
job / careers
social / family and friends
skills
character / personality
As an extension, students can choose to write a letter of advice to a prisoner, or to make a poster aimed at advising prisoners…
This is a card sort for students to match up laws and groups to their definitions.
Students can explain what is the more important of these laws and organisations.
This is a card sort for students to categorise workers’ rights and responsibilities.
Students can explain what is the more important of their rights, and of their responsibilities.
This is a card sort for students to categorise what the press are and are not allowed to do.
Students can explain what is the more important of these liberties and responibilities.
This is a card sort or diamond 9 activity designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise reasons for giving aid to LEDCs.
As an extension, students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on the most important reason for for giving aid to LEDCs, and think of examples where aid hads been given.
More able students can explain problems of giving aid. They might need prompting with the idea of LEDCs becoming dependent on aid.
Categories could include, but not be limited to:
Helping children
Helping adults
Helping businesses / government
This is a card sort or diamond 9 activity designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise the impact of different influences on people’s voting habits.
Students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on the better and worse influences on people’s voting habits. More able students can explain whether it is important to vote, and why.
Categories could include, but not be limited to:
social / family and friends
demographics
character / personality of those being elected
Parties / party policy
This a lesson for KS3/4 Citizenship. Pupils initially have to make spider diagram on Doc 1 of what anti-social behaviour problems there are in society. More able students are invited to explain which are the most serious.
With the diamond 9 ranking, higher ability students can use the ‘(H) Diamond 9’ sheet. They explain in the space provided why each of these examples is a problem. They can then make 3 separate arrangements (get students to sort first bullet point, then put them all back together, then sort second bullet point, then put them all back together, then sort third bullet point), of which problems:
• Damage property
• Make the community look unpleasant
• Leave longer-term mental scars for victims (choose up to 5)
Then arrange as a diamond 9 card sort.
Lower ability students can use the differentiated version, and colour code these categories - some will fit into more than one category, then arrange as a diamond 9 card sort.
With Doc 2, students match the people on the left hand side of the info sheet to the work that they do in the community. They should then explain how these people/groups might contribute to solving problems of anti-social behaviour. Potential answers in notes section of ppt slide 7, and can be printed to help lower-ability students. More able students are invited to explain which are the most useful people or groups.
This is a resource for the teaching of local community. The powerpoint has within it a spider diagram task for students to complete, on who plays a role in looking after and protecting the local community.
The cut and stick resource allows students to match up the different people and groups within the community to their roles. Answers are given in the powerpoint and discussion can be worked in through the feedback of these answers.
As an extension, students can explain who is the most important part of the community, and how these people and groups are interdependent.
The living graph excersize can be done with the ‘6. Ways of helping community cards’ resource. there are 15 methods shown - but not all need to be used in as smaller class, and it can be printed on different colour paper, for a second line to be made - this can lead to stimulating debate as students explain why they have lined themselves up as they have.
This leads to a discussion on how ordinary people, and students themselves, can look after the community.
This is a resource that could be used for any year group, although I use it for Key Stage 3.
Students have to plan a birthday party. They can choose whether to do go karting, ice skating, cinema or a disco.
They must consider what they have to plan and how much it costs. They have a s budget, as appropriate to the activity. They will have to pick from a number of options to have in the party, such as a shop-bought or home-made birthday cake, amounts of food to be bought, and how many people to invite based on the cost of the event.
They will have to prioritise and debate what to spend money on. At the end of the lesson, they can answer reflection questions contained on the resource sheet, on how they made their choices, and what they learned about budgeting.
Place students in pairs/3s. They will need to choose which party theme to have, and then collect the appropriate resource sheet. Answers can be written, and sums worked out, on the other resource sheet. There is also a powerpoint to guide students through the lesson.
This is a resource for late-KS3 or KS4 students about the different types of government that exist in the world.
Students are invited to think of as many types of government thy can as a starter activity, which can be recorded n the worksheet. They must then come up with definitions of the words democratic, undemocratic, and totalitarian.
The second half of the worksheet is about matching the different types of government to their definitions, on the information sheet. Students must think of examples, with some provided for lower-ability students.
Higher ability students are invited to choose one of two extensions to build on the knowledge gained through the lesson.
All answers are on the powerpoint.
A cut and stick activity which leads to a piece of judgemental writing on the daily life and work of enlaved poeople.
Students match up point of slave life to the evidence surrounding it. They stick each matched point and piece of evidence into the table. They then give their own explanation, such as ‘This was cruel because…’
Students can categorise and prioritise the different aspects of life, into areas such as social life, work and others.
Homework vocab building task also included.
A card sort and written task on the positive and negative aspects of TNCs. There are two versions of the activities, for higher- and lower-ability students.
Students classify the impacts as to whether they are positive and negative.
Students then arrange them into categories such as job creation, job loss, effect on richer/poorer countries, money, environment.
Students complete a scaffolded written task to describe and explain the best and worst impacts of TNCs. They finish by examining whether a boycott of TNCs such as Nike would have a positive or negative effect. A list of key words is provided on the lower-ability resource.
This is a card sort for students to look at working conditions and explain why they cause problems in LEDCs.
Students can explain judgements on the biggest problems.
More able students are invited to explain how to overcome these problems to improve working conditions, and what barriers to change exist.
This is a card sort designed to allow students to categorise reasons for their food shopping habits.
They can explain why they have these food shopping habits.
More able students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on the morality of food miles.
The card sort can be done as a venn diagram using the second sheet.
This is a resource for Key Stage 4 Citizenship.
Students are invited to discuss human rights and then the responsibilities that come with those rights.
There is a run-down what constitutes international crime, and a video to support this, and a run-down of the ICC and Rome Statute.
There is a diamond 9 or categorising (choose) activity for the ICC’s impact.
The final aspect of the lesson is a double-sided worksheet. The first side takes recent examples of breaches of International criminal law and invites students to explain what they feel about what happened in each case. The second side takes occasions when the ICC did not intervene; students are invited to explain why the ICC did not intervene. Answers as to what really happened are in the powerpoint. Students can fill in the final section on their thoughts afterwards.