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.
A resource pack to support the teaching of the Second World War.
Activities included to suit KS3 teaching, with plenty of scope for differentiation by either task or outcome for more- or less able students.
A resource pack to support the teaching of Hitler and the causes of Second World War.
Activities included to suit the new GCSE requirements, with plenty of scope for differentiation by either task or outcome for more- or less able students.
This is a literacy task for Year 9 pupils to look at punctuation. They must add punctuation and capital letters where appropriate.
The topic is the First World War.
This is a sample paragraph to supply students doing the SHP controlled assessment question on Quarry Bank Mill. Students are invited to read through the answers, and highlight what is done well in each They will find that the second question is far more thorough than the first, as it compares the importance of factors to the site / context and then to other factors. They can label on the second page where this happens.
This is a diamond 9 card sort to categorise and prioritise the reasons that the KKK were a menace to black Americans. As an extension, you can challenge students to explain the more / less serious reasons, and there is a further extension question for more able students. This can lead to a class discussion. Categories could include, but not be limited to, violence, non-violenmce and ceremonies.
This is a card sort designed to allow students to categorise and prioritise reasons that childbirth was dangerous in the Middle Ages. More able students can use the cards to explain their thoughts on the most important reason for the danger of childbirth.
The task could also be done as a diamond activity.
It could be done as a venn diagram using the venn diagram template.
This is a revision resource for GCSE students.
Students are presented with 10 events / issues surrounding the League in the 1920s. they are invited to analyse the strength or otherwise of the League in addressing these issues.
There are hints to help the weaker students contained on the powerpoint slides, as well as an introduction /refresher to the Article 10 of the covenant.
As an extension, students decide whether the league’s ‘successes’ were worth much in the bigger picture, by deciding how well the League contained bigger / smaller countries’ ambitions.
This can lead to debate or a variety of extended writing tasks.
This is a resource for GCSE students. I use it on the AQA course, but it can doubtless be used on others.
Students arrange characters into chronological order, and explain the reasons that they are significant.
This can be done as a role play, by cutting up the required number of cards and handing them out, and as a cut and stick / card sort.
Cards can be arranged on the table sheet if you like - blow it up to A3 - or by drawing the table into their book.
This can lead to debate and extended writing on the importance of individuals and factors.
There is a differentiated version of the card sort to give out to less able students.
This is a resource for GCSE students. I use it on the AQA course, but it can doubtless be used on others.
Students arrange characters into chronological order, and explain the factors behind them - e.g. war etc.
This can be done as a role play, by cutting up the required number of cards and handing them out, and as a cut and stick / card sort.
Cards can be arranged on the table sheet if you like - blow it up to A3 - or by drawing the table into their book.
This can lead to debate and extended writing on the importance of individuals and factors.
There is a differentiated version of the card sort to give out to less able students.
This is a resource for GCSE students. I use it on the AQA course, but it can doubtless be used on others.
Students arrange characters into chronological order, and explain the factors behind them - e.g. war etc.
This can be done as a role play, by cutting up the required number of cards and handing them out, and as a cut and stick / card sort.
Cards can be arranged on the table sheet if you like - blow it up to A3 - or by drawing the table into their book.
This can lead to debate and extended writing on the importance of individuals and factors.
There is a differentiated version of the card sort to give out to less able students.
This is a differentiated revision resource for the Health and the People module.
Students can make revision cards / lists / spider diagrams etc. from the notes given.
there is plenty of scope for debate such as key individuals, factors etc.
This is a lesson to explain the meanings of Communism and capitalism.
Students decide on the worksheet which of the statements apply to which ideology. Emphasise the different meaning of democracy to higher (and middle) ability students. This leads to a debate and analysis of which system is best, and why they caused problems in European relations. The sheets are differentiated for high, medium and lower abilities.
The powerpoint concentrates on the impact of Communism prior to WWII and can be used to gain a foothold into Hitler. It comes with a link to YouTube embedded which discusses the Spartacist rising in Munich in 1919 and can lead onto a module on Hitler which makes his hatred and German fear of communism more understandable.
The second powerpoint is more relevant if you are teaching a Cold War theme afterwards as it has a cartoon of Churchill and the Iron Curtain. Students can analyse the cartoon and explain its meaning, or why it is hostile to the USSR.
This is a preparation for a debate on whether the Treaty was too harsh or about right as punishment for Germany.
Split the class into half. One half looks at the positives, one the negatives. Give them 5 or so minutes to plan a debate. Swap sides briefly so that they can plan a counter argument.
The debate clan lead to an extended piece of writing.
Year 10 get well into it each year!
This is a diamond 9 card sort to categorise and prioritise the reasons that countries wanted colonies in C19th.
As an extension, you can challenge students to explain the more / less important reasons. There is also further pair of differentiated extensions to suit different abilities.
This can lead to a class discussion.
Categories could include, but not be limited to, economic military, political and other factors.
This is a resource for the new GCSE, although could also be used with KS3. Students put the events in Mary’s life into order. There are differentiate card sorts for core and lower ability students. Answers are on the powerpoint slides.
Students are invited to answer extension questions when they have finished the sorting excersize.
The Youtube link is a run through of Mary’s life, which could be shown either before or after the card sort activity.
This is for GCSE History. Students have three sheets which they can work through.
the powerpoint is slide with definitions of the impotent / undeserving / deserving poor
1. Laws against begging and why they failed - Students match the law to why it failed, and higher ability students can take note of whose reign each was passed in. More able students can answer two extension questions to compare the laws of Henry VIII to Elizabeth.
2. The Act for the Relief of the Poor – 1601 - Students match up which parts of the Poor Law fit to which people. Terms of the poor law are underneath - you may want to cut the sheet in half so that terms and the chart are not together. Refer to the PowerPoint if needed for this. There is an extension question underneath the chart for the more able.
3. Effectiveness of the Poor Law - students colour code or use as a card sort the strengths and weaknesses of the Poor Law. They can consider the biggest strength and greatest weakness, before making an overall judgement on the effectiveness of the Poor Law. The best responses will suggests that whilst the effect was limited, it was a significant step and certainly better than anything attempted before.
This is a resource primarily for GCSE History. Students look through the characters and then match up the descriptions to the relevant character.
Once finished, as extensions they can:
decide which of the characters have similar reasons for supporting the theatre.
decide who has the best reason
answer a question such as this: How does the rise of the theatre reflect the growing – but still small – power of the ordinary people in terms of shaping Tudor life?
This is a card sort / Diamond 9 for GCSE students. Students are invited to categories and prioritise the reasons that Medieval towns had very poor public health.
Students should answer the 2 questions underneath the card sort, and then more able students can attempt the extension questions.
This can lead to discussion / debate or an exam question on the reasons that towns were lacking in public health, or why it needed to improve.
This is a card sorting activity to help students revise the American West for the GCSE.
They are to arrange the 12 dates in chronological order, and then match the events to the dates. I have found that giving them a highlighter for drawing out the key information can be helpful.
There is a differentiated version, for lower ability students, with 6 key dates. The information is less detailed on these as well.
Powerpoint can be used to support learning, as it allows students to reflect on the reasons that the dates are significant for the Indians and the settlers. There are key concepts to jog students’ memory on the powerpoint.
More able students can reflect on these questions as an extension.
Which are the 2 most significant events in:
The settling of the Plains
The destruction of Indian culture?
This is a role play and chronology lesson for KS3, possibly KS4.
Students are assigned a country to play the part of. These are differentiated as resources, but also within each resource: weaker students read about Austria and Serbia, middling students can have Germany and Russia and more able students can have France and Britain. Students are shown the July Crisis unfolding on the powerpoint. They must decide what they would feel, advise or actually do on each of the 6 dates / events shown. There are many opportunities for class discussion through the exercise, as students can be asked what they feel so far, whether they have taken any actions or merely advised one action or other to their allies.
There is a seperate worksheet for students who would not react well to the role play aspect.
As an extension, (more able?) students can explain whether their country triggered war, willingly went to war or were dragged unwillingly to war.
The second activity is a chronology activity to decide what order events happened in as countries slid to war. Students look at 12 events and decide the order in which they happened. This can be done as a card sort or numbering activity. Answers can be shown later on the powerpoint. Students can also be asked whether Franz Ferdinand’s murder simply brought forward a war than was inevitable at some point.