An A-level lesson looking at how Stalin defeated Trotsky in his rise to power. Students will compare the relative strengths of Stalin and Trotsky by completing a set of Top Trumps cards (included in the PowerPoint) in order to evaluate the relative strengths of the two leadership contenders. Students will reach judgements on their strengths in areas such as their positions within the party, their ideology and their ability to position themselves as Lenin’s successor. Ultimately, students will reach judgements on the roles of Stalin and Trotsky in the outcomes, and compare the relative importance of a range of factors. Includes a retrieval task from their previous learning.

An A-level lesson for OCR Y321 focused on the theme of Zionism, Israel and the Palestinian Issue. Students will consider the causes and consequences of the first Intifada by considering the role of Jewish settlements in occupied territories, and the significance of the Intifada for the Palestinian issue. Students will have the opportunity to compare the significance of this event to those they have already studied and begin to consider where the greater turning points are.

An A-level lesson designed for OCR Y321 in which students will consider the factors influencing the successes and failures of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the 1990s. Students will use a card sort to put key events into chronological order to gain an understanding of the narrative. From this students will pick out the factors helping and hindering the peace process. The lesson is linked to the essay stem: ‘Zionism was the most important influence on attempts to resolve the Palestinian issue’ and will prepare how the 1990s supports and challenges this statement. Students are also given the opportunity to bring in their existing knowledge to consider how the factors at play in the 1990s were also apparent in the preceeding events so that they begin to draw comparisons and form a synthesis across the period as a whole.

An A-level lesson in which students will evaluate the extent to which the aims of the Great powers were successfully achieved in the 1991 Gulf War. The lesson links to the first theme of OCR Y321 in which students consider the role of the Great Powers in the Middle East. Students will match the aims of the Great Powers to the methods and impact. Students will reach a judgement on the extent to which America could claim victory from the conflict. This will contribute to students’ ability to understand how successfully the Great Powers achieved their aims in the Middle East for their thematic essays.

An A-level lesson which asks students to consider the causes and the consequences of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The lesson ties to the theme of the roles of the Great Powers, but covers content from other themes also. Students will create a storyboard to understand the sequence of events leading to the invasion, and will then analyse and evaluate the consequences of the invasion in order to prepare themselves for considering turning point question in particular. Students will finish by drawing connections to other conflicts in the gulf region to help with their thematic understanding.

An A-level lesson in which students consider the factors helping and hindering a peaceful settlement between Israel and Egypt. The lesson has been designed to fit within the students’ understanding of the role of the Great Powers in the Middle East, particularly the USA. This lesson does assume that students will have done some reading on the Treaty of Washington prior to the lesson, but this is not essential. Students will use cards to understand the aims and motivations of Egypt, Israel and the USA, and will then consider the barriers to a settlement being reached. Students will reach a judgement on the importance of the US in the settlement.

An A-level lesson for OCR Y321 on the chain of events leading to the nationalisation of the Suez Canal. Students will understand the chronology and the competing aims of the Western powers versus Egypt. Students will complete a chronology card sort and use these to understand the competing aims of Western powers and Egypt surrounding the Suez Canal. Students will explain attempts taken by Nasser to exert Egyptian independence and how they competed with Britain’s attempts to hold on to influence in the region. Students will finish by reaching a judgement on the motivations behind Nasser’s decision to nationalise the Suez Canal.

A thematic double lesson in which students consider how protests have changed over time. Students will consider the causes of protests, specifically economic and political, as well as the methods and response of the authorities. Includes a double lesson carousel in which students will carry out a range of tasks for each time period: medieval, renaissance, industrial and modern. Students will draw conclusions by considering a series of statements about protests and deciding how much they agree with each. This lesson works well as a summary at the end of KS3 where students can consider the periods and the key ideas and concepts from each.

A thematic double lesson in which students consider the nature of power and how it has changed over time. Students will consider key events which were significant in the development of the British political system, such as the Magna Carta, and will weigh up the balance of power at each point by considering the power of the monarchy, parliament and the people. Students will then have the opportunity to evaluate key events in more detail to get a better understanding of how political power was shaped by these events. This lesson works well as a summary to KS3 learning so that students can draw conclusions from what they have been learning.

A lesson designed as an introduction to the suffragettes. Students will consider the problems facing women in the areas of attitudes, education, work and rights, and will gather evidence about these issues. Students will consider how the vote may improve women’s lives in these areas and will reach judgements about the biggest problems facing women in the 19th century. Finally, students will choose from one of two tasks which will require students to apply their understanding of both the problems women faced, and also the reasons why women wanted the vote.

A GCSE lesson on the Cold War in Asia. This lesson focuses on the impact of the events at Kent State University, and links to the impact of the media on public opinion in the USA. Students will carry out a source investigation to work out what happened at Kent State university, and use a video clip to support. To draw this together, students will consider a range of factors influencing public opinion in the US, and will make links between these factors. This will set students up for planning of a write an account question where students will write a ‘step by step’ guide with a focus on chronology and links, as per the requiremetns for 8 mark write an account questions. It concludes with some summary questions using numbered heads for students to reach judgements.

A lesson for GCSE students studying the Vietnam war. Includes exam practice skills including for source questions (AQA 4 mark question) and write an account questions. Students will consider the circumstances under which Nixon decided on Vietnamisation, understanding why other options were not taken. They will create success criteria, so that they are able to analyse the successes and failures of the policy. Finally, with a focus on the write an account question, students will be required to put events into chronological order to form a narrative.

An A-level lesson based around the question: How far do you agree that Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1948 because of pressure from Zionists? Students will use their existing knowledge to examine the role of long term causes such as the mandate and failure of British policy before examining short term causes during and after the Second World War. Students will categorise causes to create three key factors and detail evidence, explain the consequences, and analyse their causal role in the British decision to withdraw.

Two lessons on British policy in WWI. Focus of the lesson is on the depth study on British policy. Students will understand the competing claims to Palestine and the impact of British promises made during WWI to the different groups. Students will also begin to consider the motivations behind British policy in this area and the consequences and problems of these.

A lesson on the effectiveness of the Vietcong when fighting in the Civil War which broke out between North and South Vietnam. Students will gather evidence on four key areas: aims, support, tactics and supplies to understand how effective they were, and then practice adding their explanations as to why this would help the Vietcong. Students will finish by reaching a judgement on which area was the most important in helping them to fight effectively.

An A-level lesson for the OCR Y321 on the Middle East. This lesson is intended to act as an introductory lesson to allow students to gain an overview of some of the key events and therefore provide some contextual knowledge. Students will use the card sort and picture matching activity to produce a timeline of key events, and begin to consider the themes from the course by considering some key questions.

An A-level lesson to prepare students for writing an essay on how Stalin consolidated his power in the Soviet Union. Students will categorise information which clearly demonstrates the links between the different methods Stalin used to strengthen his position. Students will use the precise evidence offered to help them to reach judgements on statements about the importance of different methods in order to guide them towards making strong arguments in their essays which link the factors together.

An A-level lesson in which students assess the role of propaganda in Stalin’s consolidation of power. Students will consider the images of Stalin presented in propaganda, and its role in helping Stalin to consolidate his power. Having already studied economic policies and terror, students will draw links between propaganda and these other methods of consolidating power, to show how they are used in conjunction to strengthen Stalin’s position.

An A-level lesson in which students will explain, evaluate and analyse the effectiveness of Stalin’s purges. Students will consider the post-Kirov purges, purges of party, army and people and will complete a chart in which they use the necessary skills for effective essay writing by adding their analysis and evaluation of each different purge. Students will be able to draw conclusions about the importance and effectiveness of the purges for Stalin’s consolidation of power.

An A-level lesson in which students will compare the successes of the First and Second FYPs. The lesson is based on students having already studied the first FYP. Includes paired work in which students construct lists of similarities and differences, and group work in which students interrogate statements about the relative successes of the plans and must reach an informed and substantiated judgement.