The aim of the lesson is for the students to actively investigate the passive world around them. They will look at the current climate around equality and make a reasoned judgment on whether a statue should be removed or not. It is useful as a stand-alone lesson on current affairs , as part of a scheme of work on Civil Rights, slavery or the British Empire . Lesson Outline The lesson begins with the image of Edward Colston’s statue being thrown into the water with questions to start the students thinking about the event. The lesson moves on to why are statues built in the first place, to help them actively engage with the concept, rather than passively accept they are just ‘something that is there’. Students are then asked to think about some of the world’s most famous statues and asked for their opinions on them. The lesson moves on to a discussion on the Edward Colston statue. With students shown a picture and video of the event and asked to reflect on what happened and hypothesise on the cause. Next is an investigation into Edward Colston himself, students are given one side of the argument and come up with an opinion on his statue, then given the other, with reasoned debate sparked in the class. Students are then given a quote from the Bible to reflect on and think about how it applies to the lesson. An investigation will then take place into four famous figures that have statues in London: Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Mahatama Gandhi, and Winston Churchill. Students are given information on each of the four to read. They will decide whether or not their statue should be removed. This part of the lesson can be done with the students working individually or in pairs with the print-out included in this lesson, or as a class, one-by-one with the PowerPoint. After coming up with an answer for each, the teacher can ask the class their opinions on each of the statues. Why or why not the statue should be removed. This is a fully resourced lesson including a PowerPoint and Word handouts.

This lesson asks the question 'Were the Mujahadeen ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘terrorists’? The lesson uses Cold War movies such as Rocky IV and Rambo III to show how the US framed the Mujahadeen. Student then investigate, was that accurate? (This lesson has a lot of content and could be split over two lessons). This lesson is useful as a stand-alone lesson on the Soviet-Afghan War, on propaganda, media, or as part of a greater Cold War scheme of work. Lesson begins with Cold War retrieval practice questions. Key words are explicitly taught with the focus of the lesson being put in the students’ minds. Students will then investigate the key question with an analysis of Rocky IV and Rambo III, making a judgment on how the Americans portrayed both the Mujahadeen and the Soviets. Students will then research the war itself, this can be done as a teacher-led activity, individually or as group work. Using the information the students have put together, they will make a reasoned judgment in an extended writing task. Some key words and phrases from the lesson: Cold War, proxy war, Mujahadeen, terrorist, freedom fighter, bias, propaganda, communism This is a fully resourced lesson including a PowerPoint with videos embedded.

This lesson works perfectly to introduce chronology with Year 7 and sets the students up for the rest of their History adventure be it 3, 5 or 7! This is a full lesson and comes with my students’ seal of approval. Introduction: Start with a game, get the students straight into thinking and talking about history Literacy: Directly teach the key words, with a visual example Historiography: Introduce the students to timelines, with them guessing what happened at the two yers Main task: Students are given a series of events (from across the KS3 and 4 curriculum), they then work together to put them in chronological order. Explanation: Full screen pictures for each event, with year and the name of the event for students to self-check their timeline. Time for teacher insight into each event and to ask class for their ideas. Historiography: Students then draw their own timeline - can add the pictures with each event. (Grid with pictures of events is included in the PowerPoint) Wonder: Students then write about which of these events they most want to learn about and why. Useful exercise for finding out what your students want to learn! I always enjoy delivering this lesson, and I hope you will, too!