I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of the lesson is for students to understand how attitudes towards Public Health finally changed in the Twentieth Century with a ‘new liberalism’ approach which recognised that being poor was not always the fault of the poor and that the government had to do something.
Students begin by analysing the source, 'unqualified assistance’, evaluating its significance and then prioritising the main reasons for this new approach, as the Government reforms aimed to create a fitter and healthier Britain.
Students have to fill in a grid which link the main reforms to the different groups in society and also evaluate the limitations of the reforms.
The plenary focuses on a scrabble game and literacy skills to recap the learning of the lesson
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate if Mary’s religious changes helped or hindered the return to Catholicism in England.
Students begin by recapping on Mary’s key people and her possible thought processes on a return to Roman Catholicism.
They will also learn her views on religion and discuss to what extent Mary was prepared to go to reassert the Pope’s authority over the Church.
Students are also given a number of scenarios from which they have to assess the consequences to possible actions taken by Mary and her government such as the repatriation of monastic lands.
The final learning task requires some decisions to be made over if Mary used a successful carrot or stick policy and the obstacles facing her for a full return to Rome.
There is some exam question practice to finish, complete with a writing frame and markscheme to help if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
This bundle follows the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum - the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745.
I have designed the lessons to be challenging and engaging as well as fun and enjoyable.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand how peoples’ lives were shaped by the Tudors from Henry VII to Mary I, how they changed the course of British history and why we are still fascinated by their lives today.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout; for example, the concepts of continuity and change under Henry VII after the Wars of the Roses, recognising the causes and consequences of Henry’s break with Rome, explaining the similarities and differences in the reigns of the Tudors, analysing the significance of the Black Tudors and Edward VI as well as evaluating sources and interpretations, such as the reputation of Mary 1.
The 12 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The War of the Roses
L2 An introduction to the Tudors (free lesson)
L3 Henry VII
L4 Henry VIII introduction
L5 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for love?
L6 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for faith?
L7 Did Henry VIII break with Rome for money?
L8 The dissolution of the monasteries
L9 The sinking of the Mary Rose
L10 Edward VI
L11 Bloody Mary
L12 Black Tudors
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit. I have included a free lesson to give an idea of what is being offered.
Although this bundle is aimed at Key Stage 3, it is ideal if you are studying the Tudors for GCSE as it covers the main themes, concepts and skills required.
I have created a set of resources for ‘the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ which focus on Civil Rights in America.
The aims of this bundle are to understand how black people were treated in the USA in the Twentieth Century and how they began to fight for their civil rights.
I have created, readapted and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the continuity and change in the rights of black people in the USA, the causes consequences of the Civil Rights movement which followed, the similarities and differences of the tactics used, the significance of key figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and various interpretations about how far black people have achieved equality today.
Each lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are fully adaptable and can be changed to suit.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Abraham Lincoln
L2 Jim Crow Laws
L3 Little Rock Nine
L4 Emmett Till
L5 Rosa Parks
L6 Protesting
L7 Martin Luther King
L8 Malcolm X
L9 Ku Klux Klan
L10 Jesse Owens
L10 Civil Rights in America today
L12 Black people in the American Civil War (bonus lesson)
With the National Curriculum in mind, I have created a set of resources for ‘the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ which focus on the First World War and the Peace Settlement.
The aims of this bundle are to know and understand how frightening World War 1 was from its inception with the alliance system and the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand to the battlefields on the Western Front and how industrialisation changed the fighting into a static war of attrition.
I have created , readapted and used these lessons to challenge and engage students, but also to show how much fun learning about this part of history really is.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the continuity and change in the recruitment of men for Kitchener’s army, the causes of the war and the consequences which followed, the similarities and differences of the weapons used on the battlefields, the significance of women on the Home Front and Empire soldiers in the trenches and interpretations about whether it is fair to call Field Marshall Haig as the ‘Butcher of the Somme.’
Each lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and debate from the BBC and other sources. The lessons are fully adaptable and can be changed to suit.
The 14 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The long term causes of WWI
L2 The short term causes of WWI
L3 Recruitment in WWI
L4 Why build trenches?
L5 Was life in the trenches all bad?
L6 Is it fair to call Haig ‘the Butcher of the Somme’?
L7 Cowardice in WWI
L8 War in the Air
L9 Weapons of WWI
L10 The role of women in WWI
L11 Conscientious Objectors
L12 The end of WWI and the Armistice
L13 The Treaty of Versailles
L14 Empire Soldiers
Key Word Literacy Display included
All the resources come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lessons also include differentiated materials and suggested teaching strategies.
AQA GCE A Level Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
The Weimar Republic 1918-1928
I have produced this bundle of resources on Weimar Germany 1918-1928 to help A Level students access the course and help them to gain a deeper understanding of Germany’s past through political, social, economic and cultural perspectives.
The enquiry question throughout these lessons will be to question how weak or strong Germany was politically, economically or socially.
Students will learn how the impact of war had a profound effect on the establishment of the Weimar Republic and the significance and consequences of the Peace Settlement.
They will also learn about political instability, with extremism from the left and right, the problems of coalition government and the state of the Republic by 1923 with the invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation.
Finally students will assess the issues facing Germany from 1924 and the role of individuals such as Stresemann and his impact on the Golden Age of Germany in his domestic and foreign policy.
The resources provided include detailed lesson plans, case studies, source documents for analysis, chronological tasks and exam practice questions with comprehensive mark schemes.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction and pre-war Germany
L2 Political crisis of 1918
L3 The German Revolution
L4 The Weimar Constitution
L5 Treaty of Versailles
L6 Hyperinflation
L7 Invasion of the Ruhr (free resource)
L8 Political instability and extremism
L9 100 Days of Stresemann
L10 Economic miracles
L11 Weimar Women
L12 Weimar Youth
L13 Jewish people in Weimar
L14 Weimar Culture
L15 Weimar Politics, 1924-8
L16 Germany’s international position
The lessons include the two types of exam question used, with examples of how to tackle them, using model answers, helpful hints and tips, structuring and scaffolding as well as markschemes. However, please refer to the AQA website for further assessment materials as they are subject to copyright.
The lessons are also differentiated and fully resourced and allow students to reach the very top marks.
If you purchase all 4 bundles, then please email me for a copy of a free Revision Guide for the course worth £10.99, which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13120888
If you have any questions about the lessons, please email me via my TES shop, or any other information about the course. I would also welcome any reviews, which would be gratefully appreciated.
The Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to understand why Henry VIII is always judged to be larger than life.
It focuses on four portraits of Henry VIII from the early years until his death.
Students will aim to write a descriptive piece about Henry by using each other to write it.
When they finish, they will have a masterful descriptive paragraph which has been co-constructed by a number of them (with help from a word list). This activity is great for differentiation and team work.
The lesson also attempts to banish the perception that Henry was always a large person who ate a lot. This is shown through video evidence and a thinking quilt.
The plenary gets the students to summarise Henry’s match statistics and what he ‘should’ be remembered for.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
World War II
This lesson aims to evaluate if the evacuation of Dunkirk was a success or failure.
By the end of the lesson, students will have made up their own minds and be able to give their own interpretations of the events of May 1940.
Using video and film footage of the time as well recent accounts from veterans, students will be able to recognise and understand why there is a difference between contemporary and modern versions of the evacuation.
They will also study a range of sources both visual and written and then judge which were most accurate and why, again focusing on contemporary as well as modern day accounts.
In conclusion, they will write up their findings in an extended written task.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to discover why the Elizabethan Poor Law was introduced and to assess its impact on Elizabethan society and beyond.
Students first of all have to analyse the causes of poverty and prioritise which has been the main reason for its increase whether that be the actions of local landowners and Henry VIII in his break with Rome or the debasement of the coinage.
They are also required to write to the local landowner, using suggested key argument words, to express their sympathy for the poor which was in sort supply in the Elizabethan era.
As well as source analysis, students learn the so called tricks of the trade for begging and how Tudor propaganda shaped these negative views of the poor.
Students subsequently have to assess the details of the new Elizabethan Poor Law, the reasons for a change in attitude towards the poor and assess its significance and impact upon society as a whole.
The final task is to talk like an historian and answer the questions in a quiz picking up points for the harder questions.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The aim of this lesson is to explore how historians find out about the past using historical sources.
Students are firstly questioned about how we can find out about Castles or Roman artefacts for example with usually some interesting replies.
They then have to study four historical sources with differentiated questioning to help decipher and discover their provenance.
There is an extended writing task to complete with their new found knowledge, with help and prompts given if required.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The aim of this lesson is to decide who rules in Medieval England - the Crown or the people?
As the lesson unfolds the overriding question becomes more challenging; in the short term the Peasants’ Revolt ultimately failed but the consequences in the longer term for the people were much more positive.
The scene is set with each student taking on the role on a peasant and spokesperson for their village. They complete a grid sheet throughout the first part of this lesson to clarify their significance in the village.
As the demands of the King become ever more unacceptable, they have to make choices, using a quiz to choose the correct actions to take, gaining or losing points in the process. This can be completed as a class or independently.
The second part of the lesson examines what happened to Wat Tyler – piecing together evidence from the King’s supporters at the time.
Ultimately they will write a narrative account of the Peasants’ Revolt using differentiated tasks which give guidance and help if required.
They continue to plot the power struggle between the king, the church, the barons and the people on a graph in a sequence of lessons.
This lesson includes:
Fun, engaging and challenging tasks
Links to video footage
Printable worksheets
Differentiated tasks
Suggested teaching strategies
Homework ideas
PowerPoint format, which can be changed to suit
The British Empire
The aim of this lesson is to discover who the Zulus were and how and why their fighting left a lasting legacy on the British Empire.
Students will also find out why the British army, allegedly the best and most disciplined fighting force in the world at the time be defeated and humiliated at the Battle of Isandlwana?
They will also analyse how within hours they were heroically defending their lives at Rourke’s Drift in one of the most unlikely ‘victories’ in British military history.
Students evaluate both battles, creating headlines and writing articles, using argument words and second and third tier vocabulary.
They finally appraise the events of 1879, concluding how both battles should be viewed overall in history and their legacy.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies, differentiated materials and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
World War II
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the reasons behind Hitler’s invasion of Poland and to evaluate if his actions were justified.
Within this lesson, students learn about Blitzkrieg, making comparisons with the static and attritional First World War and understanding how the German Army had learnt from their previous mistakes.
Students have to also complete a thinking quilt to test their comprehension and literacy skills as it requires them to explain and justify these initial German successes in 1939 and 1940.
The plenary finally asks the students to predict what is about to happen in the future through conjecture and formulation their opinions using the information from the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate how Protestant the country had become by 1547.
Students are required to estimate from the start which percentage they think the country had changed its religion, before they study the evidence and give their final evaluations and conclusions.
The evidence ranges from the Reformation Parliament, the Ten and Six Articles, Royal Injunctions, changes in doctrine, the influence of his wives as well as humanism.
The plenary focuses on a describe, explain, list, correct and erase activity.
There is some exam practice to also complete, together with a planning sheet, some focused help and a markscheme supplied.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess and judge the strength of the economy under Henry VIII.
Students begin by recapping Henry VII and the measures he undertook to deal with a changing economy.
This is then compared to Henry VIII as the students have to test the judgement made by John Guy who said England was ‘economically healthier, more expansive and more optimistic at any time since the Roman occupation’.
Students are also required to give an efficient rating on Henry VIII’s policy on the economy and explain if he could have been more efficient (as with a household energy rating).
The plenary asks students to expand their explanations, which is a brilliant idea taken from @MrFitzHistory
There is some exam practice to complete with a supplied writing frame and markscheme to use if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the role Henry VIII played in Europe and if he did indeed play third fiddle throughout.
Students begin the lesson by recapping Henry VII’s foreign policy and are also introduced to the new players in Europe in their respective countries.
They are given numerous facts and scenarios where Wolsey and Henry attempt to assert their authority and political craft in Europe, from which students decide how effective and far reaching their policies were.
They will be required to justify their decisions at the end and ultimately decide if they were major players in Europe or just pawns of France and Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor.
The plenary analyses an extract, from which students use their newly acquired knowledge to test its judgement.
There is some exam practice to complete with writing frame and markscheme to use if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The Industrial Revolution
This lesson aims to describe and explain the conditions of Victorian prisons through the eyes of a young person awaiting trial.
Students learn how a poor diet, pointless tasks and a payment system for every amenity meant a miserable existence for inmates.
So why did things begin to improve? How did key prison reformers change attitudes and make the government of the day reform the prisons?
These questions and more will explored through prose, quizzes, video links and knockout tournament competitions to see and judge how far the prison reforms went and how effective they were.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the impact upon Europe with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Students begin by recapping key facts about the Wall and how citizens of East Germany could travel to the west through Austria.
They will learn how the fall and destruction of the wall came about an given significance ratings to ten consequences, which students can use to complete an extended writing task.
There are some excellent video links to watch as well as images to decipher during the lesson.
A GCSE question tackling the importance of the fall of the wall can be completed at the end of the lesson with help and a writing frame provided.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout this and subsequent lessons to show the progress of learning.
The lessons in this bundle are therefore linked together to build up a picture of how diplomacy, propaganda and spying led two Superpowers with opposing political ideologies to create tensions, rivalries and distrust as well as subsequently forming mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated material and GCSE question practice.
It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The British Empire
The aim of the lesson is to assess the importance of apartheid in South Africa both politically and economically.
The lesson begins by giving the context of South Africa being part of the British Empire and it move toward independence and the introduction of apartheid.
Students have a quiz to complete as well as source scholarship on its introduction in 1948.
They also evaluate the restrictions it imposed on the non white population of South Africa, where they are required to give their opinions on it as well as the significance at the time, overtime and nowadays.
The lesson also focuses on the impact of the ANC and Nelson Mandela’s contribution to a modern South Africa and the part he played in ending apartheid.
There are some excellent video links to his life and work as well as the Soweto uprising of 1976.
The lesson concludes with a diamond nine activity to prioritise the main reasons why apartheid came to an end.
The lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
The aim of the lesson is to question if Japan was justified in attacking Pearl Harbour without a declaration of war against the United States.
This question is revisited later in the lesson to see if the students have changed their minds.
As this is a new theatre of war and not in Europe, the lesson sets out clearly where the war was fought in the Pacific, the location of Pearl Harbour and its significance to the USA.
Students are required to discover what Japan wanted and the reasons behind their surprise attack with a choice of options available to piece the jigsaw together.
An excellent activity of Pearl Harbour in numbers, which is an idea from KNNTeach, enables students to clearly recognise the initial damage done to Pearl Harbour by the Japanese attack.
There are video links to film footage as well as a plenary activity from which the students have to make up questions to the answers given on post it notes.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format is there is a wish to change and adapt.
