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 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
The aim of this lesson is to determine why the Essex rebellion was different to the previous threats Elizabeth faced in her reign.
Students learn about Essex’s life and the reasons for him turning on Elizabeth in his failed attempt to ‘protect’ her from Robert Cecil.
Using differentiated materials and video evidence, they can either create a factfile on Essex or colour code information on his life focusing on different themes of importance.
They then plan and write a significance GCSE question, using the suggested skills and tricks of answering a significance question as opposed to writing a narrative account of his life.
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 English Civil War
This lesson aims to analyse the personality of King Charles and questions how and why this might have implications for his reign.
Following in his father’s footsteps, his vanity and obsession with the Divine Right of Kings are major causes of concern for those in Parliament.
Students learn about his fragility in his younger life to eventual arrogance as he became King and will link a number of reasons together as to why this was to lead to Civil War.
Video footage and sourcework are used to gather the evidence and the students will have to think outside the box to understand his motives and actions and link ideas together.
The plenary is a literacy challenge to help evaluate his personality using key words 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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The lesson introduced the concept of slavery and how it has been active throughout the centuries.
Students have to categorise the reasons why the transatlantic slave trade was justified by many of our contemporaries and evaluate the most important reasons for their views through differentiated tasks.
They also analyse a number of sources about slavery from the Ancient Egyptians through to the present day and reveal their findings in a summarisation pyramid.
The lesson is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
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 French Revolution
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the events of the Storming of the Bastille and the subsequent significance of the Flight to Varennes
Students learn through key questioning and some text analysis how and why the Bastille was attacked. There are some brilliant video links to accompany this.
They will then be required, using a storyboard, to decipher what happened next and explain how these events led to a new France.
They will also learn how Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted to escape to the border and using a cauldron of significance, evaluate which key ingredients ultimately led to their recapture and eventual execution.
The Octagon plenary allows the students to summarise what they have learnt in the lesson, from sights and sounds to numbers and actions for example.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, differentiated materials, suggested teaching and learning strategies 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.
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.
Cold War
The aim of this lesson is to understand the causes behind the building of the Berlin Wall and the consequences for Berliners.
Students analyse the differences between life on the East and West sides of Berlin to understand why thousands of Germans continued to cross the border to make a better life in West Berlin.
The second part of the lesson focuses on the building of the wall, using statistics, graffiti art and the personal account of Conrad Shuman in a thinking quilt to develop further understanding and evaluate its significance in the context of the Cold War.
The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.
The British Empire
The aims of the lesson are to decide who were the main beneficiaries of British rule in India.
The opening slides introduce the views of modern historians to those at the time such as Cecil Rhodes, with a video link setting the scene for British rule in India and a thinking quilt to challenge students.
Throughout, students are encouraged to gather and analyse the evidence to make their own judgements and conclusions.
There are some beneficial aspects to British rule shown such as the building of railways, the provision of education and the introduction of law and order in the country. A focus on Mumbai’s railway station facade and its network cites the legacy of Empire as well.
But at the same time a lack of sympathy for traditional customs and religious beliefs, an inadequacy of Indian officials in Government and the promotion of British wealth and power above all else will give students a lot of conflictory evidence.
In the plenary, students will rate how beneficial an Empress Queen Victoria actually was for bringing India under direct British control.
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 lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
The Holocaust
The aims of this lesson are to explain who was put on trial at Nuremberg, the crimes they were charged with and their category of criminality ranging from major offenders to followers.
Students begin by learning about Denazification and how this was implemented immediately after the war, before Cold War tensions took over. They also learn why Nuremberg was chosen as the place for the trials.
The main task requires them to analyse up to 8 individuals and how they ‘conducted’ themselves during World War II. Students then have to decide which of the four war crimes they committed and which category of prisoner they would come under.
They also have to judge whether their sentences would be death by shooting, hanging or a prison sentence. The verdicts are given later in the Powerpoint so students can check and compare their answers.
There is an accompanying video task which looks at Nuremberg 75 years on, with some brilliant footage of holocaust survivors and the son of Hans Frank, the Butcher of Poland.
The central enquiry of this and the other lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust?
Students map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe.
The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.
Why was the slave trade finally abolished in Britain and her Empire and why did it take so long to achieve?
Why were arguments in the eighteenth century challenged so rigorously and overturned in the nineteenth?
Which people inspired its abolition and who was against this?
Students decide which arguments were being put forward to the plantation owners, racists, people who were ignorant and law makers to end the slave trade.
They then prioritise the most important arguments in challenging these peoples’ staunch perceptions.
The second part of the lesson is a case study of William Wilberforce. Through video, audio and source work, students build up a history of the great man and decide how and why he is significant (this is a differentiated task dependent upon ability).
The final part of the lesson uses an interactive spinning wheel with key words used throughout the course, which the students have to define and explain their links to slavery.
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.
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.
I am currently completing further lessons for the course. The second bundle, The collapse of democracy, 1928-33 can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-collapse-of-democracy-1928-1933-13046790
Further resources will appear on TES shortly.
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.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign.
The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this.
This fourth lesson looks at the significance of marriage for Elizabeth and the subsequent problems it caused her throughout her reign.
There are retrieval practice activities to start the lesson including an odd one out task and ‘splatting’ the board to choose the correct answers.
Students are introduced to the criteria for why Elizabeth should marry and then check the criteria against the possible suitors, thus coming to a conclusion about the best candidate.
There is also a GCSE practice question to answer. There are sentence starters provided for differentiation and the lesson comes complete with fun activities and video footage.
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.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of this lesson is to determine how much of an impact the Renaissance had on Medicine.
Students study and analyse Vesalius, Pare and Harvey with their individual specialisms and contributions at the time of the Renaissance.
They then have to decide who has made the most important contribution to medicine and justify their decisions thinking about short, medium and long term significance.
Opposition to all three is evaluated as students decide who was being criticised and why.
There is a brilliant video link to bbc teach as well as learning activities to check understanding.
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.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to examine the role of the two leaders of the Mormons; Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and the story of the Mormon migration West to Salt Lake City.
Students learn the teachings of the Mormons and how isolationist the movement became in the face of so much hostility and persecution.
Students have a choice of tasks using key questions or a story board to plot the life of Young and then annotate some text to analyse the leadership qualities of Brigham Young.
They also complete a prioritisation activity as well as a planning thinking quilt of Brigham Young to ascertain his successful migration west.
There is some GCSE exam question practice on the ‘importance’ question, with help if required and a noughts and crosses quiz at the end to reinforce the learning of the lesson.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice is also included.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format is there is a wish to adapt or change.
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
This lesson focuses on the change in policy towards the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.
Students have to put events into chronological order and understand why the beginning of World War II changed everything.
Students also learn about the Wannsee Conference and the experimental attempts by the Nazis to murder the Jews in Europe from shooting to mobile gas vans before deciding upon the use of Zyklon B crystals.
Using numbers and figures they also discover the sheer scale of the atrocities involved in this genocide and what happened in the concentration camps.
There are some excellent links to video evidence to accompany the lesson, which are suitable to show.
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 Tudors
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the role the Black Tudors played in Tudor society.
Students are given the context of the Tudor times, where they use some source scholarship and questioning to decide how and why Black Tudors came to Britain.
Students then have to ascertain which roles and forms of employment they had using a dual coding activity to decipher them.
There are video links included as well as a thinking quilt, which is designed to challenge concepts and judge the value and importance of their impact upon Tudor England.
The main task is some research which requires students to analyse five Black Tudors in some differentiated Case Studies.
The plenary concludes by checking what they have learnt in the lesson using an odd one out activity or by linking symbols and images used throughout the lesson.
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, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCE A Level Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
The Collapse of Democracy 1928-1933
I have produced this bundle of resources on the collapse of democracy in Germany 1928-1933 to help A Level students gain a deeper understanding of Germany’s past and the collapse of democracy.
The enquiry question throughout these lessons will be to evaluate how unstable Germany was, politically, socially and economically.
Students will learn how the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the Depression a profound effect on the stability of the Weimar Republic and the significance of the rise of extremism as a direct consequence.
They will also learn about the appeal of Communism as well as Nazism and how electoral support for them changed throughout the early 1930s.
Students will evaluate backstairs intrigue as a succession of Chancellors failed to gain the support needed to effectively rule the country and how Hitler manipulated those around him to be appointed Chancellor in 1933.
Finally students will analyse Hitler’s first Cabinet, the significance of the Reichstag Fire and how democracy ceased to exit as Nazis began to create a one party state.
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 The Wall Street Crash and Great Depression
L2 The Collapse of the Grand Coalition
L3 The appeal of Nazis
L4 The appeal of Communism
L5 Papen’s Cabinet of Barons
L6 General Schleicher and backstairs intrigue
L7 Hitler’s first cabinet (free resource)
L8 The use of terror in 1933
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.
Democracy and Nazi Germany Part 3 resources can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/democracy-and-nazi-germany-a-level-bundl-part-3-13059603
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 British Empire
This lesson aims to question whether Britain was in India for the right reasons.
The subject matter is the East India Company and a study of how it slowly took over the country of India taking with it a precious diamond and making a fortune out of its trade. There are some great video links used here from the BBC and Dan Snow which help bring reasoning and clarity.
Students are asked if we should return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India, the jewel in the British crown, after analysing some important evidence.
Students are also given key words to help them with their arguments as to whether the diamond should be returned to India or not.
The final activity focuses on the legacy of the East India Company and who benefitted from their rule before the company’s eventual collapse.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, 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 of who benefitted from the Empire 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.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is analyse how Henry ruled the country through his government and to make comparisons to how the country is ruled today.
Students are given information on Henry’s government, including his relationship with Parliament and the controversial Council Learned and his use of Justices of the Peace.
To check their understanding, students undertake a quiz with 150 points up for grabs to give it a competitive edge!
A final odd one out activity uses some retrieval practice from the lesson.
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 and retrieval practice activities.
This is the complete bundle in a series of lessons I have created for AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c.1000-present.
I have taught this course for more than 20 years now and have decided to completely overhaul my lessons to bring them up to date with the latest teaching and learning ideas I have picked up and with a focus on the new 9-1 GCSE.
Furthermore I have dispensed with learning objectives to focus on specific enquiry based questions which address skills required for the GCSE questions.
As well as focusing on GCSE exam practice questions, the lessons are all differentiated and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades. They are also fully resourced and contain easy to print worksheets.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the periods studied from the impact of Hippocrates and Galen on medieval medicine to the new ideas of the Renaissance, the laissez-faire approach of preceding Governments through to modern day Government and the nanny state.
They will study (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in the development of ideas about disease as well as the causes and consequences of medical treatment throughout the ages
The analysis and evaluation of sources (AO3) are used in for example, surgery, Public Health and the introduction of the NHS whilst substantiated judgements are made (AO4) on the discovery and development of penicillin, the development of the welfare state and the influence of the seven factors in medicine.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 An introduction to the course
L2 Hippocrates and Galen
L3 The influence of the Christian Church
L4 Islamic Medicine (free resource)
L5 Doctors and surgeons in the Middle Ages
L6 Public Health in the Medieval towns
L7 The Black Death and the Plague
L8 Renaissance Medicine
L9 Medicine in the 17th and 18th Century (free resource)
L10 John Hunter
L11 Edward Jenner and smallpox
L12 Surgery in the 19th Century
L13 Florence Nightingale and hospitals
L14 Pasteur, Koch and Tyndall
L15 Public Health in the 19th Century
L16 Liberal Reforms
L17 Medicine and war (free resource)
L18 Magic Bullets and the Pharmaceutical Industry
L19 Penicillin
L20 The NHS
L21 How to answer the factor question
Please note that setting a full mock examination in class after completing each unit is strongly recommended (L1-7, L8-15 and L16-21).
All the examination resources and markschemes are subject to copyright but can easily be found on the AQA website.
Unfortunately TES restrict bundles to 20 lessons and therefore please download Lesson 17 separately, which is a free resource.
The aims of this bundle are to investigate the causes of the French Revolution, how it changed the lives of French people and its consequences for Europe and the Wider World with the rise of Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars.
I have also created and used these lessons to challenge and engage students and to show how much fun learning about this part of European history really is.
By studying this unit, pupils will be able to make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within this period of history by using an enquiry based question throughout all the lessons.
Students will learn and understand key historical skills throughout such as the change and continuity of the Government of France in the Eighteenth Century, the causes and consequences of the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and the similarities and differences of absolute monarchs such as Louis XVI of France, and Frederick the Great of Prussia in comparison to George III of Britain.
They will also learn about the significance of the Tennis Court Oath, the Storming of the Bastille, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as different interpretations of Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre.
Finally they will create relevant, structured and evidentially supported accounts in response to claims that the Terror was justified, Britain had every reason to fear Napoleon or that Louis XVI deserved to be executed.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction to the French Revolution
L2 The French Monarchy
L3 The Three Estates
L4 Louis XVI financial problems
L5 Tennis Court Oath
L6 Storming of the Bastille
L7 Execution of King Louis XVI
L8 The reign of Terror
L9 Maximilien Robespierre (free resource)
L10 Support for the French Revolution
L11 Napoleon Bonaparte
L12 Napoleonic Wars
L13 Legacy of the French Revolution (free resource)
All the lessons come with retrieval practice activities, differentiated materials, suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
They are fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
I would highly recommend assessing students at the tend of this unit of study, using GCSE style questions from your chosen exam board.
If you have any questions about this unit, please do not hesitate to contact me via my shop for further information.
