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.
Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the terms of the Treay of Versailles and its impact upon Weimar Germany.
From the start, students have to understand how difficult it was for the Allies (the Big Three) to decide how to treat Germany at the end of the war.
Moreover when they did eventually agree, how did it affect Germany and what were it terms?
The emphasis is also on how students can remember the terms of the treaty, especially with the land lost, complete with difficult spellings such as Schleswig-Holstein and Alsace-Lorraine.
Learning tasks include making notes from video evidence, creating a chatterbox, analysing sources, completing quizzes and filling in a ‘find someone who can’ worksheet (a brilliant idea from Aaron Wilkes).
The second part of the lesson focuses on GCSE exam practice using cartoon sources related to the Treaty as well as how to answer the first three source questions on the exam, with help on how to answer each.
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.
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.
**AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c.1000 to present **
This lesson aims to find out why the public health in Medieval towns was so poor.
Some local councils tried their best, but the laissez-faire attitude of many including the government of the day proved a major hindrance.
Students have to decide the most important issues, both short and long term, causing the poor public health conditions by putting and prioritising the main ‘ingredients’ on shelves ready to put into a cauldron.
There are some fabulous links to video footage as well as a true or false quiz and a game of noughts and crosses to finish.
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 aim of this lesson is to analyse and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies in 1066.
There are differentiated questions and worksheets for the students to answer before they make their conclusions as to whose army was the best using some argument words to base their decisions upon.
The worksheets include information and visual images to aid the students and are easy to print off for individual or group work.
A guess who plenary tests their recall knowledge from the lesson.
The resource is therefore differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth asserted her authority and control in the second half of her reign.
This lesson aims to explain how the Spanish planning of the Armada was flawed from the start.
An analysis of the Commanders involved shows a plethora of mistakes made and how Philip decided to combine the plans of Santa Cruz and the Duke of Palma to placate the two and massage his ego as a superior naval commander.
The deteriorating relationship between Philip and Elizabeth is analysed and compared to a pressure cooker – students have to decide which events manipulated Philip’s anger between simmering, boiling and exploding.
A thinking quilt aims to challenge assumptions and evaluate the major weaknesses of these Spanish plans and their impact on overall victory.
The final challenge is to sort out the bodged names and key words used in 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, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
Cold War
The aim of this lesson is to explore the moon landings and the subsequent conspiracy theories which suggest it was faked and not real at all.
Students have to decide why it was so important for the USA to be the first to put a man on the moon and prioritise their reasoning using their knowledge of the Cold War.
They analyse footage from the time and are introduced to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to emphasise this audacious achievement in 1969.
However they also analyse sources from the time and different interpretations making their own sustained judgements as to whether the moon landings were fake or fiction.
They finish with writing an extended piece on the evidence they have selected and are given some argument words to help if required.
The plenary required them to judge if further facts are fake or authentic news.
The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives during the Cold War? 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.
World War II
The aim of this lesson is to question whether the breaking of the Enigma Code led to Britain winning the Second World War.
Having watched the ‘Imitation Game’, I was fascinated to learn more about the story of Alan Turing and the injustice he received at the hands of the British Government.
I was therefore inspired to write this lesson for my department especially after his contribution to the war effort and his brilliance of mind.
The first task naturally is for students to crack the code and find out what they will be learning about in the lesson.
They will also learn about the significance of Bletchley Park and how the code for the Enigma Machine was deciphered by Turing and his team in Hut 8, using a missing word activity.
A thinking quilt will also test and challenge their understanding of his early life, his work during the war as well as his legacy.
There are some excellent video links using the bbc website and an exert from the film above.
The plenary will finally test their understanding of the lesson, using a true and false quiz as well as images to link to the key ideas of 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 analyse how Henry used propaganda to cement his hold on power.
Students are given a number of sources to analyse from which they have to identify the type of propaganda used, the messages given, the target audience and how effective it really was for Henry VII.
The plenary required students to link numbers to what they have learned in the lesson.
There is an exam practice question to complete. Help is given here with a planning sheet, suggested topics to focus on if required and a generic markscheme.
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 as well as a number of tasks for some retrieval practice.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is for students to assess the significance of Brittany to Britain’s national security under Henry VII.
Students use the information provided to also explore Henry’s relationship with France and judge if his foreign policy was a success with his political machinations with Charles VIII.
There is also some exam practice to complete, using extracts to evaluate the aims of the lesson and judge Henry’s success in foreign relations with France.
Help is also given to the students if required on how to structure an answer, using some scaffolding, helpful hints and a generic markscheme supplied.
There is an enquiry question posed and revisited 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
I have produced this bundle of resources on Henry VIII to help A level history students access the course and make some of the ideas, themes and concepts of the Tudors more accessible.
Henry VIII was a larger than life character who has left a long lasting legacy on our history
Therefore the enquiry question throughout this bundle of resources will be to question how strong and successful Henry was during his reign.
Students will learn how effectively Henry ruled England and how government evolved and the use of Parliament changed during his reign.
They will assess his character and personality and question and evaluate his decision making.
They will judge the significance of individuals in his reign such as Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell as well as economic development.
Students will look at his aims in foreign policy and question how successful he was in his pursuit of military glory under Wolsey and beyond or whether he just played third fiddle in Europe.
Finally they will learn about the political, social, economic and religious upheaval caused by his divorce and the break with Rome.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction
L2 Aims of Henry VIII
L3 Henry VIII and Government
L4 Catherine of Aragon
L5 Rise of Wolsey
L6 Interpretations of Wolsey
L7 Downfall of Wolsey
L8 King’s Great Matter
L9 Break with Rome
L10 Henry VIII & Humanism
L11 Rise of Cromwell
L12 Pilgrimage of Grace
L13 Dissolution of the Monasteries
L14 How Protestant was England by 1547?
L15 Foreign Policy under Wolsey
L16 Henry VIII Foreign Policy 1529-1547
L17 Henry VIII and Society
L18 Henry VIII and the Economy
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.
This is the second of four bundles I have created for the Tudors A Level history course.
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: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the problems Elizabeth faced in 1558 and evaluate if the decisions she took were right at the time.
Students begin with some source analysis and decipher some contemporary opinions of Elizabeth.
They also judge the biggest problems facing her reign at home and abroad, before linking the views people may have had at the time, from a prosperous farmer to a Marian exile or a town councillor.
The final task is to predict which decisions Elizabeth made for finance, the succession, trade and the economy and choosing her Privy Councillors.
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.
These lessons have been written to deliver the unit for AQA GCSE 9-1 Conflict and Tension, 1918-39.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to understand the complex and diverse interests of different individuals and nation states in trying to preserve the peace and the setting up a League of Nations.
They will focus on the national self determination of states, the ideas of internationalism and the challenges of revising the Versailles Peace Settlement.
Students will also evaluate the causes of the Second World War, how it occurred and why it proved difficult to resolve the issues which led to its initiation.
They will also study the role of key individuals and groups in shaping change and how international relations were influenced and affected by them.
All the lessons come complete with suggested teaching strategies and differentiated learning tasks.
I have added many of the typical GCSE questions AQA have supplied, from source analysis, write an account, to the longer 16+4 mark questions. Markschemes and tips on how to answer the questions to achieve the higher level marks have also been included.
The lessons are as follows:
L1: Aims of the Peacemakers
L2: Compromise
L3: Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
L4: Satisfaction with the Treaty
L5: The Wider Peace Settlement (free resource)
L6: Introduction to the League of Nations
L7: The structure of the League of Nations
L8: The Commissions
L9: How successful was the League of Nations in the 1920’s?
L10: The decline of International Cooperation (free resource)
L11: The Manchurian Crisis
L12: The Abyssinian Crisis
L13: Was the League destined to fail?
L14: Hitler’s Aims
L15: Reactions to Hitler’s Foreign Policy
L16: The road to war and German rearmament
L17: Reoccupation of the Rhineland (free resource)
L18: The Anschluss
L19: The Sudeten Crisis
L20: The Nazi-Soviet Pact
L21: Why did World War II break out?
Lessons also include retrieval practice activities and come in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
As TES restrict Bundle sizes to 20, Lesson 17 (Reoccupation of the Rhineland free lesson) will have to be downloaded seperately.
Any reviews would be gratefully received.
The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess how much of a threat Catholicism posed to Elizabeth during her reign.
The lesson begins with an analysis of the Northern Rebellion. Was it a direct consequence of the Religious Settlement or simply a Catholic uprising against Elizabeth?
Further analysis focuses on the role played by seminary and Jesuits priests who came to England to spread the word of Catholicism and reconvert the masses; students have to decide if they had little influence or posed a direct threat to Elizabeth.
Furthermore students judge how significant the measures put in place to tackle these threats were.
Some exam practice is included with help given 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 GCE A Level Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-45
The aim of this lesson is to analyse the appeal of Communism to German voters.
The lesson begins with students evaluating the significance and inferences of a 1919 communist propaganda poster.
Students will engage in differentiated questioning linked to statements about the tactics of the Communist KPD Party. The lesson will compare the support for Communism with the rapid rise of the Nazi Party, examining the reasons behind the disparity in their electoral success.
Students will also assess and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Communism, providing reasons for their evaluations.
The plenary activity will be a hangman game using key terms from the lesson to reinforce learning.
To conclude, students can complete some exam question practice, with structured support provided to help them effectively answer the question.
An enquiry question posed at the beginning of the lesson will be revisited throughout to track the progress of learning during the lesson and the subsequent unit of work.
The lesson is available in PowerPoint format and can be customised to suit specific needs.
It is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
The English Civil War
The aim of this lesson is to be able to distinguish between the two sides in the English Civil War.
Students will be researching how they differed from their dress, their mannerisms, what they believed in and their goals.
They will also be analysing some real life examples from people today who discuss which side they would prefer to be on and why.
Students will be using various written sources and video evidence to find out which side they would support.
Ultimately they will have to produce a propaganda leaflet encouraging people to join their campaign as a Royalist or Cavalier using persuasive literacy techniques and song lyrics. Exemplars and scaffolding is included if required.
This is a fun lesson with a number of activities designed to get all students involved actively and to enjoy their learning.
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 Tudors
The aim of this lesson is for the students to help Elizabeth with some tough choices on marriage.
Who should she choose to marry if at all? Why was there so much pressure upon her to marry in the first place?
Students prioritise the reasons for marriage on a grid before they analyse the potential suitors in Europe, complete with their availability and faults (on paper of course).
They then have to decide who is the best of a bad lot and justify their decisions. Some excellent video evidence is included.
The plenary focuses on a dinner date; students decide who Elizabeth would like to sit near to the most and who would be placed at the far end of the table.
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.
Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of the lesson is for students to understand why penicillin was seen as a wonder drug and how it was discovered and then developed during World War 2
Students first of all learn about the role played by Alexander Fleming in the story of penicillin from his chance discovery and the acclaim that eventually followed.
The lesson therefore leads the students inadvertently to celebrate his attributes and significance.
The second part of the lesson devotes itself to the parts played by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain in the development of penicillin during World War 2.
Questions and sources are used to analyse why they were unhappy with Fleming and how they had tremendous problems initially producing enough to treat patients effectively.
Students have to now question their original assumptions and finally evaluate the most significant of the three in the story of penicillin.
There is also some source analysis for exam question practice.
The lesson is accompanied by video footage and other documentary evidence as it establishes the part played by factors such as individual genius, science and technology as well as chance.
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 British Empire
This lesson aims to find out whether we should be proud or ashamed of gaining an Empire and how the indigenous peoples we conquered ‘benefitted’ under British rule.
This lesson will best be delivered over 2 lessons . The opening slides give some context to the debate and define what an Empire is and which countries Britain owned by 1900.
Through video and source analysis, the students have to explain their choice of being proud or ashamed or both and as the lesson progresses justify whether they are sticking to their decisions.
Analysis focuses on Victorian propaganda, the recent views of British Prime Ministers as well as how museums refuse to engage about how they have obtained their imperial artefacts.
The second part of the lesson examines a number of countries acquired by Britain and focuses on the ‘benefits of Empire’. Students then make their final decisions at the end before drawing conclusions on the legacy of the British Empire.
A homework task is to design an Empire plate (photographic examples given) to celebrate Empire day from 1902.
The lesson comes with 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.
These nine lessons are designed to cover Britain’s transatlantic slave trade: its effects and its eventual abolition.
This bundle addresses key historical skills: How did slavery show change and continuity throughout its history? What were the causes and consequences of the triangle trade on slavery? What were the similarities and differences in the actions of the slave owners? What was significant about the work of William Wilberforce or the help given by Harriet Tubman to the underground railway?
These skills are addressed in each of the lessons and allow students to be able to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and be able to create their own structured accounts and written narratives.
All the lessons come with retrieval practice activities and suggested teaching and learning strategies, They come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change
The lessons are also differentiated and link to the latest interpretations of slavery from the BBC and other sources.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 The origins of Slavery
L2 The triangular trade
L3 The Middle Passage
L4 The Slave Auction
L5 The Slave Plantations
L6 Punishments and Resistance
L7 William Wilberforce and the Abolition of Slavery
L8 Underground Railroad
L9 Black people in the American Civil War
If you like this resource, please review it and choose any of my resources worth up to £3 for free.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present
The aim of this lesson is to assess the contributions made by Pasteur and Koch to the improvements in medicine in the late 19th Century.
By the late 1800’s, the focus had moved away from antiseptic to aseptic surgery.
Students will learn how Pasteur made his monumental breakthrough in 1861 with his Germ Theory, aided through the factors of chance, government and scientific experimentation.
However as he was only a chemist it was the German doctor Robert Koch who applied Pasteur’s theory to human disease to convince doubters that microscopic germs could kill something as advanced as a human.
Students will rate their progress in these discoveries and make substantiated judgements on their effectiveness and performance in the development of vaccines.
There are also links to Bastion and Tyndall and their similar rivalry in Britain.
The lesson includes GCSE practice questions on factors and significance with source analysis and video links throughout.
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.
