This lesson is pitched at high achieving secondary aged students (16+) and is an interpretation based lesson on Khrushchev. The lesson begins with clear differentiated learning objectives and a starter activity which invites students to question why this Soviet leader was not buried in the Kremlin Wall as with the others (he is buried in Novedivichy Cemetery in the south-west of Moscow - well worth a visit!). From here students work through background info on his rise to power before attempting the main task, a 29-piece evidence sort (with some images to spruce it up). These need to be broken down into those factors related to domestic policy (five year plan, Virgin Lands programme, abolition of MTS etc) and also foreign policy (not least Berlin, Cuba, and Hungary). Students then divide these into sub sections to ascertain if each was a triumph or failure for Khrushchev’s leadership. This can be a paired or individual task but the content is extremely precise and detailed and includes some perspectives (Thatcher Vs Taubman). There is also a differentiation version for students who need a bit more structure (colour coded). This will mean students effectively create a large essay map to answer the Key Question which I personally like to set as a homework. The class concludes with a thoughtful plenary in which students are invited to come up with a fitting statement for the tomb of this Soviet leader as well as a class vote on the Key Question. I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as mine always do. I take real pleasure in providing resources to the awesome community of History teachers out there. If you have any questions please contact me.

In this 21-page PPT students are introduced to the events of 1066 with a short video activity. Lesson objectives are clear and graduated and there is detailed information about the Tapestry which runs through some key moments, including in note form. The main activity asks students to sequences the events in order by matching the heads and tails of the sentences. It also includes extension questions for more able students. The lesson concludes by asking students to evaluate which level they achieved in the lesson objectives. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. It has been pitched to 11 year old students in mainstream settings.

My IB students always do really well in their exams, especially on Paper 3 (Higher Level). One of the main reasons for this is the detailed and focused set of revision menus I give them to help them prepare for exam success. Now you can have them too. Of all of my resources these revision menus are my must-haves! I hope they can be of much use to your students as they are to mine. If you enjoyed this resource please leaf through my collection of other revision menus and resources. This pack focuses on Russia from c. 1953-1991 and includes revision content for the following topics: How successful was Khrushchev’s rule? Was the USSR stagnant under Brezhnev? Was Gorbachev the “gravedigger of Communism?” How successful was the rule of Boris Yeltsin, 1991-1999?

This lesson begins with a starter activity in which five factors are laid out on a pentagon for students to consider. These include the Wall Street Crash, Hitler’s personal appeal, propaganda, opponent’s mistakes, and fear of Communism. The class are then told they will revisit this in the plenary. The 19-slide PPT then talks through teacher expo on each of the factors. The class then attempt a 30-piece hexagonal card sort activity. This is colour-co-ordinated for purposes of differentiation. More able students will draw links between factors. The lesson concludes with a plenary in which they are invited to vote on the most significant factor. I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as I know mine do.

This book features 12 high scoring IB essays for the Paper 3 topic: The USSR and post Soviet Russia 1924-2000 Teachers – this book is for you if you have high-performing students asking what a good one looks like (WAGOLL). Set an essay and staple the corresponding exemplar to your students’ effort for instant assessment for learning. Included are over 70 annotations by an experienced IB examiner offering tips and tricks to improve your students’ Paper 3 technique. Don’t just tell them what to do, show them. Students - this book features high-performance essays for popular IB examination questions from real past papers. It will teach you how to unpack popular Paper 3 IB questions and to write an introduction with a thesis statement which pivots your response perfectly, using the DCO technique. It will also give you ways in which to evaluate historians’ perspectives as well as schools of thought and teach you how to forensically dissect historical evidence. It will also introduce many of the world’s leading experts to you. You will learn how to effectively embed words such as martinet, kleptocracy, multivalent, panoply, dialectical, polity, nomenklatura, gerontocracy, encomium, casus belli, opprobrium, polemic, and quinquennial to make your essays stand out from the rest. You will also read about how to use topic sentences and how to challenge the very premise of a given question. It will also provide fun and creative ideas for IB projects. If you are a student achieving Level 6 but want to reach for the very top grade in IB History this book is for you. Parents - this book will help you support your child to think critically and to produce deluxe essays. Essays include: Analyse the reasons for Stalin’s emergence as Lenin’s successor by 1929. (May 2012) “Propaganda was not a major factor in Stalin’s maintenance of power between 1929 and 1953.” Discuss. (November 2020) To what extent did the cult of personality contribute to Stalin’s maintenance of power more than terror? (November 2011) “Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and the policy of collectivisation failed to improve the Soviet economy by 1941.” Discuss. (November 2017) What were the consequences of the Second World War for Russia? (May 1994) Analyse the successes and failures of Khrushchev’s domestic policies in the years 1955 to 1964. (November 2012) Evaluate the success of Khrushchev’s foreign policy. (May 2014) Examine the view that Brezhnev’s domestic policies had a very limited impact on the USSR. (November 2015) “Brezhnev’s foreign policy was successful in reducing Cold War tensions.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? (November 2019) Evaluate the impact of Gorbachev’s domestic policies on the USSR. (May 2021) To what extent were Gorbachev’s policies responsible for improved East-West relations between 1985 and 1991? (May 2019) Evaluate the impact of political and economic developments in post Soviet Russia between 1991 and 2000. (November 2020)

This fully resourced lesson begins with two starter activities designed to introduce the topic. First students watch a short video clip about the first McDonalds in Pushkin Square and are asked to guess the price of a Big Mac in four countries in the early 1990s. Russia is by far the most expensive and this leads to a question of why. They then watch a second video clip which shows some of Yeltsin’s eccentricities and they are invited to offer three adjectives. Students then divide a page into four and there is detailed information for the teacher to run through describing economic successes/failures and political successes/failures. An overall crib sheet to summarise is provided also. The lesson concludes with two plenaries designed to test subject knowledge. A fun dingbats game focusing on some of the key words (shock therapy, Chicago school, depression etc) and a fill in the blanks Have I Got News for You style exercise. It is a PowerPoint with 75 slides. I hope your students get as much from mine from this resource. If you have any questions please ask away and I wish you a wonderful day. This resource is written in English and is pitched at high achieving IB / A Level students.

This activity works really well as a starter to introduce the topic or indeed as a plenary to test student knowledge and understanding. Its very simple. Just print out and laminate the cards and place them upside down. Students have to choose any two and read them aloud. Once they spot a colour-coordinated pair (a question and an answer) they score one point. My students really love the simple activity and it really boosts their precision in historical subject knowledge. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about the USA in the 1920s and 1930s. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Twentieth Century China. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Stalin’s Russia The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.

I have designed this lesson as part of a local History unit on the Philippines but it works just as well as a stand alone lesson if you are teaching war in the Pacific. It is titled ‘What was life like for Filipinos under Japanese occupation?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity about a Primary school teacher, Miss Fernandez. Students are asked to say what they see as squares are revealed. Ultimately it shows her as a guerilla fighter with 200 Japanese scalps to her name. This invites the question why her life took such a change and this in turn introduces us to the graduated learning objectives (all will/most will/some will). The main task is outlined - to create a museum exhibition which answers the key question. There is then very detailed information given on 7 areas of life under Japanese rule. These are the Bataan Death March, the Battle of Manila, Japanese war crimes, resistance movements, rule and government, Kamikaze fighting, and the Leyte landings. After information on each area there are suggestions for possible exhibitions. Students then present these exhibitions before a plenary in which they are encouraged to review over 40 pieces of vocabulary they have been introduced to as well as a homework task in which they write a letter as Miss. Fernandes explaining her actions to future generations. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. Have a great day, Daniel

This lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are invited to cut out and stick together a 12-part jigsaw. This features turning points in Filipino history up to this point (the early inhabitants, the Battle of Mactan, Spanish colonization, and Andres Bonifacio. It also features an image of Jose Rizal.) Once glued in students label the key turning points which introduces us to Dr. Rizal. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the second order concept of historical significance. The acronym GREAT is used (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning-point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate generally and more specifically to Jose Rizal. This information is collated onto one slide which can be distributed to the class as they begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating Rizal’s importance.) The lesson concludes with a fill in the blanks Have I Got News For You? activity designed to remind students that Rizal died for nationhood. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question.

I couldn’t find a book on Germany 1918-45 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 233-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

I couldn’t find a book on USA 1919-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 215-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

I couldn’t find a book on Core Content Option B 20th Century: International Relations since 1919 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 355-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

I couldn’t find a book on China 1900-89 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 200-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the EdExcel specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

Escape from Sobibor is a terrific movie to showcase both the horrors of the Holocaust as well as one shining example of widerstand/resistance. In this activity there are 50 questions for students to response to as they watch the movie. Answers are provided also for peer and self assessment.

I couldn’t find a book on Russia 1905-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 240-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

In this lesson students receive background information before sequencing a 33 piece card sort to explain the terrible conditions enslaved Africans endured on Guineamen slave ships. This then leads on to the main task in which students are given a card listing three conditions experienced on the ships. They then create a class oral history project which can be recorded and stitched together. This is always an extremely powerful lesson and one which needs to be taught sensitively and with purpose.