This fully resourced lesson begins with a Starter Activity in which students are invited to play a game of Play Your Cards Right in order to test chronological understanding of some of the key reasons for the invasion. The title is then introduced along with graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will). There then follows some slides of teacher exposition on what actually happened as well as the international response/consequences and students are given a template (a newspaper template with headings which match the eight points discussed) on which to jot down key names, dates, people, places, events, quotations, and statistics. When they have achieved this, they then write up their own newspaper (you can give them the editable PPT template or just print it off). A completed example is given, and students are brought back to the criteria to show progress made. Areas/subheadings which will have been covered include: What was the Wal Wal Incident Full on invasion and weapons on both sides Nature of the fighting The Emperor of Abyssinia Facts and figures Speech at the League of Nations The international response Consequences There is then a charades plenary for students to recap the knowledge of key vocabulary covered (this also words as a game of Pictionary.) I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as mine always do.

This is a fully-resourced History Mystery and is part of my unit on the History of the Philippines. The lesson begins with an Odd One Out Starter Activity which is about people who have died for their countries, and this invites conversation about who Andres Bonifacio was. There is then some background information and links to two short videos which portray very different deaths. The lesson title is introduced and clear aims and graduated objectives (all will/most will/some will) are given. The main activity is then a drip-fed History Mystery activity. Students are issued 12 different information cards one at a time which give key pieces of information about the life and death of Bonifacio. Using these they complete a History Mystery evidence grid which asks them to infer from each piece of evidence. After this is complete suggested inferences are provided on the PPT. The class are asked to refer back to the lesson objectives and the final plenary task is a voting task in which they are asked to stand on one side of the room to show if they believe Bonifacio was killed because he broke the rule of war or whether they think his death was unfair and a political assassination by his rival Aguinaldo. A homework task (newspaper activity) is set also.

This is another in my line of lessons about the history of the Philippines and one I am especially proud of. The lesson begins with a Countdown style starter activity in which students have to figure out anagrams on the four key reasons the Spanish came to colonise the islands (religion, technology, individuals, and economics) which builds on prior learning. They are then given learning objectives which are clearly graduated (all of you will/most of you will/some of you will). The 48 page PPT then gives some background information on the preamble to the battle before students commence the main task. This is a 16 piece hexagonal card sort which students break down into factors (Lapu Lapu’s forces strengths, Magellan’s forces mistakes, technology, geographical factors, and luck). There are two versions provided, one being colour-coordinated, for purposes of differentiation. Once they break these down students are next encouraged to make links between the factors and examples are given (which is why the cards are hexagonal and not rectangular). The lesson concludes with a plenary activity in which students are asked to place a post-it note on the board on a five starred shape to conclude which factor they feel is the most significant in answering the Key Question about why Magellan was killed in 1521. There is a written piece of homework assigned also. Thanks so much for your interest in this resource and please do have a look through my shop for hundreds of other resources for History teachers.

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.

The Key Question in this lesson is ‘why did Spanish decline in the Philippines?’ and it is fully resourced. The lesson begins with a Who Wants to be a Millionaire starter activity in which student are invited to place in order (fastest finger first) the duration of occupancy of the British, Japanese, Americans, and Spanish. They are then introduced to a six-pointed hexagon with the key reasons for the decline of the Spanish Empire in the Philippines (these include conditions under Spanish rule, maritime competition, the opening of the Suez Canal, the growth of Filipino resistance, Moro rebellions, and the Spanish-American War. After this starter activity the class are then introduced to their aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/some will/most will). The class then begin their main activity which is an Escape Room activity. There are six tasks which can be placed in a padlocked box. Students can use internet devices or own knowledge to figure out the clues. For example, the first clue is when did Magellan die? The answer is 1521 so a padlock can be coded for this. It is a lot of fun but if time is against you, you can of course just print the clues back-to-back and ask students to reveal their answers on paper/mini whiteboards. Once they have cracked the code, they then have an activity to answer which relates to the six key reasons on the hexagon and they complete these activities on the worksheet provided (works best when printed on A3). When students have cracked all six boxes there is a ‘boss level’ box in which they are invited to explain the reasons and offer a conclusion. The lesson concludes with a plenary in which they are required to vote on the main reason using a hexagon (six reasons, they place a post-it note to write their key explanation/factor down. The closer to the centre the more important they see it to be.) There is a written piece of homework set also. The emergence of the Philippines as an independent nation is of massive importance to the world and I take great pride in this lesson because it helps students understand some of the key reasons for this. It is written in UK-English and pitched at high achieving Year 7-9 high school students.

In this fully resourced lesson students explore the causes of Mussolini’s decision to invade Abyssinia in 1935. The lesson features graduated objectives (all will/most will/some will) and begins with a What’s Behind the Squares Starter Activity. Be aware the image is harrowing (it is the feet of an African burned by Italian mustard gas) and invites students to ask why this happened. There is then some background information / teacher exposition and students are asked to add notes to a mind map with 9 nodes. Once this has been added to the class plenary is to add to a 9-sided shape (a nonagram). The class are asked to place four post-it notes which answer the question and to place these notes more centrally in the shape if they consider a particular factor to be of greater importance. If it is of lesser importance, they will place it towards the perimeter. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine do. It has been created for high school History students and has been written in UK-English.

In this 61-page PowerPoint students address the Key Question ‘What impact did the Spanish conquest have on the Philippines?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity in which an image of the fiesta of the Black Nazarene is revealed. It is a ‘What’s Behind the Squares’ Activity and students are invited to say what they see as each square is revealed. This leads to a discussion about the impact Roman Catholicism has had (positive and negative) on the country. Students are then provided with aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/most will/some will). There are then some detailed slides on a range of ways in which Spanish colonisation impacted on the Philippines and these are discussed via teacher exposition. These include changes to place names (not least the country name), people names, religion, holidays and fiestas, architecture, loss of land for the first settlers, food and drink, treasures plundered, disease, beauty, language, and education. Students have been asked in the objectives to explain 1, 3, or 7+ areas using their mind maps (these are broken down into neutral, positive, and negative aspects of Spanish colonisation) and are invited to attempt the main task which is to draw a street scene showing some of these changes. An example is given. Once the class have completed this there is then a plenary activity in which students are asked to vote with their feet by standing up and moving to one side of the class or the other. The question is ‘should Spain apologise/pay reparation to countries it colonised?’ (Spain to this day has refused to do so). A homework activity is also included which is intended to consolidate the lesson. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. It has been written in UK-English and is designed for high achieving high school students.

The lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are invited to guess the weighting of the three components (Play Your Cards Right style). After this there is a second starter where they have to pick out the correct word count from a choice of four. The starter activities conclude with a couple of quick anagrams of key terms (Analysis and Perspectives). There are then clear aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/most will/some will) and students are invited to co-construct the aim with the teacher. There are then a series of slides and rubrics for designing a question and mapping out a good report. After this an exemplar of a top graded report is provided and students are invited to complete an assessment for learning task to identify ten aspects of the highest band of the mark scheme. They cut these out and glue them on the exemplar work. This leads to a discussion about the anatomy of a great individual report. These include things like having three points, referencing, justifying the issues etc. Some examples from individual reports are given for each of the AFL criteria and a copy of the top band aspects of the mark schemes is included. The lesson then concludes with a Have I Got News For You style plenary where students are invited to fill in the gaps to show their understanding. At the end I have included a link to a YouTube guide I’ve created which you might wish to set for homework/consolidation task. I love teaching Global Perspectives IGCSE but it can be tricky to structure each of the components. I really hope this PPT helps you deliver this aspect of the course and that it helps your students achieve highly. Have a wonderful day and I’m always grateful for positive reviews if you find this lesson useful.

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 Weimar and Nazi Germany. 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.

This 30-slide PowerPoint is a fully resourced lesson which addresses the Key Question ‘what impact did the USA have on the Philippines?’ and is part of a unit of lessons on the history of the Philippines. The lesson begins with a starter activity in which students identify the Statue of Liberty and read the words on her unchained feet. They then explore a famous source which comments on US annexations post Spanish-American War, and this introduces us to the concept of American imperialism. The lesson title, aims and objectives are introduced, and these are graduated by criteria (all will/most will/some will) and students are invited to refer back to these later to see how much they have learned. The main activity is a 32-piece card sort in which students divide information up into social, political, military, and economic impacts the USA has had. They then use this information to write a mini essay. The lesson concludes with a discussion plenary. Students are invited to comment on the geopolitical situation in Asia and in particular whether they think the Philippine government should allow US naval forces to station themselves in the islands. They draw on the historical knowledge they’ve acquired to help them form thoughtful and evidence-based responses. A homework task is set to help students prepare for a follow up lesson in the unit (Second World War).

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.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about Shanghai - Local History Unit. 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 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

The aim of this lesson is to let students showcase their awareness of the Triangular Trade using plenty of subject specific vocabulary and precise historical details (names, dates, people, places, events, quotes and statistics) and I normally give them a couple of lessons to achieve this. The objective is to write a five-part poem detailing: The causes of slavery Conditions on the Middle Passage Life in the Americas Resistance Abolition Throughout the 24-slide Power Point there are five slides with heaps of precise historical detail to help students decide what to include in their poems, and there are five examples too. Please be aware that the slides are deliberately heavily packed with information to ensure students can write different accounts. I use this lesson to tie together the unit once students have already got a good grasp of the subject knowledge. It’s a powerful way to remember and to allow for some cross-curricular overlap between History and English. If you have any questions about this lesson let me know and thanks for stopping by.

Get students to glue this sheet in. It explains graduated criteria for five skills (interpretation, significance, causation, change and continuity, and consequence). Each has criteria for Mastery, Secure, Developing, Emerging, and Beginner grades. I always ask students to highlight their grade on returned assessments and then do the same in another colour to note what they need to do to improve.

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 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.

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.