A bundle of resources for use when teaching 1066 and the Battle of Hastings (a follow on from my Introduction to the Middle Ages bundle), aimed at year 7 Key Stage 3. Resources are grouped by activity and arranged chronologically. For example, those with an A1 after the file name are all part of the same resource and should be used first, A2 second and so on. All activities are self explanatory and include instructions where necessary. Please note, these are purely activities and NOT full lessons. Activity 7, How did Harald die? Is a full lesson, and the lesson plan is included. This activity focuses on skills of using and analysing evidence and using evidence to support theories. Skills used in these activities are: Chronology, Using evidence, Analysis of evidence, making a judgement and supporting with evidence. Please let me know if there are any problems with the files and I can email them to you directly. Feedback greatly appreciated! Thank you :)

This is a bundle of resources, designed for KS3 and in particular year 7, introducing students to Britain in the Middle Ages. It does NOT include any Battle of Hastings related resources. Resources have been grouped by activity, for example, Activity Instructions A1 needs to be used with Picture worksheets A1. The bundle includes some differentiated resources as well as video files, which I hope will upload successfully. If not, please contact me and I can send these straight to you. Activity 1 focuses on inference and what a historian can learn from evidence, also considering different interpretations of the same time period. Activity 2 requires students to utilise their knowledge from Activity 1 and 3, to produce a news report or travel brochure about life in the middle ages. These activities focus on their skills of description and explanation in order to make a judgement about life in the middle ages at this time. Higher ability students will recognise that life for some was probably much better than for the majority. Activity 3 could be completed after Activity 1, to gain more information about the landscape of England at this time and how people lived. Using the video clips, students can write their own descriptions about life at this time. Activity 4 is a spy report about England to be sent to William, Duke of Normandy, which brings together all the different aspects considered and asks students to make a judgement on how easy it will be to invade England. the Hodder Medieval Realms textbook was used to support this activity.

A brief guide to getting the most out of using objects and artefacts in the classroom. Guidance on how to use them, handle them and questions to ask about them. Contains some suggested activities which could be completed after investigations. If you have any further questions about using artefacts in the classroom, please contact me.

This lesson was used as part of a Good to Outstanding CPD session. The lesson was aimed at a lower ability group, but could easily be adapted for a higher ability or mixed ability group. The lesson centred around Independent Learning. As my independent learning activities had been successful with higher ability groups, I wanted to see if they could be used with lower ability groups too. The aim was for students to be grouped in mixed ability groupings and for each group to be given a particular character and investigate what their life may have been like in the 19th Century. The groups would then feedback to the group with what they had found. During the research time, groups would be given newsflashes, to assess learning and progress. I gave students specific pieces of information - attached, but also let them have access to the internet and textbooks. The plenary was a hot seat activity where students' could ask questions about the lives of each character. The lesson was graded good.

A Literacy based scheme of work, which I created in collaboration with an AST. Based on the Rise of the Dictators, the scheme covers different types of governments culminating in an assessment activity arguing why people voted for the Nazis. Lesson 1 covers an introduction to different types of government and which is best. Lesson 2 is a simulation of what it might be like to live in a communist society. Students are given a title, land and money and are encouraged to reflect on how they feel. This money and land is then shared and students are again encouraged to reflect on their new position and to make some inferences about Communism. Lesson 3 is based on the Russian Revolution and how Russia became a Communist country. Lesson 4 is about the Problems of the Weimar Government Lesson 5 is about Adolf Hitler (a tweaked version of the lesson already available on here) Lesson 6 starts to look at the reasons people voted for the Nazis, based on sources Lesson 7 is a differentiated assessment activity, with guidelines for lower, middle and higher learners. Some lessons may need further differentiation for lower ability students. If you are interested in any of the lessons as a stand alone, please contact me.

An alphabet grid with upper and lower case letters and a corresponding image. The images are personal to my son. I created this resource with him (he is 3) and he told me what image he wanted for each letter. The 'M' is missing an image as I inserted a picture of him here. I have printed and laminated this resource and cut them up in to small cards. I use the resource with him in a variety of ways. Firstly, we look at the lower case letters and the image and I ask him to tell me what, for example, 'a' is for. Another way of using the resource is for identifying specific letters. For example, I ask him to pick out the letters which make up his name. All images are from Clip Art, or were found on Google.

A whole lesson looking at how best to answer an "explain" question and looking at the difference between describe and explain. This lesson is likely to take 2 hours. This lesson was based on a prior "explain" question which students had completed for a previous homework. Progress was shown by comparing their first "explain" question, to the one produced in this lesson. I asked students to highlight or pick the differences between their 2 pieces of work. Most students grades increased by 2. Files included in the bundle are: Lesson Plan, presentation, starter and plenary resource, model answers, exam questions and peer assessment sheets. If you download, please leave a review, thank you :)

A work booklet produced for a lower ability year 9 set, with a mixture of needs. Many behavioural, a visual impairment (Enlarged to A3 for this student), Dyslexia (copied on to yellow paper) and MLD. Students were able to work through at their own pace. Teacher modelled and scaffolded answers with students on the board, so students were aware of how to structure their work. Work could be completed on the booklet or within their work books.

A quick starter activity, which also works as an introduction to Medicine Through Time. Students need to put the cards in to Chronological order. (For a lower ability set, dates could be added to the images to help) A secondary activity is to encourage students to elicit and infer what changes may have happened within Medicine, over time. The images can be printed on card and laminated for future use. If you download, please leave a review. Thank you :)

This is an inductive data set based on changes in population in Britain, 1815 - 1851. The data set is a series of sources. These sources can be used to answer a specific question. For example, "How did the Population of Britain change 1815 - 1851?" Students can look for sources which best answer this question and then produce a written response, referring to the sources in their answer. Another way to use the Inductive data set is to look for links between the sources. For example, a number of the sources in this data set are linked to the Irish Potato Famine. For a higher ability set, students should be able to create their own links between sources. For a lower ability set, you could make a list of the links and encourage students to look for sources which relate to each link. For example, Irish Potato Famine = sources 4, 5, 8, 9, 14, 19 and 23. If you download, please leave a review. Thank you :)

Part of my Takeaway Revision Series. The cards can fit in to students wallet or purse, so they can revise on the go! Students can use their internet enable smart phone, with a QR Scanner (downloadable from the App store) to scan the QR codes. This will bring up useful websites for revision based on the OCR GCSE Modern World History spec. This file is a Publisher file and is set up as a Business Card file. All you need to do is press print. NB: Links/Websites will need checking yearly. If you download, please leave a review. Thanks :)

Use the WAGOLL board in your classroom to show off exemplar pieces of work. Show your students what a piece of A grade work looks like, or a level 6. Use the arrows to pick out areas of the work that are particularly strong. Please review if you download. Thanks :)

This is a complete source based lesson, looking at who Adolf Hitler was. This lesson fits in with looking at the rise of the Nazi Party. Students are asked to consider what information goes in to a biography and come up with a list of headings and information. Students then use these headings to write a biography for Adolf Hitler, using the Inductive Data sources provided. This activity can be peer assessed using the guidelines and success criteria provided. To build in a challenge for students, you could place a word limit on the biography, which means students need to carefully consider the information they include and be selective. I have included a differentiated data set for lower ability students. This lesson also works well to embed literacy initiatives. The lesson gained Outstanding under the old OFSTED guidelines. Please review if you download. Thanks :)

A starter activity for use with year 9 students who are looking at Nazi Germany 1933-1945. The file shows 4 posters and students are asked to elicit what life was like in Nazi Germany using these posters. Could also be used to introduce a source investigation lesson and for looking at how to use propaganda as a source. Students should be able to highlight that the Nazi regime affected all areas of society, including work, education, women and families and the economy. 2 file formats available. If you download and use, please leave feedback. Thanks :)

This resource is useful when studying American History and the Vietnam War in particular. It could be used as a starter, to elicit what information is known about Eisenhower. It could be used as a homework or fact finding activity within the main part of the lesson, to build a picture of Eisenhower and his policies.

A useful activity to consider which country had the stronger air force, and which side should, on paper, have won the Battle of Britain. Also introduces students to the aircraft used in World War 2 and the technology available at that time. Could be used as a starter or during the main part of the lesson.

I set this us as a police style investigation. I have a white body outline on the floor with a number of possible weapons that might have killed Harold (eBay is great for cheap props, or I raid my sons dressing up box). Students should work in groups to complete this task. The evidence could be presented to them in a card folder (I use the brown suspension file folders that are completely open on 3 sides) with Harold Godwinson - Unsolved stuck on the front. Students have 20 minutes to sift through the information and come up with their hypothesis explaining how Harold died. Once their 20 minutes is up, each group presents their findings to the class. Students should analyse the sources and take the provenance of the sources in to account when making their judgments. By the end of the investigation, students should be able to provide a detailed explanation of how Harold died, using evidence from the file to support their points. Some should be able to also provide an evaluation of the sources they have used, discussing their reliability and utility. This could become a piece of formative/summative assessed work. The Police file theory document is where students can create their theory around what happened. The Evidence Publisher file is all the necessary pieces of evidence and the front covers for the investigation folders. The Police File notes is a notes sheet, with a variety of questions on to prompt thought and discussion. If you download this resource, I would really appreciate a review and feedback. Thanks.

Twitter based images to be used for a Twitter feed. Ideal for use as a plenary and Assessment for Learning tool. Mine is by my door, so students can "Tweet" as they leave the classroom. I use blue post it notes for Tweets, or blue bird shaped post its when I want to splash the cash! File is in Publisher format.

This is a full lesson with resources based on trench warfare of World War 1, aimed at a higher ability set. Before I teach this lesson, I teach one lesson on the Trenches to give some background, so students are able to complete the KWL grid starter for this lesson. The lesson is based on the Student Organised Learning Environment model of learning, and as such, it is an independent learning lesson. The teacher takes a back seat role and becomes a facilitator or monitor. The activity can be differentiated easily, through giving groups of students aspects for the trenches to look at, for example food or social time. The activity lends itself well to higher ability students, as I generally ask them to set themselves some questions in the second column of the KWL grid that they can investigate within the lesson. This means students are able to shape their own learning. I ask students to present their research on large pieces of sugar paper, which are then put on display afterwards. I also encourage students to copyright their ideas (initials in a circle next to their input) to ensure all group members contribute. The lesson was observed and rated outstanding, under the old OFSTED guidelines.

A Top Trumps based activity comparing Harold Godwinson's army with William, Duke of Normandy's. I often use this after a Stamford Bridge lesson, before the first Battle of Hastings lessons. A great starter activity or can be used as an activity within the main section of the lesson. I have used the resource to elicit a judgment from students about which army is the strongest, which they can then transfer into a written paragraph, using evidence from the cards to support their statements. Students can use this information to make predictions about what they think might happen in the Battle itself. The desired outcome is for the students to have an understanding about the power of each army and who is likely to win. I print these on card and laminate them for re-use. Available in Publisher and Word format.