AQA GCSE history lesson on the reasons why the Schlieffen Plan failed and the Battle of The Marne. We start by looking at the early problems for the Schlieffen Plan. The pupils are asked to consider each problem, record how Moltke would react to the problem (using a visual scale) and then explain what the implications of that problem might be. We then look at the Battle of the Marne. The pupils complete a worksheet based around a timeline using a video clip and an info sheet on the battle. We then look at a source “Bravo Belgium” from 1914 and the pupils answer some questions around the source. We finally move to an evaluation of why the Schlieffen Plan failed. the pupils write an answer to a 16 mark exam question. There is some guidance on how to respond. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the Moroccan crises increased political tension amongst the political powers in Europe. We start with a quick retrieval practice quiz. We then look at the importance of Morocco to the various European powers. We look at two sources on the Kaiser’s trip to Tangiers and the pupils answer some questions on the sources. We then look at various happenings during the crises and the pupils complete a visual scale to show how much tension there is between Germany, France and Britain, then explain. Further on we look at the impacts of the crises and rank them in order of seriousness in the political sphere of Europe. We thank look at an exam style question on a narrative of the Moroccan Crises, the pupils have some prompts to help answer this. We finish with an ‘extentometer’ on the the level of humiliation felt by Germany after the crisis. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on the Third Battle of Ypres & The Battle of Passchendaele for the Conflict & Tension 1894-1918 unit. We start with a simple retrieval practice timeline quiz. We start by looking at the position of Ypres on the Western Front and it’s tactical significance. We then look at the fighting that had taken place at Ypres since the start of the war. The pupils watch a video clip and answer some questions. We then complete a text analysis of the build up to the Third Battle of Ypres and Passchendaele. The pupils highlighting allied successes and failures. We then look at the events of the battle itself, the pupils anticipate problems and also answer questions on a summary strip of the events. We then watch some clips about the battle and look at some photo sources of Passchendaele to give a sense of the battle. The pupils then complete a battle summary sheet using the information gained so far. We then compare the Somme and Passchendaele in a hexagon Venn diagram looking for similarities and differences in military tactics, outcomes, individuals involved. We finish with a to what extent type plenary, where we look at the impact the weather had on Passchendaele. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

A tropical storm-themed retrieval practice starter slide. With differing levels of question difficulty according to the storm category. Please feel free to download and adapt. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the major European powers took to re-armament before WWI. We start with a quick retrieval practice quiz putting the events into chronological order. We than look at the tension between the alliances how this lead them to increase production of arms and military plans. The pupils annotate a map of Europe in different colour pens to show how each major power was preparing their armed forces and military plans for conflict. We then turn to the naval race and the pupils look at several sources to explore how Britain and Germany entered into a naval race, why this happened and what the outcome was. we finish with a bio-poem to kaiser Wilhelm. The idea is for the pupils to show the Kaiser’s military and imperial ambitions for Germany. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the Moroccan crises increased political tension amongst the political powers in Europe. We start with a quick retrieval practice quiz. We than look at the location of the ?Balkans and how the declining power of the Ottoman Empire left some European Powers looking for opportunities for annexation. The pupils consider a source from the time and answer some questions. They then look at the events of the Balkan Wars and complete “The Road to War” diagram in their books, visually recording the increasing tension. We then consider the results of the conflict and the pupils consider how that might lead to further war. We then tackle a 16 mark question and the pupils have some guidance on how to complete that. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the major European powers took to re-armament before WWI. We start by looking at the British Empire at the end of the 19th Century. The pupils then complete a hexagon task on Britain’s status and position before the war. The pupils gather information on: The empire, Britain’s problems, British society, economic power, ruling Britain and military power. There are some info slides for this and could be taught as a gallery activity, round robin or timed notes etc. We then look at what ‘splendid isolation’ meant in terms of foreign policy. The pupils then rank the threats to Britain’s isolated status and explain what the main threats to Britain was at that time. We then look at a source of the signing of the Entente Cordiale before completing an extentometer activity on the cause of Britain’s abandonment of isolationism. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the assassination of Franz Ferdinand happened in June 1914. We start with a simple retrieval practice quiz. We then look at Gavrilo Princip’s past and discuss how Princip was one of many who had a deep hatred of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia. We then look at the events of the 28th June and the movements of Franz Ferdinand that day, the pupils create an annotated map for this, we then, after watching a brief video clip and considering the aftermath, write a narrative on how events in The Balkan’s lead to the assassination. There is an optional bio-poem task on Princip also. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on the battle of Verdun for the Conflict & Tension 1894-1918 unit. We start with a simple retrieval practice quiz. We then look at the location of Verdun and why the German’s thought that an offensive there would be effective. The pupils watch a video clip and answer questions on Falkenhayn’s plan, we then look at the events of the battle. The pupils read a sample of text and answer the questions relating to the text around the outside. We then move on the the aftermath and the pupils complete a battle summary sheet. There is a source activity and exam practice question. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on the Battle of The Somme for the Conflict & Tension 1894-1918 unit. We start with a simple retrieval practice quiz. We then introduce Douglas Haig and his warning to British Politicians of the need to accept more losses in order to defeat the Germans. We then look at Rawlinson and Haig’s plan for July 1st. The pupils summarise the stages of the plan and write any concerns they might have about the tactics used. We then have a text analysis of the events of the battle with the pupils highlighting the successes and failures of the allied troops. We then look at the criticism of General Haig for the losses and how the soldiers felt about the offensive. We then complete a battle summary sheet before tackling an exam question. We finish with an Ode to Douglas Haig if there is time. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE history lesson on how the ‘race to the sea’ developed on the western front which led to trench warfare and events on the Eastern Front in 1914. We start with a quick multiple choice retrieval practice quiz. We then look at the the developing situation on the Western Front after the Battle of the Marne. The pupils undertake a text analysis on the ‘race to the sea’ and answer some questions. We then take a look at the Eastern Front, the pupils have an events strip and answer questions and summarise each event. We then look at the major powers of the war and what kind of start they have had to the war by the end of 1914 by completing a table on their successes and failures on both fronts. We finish with an ‘extentometer’ on the reasons why stalemate developed on the Western Front. Hope you find this useful and it saves you some planning time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

AQA GCSE Geography lesson for the Nigeria: A Newly Developing Economy section. The lesson is roughly one hour long but can be extended or shortened. We start by considering what quality of life means with a starter task. We then complete an activity which looks at how an improving economy can improve quality of life. We then move onto a skills task which involves the pupils plotting out indicator data for Nigeria and determining what this shows about quality of life in the country over the last 30 years. The pupils complete and extract task on whether all Nigerians have experienced better quality of life then complete a diagram to show what barriers to improving this are still to be overcome. We then conclude with a 6 mark GCSE style question with some guidance for the pupils if they need it. Included is: starter activity on quality of life Annotation task on how improving economy improves quality of life Graphical skills task on indicator data and interpretation questions Extract highlighting and interpretation task. Explanation task on barriers to improving quality of life 6-mark question with guidance and timer Hope this helps. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

Key Stage 3 lesson for a scheme of work on The Rise of The Dictators. In this lesson we recap on the causes of the Russian Revolution. We then introduce the idea of Communism and Karl Marx’s beliefs. The pupils look at the scenario he envisaged may result in Communism and summarise the stages and draw symbols to represent each stage. We then look at Lenin’s actions to change Russia. The pupils divide his changes into good ideas and bad ideas and explain why. We then look at how much the West feared communism in a ‘thermometer’ analyis. The pupils have to justify how much the governments of Western democracies feared communism at that time. We finish with a ‘to what extent’ question. I hope this proves useful and saves you some time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

Key Stage 3 lesson for a scheme of work on The Rise of The Dictators. In this lesson we look at how the Nazis used both terror and propaganda and censorship to indoctrinate & control the populace of Germany. We start with a simple retrieval practice quiz. We then look at how the Nazis used terror. the pupils look at both the SS and Gestapo, rating the different aspects of each for terror and intimidation, explaining as they go. We then look at Josef Goebbels and propaganda and censorship. The pupils read each method and rate their effectiveness before deciding which method was the most effective. We look at a propaganda poster from 1936 and answer a question around this, and finish with a to what extent style plenary where the pupils can either debate or write about whether terror or propaganda & censorship was the most effective method of gaining control over the people, I hope this proves useful and saves you some time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

An editable template to use when looking at the forces for and against a change from occurring. The driving and restraining forces can be scored to allow pupils to predict what the outcome might be. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

Key Stage 3 lesson for a scheme of work on The Rise of The Dictators. In this lesson we look at how the Nazis were resisted. We start by introducing the types of resistance the Nazis encountered such as non-conforming, resistance and opposition. The pupils are then given several examples on a worksheet, they must classify the example into one of the three types, rate the example for seriousness to the Nazi regime and explain their rating. They then explain the most serious threat to the Nazi regime. We then look at a video clip and the pupils complete sentence starters and answer questions. We ten look at a written source on how opponents were watched and the pupils answer questions. We finish with the pupils writing a response to the statement “The main reason that resistance to the Nazis failed was the strength of the police state”. this can be done as an exam “To what extent” question, for which there is a slide with guidance and support, or a class discussion. There are retrieval practice starter and plenary quizzes. I hope this proves useful and saves you some time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

Sailboat analysis but with potential future problems (rocks) and helpful factors (fair winds). Hope it proves useful. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

GCSE Anglo Saxon and Norman England 1060-87 for the new specification 2016. In this lesson we look at the medieval manor system. We start with a simple retrieval practice starter. We then introduce the Norman village by giving an overview of how it works. The pupils answer questions from an info strip. We then look at the types of houses found in the village and what the medieval manor was. The pupils describe the typical village house and manor. We then look at the peasants year and day with the pupils answer questions and recording potential hardships. We also briefly look at Wharram Percy as an example village. We finish with a source question. Hope this saves you some valuable planning time! https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

Key Stage 3 lesson for a scheme of work on The Rise of The Dictators. In this lesson we look at the early problems facing Germany after WWI to set the scene for the rise of the Nazi Party. We then look at the Weimar Golden Years and what Germany was like in the 1920’s. We then track Hitlers early life and look for ‘alarm bells’. These are events in his life that shaped his ideologies or betrayed his wish to be a ruthless dictator. We then look at how the Wall Street Crash played into the Nazi’s hand and the pupils complete a text analysis to learn how Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and then Fuhrer in 1934. I hope this proves useful and saves you some time. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer

GCSE christmas activity sheet on coasts. The pupils inform Santa all about the wonderful coastal features he flies over using their geographical knowledge. It also includes colouring activities so is perfect for a more relaxed final lesson of the term, yet still includes real geography! Needs to be printed or photocopied as A3 for best results! https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/markthegeographer