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.
The British Empire
The aim of the lesson is to assess the importance of apartheid in South Africa both politically and economically.
The lesson begins by giving the context of South Africa being part of the British Empire and it move toward independence and the introduction of apartheid.
Students have a quiz to complete as well as source scholarship on its introduction in 1948.
They also evaluate the restrictions it imposed on the non white population of South Africa, where they are required to give their opinions on it as well as the significance at the time, overtime and nowadays.
The lesson also focuses on the impact of the ANC and Nelson Mandela’s contribution to a modern South Africa and the part he played in ending apartheid.
There are some excellent video links to his life and work as well as the Soweto uprising of 1976.
The lesson concludes with a diamond nine activity to prioritise the main reasons why apartheid came to an end.
The lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are 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.
Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Medicine Through Time c.1250 to present.
This 42 page revision guide is broken down into 5 main sections: Medieval Medicine, Renaissance Medicine, Medicine in 18th and 19th Century, Modern Medicine and the Historic Environment, British sector of the Western Front .
This revision guide includes 29 GCSE practice exam questions throughout on the main questions and gives examples on how to answer each using model answers.
This will enable all learners to achieve the higher grades required by the exam board, including the skills of description, explanation, interpretation, change and continuity, source utility and cause and consequence.
The information is also broken down into an easy to use format to aid the students in their revision programme.
This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and comes in Word and PDF format if there is a wish to change.
It can be used for revision, interleaving, home learning as well as class teaching.
Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated.
Please email me for a free copy of any of my resources worth up to £3.50 if you do.
The English Civil War
This lesson aims to question the character and personality of Oliver Cromwell.
Students will decide if he set out to kill the King from the start and make himself a despot or did circumstances dictate that this was his only option?
Moreover, with his puritanical ideas, did he make England and the Commonwealth a better place for it, or was it exclusive only to the minority?
This will ultimately be down to students’ own judgement as they plot his actions on a grid and justify their own conclusions.
Analysis of video evidence also helps to track his ideas and personality and gives the students ideas for writing his obituary and question why his burial place in Westminster Abbey bears the inscription 1658-1661.
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.
Norman Conquest
This lesson further explores the theme of William’s control and tightening grip on England as rebellion and opposition dominate his early years.
Students will study his castle building program, from the Motte and Bailey through to stone keep castles and analyse their strengths and weaknesses.
They will question why the Normans placed their reliance on these eye sores and how their features gave them control and defence against a hostile population.
Furthermore they will evaluate how much control he was able to exert over the population using a control ‘o’ meter.
Finally there is an interactive question and answer session with an Anglo-Saxon castle builder at the time who has some interesting things to say about his compliance in all of it.
This lesson is therefore designed to be fun, challenging and engaging.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
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.
The Holocaust
The aim of this lesson is to understand why we should remember the holocaust and why we commemorate it every year.
Some misconceptions are given at the start, such as what the holocaust actual means and the differences between concentration and extermination camps.
Throughout the lesson the students build up their ideas and add them around a lightbulb to focus on the central aims of the lesson.
Students are also given numbers and have to decide the significance of each from 6 million to 2 minutes and 2 seconds or 90cm by 90cm for example.
The final part of the lesson refers to the powerful and moving story of Erica, thrown off the train by her parents before she reached Auschwitz and therefore knowing very little about herself.
The plenary focuses on some odd ones out exercises and recent genocides to emphasise the importance of remembering the holocaust.
There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson.
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.
I have created these set of resources for the History Key Stage 3 National Curriculum ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’.
These lessons are also useful if you are studying the Cold War at GCSE, where the students will gain an invaluable insight into the key terms, ideologies, events and people post 1945.
The central question throughout these eleven lessons is to find out why civilians feared for their lives during the Cold War. They are closely linked together and students continually plot their ideas around the key question, which can be referred back to each lesson (either dated or colour coded) to show progress throughout this unit of work.
Pupils will learn the significance and impact of the arms race on the wider world and be able to see the causes and consequences of the Berlin blockade and airlift finally culminating in the building of the Berlin Wall.
They will learn key historical terms such as containment, buffer zones, mutually assured destruction and the domino theory as well as understand the differences between the capitalist and communist ideologies.
They will be given sources to analyse such as the evidence from the moon landings in 1969 and make historical inferences from them as to whether they are fact or fiction.
Furthermore they will be able to write structured accounts and narratives on the Vietnam war as to whether US soldiers committed war crimes by killing innocent civilians or how much of a threat is North Korea to world peace?
Each lesson comes with suggested teaching and learning strategies and are linked to the latest historical interpretations and ideas used by current history teachers on twitter.
The lessons are fully adaptable in PowerPoint and can be changed to suit. I have included a couple of free lessons to give an idea of what is being offered.
I strongly recommend using GCSE style questions from your chosen exam board and markschemes to assess the pupils at the end of this unit, which are always available on line.
The 11 lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 The defeat of Germany in 1945
L2 Introduction to the Cold War
L3 The Arms Race
L4 The Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift
L5 The Berlin Wall
L6 The Korean War
L7 The Cuban Missile Crisis
L8 Man on the Moon
L9 The Vietnam War
L10 Cold War sports
L11 Mikhail Gorbachev
(+ Key word History display)
Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.
Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Medicine Through Time, c1250-present
These key individual flashcards aim to get the students thinking of key people and their significance in medicine.
I always find students have revised thoroughly for exams, but do not push their grades into the higher brackets as they focus on content rather than the individual’s impact and importance, particularly over time.
These flashcards are great when addressing the 12 mark ‘explain why’ question, particularly when arguing over rapid change.
There are 33 individuals listed, including those for the Historic Environment; The British sector of the Western Front.
Students can use them in class (I use them as starters and plenaries) or to take home and use for their own personal revision programme.
I also display them in the classroom (enlarged) and use when teaching this unit of study.
The resource 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 to evaluate the reasons for the increasing problems Elizabethan society underwent towards the end of the 16th Century.
Students also have to evaluate the impact of these changes upon society as a whole, from a rising population, gentry class and continuing inflation.
They will also question if there was a crisis in the aristocracy, a case put forward by renowned historians such as Hugh Trevor Roper, as he argues their decline of importance coincides with a rise in influence of the gentry class.
Finally students will examine and decide if there were any differences in the patterns of trade in the Elizabethan era compared to previous Tudor times. Was England still dominated by agriculture and the cloth trade to Antwerp or were any changes happening to expand markets?
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 GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603
The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth asserted her authority and control in the second half of her reign.
In this lesson, students learn how much Elizabethan society was changing due to this increase in status, wealth and power.
The foundations of the Great Chain of Being were being shaken as there was a rise in status of the gentry class, making their money through land and trade and being given jobs of responsibility by the Queen such as JPs, MPs and Privy Councillors.
With this new money came the desire to build new houses and a case study of Hardwick Hall is used as an example of how to show off your wealth and power,
Students analyse how these new houses demonstrated that their inhabitants were cultured and fashionable people.
Students are shown the latest ideas from the BBC and have to analyse and colour code text before demonstrating their knowledge in a ‘how important’ GCSE practice question.
After completion they peer assess their answers to check they have included the correct evidence and answered the question properly rather than a given a narrative description which can be a common error.
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.
The lesson introduced the concept of slavery and how it has been active throughout the centuries.
Students have to categorise the reasons why the transatlantic slave trade was justified by many of our contemporaries and evaluate the most important reasons for their views through differentiated tasks.
They also analyse a number of sources about slavery from the Ancient Egyptians through to the present day and reveal their findings in a summarisation pyramid.
The lesson is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
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.
The Tudors
This is the first in a series of lessons I have created on the Tudors.
This lesson is broken down into two parts. The first part describes and explains the events surrounding the Wars of the Roses.
Students learn about the Kings involved and the battles fought through fun tasks, video evidence and role play of which they have to make choices on the victors.
With this new found knowledge they have to explain what they have learnt through a ‘talk like an historian’ quiz.
The second part of the lesson focuses on the previous Tudor perceptions of Richard III. Was he really a deceitful and cunning person, ‘a lump of foul deformity’ with a hunchback according to Shakespeare, More and Virgil?
Archaeological evidence from King Richard’s remains is analysed by the students to prove or disprove some of these popular ‘misconceptions’ about his posture and character.
Students are then challenged to write to the current Education Secretary to make sure correct history lessons are now taught about Richard III in secondary schools.
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.
This lesson is fully resourced includes suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The Norman Conquest
This lesson has two aims; to discover if medieval towns were dangerous places to live and to question how dirty and unhygienic they actually were.
Students learn how Medieval towns grew up through Charters and Guilds and how shops and their names and surnames became intertwined. An exercise tests their ability to interpret shop signs.
They analyse a number of statements about the dangers facing townsfolk and evidence this on a road map (or dirt track) using danger symbols and accompanying road signs.
The second part of the lesson focuses on the filth and dirt of Medieval towns and questions how much the local authorities did.
Students evaluate how hygienic towns were, colour coding thermometers and rating each step taken by the local authorities (or not as the case may be).
This lesson is therefore designed to be interactive, fun, challenging and engaging and could be used over two lessons.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The Holocaust
The aims of this lesson are to explain how the extermination camps were liberated by horrified allied soldiers whose shock quickly turned to anger.
Students are placed in the liberators shoes and have to decide how they would react, from cleaning up, to taking pictures and leaving things untouched to of course more violent extremes.
There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson, but please again treat with caution and care.
The second part of the lesson is a case study of Herta Bothe, a German camp guard who was convicted of war crimes by a British military tribunal.
Students are given certain facts about her and have to decide if the sentence was justified or whether as in the previous lesson she was an unfortunate victim of circumstance and just an ordinary woman completing the job required of her.
The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust?
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 a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe.
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.
The British Empire
The aim of this lesson is to discover how tough it was to colonise the New World for British settlers and why America fought for its independence from Britain.
The lesson begins with the Pilgrim Fathers and students discuss the reasons why they and many families began to settle in the New World.
Further analysis requires students to judge how tough it was to set up in America and the impact they made on the local communities they came into contact with. Having made their judgements, students can engage in an extended writing task with key words and a writing frame to use if required.
The second part the lesson analyses the reasons why the colonists became so angry with Britain and claiming no taxation without representation. Students are then required to give reasons as to why a war ensued and the significance of George Washington of the Declaration of Independence.
A true or false plenary focuses on the legacy of Britain’s Empire in America and its links to today.
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.
This lesson aims to examine the reasons why King John quarrelled with his barons and ultimately was forced to sign the Magna Carta.
But on which terms was King John forced to accept?
Firstly students have to work out what the terms of the Magna Carta were.
Secondly students have to evaluate the significance of the Magna Carta in the short, medium and long term for King John, for future Kings of England as well as for us today.
They will use sources and video footage as well as retrieval grids and a true or false quiz to help them in their research,
They will also continue to plot the power struggle between the king, the church, the barons and the people in a sequence of lessons.
This lesson includes:
Fun, engaging and challenging tasks
Links to video footage
Printable worksheets
Differentiated tasks
Suggested teaching strategies
PowerPoint format, which can be changed to suit
The English Civil War
The aim of this lesson is to question if James I was the most ‘suitable’ candidate to succeed Elizabeth I as monarch of England, Scotland and Wales.
The lesson begins with the death of Elizabeth and the suggestion of the enormity of the task that lays ahead for the new monarch.
James I puts down his own marker quite forcibly from the start in a letter to her chief advisor, Robert Cecil.
Students have to sift through the evidence provided to make up their own minds.
They are then required to report back to Cecil with their findings with scaffolding and key words provided if required.
The plenary uses the blob playground for students to make links to James and his ‘characteristics’.
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 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.
Germany 1890-1945:Democracy and Dictatorship
This lesson focuses on two key questions - how were the Ruhr crisis and hyperinflation so closely linked together and how did they create both economic and political problems for the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1923?
The lesson is split into two parts; the first focusing on why the French decided to invade the Ruhr region of Germany and secondly the consequences for them and for Germany when they did.
Students have to answer key questions on the invasion and analyse sources which infer French brutality.
A literacy task to follow challenges students’ understanding of the key words used.
The second part of the lesson explains the causes and consequences of hyperinflation with a focus on the winners and well as the losers.
Some GCSE question practice at the end gives a student friendly markscheme to peer and self assess.
There is a plethora of video footage and primary sources to analyse throughout the lesson as well as simplified and chronological explanations.
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.
