My students love this lesson. I created it for a local history unit when I worked in Shanghai but now use it as part of my unit on C20th China. The class begin with an odd one out activity designed to get them thinking about the period. They then work through a detailed set of notes before being divided up into high society and seedy underbelly. Students create a collage of their aspect of society using the card sort and take part in a freeze frame activity. The lesson concludes with a fun game of Dingbats to test subject knowledge.

In this lesson students begin by working through the set of background notes before completing a large diamond 9 activity as a group task. They then fill in their pyramid activity collectively before making recipe equations. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine always do.

This 34-page pack is the incredibly detailed and complete set of notes I have written for my students. It is basically an entire course on Why do events in the Gulf Matter? in one pack! Suitable for 16+ including GCSE, AP, A Level, and IB students. Notes are broken down into the following sections: How did Saddam Hussein rise to power in Iraq? What was the nature of Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq? Why was there a revolution in Iran in 1979? What were the causes of the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88? What were the consequences of the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88? Why did the First Gulf War take place? I am confident you will love this resource because there is nothing on the Internet which I have found which offers the same level of breadth and detail on this topic.

In this lesson students begin with a charades starter to test knowledge from prior learning. They then work their way through a detailed set of notes before completing a card sort activity in which they decide if evidence suggests the war was the fault of Iraq, Iran, or the USA. Students complete the lesson with an exit plenary activity. I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as much as mine do.

This is one of the most controversial lessons on the curriculum and it always produces excellent and thought provoking history for able secondary students. Students work through detailed information on the bombing of Germany before being drip-fed 41 pieces of precise historical information. They have to compile these in groups into evidence which suggests it was morally right to bomb Germany (it took anti aircraft guns away from the Eastern Front for example) and evidence which suggests it was morally wrong (even Churchill by March 1945 felt the bombing should be reduced). This in turn leads to great student debate. I really hope your classes get as much from this very stimulating lesson as mine do.

In this twelve page lesson pack students engage in a hot seat story telling starter, work through very detailed notes, before attempting a twenty-one piece factor led evidence sort (technology, leadership, tactics) to map out a visual response to the key question, before finishing off the lesson with a craps-style formative assessment game (you just need to provide your own dice). I hope you students get just as much from this lesson as mine do.

I designed this lesson when I taught History in Shanghai and so have used that city as a case study but it works really well in a unit on C21st China. In this lesson students complete an odd one out activity designed to hook them into the topic. They then work through detailed background notes and sources before attempting to complete a range of questions. The lesson concludes with a fun formative assessment task (‘Last Historian Standing’) to test them on the subject knowledge they will have acquired during this lesson. I hope you students get just as much from this lesson as mine do.

A twenty minute guide in which I talk through tips and tricks for students and teachers on how to produce an excellent IA. The IA has a weighting of twenty percent of the overall grade for Higher Level History and twenty five percent for Standard Level History for the I B course and in this video I have used my teaching and examining experience to piece together advice for students in this crucial piece of work. I hope your students find it just as useful as mine do.

In this very detailed lesson students have the opportunity to tackle on the of the greatest history mystery activities around! The lesson begins with a Power Point activity designed to captivate the class from the go and they view a short video outlining differences people have on this question. The class then work through a detailed set of background notes to enrich their knowledge before attempting a 26 piece evidence sort. The class work in pairs or individually to place each piece of evidence into a column - they are colour co-ordinated to differentiate where required - some evidence suggests the landings were real and others suggest they were a hoax. Once complete the class use this as a scaffold to write an answer to the question ‘did man really walk on the moon in 1969?’ before voting online in their plenary activity. It really is a lesson (for high school students) which engineers original thought and allows students to discriminate between evidence to arrive at a well thought out conclusion. My students always find this a fascinating lesson and a great part of any Cold War unit or stand-alone activity. I hope yours enjoy it as much as mine do. You can find alternatives on this site which address this question and which cost a tiny bit less but I don’t think they have the level of detail and precision as you will find here :-)

Ideal for an end of unit fun quiz on the USA in the roaring Twenties and thirsty Thirties … Seventy eight slides with fourteen categories and a whole range of activities to help students think about the key areas in this period. Tasks include anagrams, photo fit faces, chronology activities, dingbats and lots more. You might wish to allow students to use phones or devices to help them throughout the quiz or you may wish them to attempt it without them. I hope your students find this as fun and useful a revision activity as mine do.

I designed this lesson for my IB students and it is pitched at more able students. The lesson begins with a simple starter activity to introduce them to the topic. The hook here is the Socialist Fraternal Embrace and it leads to a discussion of the symbolism of the Breznev-Honeker kiss on the Berlin Wall. From here students read the introductory notes before working through a highly detailed card sort. The cards are coloured to guide those who need it (lighter and darker tones portray positive and negative aspects of life in Brezhnev’s USSR whilst the colours themselves represent factors - domestic, foreign, economic etc). Students then use this information to model a spoken or written responses to the Key Question. The plenary is a fun dingbats powerpoint in which students have to shout out one of the key words or events covered in this lesson and explain its significance. I created this last week and used it with my students for the first time and they really understood the period in so doing whilst showcasing a range of higher order Historical skills. I hope your students can benefit from it also.

This is a one-page Power point slide (editable) which can be set as a project-based assessment on the causes of slavery. Students are given clear criteria (beginning, developing, expected, and mastery) and a set task with a list of key words which can help them. The slide also has a section to show students how long they have to work on this assessed piece of work. Please note: this assessment task can very easily be edited for any assessed piece of work focusing on the second order concept of causation and works especially well with my lesson resource on the causes of slavery which can be found here - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-causes-of-slavery-7-page-full-lesson-notes-hexagonal-card-sort-11920311 Thanks for your interest in this and I hope it helps you ! Best wishes, Daniel

This is a one-page Power point slide (editable) which can be set as a project-based assessment on consequences of the Romans. Students are given clear criteria (beginning, developing, expected, and mastery) and a set task with a list of key words which can help them. The slide also has a section to show students how long they have to work on this assessed piece of work. Please note: this assessment task can very easily be edited for any assessed piece of work focusing on the second order concept of consequence and works especially well with my lesson resource on what the Romans gave to us which can be found here - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-civilised-were-the-romans-23-page-full-lesson-notes-project-pack-11920978 Thanks for your interest in this and I hope it helps you ! Best wishes, Daniel Please note this assessment is designed for Secondary aged Students.

This is a one-page Power point slide (editable) which can be set as a project-based assessment on the significance of Ancient Chinese inventions. Students are given clear criteria (beginning, developing, expected, and mastery) and a set task with a list of key words which can help them. The slide also has a section to show students how long they have to work on this assessed piece of work. Please note: this assessment task can very easily be edited for any assessed piece of work focusing on the second order concept of significance. Thanks for your interest in this and I hope it helps you ! Best wishes, Daniel

This is a terrific first lesson if teaching a unit on Russia from the turn of the Nineteenth Century until the Revolution. Students are introduced to the lesson with a ‘what’s behind the squares PPT’ which reveals a Social Revolutionary poster displaying Russian society as a wedding cake. They are then given a detailed 8 page set of notes broken down into population, cities, geography, rule and government and so forth and are asked to research and present 8 physical items that explain what life was like for different groups for their main task. They are given some examples (such as Faberge eggs or rubles buried under peasant homes or Cossack knouts/whips to guide them). I have also included a plenary (Dingbats) with some of the key terms students come across in this lesson to test comprehension at the end of their presentations. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine do. It is designed for secondary aged students who can use detailed information as well as their own research to present their findings. Any questions please let me know and I’m always happy to help.

In this lesson students explore the long term causes of the 1905 revolution in Russia. The starter activity invites them to discuss the concepts of revolution from above and below. They are then provided with a bespoke set of notes which break down the knowledge into socio-economic, political, and military reasons for unhappiness amongst the population. Students then follow this with the main consolidation activity which is a card sort (broken down into reasons why military, peasants, urban dwellers and opposition groups might be unhappy) and use this information to write speeches to the Tsar seeking reform. The lesson concludes with a plenary activity in which students tie together their answer to the lesson question. Please let me know if you have any questions about this lesson pack, which has been designed for students of secondary age. I have also included a colour coded version of the card sort for purposes of differentiation.

Students begin this lesson with a starter activity in which they watch a video clip of the traditional view of events (with some true or false questions to test comprehension). They then work through a detailed 3-page set of notes before handling 17 pieces of evidence, some of which offer the traditional view (that this was a peaceful protest whereby the Imperial Guard massacred innocent civilians) and others of which suggest a more revisionist perspective (that Father Gapon was a double agent and expected/wanted to provoke a violent response). Students answer questions on the sources and are invited to give their opinion, which ties back neatly to the starter activity and the Key Question. The lesson concludes with a plenary activity which asks students to listen and contemplate on the meaning and nuances within Dmitri Shostakovitch’s famous 11th symphony. I hope you enjoy this lesson as much as my students do. It has been pitched towards high achieving secondary aged students but please do ask me if you have any questions.

This lesson begins with a fun starter activity where students view images of Putin and are introduced to the idea that Russians like a tough muzhik style leader (Geoffrey Hosking). They then read through a detailed 4-page pack of notes before completing a card sort where they divide information onto two ‘roads’ - one that suggests Russia was legitimately on the road to reform and democracy, and one that suggests it was on the road to revolution because of a Tsar who refused to give up any power. Students are then expected to write a short response to the overall question before the plenary which shows them two different Historians’ views on this question (Pipes and Morison). The class are asked to vote by standing either on the left or right of the room. I hope you enjoy this lesson as much as I do when I deliver it and please do ask me if you have any questions. The lesson is pitched at high achieving secondary school students.

This is a fully resourced lesson focusing on the second order concept of interpretation. Students watch two video clips (Disney and Alan Rickmann’s interpretations of Rasputin) and complete a VENN diagram as their starter activity to introduce the idea that there are very different views of Rasputin. They then work through a detailed set of notes before rifling through a 50+ piece card sort to identify arguments in favour of him being a Mad Monk or indeed a Holy Man. Students use this information to complete a written task (report for the Okhrana) using the criteria-driven assessment template provided. In the plenary students look through five different images of Rasputin and are invited to shout out their thoughts as the squares are taken away to reveal the picture. Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope your students get as much out of this fully-resourced lesson as much as mine do.