This lesson is designed with the OCR Ancient History GCSE course in mind. It takes students through the succession of Tarquinius Priscus (The first Etruscan king of Rome) through to his military achievementsvia the use of Livy as a primary source. There are a number of worksheets which are included in the .ppt file at various points which should be printed of and given to students. All instructions are clear at each point as to what students must be doing and taks are easily and clearly ‘chunked’. The aim of the worksheets (often with a passage from Livy on them) is to summarise what is being said by the ancient author at each point and then use this information to make answering exam questions (at the bottom of each sheet) more accessible. Included in this lesson are Priscus’ social, political, religious and military initiatives which students are given, and then have to analyse and evaluate in order to determine which were his most significant. At the higher end of the thinking scale is the idea that Priscus is considered a great military commander, but not necessarily a great king. Students should be invited to reflect on this at the end of the lesson.

This lesson is designed with the new OCR Classical Civilisations 9-1 GCSE in mind. Specifically, Paper 1 (Myth and Religion) topic 1.6 Myth and Symbols of Power. it is designed to run over 2 hour long lessons. All worksheets referred to below are contained within the .ppt file in the appropriate places during the lesson which can be printed out and given to students. All instructions are also contained in the ‘notes’ section for each slide (in addition to helpful video links). The lesson starts with a comprehension starter regarding how Augustus came to power and an accompanying video. There is then some class reading on the aims of Augustan art in general and the messages Augustus was keen to promote. The lesson then moves onto the Prima Porta statue (a prescribed source for the new course) with an analysis of each aspect of it that students can record on a worksheet (pictured). There is another summary video followed by study questions surrounding Augustus’ supposed divine status. The lesson finishes with a plenary where students get commissioned by Augustus to design a new statue.

There are two lessons included within this bundle. The first is a lesson examining the story of the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the Patronage of the city of Athens. This includes, among other activities, a storyboard activity which allows students to be creative in exhibiting what they have learnt. The second is a detailed look at how the story is represented in art; on the Eastern pediment of the Parthenon and in a Roman visual interpretation of the story. Students can be very much encouraged to compare and contrast the two interpretations of the story in art as a challenge task, with a view to looking at which is the more accurate according to the myth. There are a number of worksheets contained within the .ppt file which are located as slides in the appropriate place that they be used in the lesson. These can be printed straight from Power Point itself. Links to videos which help to consolidate students learning are also included.

The lesson starts with a task aimed at getting students to recall what they already know about Theseus through the study of his labours. Next the lesson focuses on the three versions of the Ariadne myth with a set of questions designed to look at the myth from their own perspective, but also through the eyes of an ancient Athenian. After this students are introduced to Theseus’ significance as king of Athens and then are presented with an extract from Plutarch’s Life of Theseus and asked 5 questions (can be printed as a handout) designed to get students thinking more deeply about primary sources in Classical Civilisation. Finally they need to consider why Plutarch decided to parallel Theseus to Romulus, even though their roles in terms of founding their respective cities are different. Students then read through the relevant parts of Euripides’ Heracles (included) and are asked 3 questions to answer for each part. Students can be assigned a different character and the relevant part of the play for students is split into six- From when Heracles learns he has murdered his wife and children, to the end of the play. This allows the play to be accessible and a chance for the teacher to address any misunderstandings or misconceptions. Obviously there is a focus on Theseus despite the name of the play, since it is Theseus who proves the greater man at the end of the play. 1 and 2 mark questions then follow based on their learning in the unit so far and finally there is an 8 mark comparative exam question. Students can recall their prior knowledge of Heracles’ association with Olympia from earlier in the course, and compare it to Theseus’ association with Athens. There is an extension task added on which involves students imagining they are at Theseus’ public funeral and writing an appropriate eulogy for him. This is designed for students to summarise their knowledge of Theseus’ life and demonstrate their ability to highlight the most significant moments.

The lesson starts with a creative drawing competition starter activity familiarising students with what Alexandria would have looked like. Students are then presented with a timeline of events from Cleopatra’s life and asked to outline the 5 most significant events and explain their reasoning. This allows students with little prior knowledge of Cleopatra understand the significance of her life in a short activity. The focus of the lesson then moves onto lands she managed to secure from mark Antony and students are encouraged to come up with a memorable acronym to help them remember which lands she gained. Students are then introduced to the Donations of Alexandria and have to analyse its significance in relation to the first lands she managed to secure from Antony. Students are then given an extract from Plutarch’s ‘Life of Mark Antony’ and given two 5 mark OCR Ancient History GCSE questions to think about. Sentence starters are included to help them structure their work. After they have had a go they can look at the two model answers provided and use these to improve their own. Students finally are asked in the plenary to consider how she managed to be successful in expanding Egypt’s influence when her predecessors had failed in this regard.

This lesson is aimed at KS3/4 students embarking on a study of Alexander the Great. It was designed with the OCR Ancient History Spec in mind but can also be used as a stand alone lesson as its aim is to introduce students to the debate surrounding Alexander and his ‘greatness’. The lesson begins with a quick-fire drawing game based on the Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. Students are then given Mary Beard’s views on Alexander and discuss whether she believes Alexander is ‘great’ etc. It then moves onto a look at a timeline of his life with students encouraged to identify what might have been they most significant events in his life and why. There is then a task where students have to decide whether key events in his life were either positive or negative and draw conclusions about his greatness from this. They are then encouraged to compare their analysis with Mary Beard’s opinion, followed by Philip Freeman’s. The final task involves looking at a map of Alexander’s empire at the time of his death and the routes he took. Students then use this to feed into their gradually evolving opinion on Alexander which they can explain at the end and link to the lesson’s success criteria. This lesson should ideally cover around 2 hours, but could be reduced to 1 if necessary. Reading is included which students do as homework following the lesson with an accompanying short written task.

This resource can be used at any point during any sort of study of Alexander the Great. In our school we have designed it to sit at the beginning of our OCR Ancient History 9-1 GCSE unit on Alexander. One of the biggest issues with studying Alexander (and something crucial to the 20 mark essay question on the GCSE paper!) is our sources for his life and conquests. This resource tackles the four main problems with our sources. It also encourages students to come to a judgement in the form of an exam question at the end of the lesson as to how much we can ever really know about Alexander. There are ample notes in the ‘notes’ section on the Powerpoint to support teachers in delivering the lesson accurately and the aim has always been to create an easy-to follow, high quality resource that can be used ‘off the shelf’ and can easily slot in to any scheme of work as a stand-alone lesson.

This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct and reduces cognitive load. It tells the story of the trials and tribulations Rome’s new Consuls Brutus and Collatinus went through in trying to establish the new Republic in Rome after the exile of Superbus. The story and Livy / Dionysius are also analysed throughout, and this lesson sets up the next one on the origins of the Conflict of the Orders nicely. On each slide are pertinent questions posed to students that they can answer verbally or in writing and are great for AfL - summative and formative depending on how you want to use them. Even if you aren’t teaching the OCR AH GCSE, I’d argue this is probably the clearest and easiest to understand overview of the challenges and details of the establishment of Rome’s new Republic that exists at the moment - it’s why I made it because there was hardly anything accessible out there for me and my students… Thanks for taking a look!

This lesson is designed to be a succinct and clear 1 hour lesson that provides enough detail for the Ancient History OCR 9-1 GCSE Foundations of Rome Unit. It goes through how Servius became king and why, what Livy says about him in his History of Rome, and his various political reforms and building projects. Students are also introduced to what Dionysius of Halicarnassus says about Servius and there is a comparison to Livy’s opinion. There is also a clear and detailed explanation of Servius’ murder and his family tree - a complicated issue but made as simple as possible here and easy for all students to access. The lesson is punctuated by pertinent questions which students can either verbally respond to or write out short explanations. these help to embed the knowledge and I’ve found them pretty useful for AfL. My students liked these kind of lessons because they’re completely dual coded and as a result it massively reduces cognitive load, allowing pupils to easily access what is otherwise quite complex information. The lesson contains various useful embedded video clips (hence the large file size) - the first ones recap Romulus, Numa, Tullus, Ancus and Priscus’ reforms as kings of Rome - since it is difficult to understand the significance of Servius without looking at the actions of his predecessors. There is also a short entertaining video clip detailing the extent to which we can trust Livy as a source.

This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct. it starts with a couple of video clips recapping Superbus’ reasons for being exiled and it then tells the following three ‘stories’ that Livy outlines in his History of Rome: The Battle of Silvia Arsia - where Rome’s exiled king Tarquinius Superbus teams up with members of the Latin League to try and regain Rome. Lars Porsena’s siege of Rome - where Superbus persuades a powerful neighbouring king to try and get him back into power in Rome. The Battle of Lake Regilius - Superbus’ last hurrah and ultimate failure to regain the Roman throne. Throughout there are pertinent questions posed to students on screen that they can answer verbally or in written form and are great for AfL - there is also a 10 mark exam question at the end (with sentence starters) on the battle of Lake Regilius (with an accompanying passage from Livy to refer to) so students can apply their learning and hone their exam skills. Thanks for taking a look!

This lesson is designed to be a succinct and clear 1 hour lesson that provides enough detail for the Ancient History OCR 9-1 GCSE Foundations of Rome Unit. It goes through how Priscus was appointed and why, what Livy says about him in his History of Rome, and his religious, military and building reforms / projects. The lesson is punctuated by pertinent questions which students can either verbally respond to or write out short explanations. these help to embed the knowledge and I’ve found them pretty useful for AfL. My students liked these kind of lessons because they’re completely dual coded and as a result it massively reduces cognitive load, allowing pupils to easily access what is otherwise quite complex information. The lesson contains various useful embedded video clips (hence the large file size) - the first ones recap Romulus, Numa, Tullus and Ancus as kings of Rome - since it is difficult to understand the significance of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus without looking at the actions of his predecessors. There is also a short entertaining video clip detailing the extent to which we can trust Livy as a source - plus a more detailed one later on where students can add to their notes.

These painstakingly created Graphic Organisers are ideal for Ancient History 9-1 GCSE. Quality resources for the GCSE seem scarce and this is me trying to rectify that a bit. These provide all the required information in an easily accessible and memorable way for the Period study of Persia - just over a quarter of the whole GCSE. My students really appreciate these. The organisers give enough ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ for students to get a good grade at GCSE - a 4/5/6 depending on how much information they can retain. We print these out A5 size and stick them in the middle of our books and as I am teaching students will annotate these sheets according to how much extra information they need to get above a 4/5/6. The visuals are a huge help and icons and schemas are repeated as and when appropriate across the organisers which makes pupils feel secure and build a mental image of all the content - something I had found challenging to help them create before using these. The GOs really help tell the ‘story’ of the Achaemenid (Persian) Kings: Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius and Xerxes. Topics included: Cyrus’ birth and early life Cyrus’ conquest of Astyages and the Medes / Media Cyrus’ conquest of Croesus and the Lydians / Lydia Cyrus’ conquest of Nabonidus and the Babylonians / Babylon The importance of the Nabonidus Chronicle, Cyrus Cylinder and Herodotus as sources The foundation of Cyrus’ city at Pasargadae Cyrus’ death at the hands of Queen Tomyris and the Massegatae Early Cambyses and Succession Background to Cambyses’ invasion of Egypt Cambyses conquest of Egypt Cambyses positives as ruler of Egypt Cambyses’ negatives and 'madness as ruler of Egypt Cambyses’ military failures after conquering Egypt (Carthage, Ammonia, Ethiopia) Smerdis’ the usurper and death of Cambyses Accession of Darius Behistun (Bisitun) Inscription Darius’ reorganisation of the Persian Empire The foundation of Darius’ city at Persepolis Darius’ initial expansion attempts from 517 BCE The backstory and causes of the Ionian Revolt The events of the Ionian Revolt 499 BCE The aftermath and consequences of the Ionian Revolt Darius’ final invasion of Greece and death Accession of Xerxes to the Persian throne Xerxes’ preparations for his invasion of Greece Xerxes’ invasion of Greece The Battle of Thermopylae The sack of Athens Battle of Salamis Battle of Eurymedon End of Persian forays westward

This lesson is designed to be a succinct and clear 1 hour lesson that provides enough detail for the Ancient History OCR 9-1 GCSE Foundations of Rome Unit. It goes through how Tullus was appointed and why, what Livy says about him in his History of Rome, and his descent into villainy throughout his reign, looking at his military achievements and religious incompetence too. The lesson is punctuated by pertinent questions which students can either verbally respond to or write out short explanations. these help to embed the knowledge and I’ve found them pretty useful for AfL. My students liked these kind of lessons because they’re completely dual coded and as a result it massively reduces cognitive load, allowing pupils to easily access what is otherwise quite complex information. The lesson contains various useful embedded video clips (hence the large file size) - the first ones recap Romulus and Numa’s reforms as kings of Rome - since it is difficult to understand the significance of Tullus without looking at the actions of his predecessors. The final video clip details the extent to which we can trust Livy as a source.

This lesson is designed to be a succinct and clear 1 hour lesson that provides enough detail for the Ancient History OCR 9-1 GCSE Foundations of Rome Unit. It goes through how Numa was appointed and why, through his parallels with the Emperor Augustus in Livy’s History of Rome, and his extensive religious and political reforms. The lesson is punctuated by pertinent questions which students can either verbally respond to or write out short explanations. these help to embed the knowledge and I’ve found them pretty useful for AfL. My students liked these kind of lessons because they’re completely dual coded and as a result it massively reduces cognitive load, allowing pupils to easily access what is otherwise quite complex information. The lesson is bookended by two embedded video clips (hence the large file size) - the first one details Romulus’ reforms as king of Rome - since it is difficult to understand the significance of Numa without looking at the actions of his predecessor. The final video clip goes into more detail about various acts Numa undertook in pursuit of making Rome a more pious society.

This lesson is designed to be a succinct and clear 1 hour lesson that provides enough detail for the Ancient History OCR 9-1 GCSE Foundations of Rome Unit. It goes through the four areas Romulus changed Rome: Military changes Political changes Religious changes Population changes In between each area of change there is a short explanation question with sentence starters so pupils can embed the knowledge - they are very useful for AfL I have found. My students liked this lesson because it is dual coded and as a result it massively reduces cognitive load, allowing pupils to easily access what is otherwise quite complex information. There is a short video clip embedded at the very beginning of the lesson (hence the large file size) telling the story of Romulus and Remus - i.e. how Romulus became king, and there is an embedded clip at the end going into detail about Romulus’ kingship - so students can add more details to their notes.

This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct and reduces cognitive load. It tells the story of the how the Plebeians and the Patricians argument with each other at the beginning of Rome’s new Republican era was attempted to be solved - and how this attempt at being solved was hijacked by a few Patricians unwilling to cede any power to the Plebeians. On each slide are pertinent questions posed to students that they can answer verbally or in writing and are great for AfL - summative and formative depending on how you want to use them. There’s a 6 mark exam question to finish off the lesson for those teaching the OCR Ancient History GCSE. Even if you aren’t teaching the OCR AH GCSE, I’d argue this is probably the clearest and easiest to understand overview of the challenges and details of the First and Second Decemvirates (and the 12 Tables that were the product of both) that exists at the moment - it’s why I made the lesson because there was hardly anything accessible out there for me and my students… There is also a summary video clip at the start to tell the story so far and a video clip included at the end so students can recap their learning. Thanks for taking a look!

These Graphic Organisers are ideal for Ancient History 9-1 GCSE. The Foundations of Rome unit, especially after studying the kings of Rome, can become tedious for students and staff alike. Quality resources for this part of the unit are scarce and this is me trying to rectify that a bit. My students really appreciate these. The organisers give enough ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ for students to get a good grade at GCSE - a 4/5/6 depending on how much information they can retain. We print these out A5 size and stick them in the middle of our books and as I am teaching students will annotate these sheets according to how much extra information they need to get above a 4/5/6. The visuals are a huge help and icons and schemas are repeated as and when appropriate across the organisers which makes pupils feel secure and build a mental image of all the content - something I had found challenging to help them create before using these. The GOs really help tell the ‘story’ of the early Roman Republic. Topics included: Creation of the Roman Republic by consuls Brutus and Collatinus The history and trajectory of the Conflict of the Orders Sicinius and the First Secession of the plebs The Volero Publilius Uprising and subsequent reforms The First and Second Decemvirates The Twelve Tables The second Secession of the plebs The Valero - Horatian Laws and other reforms Legal Reforms of the 440s BCE and the end of the Conflict of the Orders

This lesson is designed to be delivered in an hour and includes a range of handouts and video clips (hence the larger file size) included as slides within the PowerPoint. Students are introduced to the key features a Greek Theatre and the role they played in Greek society and religion. It is clear and concise and throughout there are numerous comprehensions and other opportunities to engage the students and embed their learning. This lesson was ideal in our introduction to GCSE Classical Civilsation unit we did at the end of KS3 / beginning of KS4 as students are starting to discover the Classical World - it helps give them an excellent sense of period. Thanks for taking a look :-)

This lesson takes students through the basic differences between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian Greek Temples. HD examples are included of a variety of temples from each ‘order’ of Greek Architecture. Blank templates are included so students can have a go at drawing their own columns for each order. A differentiated homework task is included at the end of the lesson to encourage further research and thinking. This lesson would be ideally suited to KS4+5 students who are studying Greek architecture for whatever reason for the first time.