Lecture-style lesson I developed for my Year 13s this year.
There are 20+ slides of info here, focussing on the traditional and modern developments in Weimar culture in the mid 20s, including those in film, literature and the arts.
This info could be used ‘as-is’ in a lecture form, used as the basis for several lessons on Weimar culture or sent to students as a revision at home powerpoint. There is an example question at the end for the students to plan after the lesson.
Lecture-style lesson I developed this year for my Year 13s.
Powerpoint covers the links between the Nazi foreign policy and the increase in persecution, focussing on events from 1939 and the division of Czechoslovakia, through the Nisko and Madagascar Plans, the Nazi-soviet Pact and ends with the link to the Wannsee conference.
There are 38 slides of info with images and explanations…can be used as a lecture as I did, the basis for several lessons on this topic or something to send to the students to revise at home.
Revision lesson created this year for my Year 13 class.
Lesson charts the rise of the Nazis in political terms, from the coalition of Muller, through Bruning, von Papen and Schleicher.
This revision lesson has a lot of info which can be used in different ways. I delivered it in a lecture style with pauses for exam question focus. I have structured it around exam questions, there are a few examples within the lesson.
Recap lesson and model answer for the AQA GCSE Wales Historic Environment study.
Lesson recaps the different ways in which the Normans established their conquest, using Wales for examples. This was fully covered in previous lessons so this is more of a recap exercise focussed more around the possible question. The lesson then focusses on a possible question (I can’t think of what else they could ask, given the resources provided, other than variations on a theme!). There is a model answer in the ppt and attached as a word file. This is deliberately a bit longer than students would be expected to write but I’ve tried to show a few examples how to answer the question but also to focus on Wales.
There is then an example of how to change the info to fit another question as I have been trying to emphasise the importance of being able to adapt in exams and apply knowledge in different ways.
Please note - I have attached an edited copy of the essay along with the full version so you can get an idea what it looks like in the preview without showing the whole answer.
Set of 4 lessons looking at the 2024 Historic Environment unit focussed on Wales.
I taught these lessons very recently (September 2022) and was delighted with how they turned out. I have a very mixed-ability GCSE group and the knowledge and understanding my group gained from the tasks and the info was very encouraging (and made the hours of work on these lessons feel more worthwhile!).
Throughout the course of these lessons I have embedded and used the sources provided by AQA and used them in context with a drip-feed approach, rather than just hand the kids a pack of sources in one go. The written sources I have The lessons make use of the support material provided by AQA. I have attached used are edited (attached to these lessons) but the full version is freely accessible on their site.
Lesson 1 begins with a recap on the Norman invasion (the class finished studying this in May 2023) and then focusses on giving the students an understanding of Wales and its importance to the Normans. As always we are guessing as to the GCSE question focus but I have tried to introduce some of the themes I will pick up on throughout these lessons, making use of as many of the sources provided by AQA as possible. Towards the end of the lesson the students learn about the 3 main Marcher Earls, using the AQA resources
Lesson 2 focusses on what I think will be the three major ‘factors’ the exam board will be looking at in their upcoming question. I have linked each of these to the students’ prior knowledge (such as their learning on castles) while also trying to tell the story of Wales too.
Lesson 3 is concentrates on what I think the question will be around (can’t see how it can be much else!) and building knowledge around the different factors involved in this question and answer. There is a knowledge organiser task focussing on each of the 3 factors I have thought up. This makes a lot of use of the resources from AQA which, again, I have edited for student use. By the end of the 3 lessons the students should have a good knowledge of the importance of Wales to the Normans and their attempts to keep it under control. They will also have an understanding of how this fits into the wider context of their Norman studies as I have referenced aspects such as castles and the use of land holding to control the country.
Lesson 4 (taught a month later) recaps the different ways in which the Normans established their conquest, using Wales for examples. This was fully covered in previous lessons so this is more of a recap exercise focussed more around the possible question. The lesson then focusses on a possible question (I can’t think of what else they could ask, given the resources provided, other than variations on a theme!). There is a model answer in the ppt and attached as a word file. This is deliberately a bit longer than students would be expected to write but I’ve tried to show a few examples how to answer the question but also to focus on Wales.
There is then an example of how to change the info to fit another question as I have been trying to emphasise the importance of being able to adapt in exams and apply knowledge in different ways.
Please note - I have attached an edited copy of the essay along with the full version so you can get an idea what it looks like in the preview without showing the whole answer.
Set of 3 lessons looking at the 2024 Historic Environment unit focussed on Wales.
I taught these lessons very recently (September 2022) and was delighted with how they turned out. I have a very mixed-ability GCSE group and the knowledge and understanding my group gained from the tasks and the info was very encouraging (and made the hours of work on these lessons feel more worthwhile!).
Throughout the course of these lessons I have embedded and used the sources provided by AQA and used them in context with a drip-feed approach, rather than just hand the kids a pack of sources in one go. The written sources I have The lessons make use of the support material provided by AQA. I have attached used are edited (attached to these lessons) but the full version is freely accessible on their site.
Lesson 1 begins with a recap on the Norman invasion (the class finished studying this in May 2023) and then focusses on giving the students an understanding of Wales and its importance to the Normans. As always we are guessing as to the GCSE question focus but I have tried to introduce some of the themes I will pick up on throughout these lessons, making use of as many of the sources provided by AQA as possible. Towards the end of the lesson the students learn about the 3 main Marcher Earls, using the AQA resources
Lesson 2 focusses on what I think will be the three major ‘factors’ the exam board will be looking at in their upcoming question. I have linked each of these to the students’ prior knowledge (such as their learning on castles) while also trying to tell the story of Wales too.
Lessons 3 is concentrates on what I think the question will be around (can’t see how it can be much else!) and building knowledge around the different factors involved in this question and answer. There is a knowledge organiser task focussing on each of the 3 factors I have thought up. This makes a lot of use of the resources from AQA which, again, I have edited for student use. By the end of the 3 lessons the students should have a good knowledge of the importance of Wales to the Normans and their attempts to keep it under control. They will also have an understanding of how this fits into the wider context of their Norman studies as I have referenced aspects such as castles and the use of land holding to control the country.
At the end of lesson 3 I have had a stab at predicting the question the students will be asked. The intention is to revisit this topic with a final 2 lessons further into the year where the students will use the knowledge gained so far to structure an exam model.
Example Question and full answer for the Historical Environment 2019 Pevensey Castle topic.
I have used this resource with my classes this week in order to give them an idea of how to structure an answer and how to link it to the historical environment.
Lesson follows from the introduction to Germany by going over how Germany was run (recap works as its own exercise if you haven’t got my introduction lesson!)
Class then see a short comparison of Germany under Wilhelm I before being introduced to his son, Wilhelm II. There is some source work to introduce the character of Wilhelm II, using the attached sheet before pupils have a look at an exam-style question for the first time on this topic (included in PPT).
Lesson is presented in an easy-to-use style and Powerpoint is self-explanatory. Worksheet with Kaiser sources is attached.
References and questions relate to new Oxford Germany 1890-1945 GCSE textbook.
Revision lesson I have delivered to students this year (2023). Have focussed on how to approach and answer the ‘how convincing’ exam question, using examples for both written and image-based sources/interpretations.
Before approaching the exam questions, there is revision on that particular area - This powerpoint covers:
The succession crisis + focus on a written source
Rebellions and the Harrying of the North + focus on both an image and a written source + example answer
Life in a Norman village + focus on a written source.
This worked really well with my mixed ability class and they came up with some really good answers and seemed to really get it (fingers crossed!)
Revision lesson I have delivered to students this year (2023). Have focussed on how to approach and answer the ‘write an account’ exam question.
The lesson is focussed around the exam question but I have included a lot of content around each question
This powerpoint covers:
Norman Landholding
Life in a Norman village
Life in a Norman town + example answer.
This worked really well with my mixed ability class and they came up with some really good answers and seemed to really get it (fingers crossed!)
Revision lesson I have delivered to students this year (2023). Have focussed on how to approach and answer the ‘what was important about’ exam question.
Before approaching the exam questions, there is revision on that particular area This powerpoint covers:
The Norman legal system
Norman castles + example answer
Norman reforms of the Church + example para
This worked really well with my mixed ability class and they came up with some really good answers and seemed to really get it (fingers crossed!)
Lesson looks at the financial problems caused by defeat in the War and the efforts of the Weimar Republic to solve them.
There are information slides and questions throughout the lesson to get the pupils to think of the problems certain potential strategies could, and did cause, in Germany.
There are tasks and a short video (embedded in ppt) which look at inflation, a concept I often spend a lot of the lesson trying to explain! Lesson finishes with pupils looking at the economic impact of the Versailles reparations.
Info slides are printable from ppt and the lesson makes use of the Oxford AQA History for A Level: Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-1945 textbook.
3 Lessons I used to introduce my class to the Historical Environment of Pevensey Castle and link it into their existing knowledge.
Lesson 1 recaps on previous knowledge and gets class to think about the best locations for a castle to be built and justify their decisions. The lesson then looks at the site and building of Pevensey (I’ve tried to ‘drip-feed’ as many of the provided AQA sources as possible). There is a labelling task (I’ve tried to mix up the tasks as much as possible otherwise these projects can become very dry and lecture-like).
Lesson 2 - focusses more on Pevensey and examines WHY William chose that particular spot. Pupils then look at why the Normans kept an interest in Pevensey and actually improved it. There is some group/paired work to begin with and then some comprehension work using some of the provided sources - I’ve tried to pick out the key bits from the sources and provide them in an easier-to-digest way - the sheets are all included for use/editing.
Lesson 3 - works a bit as a recap/introduction to the events after William I’s death - this was useful for my class before their mocks and also linked in the idea of primogeniture. The task also then links back into the importance of Pevensey and why it was involved in the clashes between William’s sons. The lesson then looks at the exam question, how to approach it and I have given the class a few questions I think might be likely (on the ppt) and asked them to plan around them in pairs.
All sheets referred to in the PPT are attached - As mentioned previously, I have tried to adapt the sources given to us by AQA into something more manageable - these can be used as they are or edited to suit.
The textbook referred to in Lesson 1 is AQA GCSE History: Norman England, 1066-1100 by Helena Clarke.
The Video referred to in Lesson 2 is from the BBC - '1066: A Year to Conquer England feat Dan Snow - We have a copy at school - should be available on the internet somewhere, if not, it can be replaced/missed out - the clip shows the weather and conditions William faced as the Normans tried to invade - it’s included in the lesson to again, try to mix it up a bit!
2 Lessons looking at how the Nazis kept control of the the country via terror and control of the law courts.
Includes information, tasks and consolidation slides once tasks are complete.
Lesson is presented in an easy-to-use style and Powerpoint is self-explanatory.
References and questions relate to Oxford AQA History: Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-1945
Pupils begin by looking at an exam-style question for the first time, consolidating knowledge from the previous two lessons. Lesson then goes over the key points of the consitution of the Weimar Republic, further analysing strengths and weaknesses. Class are then asked to consider the viewpoints of the ‘Big Three’ before Versailles and complete a task looking at these in more depth. There is also some cartoon analysis (printable from PPT)
Info slides are printable from ppt and the lesson makes use of the Oxford AQA History for A Level: Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-1945 textbook.
Lesson follows up on recent work on the Treaty of Versailles with a set of recap questions on the German reaction to the Treaty and for-and-against points on whether the German reaction was justified.
Class are then asked to complete a newspaper task, examining the reaction to the ToV from different countries’ perspectives.
At the end of the lesson there is some exam work around a 25-mark question and some pointers I provide for pupils when asking them to answer this particular question.
Info slides are printable from ppt and the lesson makes use of the Oxford AQA History for A Level: Democracy and Nazism: Germany 1918-1945 textbook.
Set of revision lessons I used last year for my Year 11s, focussing on the Conflict topic
Lessons cover the entire Conflict course. The themes of the lessons are:
Peacemaking
League of Nations
Solving Conflict
Failures of the LoN - including Manchuria and Abyssinia
Hitler’s foreign policy
The Nazis taking land
Appeasement
Munich and the Relations with USSR
The Nazi-Soviet Agreement
There is exam focus throughout the pack of lessons, including a couple of lessons which focus more exclusively on the exam technique. There are example questions and answers. There are videos embedded in a lot of the ppts which worked when I published (as we all know Youtube can be fickle sometimes!).
There are occasional (only a couple) of tasks which use a textbook - this is the Green cover AQA Conflict and Tension book.
Lessons and ppts have a lot of info on them which can be used for revision or for normal lessons. I have included tasks in the lessons and anything which needs printing in on the end of the individual ppt.
Lessons are printable - I would do this and give to the students beforehand to make notes - and easily editable.
Recap lesson and model answer for the AQA GCSE Yorkshire Historic Environment study.
Lesson recaps the different impacts of the Norman Conquest on Yorkshire. This was fully covered in previous lessons so this is more of a recap exercise focussed more around the possible question. The lesson then focusses on a possible question (I can’t think of what else they could ask, given the resources provided, other than variations on a theme!). There is a model answer in the ppt and attached as a word file. This is deliberately longer than students would be expected to write (and I’ve included 4 different impacts for them) but I’ve tried to show several examples how to answer the question but also to focus on Yorkshire.
There is then an example of how to change the info to fit another question as I have been trying to emphasise the importance of being able to adapt in exams and apply knowledge in different ways.
Please note - I have attached an edited copy of the essay along with the full version so you can get an idea what it looks like in the preview without showing the whole answer.
Revision lesson looking at the Backstairs Intrigue which helped get Hitler into power. My year 13s (and current 12s) have found this topic difficult so I produced this lesson to go over the key players and to try and clarify.
Lesson can be taught as a ‘lecture’ going over the major stages (Muller - Hitler) or can be used as notes for something more interactive. At this point, my class just want me to do the work so this lesson worked fine for that!!
Covers:
Muller
Bruning
Von Papen
Schleicher
Explains the behind the scenes ‘intrigue’ throughout.
Notes are printable straight from the ppt and I’ve tried to present and write them in a student friendly style!
Set of three revision lessons I have used over the recent weeks for my Year 11s, focussing on the Norman England, c1066–c1100 topic.
These lessons continue from my previous set of three entitled *AQA GCSE History 2019: 3 Norman England Revision Lessons - Battles, Challenges & Control
Each of the three lessons has a specific exam focus, with content built around these questions, including example answers:
Lesson 1 - focussed on:
“Write an account of the ways in which the feudal system changed under the Normans” (example answers with marks)
“How convincing is Interpretation A about the Norman legal system?” (with example answer)
“Write an account of the ways in which the Normans used the legal system to control England.” (with example answer)
Lesson 2 - focussed on:
“How convincing is Interpretation A about life in a Norman village?” (with example answer)
"Write an account of why towns grew under the Normans"
Lesson 3 - focussed on:
“Write an account of the ways in which the Church changed under the Normans”
“Explain what was important about Lanfranc’s reforms of the Norman Church”
"Explain what was important about the reforms of the monasteries for Norman England.”
Lessons include information, tasks (There are some tasks involved but my class preferred lecture-style lessons so much of these PPTs are presented in this way).
Lessons are printable - I would do this and give to the students beforehand to make notes - and easily editable.
Lesson 2 makes use of the AQA GCSE History: Norman England, 1066-1100 textbook but is easily replaceable with another resource.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW EVEN IF IT IS ONLY ONE LINE!
Set of lessons looking at the 2022 Historic Environment unit looking at Castle Acre Priory.
I taught these lessons very recently (June 2021) and was delighted with how they turned out. I have a fairly low-ability GCSE group and the knowledge and understanding my group gained from the tasks and the info was very encouraging (and made the hours of work on these lessons feel more worthwhile!).
Lesson 1 focusses on giving the students an understanding of the key characters behind Castle Acre: William de Warenne and his son…William!
As always we are guessing with what they will ask about in the exam for this question but rarely do they give so much background information on individuals unless it is key to the study so I have chosen to start this unit of lessons by focussing on these key characters - I will then build on some of the themes (such as the ruthless nature of William de Warenne and also his personal faith) in future lessons and link them to the reform of the monasteries and to the Priory itself.
Lessons 2-4 then concentrate on what I think the question will be around (can’t see how it can be much else!) and building knowledge around the different factors involved in this question and answer. There are tasks focussing on each of the 4 factors I have thought up. By the end of the 4 lessons the students should have a good knowledge of the Warennes and their reasons for building Castle Acre, including key features of the priory itself. They will also have an understanding of how this fits into the wider context of Norman reform and control as the question normally concerns an action of the Normans generally, requiring the students to then link in their specific site info.
At the end of lesson 4 I have had a stab at predicting the question the students will be asked - there are two possible questions here, I am intending to revisit this study with the students in Year 11 and write a model answer to at least one of these questions.
Lessons use short focussed tasks supported by answers and extra information. I have also tried to include several links to previous knowledge (such as primogeniture, William II and Henry and monastic and religious reform).
The lessons make use of the support material provided by AQA. I haven’t attached here due to copyright but it is freely accessible on their site. I heavily edited these to make them more accesible to the students while still trying to retain the key information. I also make reference to an A3 sheet in lesson 4 - I used the diagram provided by AQA of the priory, as explained on slide 16 of Lesson 3/4 in ‘notes’.
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