Cover Lesson: The Easter Rising: Why Did It Happen? | SEN-Friendly

Need a cover lesson that every pupil can access? This SEN-friendly edition of “The Easter Rising: Why Did It Happen?” is a complete 50–60 minute KS3 History lesson. Print it and teach it. It needs no preparation, no subject knowledge, no technology and no textbook.
By the end of the lesson, pupils can explain why a group of Irish republicans planned a rising against British rule in 1916.

Topic: The 1916 Easter Rising: Home Rule, the Volunteers, the First World War and the planning of the Rising.

What’s included:
• Notes for the cover teacher, with a lesson timeline and the SEN adaptations explained
• Background text in short chunks, with the key words first, an “I can” goal and pause points
• Five scaffolded tasks (Quick recall, Put in order, Reasons, Sources, Written answer), worth 31 marks in total, each with a “How to do it” tip and clear answer boxes
• A source task using a historical image, with a frame to help pupils answer the “how useful” question
• A planning grid, a word bank and sentence starters to support the written answer in Task 5
• An optional challenge for early finishers and a check-your-work list
• A teacher-only answer key and mark scheme, with marking guidance for the SEN edition

How the layout helps: Arial 14 pt with 1.5 line spacing and extra letter spacing, left-aligned text, bold for emphasis (no italics or underlining), one idea per line in the reading, and answer boxes instead of long lines. It follows dyslexia-friendly design principles and also suits pupils who find long texts or extended writing difficult, lower-attaining readers and pupils working in a second language.

Please note: the questions, marks and answers match the standard edition of this lesson, so you can use both in one class with one answer key. Fully editable Word file, A4, 14–16 pages. This is general classroom support and does not replace any pupil’s individual provision.