French Revolution: Meet the Royals

This editable PowerPoint introduces students to the causes of the French Revolution by exploring the lives of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Through a mixture of enquiry-based activities, creative tasks, and source work, students assess how significant the French Royals were in sparking revolution.

The lesson includes:

• Starter activity on Louis XVI’s extravagant breakfast.
• Clear learning intentions and success criteria linked to inference, analysis and evaluation.
• Key terms: Revolution, Absolute Monarchy, Dynasty.
• Visual introduction to Versailles and royal lifestyle.
• “Meet the Royals” activity using sources to create a character sketch and biography of Louis XVI or Marie Antoinette.
• Challenge task: analysing interpretations of the monarchy.
• Exam-style question practice: Explain two effects the royals had on France.
• Self-assessment checklist to guide improvements.
• Independent learning task to complete character sketches and biographies.
  Suitable for:

KS3 History – French Revolution depth study.

Bridging KS3 to GCSE exam-style questions.

Observation or engagement-focused lessons.

Format: PowerPoint (fully editable).