A fun project that is a great addition to in-class castle or learning, so to introduce the topic in a practical way. Activity presents students with 4 decisions on castle material, shape, location and materials, and then gives them suggestions of how they can create the castle. They must also include detailed information about which choices they made, and why. This works best a homework project, and I’ve always had REALLY great results from it (the cake castles might have been my favourite…) Also includes a feedback form for both the teacher feedback, and pupil reflection on said feedback and their work. Really hope your groups enjoy it as much as mine always have :D

The first lesson looking at the Tudors, designed to give a brief overview of all the monarchs. Includes a homework. Beings with a fun activity to establish what the class already knows about the Tudors; then there is a timeline task complete with information on each monarch. Two different timelines are available - a blank one, and one with prompts/headings. You can choose which best suits the level of support/stretch and challenge you’re looking for. Finishes with a recall/prompt game. Also included are some spellings that make for a great literacy-based first homework, to help learn the spelling of some of the key topic words.

1st lesson in a series on the English Civil War. This lesson is quite challenging. wordsearch starter -key words Tracks where the new monarch/ruling family came from after the death of Elizabeth I Venn diagram task where students looks at the long/short term causes of the Civil War, and catagorise them according to power, money and religion Opinion line plenary Very detailed lesson (probably takes 2 lessons)

A lesson looking at the development and impact of the growth of the canals and railways in Industrial Britain. Focuses on 2 case studies: Bridgewater Canal and the Liverpool to Manchester line. Finishes with some utility source work about the impact of the railways, and a summary PEE paragraph. All resources included, no text book needed.

An introductory lesson to World War One at KS3, looking at the different types of government and political alliances in Europe in 1914. Could also be useful for lower ability GCSE classes. Provides a map to be annotated, and lots of discussion questions. Really good way to set the scene for the outbreak of conflict - students can find it difficult to understand how some of the causes of WW1 came about without this information. All resources provided, no textbook needed.

Lesson 1 of Topic 1: Conquered and conquerors. Has a good overview of the course, highlighting it’s thematic approach. Each lesson is colour coded to also show which sub-topics it covers: economic and commerce, religion and ideas, War, and Government. Lesson introduces the Vikings and where they came from, including an overview of the Anglo Saxon Heptarchy, and the effect of the establishment of the Danelaw. Students make notes on Viking York, Viking raiders and the great Heathen Army. They then look at/compare the kings Alfred and Aethelred. One part of the lesson requires the blue Hodder ‘Migrations, Empires and the People’ textbook (by Mohamud and Witburn), but you can also sub this for pages 182-183 in the Oxford AQA history Thematic Studies text book.

This lesson is for the AQA GCSE: Conflict and Tension in Asia 1950-1975, Part 2: Escalation of conflict in Vietnam. Lesson 1 - focuses on the impact that French colonial rule - and it’s withdrawal - had on the escalation of war in Vietnam. Lays out the geography of Vietnam in relation to Korea, USSR and China, and the changing geography of the country itself during the conflict. Then focuses on the subsequent Japanese occupation during WW2, and how that lead to the divide of the country. Finishes with an 8 mark practice ‘write an account’ question. Includes a research homework on Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem

A lesson on the propaganda used by the British government to convince men to sign up. Designed for KS3 but could be used for LA GCSE. Has a great task that teaches students how to work through purpose/message questions relating to pictorial sources. They can then apply this to some other examples of propaganda posters, looking at the different methods being used to encourage British people to support the war effort. Finally - why do they think it was successful? Also includes a homework task to create a poster of their own.

This lesson is for the AQA GCSE: Conflict and Tension in Asia 1950-1975, Part 2: Escalation of conflict in Vietnam. 2nd lesson - Looking at why the USA became involved. Introduces the domino theory, before a detailed look at reasons for US involvement (inc. a video). Student time line task, with accompanying maps, to look at initial involvement, before a final source question (can be completed for homework), complete with instructions. Lesson requires the use of the Hodder AQA Understanding the Modern World textbook

This is the first lesson for the Edexcel A level Germany and West Germany 1918-89: Political and Governmental change 1918-89 course. PPT and accompanying worksheet that students can fill in and add extra annotations to. Begins with a bit of source analysis to get them back into the swing of things, and also includes a 20 mark essay question which could be completed or just planned. Worksheet also contain some suggested reading and watching on the topic.

A good starter lessons for new Y7 in September - sets out what ‘History’ is, and introduces some of the key time-related language a historian needs to use. This lesson will make sure all are familiar with the basic concepts of time (century, millenium, decade etc.), chronology (with a fun activity where they must all put themselves in chronological order in relation to age using their birthday, which is also a great ice breaker!), and BC/AD. All resources are included - the time worksheet is provided on the PPT in both A4 and A5 printable format, and there is a separate BC/AD printable chronology worksheet.

This is an introduction Edexcel Route G: Nationalism, dictatorship and democracy in twentieth-century Europe, Paper 1, Option 1G: Germany and West Germany, 1918-89 Gives a brief overview of what will be studied, and dedicates some time to what pupils have previously learned about, assuming they have studied the period previously at KS3 or GCSE. If it wasn’t a topic previously studied, this could instead look at what they know from their own knowledge, and can be a good chance to address any stereotypes or misconceptions. The main tasks involves pupils finding stories from newspapers that reflect the themes that will be studied (Political and governmental change, Opposition control and consent,Economic development and policies,Aspects of life in Germany - although, Britain to begin with) in our own society today. This allows them to gain understanding of what each of the themes will entail. The extension task to this is to see if they can correlate any stories seen in the papers with prior knowledge about Germany. This will require you to buy some newspapers leading up to the lesson. Recommended is a mixture of different types of newspaper, including local, broadsheet and tabloid - this allows for the most productive discussion about attitudes of the press towards similar issues.

Very first lesson for the Edexcel course, so also includes an introduction to the UK Government section of the course, including a brief overview of the topics, the layout of the exam etc. Lesson includes a detailed PPT and a worksheet to fill in. Lesson covers the meaning of democracy, an overview of the difference between direct and representational democracy, and an activity to address the strengths and weaknesses of both. Also provides detailed modern examples of both (Brexit and the 2017 minority government - the latter could be updated depending on the political events of the coming months!) Lesson concludes with an exam question planning session, great for a recap and to discuss essay structure.

This lesson is for the AQA History GCSE ‘Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship’ course. It could probably be adapted for OCR/Edexcel too. It makes reference to the Red Oxford AQA textbook, but the lesson can be done without this as there is an information sheet provided. Lesson starts by looking at the famous Niemöller poem, asking students to think about what it means, and can they name any contextual examples from prior study that would corroborate with his claims. There is an introductory video clip for discussion, to get students thinking about why the Nazis would oppose the Church, and then a task to get them to look into why there wasn’t more opposition from the Church itself, as well as looking at the differing points of view from the different denominations, as well as a living graph task to track the relationship between the Nazis and the Church over time. Finishes with a 4 mark exam practice question which could be planned, written as a group, given for homework, or written up as a plenary activity.

This lesson is part of the AQA History GCSE ‘Migration, Empires and the People’ module, specifically section 1: Conquered and Conquerors. It uses the blue Hodder migration textbook, but if you’re using the collective textbook with all the options in you’ll just need to find the correct pages and adjust accordingly on the PPT. This is the first lesson of the course, and so gives an overview of the different topics and themes studied. It’s a good idea to stick in a copy of these themes, the lessons are colour coded to match (same thing can be added to any of your own lessons, feel free to change the colours). When I’ve taught this, it’s been in a school where we had studied the AS and Vikings in Y7. If this is not the case, change the started task to anything they might know about the period. Lesson gives a good brief overview of what happened between the Romans leaving, into the Viking invasion. There is then a task to help them familiarise themselves with the Viking invasion, Great Heathen Army etc. Second task asks them to make a comparrison between Alfred the Great and Aethelred the Unready. From experience, these lessons from the earliest period of study are the ones they find the hardest from the whole course, so go slow and make regular revisits to the content.

This lesson is part of the AQA History GCSE ‘Migration, Empires and the People’ module, specifically section 1: Conquered and Conquerors. Lesson starts with a recap of what students can remember about Alfred the Great, before introducting Knut’s North Sea Empire. Main focus of the lesson is on the significance of Alfred, Knut and Emma of Normandy - mostly who was the most significant. Main task is a card sort where students are provided with evidence that can be attributed one of the three historical figures. First they have to establish who each piece of information belongs to; once that’s done, they must stick them down - the highter to the top of the page they place them, the more significant they deem the piece of evidence. (Provided is a blank copy of the evidence, and a colour coded version to check the answers) Following this, there is the plan for a significance question on Knut. This comes with a blank copy to fill in individually or as a group, and a filled in version for some ideas. Finally, a chance for a written answer or group discussion which of the three (Alfred, Knut, Emma) they think was the most significant and why (When I’ve done this in the past, I’ve often ask them to stick a post-it on the board with their choice and reason)

This lesson is part of the AQA History GCSE ‘Migration, Empires and the People’ module, specifically section 1: Conquered and Conquerors. This is the third lesson of the course. Begins by looking at the link between France and the kings of England following 1066, before introducing the Angevin Empire. But why ‘Angevin?’ - follow up task introduces the Norman, Angevin and Plantagenet family trees, and what the link is between them. ‘Annotated’ family tree provided to walk through it. Section in the text book should also be read, and then a short task to check understanding. Main task is to annotate a provided map with how the Angevin Empire was formed (important to stress that next lesson will look at the LOSS of the Empire - hence why John is included). 8 mark comparrison question between the North Sea and Angevin empires included, complete with mark scheme. Also includes a homework task to prepare for the next lesson on the Hundred Years War

This lesson is part of the AQA History GCSE ‘Migration, Empires and the People’ module, specifically section 2: Britain and the Atlantic Trade Lesson begins by looking at why people chose to emigrate from Britain to N. America. It then looks at the English/British settlement of North America, with a case study and comparrison of Jamestown and Massachusetts. Also introduces the ‘companies’ behind this (link to the British East India Company later). Worksheet to fill in included in the PPT. This will require one or both of the text books (blue singular Migration text book, or the larger textbook with all the options in). Finishes with a 16 mark exam question plan.

Lesson includes: -Important topic key words Starter looking at Henry’s 1538 Great Bible, and what the imagery can suggest about Henry’s attitude to the Church A card sort looking at the different reasons why Henry broke with the Church - differentiated for HA and LA. Numbered, so can be printed, laminated and reused. A planning sheet helping pupils to pick out the stronger evidence Two different/differentiated choices for plenary question, complete with guidance and writing frame.

An extensive lesson using a variety of methods and evidence to determine why Mary was called ‘Bloody Mary’ , and how fair that judgement was (interpretation skills). A task where students match up the reasons that Mary was unpopular, and the reasons why (word document provided) A source task where students assess a range of contemporary and modern opinions on Mary (first introduces some arguments to suggest she might not have been ‘bloody’) Sources and recording table included. A REALLY fun group activity where Mary is put on the stand by the class. The class collectively selects 5 ‘accusations’ from a set of 7 as to why she may be called ‘bloody’, and then assess Mary’s defence against these claims. (check the notes on the PPT, it will help with how to navigate this accurately). Finally, pupils write an up answer, based on the evidence, to decide whether or not Mary really deserved to be called ‘bloody’. Classes always love this one - may take 2 lessons, especially if class enjoys group discussion.