Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self-isolation, school closure or revision – Homesteaders - GCSE American West This lesson introduces the Homesteaders. After some introductory information on the Homestead Act the students investigate different reasons why people decided to claim their 160 acres. The students then decide if these were ‘push or pull’ factors. Next is a section on life living in a sod house, with an accompanying video where the students gather facts and information. The lesson ends with the students investigating and explaining the problems with farming on the Plains. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self-isolation, school closure or revision – Brigham Young and Salt Lake City - GCSE American West This lesson works very well following on from another remote lesson I have posted on here titled ‘Why did the Mormons move West?’ The lesson introduces Brigham Young and explores why the Mormons moved to the Great Salt Lake and their experiences when they got there. It begins with a recap starter and some background information. The students are then required to analyse the problems the Mormons encountered and their solutions for the journey to the Salt Lake and establishing their settlement. Links are provided for a YouTube video and some online information to help them with this. The lesson ends with an exam question. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self-isolation, school closure or revision – Why did the Mormons go West? - GCSE American West This lesson looks at why the Mormons moved west. Please note, it does not cover Salt Lake City as this is covered in the next lesson (which I have also posted on here) - Brigham Young and Salt Lake City. This lesson establishes how the Mormon religion began and then explores their journey from Kirtland, Ohio to Missouri and then to Illinois where they built their own city, Nauvoo. At each stage, the students analyse both problems and successes the Mormons had. The lesson ends with a narrative account question which they are then well prepared for because they have explored three chronological events which will fit nicely into a three paragraph narrative answer. As I mentioned, I always follow this lesson with Brigham Young and Salt Lake City. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self-isolation, school closure or revision – The Gold Rush - GCSE American West This lesson covers how the Gold Rush began, what it was, the people who really got rich (i.e. the people selling goods and services to the miners, rather than the miners themselves), lawlessness in the mining towns and the Cholera epidemic which swept through the mining community. It contains some introductory information and then the main task consists of four video links, each with a series of questions to be answered by the students. The clips are produced by the Discovery Channel and are freely available on YouTube. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self-isolation, school closure or revision – Why Did People Move West? - GCSE American West. The lesson begins with some background information on early settlers migrating west. The students are then required to categorise factors as either ‘push or pull’, looking at why people migrated. There is then a link to a video about Manifest Destiny and a series of questions for the students to answer. The lesson ends with an exam question based around the title of the lesson. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self isolation, school closure or revision - Government Policy to Plains Indians - GCSE American West. This lesson starts with a link to a brief video showing how rapidly the Native American lands were taken by the USA after it was founded in 1776. After some information about the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Removal Act and the Permanent Indian Frontier the students are asked to carry out some independent research. They are then asked to create a piece of writing answering four questions on the worksheet. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Ideal for remote home distance learning, sickness, self isolation, school closure or revision - Plains Indians’ Beliefs and Way of Life - GCSE American West. This lesson begins with a starter looking at various images to introduce the topic. The students are then required to use the internet to define certain key terms including Counting coup, nomadic and the Great Spirit. Next there is a link to an 11 minute long video which helps them with the longer task. The students are required to produce a series of paragraphs covering a selection of bullet points including the importance of the horse, hunting the buffalo, Native American homes, society, spirituality and war. This is a remote learning resource which can be emailed out or set on Google Classroom or similar platforms. I simply copy the information over into a Google Doc on Classroom so the students can then type their responses straight onto the sheet. All the information needed and links to videos are included to help them understand. Enjoy!

Explores the Treaty of Versailles. This lesson is suitable for both KS3 and GCSE. I tend to just use the LA version of the worksheet for my KS3 groups. After a quick starter, the lesson looks at the ‘Big Three’ at the Paris Peace Conference and their motivations after WWI. The students then look at some of the terms of the treaty using BRAT (Blame, Reparations, Army and Territory). There are two versions of the worksheet for this activity, one is written in slightly more simple English to be easier to understand for some students. The lesson then moves onto the analysis of a source (there is a slide at the end which has four copies of the source for printing and cutting if you would like the students to have it in front of them instead of just on the board). The question in the lesson asks for two inferences from the source but sometimes I ask the students to analyse it in more detail and to try to figure out who each person represents and what the meaning of the source is. I have been using this lesson for a long time and always find the students enjoy it and it flows well. Enjoy!

Explores the work of Joseph Bazalgette and John Snow to improve public health in Victorian London and stop the Cholera epedemic. There is 2hrs+ of material here and I tend to do it over two or even three lessons. After a picture starter and a brief fact file on each character, the students watch a 50 minute video with a question sheet. I have put three links to the video in the notes of the slide, just in case one gets taken down. I have my own copy, which can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Wonders-Industrial-World-DVD/dp/B0006B15JI I also use the Transcontinental Railroad episode from this DVD in a different lesson so if you find this lesson works well I would recommend buying a copy. I tend to pause the video every 15-20 mins so the students can feed back and I can check for understanding. After another picture starter for lesson two, there is a worksheet with some information, sources and activities. Depending on the group, I sometimes drop some of the more difficult activities but it is all easy enough to tweak for your class. Finally, there is a ‘How far do you agree?’ exam question with some guidance for structure and sentence starters. Depending on how long we spend on the video, I sometimes drop this but it’s there if you need it. This works well with both my KS3 and GCSE groups. Enjoy!

Explores crime and punishment in the Middle Ages. After defining a few key terms, the students watch a 3 min YouTube video and then describe some medieval torture techniques and punishments. The teacher then explains how the trials by ordeal worked. Next, there is a paired activity where the students use a worksheet to look at change and continuity from the early to later Middle Ages. The lesson ends with a wrtitten task to bring it all together. Enjoy!

This lesson investigates whether the Black Death was a disaster for everyone. The students start by completing speech bubbles for some peasants in a medieval village (printable version on the last slide) to demonstrate what they know already. They then score the Black Death from 0 for a complete disaster to 10 for a blessing, explaining why. They then create a table in their books for positives andf negatives. There is a link to a YouTube video to give them a few things to add to the table. There is then a carousel activity to add more to the table. This is easily tweaked if you do not want to deliver it in this way but I stick the images around the classroom and get them to move around, discuss and add to their tables. I have added a brief explanation in the notes of the carousel slideshow just in case you are not sure what point I’m trying to make with each image. The students then bring it all together with a written task and then finally return to the scoring activity to see if their opinions have changed. Enjoy!

This lesson explores what people think caused the Black Death. The lesson starts with a song for a bullet point starter. The students then look at a series of factors to categorise things believed at the time and what we think now (these can be displayed on the board and/or printed out). The students are then asked to try to explain why people believed these things and there’s a slide to give them some ideas after they have spent some time coming up with their own reasons. There are two written tasks to choose from (or both can be done). One is an ‘agony aunt’ task where they write a reply to a concerned peasant. The other is a more traditional exam question with some sentence starters to help out. The lesson ends with a fun game which always works well when I teach it. Enjoy!

This electronic mark book automatically calculates percentages and GCSE grades for assessments. I have been using it for years and it saves lots of time sitting with a calculator and a sheet of grade boundaries. Contains tabs for 15 classes, each with room for 15 assessments throughout the year. You set your own grade boundaries on the first tab, enter the maximum score for each assessment and then simply enter each student’s score. The mark book does the rest! I’ve included a set of instructions explaining how to use it. It’s incredibly user friendly and you can make a new copy every year so all of your assessment data is conveniently saved on your computer. Some of my colleagues have uploaded it to Google Sheets and it works fine on there too if you would like it in the cloud. It took a long time to make and to figure out the formulae but now it is an intrinsic part of my teaching practice. Enjoy!

Explores the feudal system and also how William I distributed land after the Norman invasion. The starter creates a feudal system for school (Head at the top etc). After some delivered information, including defining the word ‘hierarchy’, The students then attempt to distribute the land of England to the King, the Church and the Barons. The written task involves describing how the feudal system worked - with a worksheet to help. All of the printable resources needed for this lesson are in the slideshow. Enjoy!

Explores the Harrying of the North 1069-1070 by William I and the Normans. After a picture starter and some information, the students carry out a task which involves analysing a collection of sources. The written task is in the form of a newspaper article either from the Saxon or Norman point of view to further develop their understanding of bias. There are printable templates of the newspaper in the slides and also a differentiated version for the students who you think may benefit from a slightly easier version. You end with a Harrying of the North crossword (answers on the slideshow). Enjoy!

Explores the Domesday Book - what it was and why it was created. After a quick starter to get the students thinking and a brief video, they move onto the main task. This involves carrying out their own Domesday survey based on five villages detailled in the information document. These can be stuck around the classroom for the students to move around or you could adapt it if you do not wish to deliver it this way. There are two versions of the survey sheet, one is slightly easier to complete to aid with differentiation. I have also included a completed copy for the teacher so that you can go through the answers. The lesson ends with a written task to bring it all together. I always find this to be a fun and engaging lesson. Enjoy!

Explores the way Norman castles were attacked and defended. Features included are battering rams, catapults, trebuchets, seige towers, keeps, moats, drawbridges, portcullises, arrow slits and murder holes. The starter asks the students to identify features of a Norman castle. The main task involves describing different features and saying whether they were used to attack or defend. I have included a gap fill version of the worksheet for students who you think may need a little extra assistance. The slides with the information can be delivered by the teacher or stuck around the classroom for a carousel activity (that’s how I do it). The lesson ends with a written task to show their knowledge. Enjoy!

Explores the role of monasteries in the Middle Ages. After a quick starter to get them thinking the students evaluate the different roles of the monastery in society. After a differentiated written task the students then carry out some quick AfL. The lesson ends with a second written task. Enjoy!

Explores life in a village in the Middle Ages. The starter involves labelling a picture of a village. They then look at villeins, freemen and the Lord of the Manor. There are two written tasks, both of which can be assisted with the handout I have included. The lesson ends with a quick AfL task. Enjoy!

Explores life in towns in the Middle Ages. Their is a ‘first impressions’ starter which is revisited at the end. The students then use information to complete a Venn diagram, looking at good things and bad things about living in a medieval town. After some true or false questions there is then a written task to bring it all together. I have included a differentiated version of the written task for any students you feel may need it. Enjoy!