I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to give the context of the religious changes that have happened in England since the reign of Henry VIII.
Students begin by focusing on the different religions present in England under Elizabeth, such as Lutheranism, Catholicism, Puritanism and Presbyterianism.
They are given a religious road map to complete before analysing the political situation in Europe in 1558 and the threats posed by the Catholic states of France and Spain.
Finally they assess Elizabeth’s personal beliefs and the state of the English Church at the beginning of hr reign, before predicting how Elizabeth will tackle religion upon her accession.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to judge the success of Elizabethan exploration and colonisation.
Students are first introduced to the most influential seafarers of the age; Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh
Students are required to evaluate the significance of their activities, such as slave trading, the colonisation of Virginia and attacks on Spanish shipping as a result of the attack on San Juan de Ulua.
They also analyse the reasons why exploration increased with new ship design and navigational techniques.
As well as focusing on Drake’s epic circumnavigation of the globe and the enormous revenue he generated for the crown, some misconceptions are also clarified such as what colonisation meant to the Elizabethans and how much overseas trade expanded as a result of voyages to the New World.
There is some exam practice to complete if required, which questions if Drake’s exploits were the main cause of hostilities with Spain.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
World War II
The aim of this lesson is to question whether Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union was doomed from the start.
The invasion is a fascinating piece of history to study. Why, when one of the greatest ever military commanders Napoleon failed, did Hitler think he could succeed?
Students are posed this question and using a causal spider diagram link the reasons why invading the Soviet Union could create many problems and challenges to the Nazis.
The confidence of Hitler and his Generals can be seen when analysing sources about the Nazi-Soviet Pact which clearly show Hitler believed he held the upper hand.
However no study of the invasion would be complete without looking at the Battle of Stalingrad and using video footage to show the plight of all those involved.
There is a choice of two differentiated tasks; in both students decide the most important reasons for the failure and final defeat of the Wehrmacht as they categorise the reasons for this.
A literacy plenary asks the students to define some of the key words used in the lesson.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c.1000 to present
This lesson focuses on the power of the church over medieval society and medicine and why it became so involved in helping the sick.
Students explore the different types of care on offer from the Christian Church in the Middle Ages and learn why care not cure was the priority.
They are required to analyse sources, reconstruct sentences and complete a key word summary question sheet to challenge their understanding.
They are finally asked to fill in an efficiency rating of the Church and then predict its potential (as with a house energy efficiency rating).
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies.
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The Holocaust
The aim of this lesson is to analyse and evaluate the reasons why anti-Semitism prevailed in Europe and in particular Britain during the Middle Ages.
Students study the causes and consequences of this hatred and jealousy and have to decide and justify why so little was done to defend the Jewish community leading to their expulsion in Norwich.
A case study of Mosse Mokke and his wife Abigale, Jewish tax collectors in Medieval Norwich shows how anti-Semitism was rife in Britain in the Middle Ages and how they were portrayed by the local community.
The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons in the bundle is to ask who was to blame for the holocaust?
Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning centred around a lightbulb) and build up a picture of how difficult it is to blame a single individual or event for this catastrophe.
There is some excellent video footage to accompany the lesson and printable worksheets which are differentiated.
The resource comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.
The American West 1835-1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to assess how positive the US Government’s early attempts were to ‘civilise’ the Plains Indians between c.1830-1851.
By adopting a westward expansionist policy, students have to question how beneficial this was and for whom?
Was America to benefit from improving the Plains, by ploughing it for farming, digging up its minerals for manufacturing or simply clearing its forests for timber?
Students are given various scenarios and laws such as the Indian Removal Act and the Indian Appropriations Act and individually rate each scenario by colour coding a battery to signify positive or negative before coming to a conclusion as to who benefited from this conflict over land.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘write a narrative account’ worth 8 marks.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice is also included using causal equations.
It comes in PowerPoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is decide how much of a threat Lambert Simnel posed to Henry VII.
Students are given the information about the role Simnel played and then have to categorise his rebellion into causes, consequences and events.
They are also challenged to think and justify who would have likely joined the rebellion and why, using a number of given examples of disgruntled lords.
Furthermore, they will be required to give a number of reasons for the lack of support for Simnel.
There is some exam question practice, complete with scaffolding, key ideas and a generic markscheme supplied.
There is an enquiry question posed and revisited to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is discuss and debate the ‘virtues’ of Cardinal Wolsey.
Students are given various interpretations of Cardinal Wolsey’s time in office. They have to decide which of these best fits his character.
They are given a number of sources to interpret and analyse before making they make own conclusions in front of their peers.
Students will then be able to complete a source based exam practice question, with a writing frame and markscheme provided.
The last part of the lesson revisits the head, heart, bin, bag scenarios.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess the early problems Henry faced as King.
Students begin by prioritising the problems he faced and also deciding if they were short or long term.
There is also some focus reading where they will be required to take notes by categorising the information required.
Some video analysis using David Starkey will also give some context to the start of Henry’s reign.
There is some exam practice to complete with a supplied writing frame and an introductory model answer to use if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
These lessons are designed to meet the needs of the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum and cover the development of the Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509; the Norman Conquest.
This bundle addresses key historical skills from the outset. Using history enquiry and evidence, student will find out who William the Conqueror was and how did he establish and maintain his rule in England. What were the causes and consequences of Castle building throughout the British Isles? What were the similarities and differences between the role of the Church, monks and nuns and Doom Paintings? What was significant about the Black Death and its effect on the population of Britain and Europe and how dangerous and unhygienic were Medieval towns?
These skills are addressed in each of the lessons and allow students to be able to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and be able to create their own structured accounts and written narratives.
The lessons are broken down into the following:
L1 William the Conqueror
L2 Castles (+attacking a Castle game)
L3 The Domesday Book
L4 The Feudal system
L5 The Church (free resource)
L6 Doom Paintings
L7 The Role of monks and nuns (free resource)
L8 Medieval Towns
L9 The Black Death
L10 Crime and Punishment
L11 The Bayeux Tapestry’
L12 The Crusades
(+ Key Word History Display)
These lessons are designed to be fun, challenging, interactive and engaging.
I would strongly recommend the students undertake an assessment at the end of this unit, using GCSE exam style questions from your own chosen exam board.
All the lessons are differentiated and come with suggested teaching and learning strategies and link to the latest interpretations of the conquest from the BBC and other sources.
All the resources come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
This bundle is the first part in a series of lessons I have created for Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991.
The lessons are all differentiated, fully resourced, amenable on Powerpoint and are tailored to enable the students to achieve the highest grades.
The lessons will allow students to demonstrate (AO1) knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the period studied from the formation of the Grand Alliance to the outcomes of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam as well as the ideologies of East and West and the Berlin crisis.
They will explain and analyse (AO2) second-order concepts such as change and continuity in tensions between East and West, the causes and consequences of the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact as well as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Origins of the Cold War
L2 Conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
L3 The Kennan and Novikov Telegrams
L4 Soviet Satellite States
L5 Truman Doctrine
L6 Marshall Aid
L7 Cominform and Comecon (free resource)
L8 Berlin Crisis 1948
L9 NATO and Warsaw Pact
L10 Significance of Arms Race (free resource)
L11 Hungarian Uprising
The lessons are enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lessons and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning.
The lessons in this bundle are therefore linked together to build up a picture of how diplomacy, propaganda and spying led two Superpowers with opposing political ideologies to create tensions, rivalries and distrust as well as subsequently form mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question.
The resources include retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE exam practice questions and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to judge how successful Mary’s economic policies were.
At first glance, it would be easy for students to assume that Mary’s policies failed. Bad harvests, inflation, a sweating sickness ravaging the country and population growth characterised her reign.
However, further investigation and analysis will reveal some successes and foundation stones laid for the future with the help of an able Lord Treasurer.
A revaluation of the currency, a Militia Act, poor relief and the commissioning of six new ships for the navy were all to be welcomed by Elizabeth and her successors when she became Queen.
The plenary is a colour coding exercise where students have to decide which key terms and Acts belonged to either Edward or Mary.
The second part of the lesson focus on a mid Tudor crisis. Students can attempt some question practice with planning guidance and a markscheme provided if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to challenge the view that Mary’s foreign policy was a disaster.
Students are given the context to Europe at Mary’s accession to the throne and how she was brought into the Habsburg-Valois conflict as a result of her marriage to Philip II of Spain.
There are some differentiated questions to answer using some extended comprehension, as well a discussion on the pros and cons of her foreign policy.
This is a case study of the capture of Calais from a recent BBC magazine article which sets up an extract practice question to answer.
The plenary challenges what students have learnt in the lesson and some assumptions made by historians.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
Norman Conquest
The aim of this lesson is to understand how successful William was controlling England through his survey.
Students will learn how he needed to find out as much as he could about the Anglo-Saxon population.
They are encouraged at the start to answer a series of questions (a survey) of what they own; this is exactly what William did, but minus the enthusiasm shown in the class to list all their belongings!
Through a study of horrible history video footage and source analysis, students realise just how intrusive this new book was and they have to justify, whether in written form or orally, why people in medieval society began to resent it.
For homework they have a chance to find out about their own area and what it offered in 1086 with an exemplar given.
This is a fun, interactive and challenging lesson in which all the students can take part and make their own conclusions.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end using a rate ‘o’ meter to show the progress of learning.
The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson and there are differentiated materials included.
The aim of the lesson is to analyse the power struggles between Edward II and his barons.
Students begin by discovering the problems of Edward II, which they will rate in order of seriousness (and will find they were mostly brought on by himself!).
They then complete an extended writing task with key literacy words given to help them.
Students will learn about the central character of the story, a leading nobleman named Roger Mortimer and complete a missing word activity to find out why and how he escaped his imprisonment in the Tower of London.
They then have to rate how much power the King had, in the struggles with this leading nobleman and his own wife, Isabella.
Some hinge questions and a literacy task complete the lesson.
They continue to plot the power struggle between the king, the church, the barons and the people on a graph. In a sequence of lessons they answer the question – who ruled in medieval England?
This lesson includes:
Fun, engaging and challenging tasks
Printable worksheets
Differentiated tasks
Suggested teaching strategies
PowerPoint format, which can be changed to suit
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
The aim of this lesson is to understand the rise of the cattle industry and the impact it had on the American West.
Students are given a Texan Cattle Industry Thinking Quilt which introduces them to new concepts and key words.
They are introduced to Joseph McCoy and have to decipher a number of statements relating to him which have specific errors in them to correct.
They analyse various texts and video links on the Goodnight-Loving Trail as well as the rise of John Iliff and have to work out relating statistics as well as key questions which aim to challenge assumptions and beliefs.
There is some GCSE exam practice on the ‘consequences’ question, with help given if required.
The plenary is a talking heads activity.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some retrieval practice on source recall is also included.
It comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
The American West, c1835-c1895, GCSE 9-1 Edexcel
This lesson aims to assess the importance of Billy the Kid in the continued problems of law and order in the West.
Students learn about his story from a young age to him acquiring his notorious reputation and have to emoji rate each part of it to judge how bad he really was.
They have to give reasons for each of their judgements before they give an overall assessment of his life. There is an excellent link to a documentary to reinforce the learning.
There is some follow up exam question practice using the ‘importance’ question worth 8 marks, with help given if needed.
The plenary uses key letters of the alphabet to link to the learning of the lesson.
The resource is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. Some recall retrieval practice is also included linking their prior knowledge of law and order in the towns
It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.
The aim of this lesson is to analyse African American experiences in the Civil War.
The lesson begins by students exploring the reasons why the law changed, allowing black people to join the US army
Some video footage and statistics give an insight into some of the experiences black people encountered, before students complete a thinking quilt linking key terms to events in the Civil War as well as challenge questions.
Students also have to evaluate the significance of black regiments by analysing a quote from Frederick Douglass at the time and deciding which statements apply and fit the criteria, before justifying their choices.
An interactive blockbusters plenary questions their knowledge from the lesson and checks understanding.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited to show the progress of learning.
The resource includes suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to assess the threat the nobility posed to Henry VII during his reign.
Students begin the lesson by summarising the importance and duties of the nobility and naming some important nobles throughout the country.
They then have to assess the threat level posed by the nobles and decide how successful Henry was in reducing their power by plotting this on a grid.
Their final task is to take on the role of Henry and decide how he dealt with eight nobles during his reign, whether that be through Acts of Attainder, imprisonment, fines, execution, confiscation of land or other choices given.
The plenary asks students to link a number of statistics to the nobles learned throughout the lesson.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to decide what Mary’s main priorities were on becoming queen.
Students learn the problems she faced on her accession and why her and Edward’s reigns have been labelled a mid-tudor crisis by historians.
They are given a timeline of Mary’s rule to analyse and complete a diamond nine prioritising activity on her key agenda.
They will then be able to make a judgement so far on how fit they think she is to rule and why the historiography of Mary has changed over the years.
There is a key word bingo activity to finish the lesson as well as some exam extract analysis practice, with a writing frame and markscheme to help if required.
There is an enquiry question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning throughout the lesson and subsequent unit of work.
The lesson comes in PowerPoint format and can be changed and adapted to suit.
The lesson is differentiated and includes suggested teaching strategies.
