Please note: To use this lesson you need to have a copy of the 1998 animated Disney movie Mulan. This is a great lesson in which students are given graduated learning objectives (some of you will / most of you will / and all of you will) in order to help them answer the essential question 'what can we learn about Ancient China from the Disney movie Mulan?". The lesson begins with a starter activity to engage your students in which they are invited to guess the odd one out from a group of Disney characters (the answer is Mulan - because she has killed whereas the others, Bambi’s mother et al, had been killed. This leads them into the lesson nicely and the idea that the ballad of Hua Mulan is no ordinary ‘Disney Princess.’ The class then work through 45 different evidence cards and arrange these into things they can learn from the movie (ie accurate things like the use of rickshaws and only the Emperor being allowed to wear yellow etc) as well as movie mistakes and things which are inaccurate (such as Mulan being allowed to hug the Emperor and the way she inserts her chopsticks vertically into her rice etc). There are two versions of this card sort, one for students who like a challenge and a differentiated version for students who need a more straightforward task. Students can also divide them using the labels given (info relating to women, family, rule and government, culture, society, military etc. Students then watch the movie and tick off those they spot (a nice end of term type activity - but not simply ‘watching a movie for the sake of it’!). From this the class then complete a movie review exercise using the template given before attempting a plenary in which they vote with their feet to establish how many stars (1-5) they would rate the movie for historical authenticity (ie they now answer the essential question). I have also included a final slide which is an assessment rubric should you wish to turn this series of lessons into a formal testing point. I teach this to high achieving high school students as part of a scheme of learning about Ancient China and I hope your students get as much out of it as mine always do. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask and thanks again for your interest in this lesson, which is in PPT form but which does need the buyer to have purchased a copy of the 1998 animated movie (not the 2020 version.)

I give my students a learning journey sheet for each topic covered for Core Content B: International Relations since 1919 and also the B and C Depth Studies on Germany 1918-45 and Russia 1905-41. These come as PPT and are easily editable but ensure students constantly know where on there learning journey they are. Each separate journey includes inquiry questions, lesson headings, assessment information, and tips on how to challenge oneself further. I hope they are of use to you and please do email me if you have any questions about this resource.

This is one of my most popular lesson activities. Students read detailed background knowledge before completing a hexagonal card sort to divide reasons up into belief systems, technology, geography and economics. Here students will make links between their factors to create a visual map which they can use for an extended piece of written analysis. I am especially proud of the level of precision and detail in the historical content here. The eighteen cards are broken down and color coordinated for differentiation purposes. I really hope you enjoy this activity and that your students get as much from it as mine do.

In this lesson students read through precise and carefully selected knowledge in the background notes before attempting a colour-coordinated hexagonal card sort. This helps them break reasons for the Key Question down into factors and also offers them the opportunity to make and explain links between the evidence they choose. My students really enjoy this lesson and I hope yours get just as much out of it as mine do.

In this lesson students read very detailed information in the background notes before creating a factor-led mind map. Please watch the accompanying short video to see some of my students in action in this lesson. Its a great way for them to acquire super strong subject knowledge and to visually map out Deng’s domestic rule.

During this lesson students work their way through a fantastically precise and detailed set of background notes before completing a 33 piece evidence sort. Students are asked to arrange the evidence firstly into industrial and agricultural, and then into successes and failures. This is a brilliant lesson which suits many learners’ needs and in particular which appeals to high-end learners. I hope your students get as much from this set of activities as mine do. If you watch the short video clip attached you can see some of my students putting this knowledge to good use.

Students read through the background notes before using this knowledge to help them create a physical timeline in the form of a road map. Click the link to watch just how powerful a teaching strategy this can be for raising chronological awareness as well as boosting subject knowledge significantly. I hope your students enjoy the lesson as much as mine do!

In this lesson your students will read through background knowledge before using this to complete a chronological card sort activity. I hope your students get as much out of it as I know mine do. Leads in ever so nicely to my follow up lessons on failures of the 1930s and allows for students to give more textured and two-sided responses.

My students love using these as a revision tool and also as an in class activity. Each of the twenty three hand-shaped cards has a key topic about the Cold War on it and each finger has a name/date/quote/statistic/fact on. Students learn precise supporting material which really boosts examination success. These aides can be reversed so students can test each other by reading the answers first and guessing the topic also. Once cut out and laminated they make a very handy and mobile revision aide and knowledge on them is extremely precise and exact.

Includes detailed 4 page set of notes, starter activity, question pack, and exit ticket plenary.

In this lesson students work through a comprehensive set of notes before attempting a Tarsia card sort activity to consolidate knowledge acquired. The lesson concludes with a game of Nazism Guess Who whereby students ask only questions which require a yes/no response (they can use the internet to help respond). Please note prior to purchase this game works best if you already have a board upon which you can stick the pictures! I hope your students find this lesson on Widerstand as useful as mine always do.

This is a powerful lesson which really gives students pause for thought. The class start with a what’s behind the squares activity which reveals a female Soviet sniper and which is designed to stimulate discussion about the nature of war. The class then read through an incredibly detailed set of notes before beginning a design-a-memorial task for which they are expected to include precise historical detail. The lesson concludes with a powerful piece of source analysis which invites further informed comment on the nature of fighting on the Eastern Front. I hope your students get as much out of this lesson as mine do.

In this lesson students explore how Hitler consolidate power between 1933-34. The class begin with a mix and match starter to test subject knowledge before working their way through the notes. They then complete a playdoh storyboard to consolidate their learning (this can be done as a simply drawn storyboard if the teacher prefers). The lesson finishes with a back to back plenary in which students are awarded points for guessing their partners key words (there are given words they are not allowed to use). In this lesson students explore a high level of content in an engaging and active manner designed to embed subject knowledge in long-term memory.

My students always find Dingbats a really engaging starter and one which sets a nice tone for the lesson. The class then work through a set of detailed notes which are high on precision before consolidating their learning by selecting two reasons for and two reasons against the policy and using this information to complete the newspaper template. I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine do.

In this lesson students explore the reasons the victors left Versailles feeling that they did not get everything they wanted. To introduce the topic the class work through a series of map-based questions before proceeding to dig into detailed notes. The class then complete a 24 piece hexagonal card sort to answer the Key Question. This lesson finishes with a fun Who Wants to be a Millionaire Plenary designed to test student understanding. I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine do.

The lesson begins with a game of Bingo to see how much they already know (there are 30 different cards and a list of 61 key questions to read out with answers such as Article 231, Woodrow Wilson, 100,000 etc). The winner is the first to get a line crossed off and to shout out Bingo. A second starter activity then leads to students address the views of Harold Nicolson who said the treaty was “neither just nor wise” with historian Alan Clark who argues that this view “needs to be abandoned.” Lesson aims and objectives are introduced and these are graduated (all will/most will/some will). Students then proceed to work through a very detailed set of slides (teacher talk) which is broken into for and against arguments. Arguments that it was justified include the Kaiser’s September programme, the harshness with which Germany had treated Russia at Brest-Litovsk, and the need to crush German militarism after the invasions of France in 1870 and 1914. Arguments given that the Treaty was not justified include how it created the stab in the back theory, German expectations based on Wilsonianism and the 14 Points, the argument that Germany might not be solely responsible for the First World War, and of course the economic and political instability it caused in Germany. Students then complete a 14-piece card sort activity (there is a colour-coordinated version for purposes of differentiation if required) and they then fill in and glue on the explanation cards. The lesson concludes with a Blockbusters game plenary. Students choose an acronym and the teacher reads out the clue. If they get it right they continue. The winner is the person who makes a continuous line from top to bottom or from left to right. The final plenary asks students to revisit the debate between Nicolson and Clark and to vote with their feet.

In this lesson students begin by identifying what’s behind the squares in the starter activity which leads to source analysis which is designed to introduce the Key Question - What were the motives of the Big Three at Versailles? The class then explore a detailed set of notes before being issued a character card. The class then hotseat in role using the masks provided before concluding with a ‘Have I got News for You?’ style plenary in which they have to fill in the gaps to show comprehension. I hope your students gain as much from this lesson as mine do.

I designed this lesson when I taught History in Shanghai and so have used that city as a case study but it works really well in a unit on C21st China. In this lesson students complete an odd one out activity designed to hook them into the topic. They then work through detailed background notes and sources before attempting to complete a range of questions. The lesson concludes with a fun formative assessment task (‘Last Historian Standing’) to test them on the subject knowledge they will have acquired during this lesson. I hope you students get just as much from this lesson as mine do.

This lesson begins with a fun starter activity where students view images of Putin and are introduced to the idea that Russians like a tough muzhik style leader (Geoffrey Hosking). They then read through a detailed 4-page pack of notes before completing a card sort where they divide information onto two ‘roads’ - one that suggests Russia was legitimately on the road to reform and democracy, and one that suggests it was on the road to revolution because of a Tsar who refused to give up any power. Students are then expected to write a short response to the overall question before the plenary which shows them two different Historians’ views on this question (Pipes and Morison). The class are asked to vote by standing either on the left or right of the room. I hope you enjoy this lesson as much as I do when I deliver it and please do ask me if you have any questions. The lesson is pitched at high achieving secondary school students.

This is a History mystery lesson in which students explore the Essential Question ‘what happened to Princess Anastasia?’ This is always a popular lesson because of the 1997 Disney movie (!) but more importantly one that really challenges student second order thinking and gets them working on their reasoning skills. The lesson begins with a starter activity where students watch two short video clips about Anastasia’s death and answer a few quick questions on this. The clips are deliberately very different and from this the class are encouraged to create their own lesson title (which will be very similar to the title given here). Students then work through graduated learning objectives (all of you will / most of you will / some of you will) before working through some detailed background information. The class then work through a card sort activity detailing evidence which suggests a) that Anastasia did die at the Ipatiev House and b) evidence which suggests she may have survived (the Anna Anderson story). A colour coded differentiated version is supplied also. Students then use this information from the card sort activity to complete a template to help them write an Okhrana police report which answers the Essential Question. The lesson concludes with a voting plenary. This lesson is pitched towards high achieving secondary students and is always one they really do well in. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day fellow teachers and if you enjoy this lesson please leave me a review.