This lesson begins with a Starter Activity in which students are invited to match up celebrity Hollywood actors with Shakespeare roles they have appeared in. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the concept of significance. This invites students to explain their perspective on what makes someone or something important. The acronym GREAT is introduced (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate specifically to Shakespeare. This information is then used as the class begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating his importance.) The lesson concludes with a Design Your Own Question retrieval knowledge activity. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question. I created this as a series of 2-3 lessons and its pitched at high achieving Key Stage 3 students for Shakespeare Day. If you have any questions do let me know and I wish you a wonderful day.

This lesson begins with a What’s Behind the Squares? Starter activity in which students are invited to shout out what they see in a Medieval interpretation of St. George. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the second order concept of historical significance. The acronym GREAT is used (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning-point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate generally and more specifically to St. George. This information is then used as the class begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating George’s importance.) The lesson concludes with a Design Your Own Question retrieval knowledge activity. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question.

If you need a quick boost to how you provide for your students for whom English is an additional language (EAL/ESOL) this 50-page PDF is for you. 50 of the most popular subject specific words in History translated into the world’s 8 most popular language. Each poster includes a visual clue also. Simply print them off and stick them around your classroom. English words are in UK-English but are almost (!) the same in US English (just civilisation and industrialisation that we spell differently in these 50 words). I hope this resource is of use to you and your students. Wishing you a great day.

I couldn’t find a book on China 1900-89 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 200-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the EdExcel specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

Escape from Sobibor is a terrific movie to showcase both the horrors of the Holocaust as well as one shining example of widerstand/resistance. In this activity there are 50 questions for students to response to as they watch the movie. Answers are provided also for peer and self assessment.

I couldn’t find a book on Russia 1905-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 240-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

Get students to glue this sheet in. It explains graduated criteria for five skills (interpretation, significance, causation, change and continuity, and consequence). Each has criteria for Mastery, Secure, Developing, Emerging, and Beginner grades. I always ask students to highlight their grade on returned assessments and then do the same in another colour to note what they need to do to improve.

I couldn’t find a book on Core Content Option B 20th Century: International Relations since 1919 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 355-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus.

I couldn’t find a book on USA 1919-41 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 215-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

I couldn’t find a book on Germany 1918-45 which suited my high ability IGCSE students so I wrote one myself. This is my 233-page PDF which covers all of the key parts of the CIE specification and which includes comprehension questions and activities at the end of each chapter. I give it to students to supplement the course. It also includes detailed revision menus. If you prefer you can find it on Amazon in published form but am selling it here also in case anyone prefers a digicopy they can print. Wishing you a great day, Daniel

The aim of this lesson is to let students showcase their awareness of the Triangular Trade using plenty of subject specific vocabulary and precise historical details (names, dates, people, places, events, quotes and statistics) and I normally give them a couple of lessons to achieve this. The objective is to write a five-part poem detailing: The causes of slavery Conditions on the Middle Passage Life in the Americas Resistance Abolition Throughout the 24-slide Power Point there are five slides with heaps of precise historical detail to help students decide what to include in their poems, and there are five examples too. Please be aware that the slides are deliberately heavily packed with information to ensure students can write different accounts. I use this lesson to tie together the unit once students have already got a good grasp of the subject knowledge. It’s a powerful way to remember and to allow for some cross-curricular overlap between History and English. If you have any questions about this lesson let me know and thanks for stopping by.

In this lesson students receive background information before sequencing a 33 piece card sort to explain the terrible conditions enslaved Africans endured on Guineamen slave ships. This then leads on to the main task in which students are given a card listing three conditions experienced on the ships. They then create a class oral history project which can be recorded and stitched together. This is always an extremely powerful lesson and one which needs to be taught sensitively and with purpose.

I take great pride in leading my students to the Manila US military cemetery every year. Now you can purchase my 27-page pack which focuses on the areas of background, civilians, POWs, war crimes, the Battle of Manila, resistance, technology, the fallen, the chapel, Leyte Gulf and much more. This pack is designed to complement in-class studies and comes with a staff copy with answers. It has been designed specifically for this historic site and is of use only to teachers leading a trip to the cemetery. Please let me know if you have any questions and I wish you a wonderful day.

I have designed this lesson as part of a local History unit on the Philippines but it works just as well as a stand alone lesson if you are teaching war in the Pacific. It is titled ‘What was life like for Filipinos under Japanese occupation?’ The lesson begins with a starter activity about a Primary school teacher, Miss Fernandez. Students are asked to say what they see as squares are revealed. Ultimately it shows her as a guerilla fighter with 200 Japanese scalps to her name. This invites the question why her life took such a change and this in turn introduces us to the graduated learning objectives (all will/most will/some will). The main task is outlined - to create a museum exhibition which answers the key question. There is then very detailed information given on 7 areas of life under Japanese rule. These are the Bataan Death March, the Battle of Manila, Japanese war crimes, resistance movements, rule and government, Kamikaze fighting, and the Leyte landings. After information on each area there are suggestions for possible exhibitions. Students then present these exhibitions before a plenary in which they are encouraged to review over 40 pieces of vocabulary they have been introduced to as well as a homework task in which they write a letter as Miss. Fernandes explaining her actions to future generations. I hope your students get as much from this lesson as mine do. Have a great day, Daniel

This 30-slide PowerPoint is a fully resourced lesson which addresses the Key Question ‘what impact did the USA have on the Philippines?’ and is part of a unit of lessons on the history of the Philippines. The lesson begins with a starter activity in which students identify the Statue of Liberty and read the words on her unchained feet. They then explore a famous source which comments on US annexations post Spanish-American War, and this introduces us to the concept of American imperialism. The lesson title, aims and objectives are introduced, and these are graduated by criteria (all will/most will/some will) and students are invited to refer back to these later to see how much they have learned. The main activity is a 32-piece card sort in which students divide information up into social, political, military, and economic impacts the USA has had. They then use this information to write a mini essay. The lesson concludes with a discussion plenary. Students are invited to comment on the geopolitical situation in Asia and in particular whether they think the Philippine government should allow US naval forces to station themselves in the islands. They draw on the historical knowledge they’ve acquired to help them form thoughtful and evidence-based responses. A homework task is set to help students prepare for a follow up lesson in the unit (Second World War).

My students always feel exam-ready thanks to this lesson. The class begin with a source analysis starter in which they reconstruct a source from a jigsaw. This allows for great discussion about what is in the foreground/background. The class then work through a set of very detailed notes on the First and Second New Deals before creating an emoji storyboard to explain it. Finally a bingo plenary allows for testing of comprehension.

This lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are invited to cut out and stick together a 12-part jigsaw. This features turning points in Filipino history up to this point (the early inhabitants, the Battle of Mactan, Spanish colonization, and Andres Bonifacio. It also features an image of Jose Rizal.) Once glued in students label the key turning points which introduces us to Dr. Rizal. The lesson title and aims as well as graduated criteria (all will/most will/some will) are introduced and there are some teacher expo slides which explain the second order concept of historical significance. The acronym GREAT is used (ground-breaking, remembered, importance at the time, affected the future, and turning-point) and examples are given to aid discussion and understanding of these as they relate generally and more specifically to Jose Rizal. This information is collated onto one slide which can be distributed to the class as they begin their main activity (to make a digital, written, or visual model celebrating Rizal’s importance.) The lesson concludes with a fill in the blanks Have I Got News For You? activity designed to remind students that Rizal died for nationhood. A consolidation homework task is included where students write an answer to the Key Question.

The lesson begins with a starter activity in which students are invited to guess the weighting of the three components (Play Your Cards Right style). After this there is a second starter where they have to pick out the correct word count from a choice of four. The starter activities conclude with a couple of quick anagrams of key terms (Analysis and Perspectives). There are then clear aims and objectives which are graduated (all will/most will/some will) and students are invited to co-construct the aim with the teacher. There are then a series of slides and rubrics for designing a question and mapping out a good report. After this an exemplar of a top graded report is provided and students are invited to complete an assessment for learning task to identify ten aspects of the highest band of the mark scheme. They cut these out and glue them on the exemplar work. This leads to a discussion about the anatomy of a great individual report. These include things like having three points, referencing, justifying the issues etc. Some examples from individual reports are given for each of the AFL criteria and a copy of the top band aspects of the mark schemes is included. The lesson then concludes with a Have I Got News For You style plenary where students are invited to fill in the gaps to show their understanding. At the end I have included a link to a YouTube guide I’ve created which you might wish to set for homework/consolidation task. I love teaching Global Perspectives IGCSE but it can be tricky to structure each of the components. I really hope this PPT helps you deliver this aspect of the course and that it helps your students achieve highly. Have a wonderful day and I’m always grateful for positive reviews if you find this lesson useful.

In this 1-slide PPT you will find a student learning journey about the USA in the 1920s and 1930s. The template is easily editable and provides you with an outline of a scheme of work which can be delivered. I like to ask students to glue these into their exercise books so they know exactly where on their own learning journey they are. This learning journey is broken down into inquiry units and individual lesson titles within these.