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Ruth Messenger's Shop

Average Rating3.44
(based on 19 reviews)

I've been teaching history for four years, and I aim to provide lessons that are ready to go with minimal tweaking just to personalise the resource to your class and their prior learning. I'm a big fan of paired discussion, group work, debates, living graphs and hot seating, and I provide a variety of tasks in each lesson to ensure learning happens at a pace and that all learning styles are catered for. All feedback gratefully received.

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I've been teaching history for four years, and I aim to provide lessons that are ready to go with minimal tweaking just to personalise the resource to your class and their prior learning. I'm a big fan of paired discussion, group work, debates, living graphs and hot seating, and I provide a variety of tasks in each lesson to ensure learning happens at a pace and that all learning styles are catered for. All feedback gratefully received.
Children in Factories during the Industrial Revolution
ruthmessengerruthmessenger

Children in Factories during the Industrial Revolution

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Straightforward lesson on factory conditions with the following tasks: A picture source starter, a 6 minute clip with accompanying questions, then a source analysis of a grisly factory death. Its totally gross, but year 8 love this disgusting source, particularly the bloodthirsty ones! Learning Objectives: ALL students will be able to describe how factories were dangerous for children MOST students will be able to explain why factory owners employed children and how the children ended up there. SOME students will be able to analyse the caption of a source to assess reliability.
1066 and beyond: Medieval England and William's Conquest
ruthmessengerruthmessenger

1066 and beyond: Medieval England and William's Conquest

8 Resources
Seven exciting lessons to kick start the new term with your new year seven class. These lessons do not require any textbook, nor do they contain youtube links that will soon be obsolete, instead they are activity and role play based and allow students to explore the middle ages using drama, discussion, peer to peer learning and structured literacy tasks. All resources fully differentiated, enjoy!
The Lives of Peasant Women in Medieval Times/The Middle Ages
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The Lives of Peasant Women in Medieval Times/The Middle Ages

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This lesson should follow a previous lesson on peasants as this lesson highlights the differences in gender roles. Learning Objectives: ALL: Will be able to describe the traditional roles of men and women in medieval times MOST: Will be able to do so in detail SOME: Will make inferences from a source that they will include in their detailed description. This lesson is highly visual with pictures and a matching task for LA students. There is an element of numeracy in interpreting two graphs on the causes of death of each gender, and a literacy based task in which students write a diary entry of a peasant. I usually allow them to pick their gender, but it would be equally more valuable to make them all be women. I've put on two PowerPoints as I taught this to two classes of differing abilities. There are no monumental differences. If you like this lesson, have a look at my other Medieval Resources in my shop - I have a big chunk of resources that could form a large part of your scheme of work.
A Play about Henry VIII and his 6 wives
ruthmessengerruthmessenger

A Play about Henry VIII and his 6 wives

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It was the end of term, my lovely year 7 asked me for a drama lesson, so I wrote this play. We rehearsed and performed it within just one lesson, minimum props needed. The play is several very short chunks that allows up to 32 students to have a named part. Each scene is written for between 2 and 5 students and there are 10 'scenes' so lots of people get to be Henry and lots more get to be various wives. I provided yellow cardboard crowns and some cardboard swords and we used our imagination for the rest. After each group had had 15 minutes to rehearse, to plan their entrances and props and actions etc, I gathered them all into an arena shape with a half circle of chairs in front, several tables behind so all could sit and all could see. The groups performed the scenes in order as I called them, it was a beautiful farce that was lots of fun, and lots of clapping. The most memorable part was when a group of boys enacted Jane Seymour giving birth.. lots of ad libbing! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did, I will definitely be using this again. NB I wrote it with a mixed ability class in mind so the reading isn't too challenging. To beef it up you could have a selection of keywords, or historical terms on the board and give points for groups that include them.
Understanding Significance
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Understanding Significance

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This lesson is an introduction to the historical skill of significance and explaining significance. It gets students to discuss why someone might be significant in history eg. They changed peoples lives at the time, or they made a lot of money, or they achieved something extraordinary. Students put these in order of the most effective way of measuring historical significance to the least. I designed this for year 7, but have found myself using this lesson over and over again with all secondary year groups as it helps to reset the basics for understanding significance. The second part of the lesson is the balloon game, I would get students to play this in groups rather than as a class.
How to Make a Revision Plan
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How to Make a Revision Plan

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This PowerPoint guides students through how to make an effective revision plan. It is aimed at students aged 16-18 and encourages them to make a long term, practical and realistic plan. Here is one slide: Mark on the calendar the days you will NOT be working. Eg family events, birthdays, rugby matches, hairdressing appointments. Split the remaining days into 3 parts – morning, afternoon and night. Work only 2 of these parts. So crack on in the morning, take the afternoon off to paint your toenails/ go for a run/ whatever it is you do, and do more in the evening. Use your list of chucks to plan which topic you will do on which day. If you like a bit of variety, you can do two chunks from different subjects on one day. Write on the calendar the subject areas/ chunks/ topics/ chapters you will get done. Make sure you have leisure / kickback time. TRUST YOUR PLAN and change it if you really need to
What did Protestants Protest about? The origins of the Protestant Church
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What did Protestants Protest about? The origins of the Protestant Church

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This lesson is an introduction to the basic issues that Martin Luther had with the Catholic church. It touches on the central role of the priest, indulgences and the financial profligacy of the church. There is one task that uses a page from the SHP Year 7 textbook, but most textbooks will have a page to help answer the question 'what were the main differences between Protestants and Catholics?' This is the question that students use the page to answer, so if you have a similar resource then this lesson is still good for you. Here are the lesson objectives this lesson is designed to satisfy: ALL: Will be able to identify differences between the Catholic and Protestant Churches MOST: Will be able to explain the differences based on what the Protestants protested about SOME: Will be able to make supported inferences about why some people were unhappy with the Catholic church
Doom Paintings and the Church in the Middle Ages
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Doom Paintings and the Church in the Middle Ages

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This is a pretty relaxed lesson that guides students towards the following objectives: ALL: Will be able to describe doom paintings and their message MOST: Will be able to make inferences from primary sources SOME: Will be able to analyse sources to make an inference as to how powerful the church was in the middle ages. This lesson features a 'see it, describe it, draw it' starter, some paired discussion and a written task to demonstrate understanding. NB. there is no text or clip detailing what a doom painting is, or where they were found. This lesson relies on you having subject knowledge to support students in their inferences.
Gerald Ford, the 'Half a Term President'
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Gerald Ford, the 'Half a Term President'

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This lesson gives students the task of working together in a group to publish a short newspaper and it is designed for KS5 as independent research skills are central to this lesson. They have to chose whether they use a Pro Ford headline, or an Anti-Ford headline and need the resources available to research aspects of Ford's presidency. I strongly suggest that you make textbooks available such as 'Access to History, Politics, Presidency and Society' to support this piece of group work. Within this PP are prompts for the group to research on the economy, women's rights, racial equality and politics within the Republican Party. At the end, students have to decide whether to include a political cartoon about Ford being the 'the mender'.
Student guidance on answering questions for the new AQA spec Paper 1: Understanding the Modern World
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Student guidance on answering questions for the new AQA spec Paper 1: Understanding the Modern World

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This resource is designed for use with the NEW History 8145 AQA specification Paper 1: Section A: Understanding the Modern World. This guidance is appropriate for: 1A America, 1840–1895: Expansion and consolidation 1B Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship 1C Russia, 1894–1945: Tsardom and communism 1D America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality (all examples are from this paper) So what is this? Well for each question I have prepared a 'how to' guide. This includes: - Student friendly guidance to the marking levels - Examples of what an answer at each level would look like - a writing grid to help answer each question - Student friendly self assessment grid for Assessment for Learning - Suggestions for how to use these resources in your lessons and incorporate these skills into your SoW DISCLAIMER: I do not work for AQA and I haven't examined for them. However my experience working as an examiner for Edexcel combined with four years teaching KS4 makes me as confident as its probably possible to be with this new exam spec. This resource is not provided by AQA, but has been compiled following a thorough investigation of all resources online as well as speaking to the advice centre at AQA.
Intro to the Ideologies of the Cold War: Communism and Capitalism
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Intro to the Ideologies of the Cold War: Communism and Capitalism

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Designed for KS3, the HA resources are appropriate for KS4, with an additional research task this could be adapted for KS5. This lesson considers the ideologies separate from their historical contexts so it is a great introduction, but also provides space for debate that would be appropriate to a politics or citizenship lesson. Tasks: a vocab based starter, a main that encourages group work with speaking and listening the main method of learning, a class vote as to which ideology is best and a plenary that sneakily uses group work to consolidate learning. Learning Outcomes for this lesson: To be able to identify differences between ideologies To describe one ideology and give a way in which the other ideology is different To explain the differences between the ideologies and why they appeal to people To analyse the pros and cons of the ideologies to understand how they would work in practice Please note this is a self contained lesson with all necessary materials included (unless you want to adapt for KS5), no textbooks needed and no potentially problematic youtube clips to play. Whether you love it or you hate it, please review below so I can keep adjusting these resources to suit! Many thanks, Ruth
Je Suis Le Roi - the Harrying of the North and how William gained full control of England
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Je Suis Le Roi - the Harrying of the North and how William gained full control of England

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This resource is essentially just a link to an external website. I have uploaded it because it forms the fourth lesson of my scheme of work, but is not my creation so of course it needs to be a free upload. My Hastings lesson is also free if you want to try out a more substantial resource of mine and if you like this style of teaching, please have a look at the full scheme of work in my shop. All I will say about this is you will read it through and be daunted, no doubt your year 7 class are new to you and new to the school, and possibly just a little crazy. But take a risk and give it a go! The more you make this a pantomime, the more fun it is and the more memorable it is for students.
XFactor Game for contenders to the English throne in 1066
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XFactor Game for contenders to the English throne in 1066

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This resource really got my year 7 classes engaged and involved with the 'who should be king?' conundrum because they really liked taking on the personas of the judges from the X factor. The PowerPoint is a pretty straightforward mini play that students read out to the class in the persona you have allocated to them. It worked really well as a whole class activity, but it could also work in groups. As they go, students fill out their voting sheet, giving points out of ten for how well each contestant performs in each question. Your role as teacher is simply to ham it up, express suspicions about William's intentions, play the devil's advocate with students as they chose their King. Finally, the class vote and a King is chosen. This lesson works best if students haven't yet found out who wins the battle of Hastings, it tends to put them firmly on Harold Godwinson's side!
The Battle of Hastings - re-enactment and news report
ruthmessengerruthmessenger

The Battle of Hastings - re-enactment and news report

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This is an active lesson which borrows heavily from thinkinghistory.com and their re-enactment instructions http://thinkinghistory.co.uk/ActivityBase/BattleofHastings.html I have provided the resources I use before and after the re-enactment; weighing up the advantages of each side, a quick paragraph on who is most likely to win, the re-enactment itself and then the news report with NC level success criteria. Lovely lovely lesson, works well as part of my Hastings Scheme of Work that you can find in my shop.
Home Front Board Game - make one, play one, consolidate learning
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Home Front Board Game - make one, play one, consolidate learning

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Includes instructions for how to make a board game that includes elements of luck and elements of testing knowledge. This activity needs to follow at least one lesson on the home front so students can set their own questions. Essential Resources needed: Large pieces of paper, pens. dice Desirable Resources: coloured paper and card, scissors, coloured pens This is a fun lesson for the end of a unit, feel free to make your own board game as an example, or to model what other board games look like. I have attached a list of questions if your students are a little stuck on setting their own, the answers have a star next to them
How did the Feudal System help William keep control of England after 1066?
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How did the Feudal System help William keep control of England after 1066?

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Teaching the feudal system is not the most exciting lesson, so I have turned this one on its head. Students spend the lesson preparing to teach the feudal system to their parents/guardians at home, using the facts they can gain from the lesson. They know this at the outset, have the feudal system explained to them and have 20 minutes to prepare their 'mini lesson' during their history lesson. I have several slides explaining the feudal system with cartoon pictures in colour to liven things up, then you have a class discussion about the homework. Ask them about their favourite lessons and what kind of activities the teachers had them doing. I've put loads of suggestions for this on the PowerPoint and the best thing about this lesson is that there is absolutely no marking! Parents fill in a feedback sheet for the homework and all you need to do is smile and say well done - the parents have marked them for you! Learning Objectives covered here: ALL: Will be able to describe the feudal system MOST: Will be able to explain the relationships between each level SOME: Will be able to explain how this would help William to keep control over his new country. Bonus material - a colouring in sheet of the feudal system. Not bad cover if you got them to colour and then annotate it.
The Life of the Medieval Peasant/Villein
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The Life of the Medieval Peasant/Villein

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This lesson has a large visual element as pictures are used to illustrate peasant tasks. There is a moving around the room to find out information element and a structured literacy tasks with literacy challenges such as 'include three adjectives in this answer'. Resources fully differentiated, just print and go. ALL: Will be able to describe aspects of a peasant’s life MOST: Will be confident using keywords in their explanations SOME: Will write a detailed account using keywords and grammar challenges to describe the life of a peasant
Assorted Evacuation Resources
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Assorted Evacuation Resources

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These assorted resources are designed to support your own teaching and provide a basis of knowledge for students to build on. They are not 'download and go' material, but do provide straightforward activities, an assessment and a research based homework task that are great if you are feeling a little frazzled. I'll talk you through what is included: * 'Evacuation Research Homework' gives students a URL and a series of questions to answer based on what they read on the webpage. * 'Evacuation Question and Answer matching task is extremely straight forward, you could use it as a starter or with an LA group it might be fun to cut out the questions and answers and ask the student to find their match. * 'Evacuation Experiences Living Graph' and 'Evacuation Experiences Events' are a worksheet and a PP that give students 5 events in the journey of the evacuee and they flip a coin to decide if they get the positive experience or the negative experience. They plot these experiences on a living graph. * 'Evacuation Accounts' is a real gem here, 11 primary source accounts of evacuation of a decent length to challenge your HA. Accounts range from recollections of evacuees to government leaflets. There is no accompanying task for this resource, but it is highly adaptable and extremely useful as a base of study. You would probably need about 2 mins to set questions from this resource and you would want to use only 3 or 4 of the sources at a time. Many Thanks to Paul Durnall who gave me these
Dunkirk: Victory or Defeat? Newspaper Task with supporting resources
ruthmessengerruthmessenger

Dunkirk: Victory or Defeat? Newspaper Task with supporting resources

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The main bulk of this is the newspaper task, designed to meet the following LOs * ALL: Will be able to describe aspects of what happened at Dunkirk * MOST: Will be able to support an opinion as to whether Dunkirk was a defeat or a victory * SOME: Will be able to use the origin of the source to comment on whether the source is reliable. * ONE or TWO... Might be able to use their analysis of source reliability to explain why they trust some sources over others and how this has affected their own overall judgement. There is a presentation about Dunkirk with pictures and statistics, you may choose to deliver this yourself, or stick it up around the room for students to find and examine themselves. They may then read the interpretations/opinions sheet in which various sources give their verdict on Dunkirk, and the Dunkirk survivors sheet which does the same. Finally I have included an electronic template for the newspaper front page that the students will write, this could be set for homework over a VLE, or printed and handed out for students to fill in. If they are making handwritten copies, I would recommend having a stash of plain paper ready as most students prefer to establish the layout themselves. Thanks to Paul Durnall who gave me parts of this.
Assorted Resources for the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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Assorted Resources for the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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Here are a bundle of worksheets, three of them are self guided and contain both sources or points of information and a task for students to do. Perfect for a homework or a cover lesson, or as part of a larger lesson plan. The topics on these sheets are: * the long term effects of the bomb * the short term effects of the bomb * reasons for dropping the bomb There is also another worksheet that will require them to have done the first three in order to complete, it is 'why did the USA drop the bomb and what were the consequences of it' and consolidates their learning. Finally I have included both an assessment and an assessment mark scheme that uses the old NC levels. Many thanks to Paul Durnall who gave me this.