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.

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.

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'.

This lesson is designed to be used with Access to History:‘Prosperity, Depression and the New Deal: The USA 1980-1954 by Peter Clements, but could be used with another resource if your resource is: * of A level complexity or above (lesson skill focus is finding information in text) * details the Supreme Court challenges made against the New Deal * is no longer than 2 sides of A4 The skill focus is on finding information in text with a view to increasing student confidence in using the textbook and other more complex sources more independently. Tasks include 'skim it/scan it/scope it out' exercise, rephrasing complex concepts into student own words to improve comprehension, and differentiated tasks as per Blooms. Students will also be fully informed about Supreme Court challenges to the New Deal and able to analyse the changing relationships within the US Federal government.

You need a textbook resource on the New Deal, or access to internet research for students to complete one of the tasks in this lesson. They just need basic information on the provisions of the new deal so they can summarise individual elements such as the NRA for each other. Learning Outcomes ALL Will be able to recall key facts about the New Deal MOST Will be able to explain how the New Deal helped the economy SOME Will be able to analyse the extent to which the New Deal altered the Presidency Lesson includes: Source analysis of a political cartoon Student paired research Student paired presentations individual students select evidence to support the point that the New Deal changed the Presidency in its relationship with Congress and business.

ALL Will be able to describe the key features of McCarthyism MOST Will be able to explain how this impacted on American politics and culture SOME Will be able to use detailed evidence to analyse the threat posed by McCarthyism to the American government Self contained lesson with all resources contained, differentiated questions and a homework paragraph structure.

This resource contains a great game of 'Reagan bingo' where students listen to Reagan facing off against Carter and note off the issues as they arise. This is a good task to introduce students to Reagan, to understand his policies and note the absent topics. There is also a note making task using the Vivienne Sanders textbook (link at the bottom of this blurb) but any decent textbook on this topic will do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9qDRZ6pSRE&safe=active

This resource for KS5 looks at the challenges faced by Reagan in exerting his power as president, and looks at whether the Presidency was 'imperilled' and power disseminating to Congress. The resources in this pack support students to achieve the first two of these Learning Objectives, the third objective is a holistic objective that asks students to consider their previous learning on Nixon, Ford and Carter. If they haven't learned this, they will still have access to the first two objectives. ALL: Will be able to describe how it was difficult for Reagan to use his power MOST: Will be able to explain how the obstacles Reagan faced would impede his policies SOME: Will be able to make links between these obstacles and the failures of the previous presidents to explain how the Presidency had become ‘imperilled’

Civil Rights, KS5, students need an existing knowledge of MLK's Southern Campaigns before they can access this lesson effectively. All resources included, no need for additional textbooks although they are always useful for extra material. The starter asks students to look at the Moynihan Report and decide why MLK turned his attention North. The main body of the lesson is a card sort on the Northern Campaign, students separate 'event' cards from 'analysis' cards, then use the event cards to put together a chronology. Students then colour code their cards to align with various reasons the Northern campaign was unsuccessful, then they either make three bullet point lists, or write three paragraphs to answer the question.

This lesson follows from my 'xfactor contenders' lesson, but so long as students have been introduced already to William, Harold and Harald, they will have easy access to this lesson. Target Skill - Cause and Continuity Learning Objectives: ALL: will be able to describe who the armies fought for at Stamford Bridge and begin to say who should win MOST: Will be able to make predictions based on evidence SOME: Will be able to use connectives to explain how one advantage or disadvantage would lead to the victor winning. This lesson features a brief teacher talk (with numeracy element), then a sorting task and a writing task with self-assessment.

This follows on from lesson 5 which introduces students to the ideas of isolationism, normalcy and rugged individualism. It aims to achieve these outcomes: ALL will be able to explain why the American public admired Republican ideas at this time. MOST will be able to relate these to ideas of ‘normalcy’,’isolationism’ and ‘rugged individualism and explain how the three Republican presidents used these ideas. SOME Will be able to support their answer on the appeal of Republicanism with context from the 1920’s. The lesson includes a clip with questions for students to discuss, a colour coding card sort activity, a paragraph which they use to highlight evidence, a homework sheet on Harding and Coolidge and a worksheet to focus the lesson activities.

This game is great for consolidation of a 20th C unit, or as part of a series of lessons on change and continuity, looking at the differences between the world in 1900 and the world in 2000. You will need a dice and a coin, students move along the board encountering either multiple choice questions on 20th c trivia such as 'which house hold appliance was invented in the 1910s?' (toaster). There are also events squares where students flip a coin to decide which event will take place and how many squares they will move as a result. eg 'If you throw a heads you land in the middle of the war between Russia and Japan in 1905 – miss a go. If you throw tails you witness the signing of the entente-cordiale between France and Britain in 1904 – have another go.' Many thanks to Paul Durnall who gave me this.

Looking for a pen free stand alone lesson with KS3? This one has flipped learning, a kinaesthetic task, group work and absolutely no pens! (Unless you want them to fill out a self assessment) If you want FREE access to these resources, drop me an email at ruth.messenger@yahoo.com and I will send them through to you in exchange for a review of what you thought of it below. No prior knowledge required, but it is essential that you set the homework in this PP in the previous lesson as students will be making their own paper boats to re-enact the events of the Spanish Armada. By the end of this lesson: ALL will be able to re-enact the story of what happened – L3/4 depending on detail MOST groups will be able to say why they think the Armada failed and include this in their re-enactment – L4/5 depending on whether they can explain their reason SOME groups will be able to keep referring to why the Armada failed throughout their re-enactment, making connections between their reason and what happened next. - L5 EXCEPTIONAL groups will be able to make links between the reasons, showing that they all had an impact, but that one reason stands out as the main reason the Armada failed. L6+ depending on depth of analysis NB. To make this lesson even more exciting, use masking tape to mark out a rough shape of the British isles on the floor before the lesson. Students can use this as their map for their re-enactment. Alternately, go and make friends with the geography department and ask if they have a big map students could use.

This lesson is great for a brand new year 7 class and requires minimum preparation. You will need a suitcase of your possessions though as the lesson requires students to handle objects and make inferences as to what kind of person might own that stuff. I have done this lesson several times and I take things such as: a travel guide the case to Resident Evil V for Xbox 360 a picture of my goddaughter an old pipe a jar of marmite a caribena a copy of George Orwell's 1984 The better the objects, the better this lesson will go. I once encountered a teacher who used the contents of her handbag and the lesson flopped. You want to create some intrigue and use this lesson as the basis for building a relationship with your students and allowing them to get to know you. The homework task allows students to select their own objects as evidence of who THEY are, all the while making inferences before they even get it drummed into them that that is a skill. Speaking of skills, here are the learning outcomes: ALL students will know what evidence is and how we use it to build a picture MOST Students will be able to make inferences from the evidence and link evidence SOME Students will be able to explain how evidence can lead to misunderstandings

Created with a focus on speaking and listening skills, this lesson gives students the chance to research a character who would have been present at a slave auction in the US which they then have to 'hot seat' in a group of 4. characters: A slave who has just arrived from Africa A slave who was born in America and so speaks English and has a family with them A slave trader who has completed the middle passage with a fresh cargo A slave owner who is looking for a new slave at a bargain price Students have two clips and a large variety of primary sources to research from. Ideally these sources will be stuck up around the room so students can get out of their seats and wander around - ideal for your kinaesthetic learners. Sources range from HA materials of descriptions of exchanges that have taken place between slaves and prospective buyers down to lots and lots of LA pictures and posters.

This is a lesson for HA year 7 students. It gives them the opportunity to write an essay aiming to hit the old NC levels 5,6 and even 7. I have had a 7A essay handed in using this lesson and most were L6 so if you want to challenge your HA, give this a go. Be aware though that this resource covers three lessons and is mostly concerned with essay structure. I haven't indicated in the PP at which point the students write the essay, so here is how I did it: Lesson 1: students use a card sort to examine the consequences of the black death, they work in pairs and groups to find the most significant/substantial change and the least significant/substantial change. They then choose three pieces of evidence that show significant change, three that show medium change and three that show no change. These will make up their paragraphs. Lesson 2: Students look at a dummy essay on how much school rules changed life for students. I have labelled a paragraph with structural necessities such as 'point, evidence, explanation' and they use highlighters to spot where the author of the essay has done this. Students get started on the essay, aim to finish one paragraph in class, then set one for homework. Lesson 3: You can allow students to peer assess each other's essay so far (in the same way they highlighted the dummy essay), or you can just give them half an hour to finish the essay. They need to have completed their third paragraph before you show them how to write the conclusion. There is a conclusion to the dummy essay that students analyse the structure of before having a go themselves. Most likely, you will want to set this for homework as if your HA class are like mine, they are crazy perfectionists. Please note, this lesson is not differentiated. You would have to approach this essay in a completely different way for a class that is targetted L3-5 and a L4 student would need support to access it. But if you want to push your HA, this resource is really strong. Learning Objectives: ALL students will be able to Describe some of the ways in which life changed using some detailed evidence. Write a conclusion to say how much life changed. (L5) MOST students will be able to Explain how the black death changed the lives of peasants by thinking about the short term and the long term effects of the changes. Supporting all comments with detailed factual knowledge (L6) SOME students will be able to use a lot of detailed factual knowledge to analyse how much change has taken place. This means that you really pick the facts apart to show how much life changed. (L7)

This quiz was designed for my year 12 class, so students will be asked for specific details about a range of civil rights events and their accompanying Supreme Court cases. It is quite challenging, so if this covers topics you haven't spent as much time on, you may decide to allow a time limited textbook grab (60 seconds for students to locate information would be reasonable, and would improve index using skills) There are three rounds, one for civil rights movements, one for supreme court cases and one picture round. I usually get my class to split into teams and name their teams, its a great activity for a class who are stressing about an exam on this topic and need some lighter revision. You should also get a prize! My classes usually take about 35 minutes to complete this.

This is an active lesson that meets the following objectives: ALL will be able to detail events of the scare MOST will be able to explain why Americans were threatened by Communism SOME will be able to predict its ramifications on the political system. I taught this to my year 12 class two weeks ago and it was easily the best lesson I have taught so far this year, they loved it and they refer back to it still to inform their understanding of the fear of communism in the US. There is no writing involved in this lesson, it is purely talking and listening, questioning and thinking. It allows students to move around the room, investigating like in a murder mystery, and ad libbing for their own characters. Overview of the lesson: Set up the classroom like a 1920's speak easy, or at least create a big space in the middle with some chairs around the edge. Students get a character card, these include steelworkers, anarchists etc. They are allowed to tell the truth about their character, but they aren't obliged to - they can lie as much as they like. They have to find out who the communists are in the room and they do this by making conversation. One student is a journalist and this student moves events along by informing other students. You give them each event as it happens (eg bombs in the post) and they have to stir up a fuss with other students. All other instructions are included in the downloads including the character cards, events, and questions for you to use to consolidate learning and pull out the themes necessary to help students achieve the objectives. I will admit I used chocolates to get students going, but motivation really wasn't a problem - they got fully into their characters and the whole witch hunt. enjoy!

Learning Objectives: * To know the pivotal events in 1968 * To have an overview of the background to these events * To be able to make links between these crises to explore the tensions in US society. I created this lesson for my year 12, but it can be differentiated down for younger age groups so long as you have an appropriate textbook or a class that are able to listen effectively to teacher talk. This lesson was designed to work with 'Access to History: Politics, Presidency and Society in the USA, 1968-2001' by Vivienne Sanders, but can easily paired with another textbook from this year, or if you as the teacher have a good knowledge of some of the following events you can fill in the background information. Another option is to provide access to the internet so students can research the background themselves. Events covered are: The death of Martin Luther King The Tet Offensive The assassination of Bobby Kennedy Feminist protests at the Miss America Pageant Protests at the Democratic Convention in Chicago The election of President Nixon. Students will be using information on these events to say what tensions existed in US society, for example the death of MLK shows that there was huge political tension. This lesson works really well as an introduction to the time period and includes a music based homework so students can immerse themselves in the popular culture of the time. It includes a matching task, a researching task and either pair or class discussion of significance. All feedback welcome, Ruth appropriate search terms for this resource: America, USA, 1960's, 1968, Martin Luther King, Kennedy, Nixon, popular culture, music, Tet Offensive, Vietnam War, feminism