Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 This lesson aims to assess Reagan’s new approach to the Soviet Union and the reasons for a Second Cold War. Students learn about the precarious nature of the life span of some of the Soviet leaders as well Reagan’s background before he became President. They then have to emoji rate and judge his Presidency as to how tough a stance he takes using a number of statements. There are also some statement options to judge correctly as well as a differentiated questioning task. Some GCSE question practice on the importance of Reagan’s Presidency can be completed at the end of the lesson, with help given using a scaffold and a student friendly markscheme if required. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout this and subsequent lessons 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 forming mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question. The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated material and GCSE question practice. It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

Cold War The aim of this lesson is to understand the causes behind the building of the Berlin Wall and the consequences for Berliners. Students analyse the differences between life on the East and West sides of Berlin to understand why thousands of Germans continued to cross the border to make a better life in West Berlin. The second part of the lesson focuses on the building of the wall, using statistics, graffiti art and the personal account of Conrad Shuman in a thinking quilt to develop further understanding and evaluate its significance in the context of the Cold War. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

The Industrial Revolution This lesson aims to examine the revolution in transport which affected Britain between 1750-1900. Students first look at the problems of transport in Britain. They examine the roads (if you could call them that) and look at how they were changed and improved in conjunction with the railways and canals. There are sources to analyse and a differentiated group work task as well as video footage giving further clarity. Ultimately students have to evaluate the biggest impact these changes made in Britain, whether it be increased wealth and international trade to the standardisation of time or being connected throughout the British Empire. 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 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 Industrial Revolution This lesson aims to examine and assess factory conditions during the Industrial Revolution. The poor conditions and punishments are explored through the eyes of a pauper apprentice, whose story tells us the harsh discipline, rules and punishments for factory workers. Students have a chance to complete a diary entry and evaluate if life was bad for everyone including using causation equations in the plenary. The lesson alludes to factory owners like Robert Owen who built quality houses, schools, shops with cheap goods and parks for his workers (although factory reform and reformers is dealt with in another lesson). 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 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.

World War I This lesson is split into two parts: The aim of the first part of this lesson is to focus on the roles women played in World War 1 and how significant a contribution they made to the war effort. Students have to prioritise which jobs also contributed the most to the war effort. The second part looks at the Woolwich Arsenal weapons factory as a case study, using documentary and audio evidence from the time as students consider how frightening it was to work in an arms factory. Furthermore, students decide how significant women were in the short, medium and long term. They have a chance to justify their ideas with a differentiated extended writing task, with help given if required. A plenary Bingo tests and challenges students’ understanding at the end. 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 suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

The Tudors: England 1485-1603 The aim of this lesson is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Elizabeth’s government. Students will analyse a number of key institutions of Government ranging from Parliament, the Royal Court and the Privy Council on a national level to Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and Lord Lieutenants on a local level. There are a number of slides within this PowerPoint and it is therefore recommended to deliver it over two lessons. Students will also learn details of conflicts Elizabeth had with Parliament and her Privy Council, the factions which developed in her reign and how she was able to overcome these through her diplomacy and strength of character. A 20 question quiz concludes the lesson as well as some exam question practice if required with some guidance and a mark scheme provided. 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 the lesson is to question whether the America was justified in dropping two atomic bombs of Japan in 1945. Students will give their initial thoughts and reasons why before evidence is presented before them. Various modern interpretations suggest that Japan was about to unconditionally surrender and therefore the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary. Therefore students are given the context of the war in the Pacific with four scary facts - the Japanese refusal to surrender in battle, the treatment of prisoners of war, the role of Kamikaze pilots and the end of the war in Europe in April 1945. There are some fabulous video links and visual images to analyse. The final task requires students to categorise information into reasons why America decided to use its lethal weapons, including a show of power to Stalin and the Soviet Union. The plenary uses a true or false quiz to check recall and understanding. 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, c1000 to present The aim of this lesson is to assess the contributions made by Pasteur and Koch to the improvements in medicine in the late 19th Century. By the late 1800’s, the focus had moved away from antiseptic to aseptic surgery. Students will learn how Pasteur made his monumental breakthrough in 1861 with his Germ Theory, aided through the factors of chance, government and scientific experimentation. However as he was only a chemist it was the German doctor Robert Koch who applied Pasteur’s theory to human disease to convince doubters that microscopic germs could kill something as advanced as a human. Students will rate their progress in these discoveries and make substantiated judgements on their effectiveness and performance in the development of vaccines. There are also links to Bastion and Tyndall and their similar rivalry in Britain. The lesson includes GCSE practice questions on factors and significance with source analysis and video links throughout. 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 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.

AQA GCSE 9-1 Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship This 33 page Revision Guide is broken down into 3 main sections: Germany 1890-1918, the Weimar Republic 1918-1933, Nazi Dictatorship 1933-1945 This Revision Guide includes practice exam questions and gives examples and tips on how to answer each. It will enable all learners to achieve the higher grades with clear guidance on how to achieve them. The questions target the main questions in the exam from interpretations and source analysis, cause and consequence, change and continuity, significance and evaluation. The Guide also gives the students some useful mnemonics to remember some of the key details such as the Treaty of Versailles, problems in the Weimar, recover under Stresemann and Hitler’s consolidation of power for example. The information is also broken down into an easy to use format to aid the students. The Guide can be used for revision, interleaving, home learning as well as class teaching. For home learning, each student taking GCSE History in my school has a copy assigned to them on the google drive and it is used frequently when using google classroom assignments, such as homework and revision for assessments. This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be edited and changed to suit, It comes in both Word and PDF format. Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated. Please email me for a free copy of any of my resources worth £3.00 if you do. I have also made similar revision resources for AQA GCSE 9-1 include Britain: Health and the People c.1000 to the present day, Elizabethan England c,1568-1603, Conflict and Tension and Power and the People.

Elizabethan England 1568-1603 This Revision Guide is aimed to help students prepare fully for their GCSE exam in this unit of study Within this 45 page Revision Guide, there are 18 GCSE exam questions and guidance of how to answer them throughout. At the start of the Guide, there are tips on how the students can access the four main questions and advice on how to put this into practice with model answers given from the exam board. There are also eight new pages in the Guide dedicated to the 2024 Environmental Study, Americas and Drake's Circumnaviation with a focus on knowledge and understanding and second order concepts. Six possible exam questions have been included which AQA could ask focusing on the main themes from the AQA guidance given. This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed, easy to follow and allows the students to access the higher grades in the examination. It comes in PDF and Word format and can be adapted and changed to suit. Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated.

The Industrial Revolution The aim of this lesson is to question how far the Factory and Mine Acts went to reform working conditions. Students have to decide how much credit the Government of the day should receive for reforming the conditions of workers in the factories and mines. Furthermore they will evaluate how effective the laws were that were passed and were they adhered to. Finally they will judge how much credit should be given to a number of dedicated and philanthropic individuals who were ahead of their time This lesson explores these questions by examining the evidence of children and discovers how factory owners like Titus Salt in Bradford were determined to help their workers themselves to create a harmonious and thriving community. Students have to think which Acts applied to whom using numbers as well as evaluating how much lives improved as a result of the Factory and Mines Acts. 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 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.

Norman Conquest The aim of the lesson is to understand how WIlliam asserted his control over the population using the feudal system. Students get to know how the feudal system works by interacting with each other in a Norman style ‘party’. They each have a card to read which tells them their status and their oath to William. However they will have to decide and justify if they are happy with their status or not. This lesson is designed to be fun, with students required to interact with each other and show their status by using the tables and chairs in the room. The lesson uses video footage and music to engage and connect the learning. Further learning tasks include creating a feudal system diagram using differentiated prompts, as well as explaining how it worked and analysing how pleasant it was to be a peasant under this system. 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 is differentiated and gives suggested teaching strategies. It comes in Powerpoint format which can be amended and changed to suit.

World War II The aim of this lesson is to challenge the Government’s claim that during World War Two, a Blitz spirit of togetherness emerged across the country in defiance of the bombing of Britain’s cities. This lesson takes students on a journey through archive video footage, government announcements and source information to determine if there was indeed a Blitz Spirit during the war. Students are given details of what the Blitz entailed using some contextual evidence and a thinking quilt. They then have to analyse and evaluate a variety of sources and statistics before they conclude and justify which sources best suit the driving question of the lesson. The plenary is a take on the television programme, ‘Would I lie to you?’ and the idea is to again challenge assumptions. 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 includes retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials. It comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

American Civil RIghts The aim of this lesson is to show a different approach to achieving Civil Rights pursued by Malcolm X. The start of the lesson asks why Malcolm Little changed his name and makes a link to the film by Spike Lee. It follows his early life chronologically and some higher order thinking questions are posed. The lesson then looks at his later life and beliefs and analyses some of his views and most famous quotations in a fun and engaging way. Students have to finally decide the most important aspects of his legacy and prioritise them, as well as deciding the fundamental differences of his beliefs and approach compared to Martin Luther King. 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, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

**AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603 ** The overarching aim of this and the subsequent lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth tried to assert and establish her authority in the early years of her reign. The lessons are therefore linked together to build up a picture of her difficulties in trying to overcome this. This first lesson is an introduction to the reign of Queen Elizabeth and starts by finding out what the students know already using a true or false quiz, source material, video evidence and portraits of Elizabeth. The emphasis is also on the precarious nature of her early life which has a major impact on how she rules when she becomes Queen. The second part of the lesson uses differentiated resources and requires the students to plot, explain and prioritise her early problems on a tree (using the trunk, branches and leaves). The third part focuses on a typical GCSE question on the usefulness of a source giving tips and notes on how to answer this question. The lesson also gives a brief introduction to the course and includes a tracking sheet which the students stick in their books detailing the assessment objectives of the course and the four main question types. 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.

Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the significance of the Truman Doctrine and its implications for East-West relations. Students are asked to analyse two political cartoons of the time to establish how and why the new foreign policy of the USA was a direct challenge to the Soviet Union. There is help given if required. As well as studying the finer details of the Truman Doctrine, they also have to understand its consequences for Europe and write this up in a GCSE practice question. The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout this and subsequent lessons 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 forming mutual understanding and cooperation over the time period in question. The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and GCSE question practice. It also comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

The Cold War The aim of this lesson is to explore the winds of change within the USSR as Perestroika and Glasnost are introduced with the appointment of Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. But despite all the achievements he made, was it all in vain and just how successful was he with the Soviet Union in his short six years in office? Students are required to emoji rate the problems facing Gorbachev in 1985 and then justify the most serious one using a pressure gauge. Furthermore they have to evaluate how successful his policies were and how they were received in the west as compared to back home. A thinking quilt at the end challenges their thinking as they have to group all they have learnt into categories and then explain the significance of each fact. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives during the Cold War? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. The resource comes in PowerPoint formats if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

Cold War The aim of this lesson is to explain how Germany was divided post 1945, as agreed at the Potsdam Conference and analyse the subsequent Berlin blockade and airlift which followed. Students learn the intentions of both the USA and USSR and how this played out in the Cold War theatre of Europe. This is a great opportunity for students to be creative as they plot the preceding events on an airport landing strip, using symbols and signs found in every international airport. They will track the obstacles thrown up by Stalin and the immediate problems this caused in Berlin as he attempted to prevent any further western moves in Germany and with his aim of starving the West Berliners into submission. Therefore this is intended to be a fun, challenging and engaging lesson to suit all abilities. The central enquiry of this and subsequent lessons is to ask why did civilians fear for their lives? Students will map out their ideas each lesson (which can be plotted in different colours or dates to show the progress of their learning and centred around the key question) and build up a picture of how these and different countries in the world responded and acted in this new nuclear age. The resource comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change and is differentiated. I have also included suggested teaching strategies to deliver the lesson.

Edexcel GCSE 9-1, Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 This 22 page Revision Guide is tailored to the above Edexcel specification for GCSE 9-1. It is broken down into 4 main sections: Origins of the Cold War, Increasing tensions, Détente and the end of the Cold War. I have been inspired to write this Revision Guide on account of the students I teach struggling with the course content of this unit and applying the skills in how to answer the GCSE questions. This Revision Guide therefore includes 21 GCSE practice exam questions and gives examples on how to answer each, using model answers. This guide will enable all learners to achieve the higher grades with clear guidance on how to achieve them. The questions target consequence, significance and analytical narrative with a focus on analysing events and finding connections that explain the way in which the events unfolded. The information is also broken down into an easy to use format to aid the students. The guide can be used for revision, interleaving, home learning as well as class teaching. For home learning, each student taking GCSE History has a copy assigned to them on a google drive and it is used frequently when using google classroom assignments such as revision for assessments. This Revision Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be edited and changed to suit in Microsoft Word and PDF format. Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated. Please email me for a free copy of any of my resources worth up to £3.50 if you do.

American Civil RIghts This lesson analyses and evaluates the part Rosa Parks played in the Civil Rights Movement. Modest to the end, her one action inspired a generation and she is still talked about with reverence in American society today. (NB - Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globe speech on 7th January, 2018.) Students learn about Rosa Park’s background and events leading up to her refusal to move seats on a bus, brilliantly shown through some video footage as well as documentary evidence. The learning tasks and the accompanying resources are differentiated to suit all abilities as students reflect and evaluate her most important significance to American society today. Students also have the opportunity to use a bus to show in the windows the problems she faced (at the front and in the doorway) and what she achieved (in the back windows). 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, differentiated materials and comes in Powerpoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.