I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
I am a History Teacher with a love for producing high quality and easily accessible history lessons, which I have accumulated and adapted for over 20 years of my teaching career. I appreciate just how time consuming teaching now is and the difficulty of constantly producing resources for an ever changing curriculum.
The French Revolution
The aim of this lesson is to investigate if Napoleon was a hero or villain.
Students are introduced to Napoleon and make some initial judgements with reference to his upbringing and his early life.
The main task is to analyse some giebn evidence which is focused on his career, personal life, his reforms in France and how he became Emperor of France.
They are required to complete their analysis with some extended writing, complete with key words and a writing frame if required.
The plenary questions whether we should regard him as a legend with links to people in the modern era.
The lesson comes with differentiated materials, suggested teaching and learning strategies and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
It is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
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.
Conflict and Tension 1918-1939
The aim of this lesson is to anaylse how Hitler united with Austria in 1938.
Students will learn how Hitler fulfilled one of his aims of uniting Germans, the Volksdeutsche, by invading Austria.
This time, Hitler has learned from his mistakes from the Dollfuss affair, but is now in a position of strength.
Students have to decide how ruthless he is in his demands from the Austrian Prime Minister, Schuschnigg.
Students complete a true or false quiz, before analysing video footage and undertaking a card sort activity to determine the causes of consequences of the invasion.
This will enable the students to tackle the ‘write an account’ question.
There is a retrieval grid to complete for the plenary.
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, some retrieval practice, 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.
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 A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is judge how Protestant England became under the Edwardian Reformation.
There is also a distinction made with the Protestant views of Edward and the contrast between the Edwardian Reformation under Somerset and Northumberland.
Students begin the lesson by studying an overview of the main changes during the Edwardian Reformation and analysing the Protestant views of Edward. They learn the distinct religious differences between the rule of the two Dukes before their evaluate how Protestant the country had become under both.
There is some guidance on some learning trouble spots concerning the spread of Protestantism within the country and therefore how hard it is to judge and answer this question.
There are some additional tasks if needed concerning the major players in the Reformation under Edward VI as well as some source analysis and details on the significance of the Chantries Act.
There is some exam practice to complete at the end, using sources with help, prompts and a markscheme is required.
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.
AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Power and the People, c.1170 to the present day
This 33 page Revision Guide is broken down into four sections: challenging authority and feudalism, challenging royal authority, reform and reformers and equality and rights.
The Guide starts by explaining the 4 questions types asked in the exam and gives suggestions and tips on the easiest way to tackle these.
The Revision Guide gives over 20 typical exam questions asked on each topic (from significance, to how useful, to similarities and differences to factors) and how to put these questions into practise with model answers.
This Guide has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow and can be adapted and changed to suit with PDF and Word formats supplied.
This Guide can be used for revision, interleaving, within the classroom as well for homework purposes.
Any reviews on this resource would be much appreciated.
**EDEXCEL GCSE 9-1, SUPERPOWER RELATIONS AND THE COLD WAR 1941-1991 **
There is no doubt that students are finding this unit of the course extremely challenging. Therefore I have been inspired to write this summary guide for my students to help pass the GCSE examination.
This resource sets out the whole course in two sides of A4.
This is ideal for the student who wants a quick recap and summary before the exam or an internal assessment, as it sets out and gives all the main knowledge required.
It is also great for quickly printing and giving out for revision lessons, especially when the students claim they cannot remember anything you have taught!
It covers the main events, issues and people and key terminology connected to the topic, with a focus on the exam requirements at the beginning.
I have included both PDF and word documents in case there is a wish to adapt and change.
AQA A Level 1C The Tudors: England 1485-1603
The aim of this lesson is to evaluate the success of Henry’s foreign policy after Wolsey from 1529-1547.
Students recap events leading up to the Battle of Pavia ands Charles V’s dominance in Europe.
They are introduced to Henry’s policy of defence during the divorce and his quest for further military glory afterwards.
They then analyse his policy towards France, Spain, Ireland, Scotland and the Holy Roman Empire and evaluate how successful Henry was in his pursuit of glory. They must be able to justify this with examples and details.
There is some exam practice to complete together with a writing frame, prompts and a markscheme to use if required.
There is an enquiry question during 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.
The aim of this lesson is to analyse life in a slave plantation.
What was a typical day like? How hard was the work? Was it made easier by the invention of the cotton gin? How did they relax if at all in the evening and what were their living quarters like?
Learning tasks include comparing a day in their school life with the day of a plantation slave and recognising the hardships endured.
Students also have to use a number of sources, which are differentiated according to ability and challenge a statement which suggests a slave’s life wasn’t really that bad.
The plenary asks them to use four letters and come up with as many associated words as they can from their learning.
The lesson comes with a retrieval practice activity, suggested teaching and learning strategies and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
The British Empire
This lesson focuses on the upheaval of the lives of the indigenous peoples of Australia with the coming of the Europeans.
The lesson starts by looking at their customs and traditions and how these were quickly attacked through the attitudes and settlements of the colonists. A ‘Horrible Histories’ version of events is also scrutinised and questioned on its accuracy.
I have included some comprehension questions and source scholarship using an extract from the brilliant ‘Empireland’ by Sathnam Sanghera which explains the atrocities committed in Tasmania by the colonists.
Paintings from Governor Davey of Van Diemen’s Land can also analysed so the students are able to prioritise the most significant changes the colonists made to Australia and the legacy of the British Empire.
The lesson comes with retrieval practice activities, suggested teaching and learning strategies, differentiated materials and is linked to the latest historical interpretations, video clips and debate.
The lesson is enquiry based with a key question posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.
The lesson is fully adaptable in PowerPoint format and can be changed to suit.
**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.
AQA GCSE A Level 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
I have produced this bundle of resources on Elizabeth to help A level history students access the course and make the transition from GCSE to A Level smoothly.
Elizabeth’s 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established. The image of Elizabeth’s reign is one of triumph and success. However, it faced many difficulties with threats of invasion from Spain through Ireland, and from France through Scotland. The nation also suffered from high prices and severe economic depression, especially in the countryside, during the 1590s.
The enquiry question throughout this bundle of resources will be to question what sort of a Queen Elizabeth was throughout her reign and how and why she changed or adapted over time .
Students will learn how Elizabeth dealt with religion in the Religious Settlement of 1559. They will assess her character and aims and how Elizabeth’s Government worked on a local as well as National level.
They will judge the significance of her foreign policy in relation to Catholic threats at home and abroad as well as her attempts to tackle poverty with increasing inflation and poor harvests.
Finally they will evaluate how much the arts, education, exploration and colonisation can be attributed to a Golden Age.
The lessons are as follows:
L1 Introduction
L2 Problems
L3 Consolidation of power
L4 Government of Elizabeth
L5 Elizabeth and marriage
L6 Background to the Religious Settlement
L7 Elizabethan Religious Settlement
L8 Catholic threats and rebellion
L9 Mary, Queen of Scots
L10 The Puritan threat (free resource)
L11 Foreign Policy introduction
L12 War with Spain
L13 Elizabeth and Ireland
L14 Economy and Society
L15 Trade and exploration
L16 Elizabeth Golden Age
The lessons include the two types of exam question used, with examples of how to tackle them, using model answers, helpful hints and tips, structuring and scaffolding as well as markschemes. However, please refer to the AQA website for further assessment materials as they are subject to copyright.
The lessons are also differentiated and fully resourced and allow students to reach the very top marks.
This is the final bundle of four I have created for the Tudors A Level history course.
If you have any questions about the lessons, please email me via my TES shop, or any other information about the course. I would also welcome any reviews, which would be gratefully received.
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.
Britain: Health and the People, C.1000AD to present
With revision constantly in full swing, I have started to make these revision workbooks which my Year 11 students love (as an alternative to death by Powerpoint).
We pick certain sections each lesson to revise and come up with model answers and discuss the best way to tackle each question in the best way, considering exam time constraints.
I print out the sheets in A5, which the students stick in their books and use to colour code
Students answer the questions next to or underneath the sheets.
They can also be used for homework or interleaving.
The resource comes in Word format if there is a need to change or adapt.
The Industrial Revolution
The aim of this lesson to assess why and how Britain adopted a police force in the Nineteenth Century.
Students will be posed a number of questions throughout the lesson including:
*Why was there a need for a police force in England and Wales?
Why did the Government set up the Metropolitan Police Force which later spread throughout the country?
How did the population react to such a force and was there support or opposition to it?
How were the police initially equipped o take on their roles and what qualifications did you need to join the police. *
Students will analyse these questions through visual images, written prose, a true or false quiz, video evidence, source analysis and a question thinking quilt.
They will also evaluate the effectiveness of the police force throughout and by using causational equations at the end of the 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.
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.
The English Civil War
This lesson aims to question the character and personality of Oliver Cromwell.
Students will decide if he set out to kill the King from the start and make himself a despot or did circumstances dictate that this was his only option?
Moreover, with his puritanical ideas, did he make England and the Commonwealth a better place for it, or was it exclusive only to the minority?
This will ultimately be down to students’ own judgement as they plot his actions on a grid and justify their own conclusions.
Analysis of video evidence also helps to track his ideas and personality and gives the students ideas for writing his obituary and question why his burial place in Westminster Abbey bears the inscription 1658-1661.
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.
Norman Conquest
This lesson further explores the theme of William’s control and tightening grip on England as rebellion and opposition dominate his early years.
Students will study his castle building program, from the Motte and Bailey through to stone keep castles and analyse their strengths and weaknesses.
They will question why the Normans placed their reliance on these eye sores and how their features gave them control and defence against a hostile population.
Furthermore they will evaluate how much control he was able to exert over the population using a control ‘o’ meter.
Finally there is an interactive question and answer session with an Anglo-Saxon castle builder at the time who has some interesting things to say about his compliance in all of it.
This lesson is therefore designed to be fun, challenging and engaging.
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 understand how the British Government prepared for war and if they were successful in doing so.
The lesson begins by analysing a source and making inferences about the precautions to be taken in times of war.
Furthermore students will also have to decide the Government’s priorities by making judgements as to whether they are low or high, from ideas such as rationing to aid raids or war work to conscription.
They will then complete some research focusing on four areas: warning people of air attacks, the Homeguard, the use of gas masks and the blackout.
Students will plot what the government did or didn’t do on a grid and then after analysing and processing the evidence, justify their conclusions using a colour coding evaluation table as well as completing an extended written task.
The plenary requires students to answer differentiated questions to check their understanding.
It 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.
