Cold War The aim of this extended lesson on the Vietnam War is to analyse its significance; from its dubious beginnings and inception to the types of weapons used, the war crimes which followed and the ensuing lack of support at home as well as the consequences for the civilian population of Vietnam. So why did America fail to win this war despite overwhelming manpower, control of the air and sea and the most modern military weapons available at the time? As a starting point, students focus on Paul Hardcastle’s 19 song and his reasons for writing it and analyse the photograph of Kim Phúc before examining the details surrounding the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. They are given a number of differentiated tasks to analyse both American and Vietcong tactics to win the war (using printable worksheets) and the horrors surrounding search and destroy and the My Lai massacre, the tunnelling system as well as the use of napalm and agent orange. At the end they will prioritise the reasons for Vietcong success and American failure and how this war played its key part in the Cold War. 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 format 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 analyse the Korea War between 1950-53 and understand the threat North Korea poses to the world today, with its insistence on spending millions on producing nuclear weapons despite catastrophic failures of industry and the famine of the 1990’s. Students learn about present day Korea using a brilliant video link, and annotate key facts around a map. They analyse key information about the Korean War in the 1950s and how this produced an armistice in 1953, which is still in force today. Students have to complete a variety of differentiated tasks which focus on the causes and consequences of the war and evaluate the reasons for the subsequent stalemate. 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.

Historic Environment Question for 2024 This nine page Revision Guide is aimed at students to help study, organise, revise and be prepared for the AQA GCSE 9-1 Elizabethan England 1568-1603 Historic Environment question for 2024. I have included 6 possible questions for GCSE exam practice on the themes I believe stand out in the literature provided. Within the guide itself, I have broken down the main details of the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation into manageable chunks. This guide focuses on the main concepts prescribed by AQA. For example it examines the location of the New World and its growing importance for Drake and his fellow navigators, the function and structure of seafaring as new navigational techniques and ship design allowed more exploration. It will also analyse the people connected to Drake’s circumnavigation including Sir John Hawkins and Diego as well as giving information on Drake and the different interpretations of him at the time. Furthermore the culture, values and fashions connected with Drake’s circumnavigation are examined as untold riches such as feathers, pearls, jewels and gold became essential accessories for the fashionistas of Elizabethan England. Finally important events are linked to Drake’s voyages from his initial slave excursions to his revenge attacks on Spanish shipping and his circumnavigation, as well focusing on the detailed maps and illustrations in his diaries and journals of new lands he discovered. All the information and more included is advised by AQA through their Paper 2: Shaping the nation resource pack guidance. I have also gained a brilliant insight into the Americas and Drake’s circumnavigation from renowned historians such as Ben Johnson, Miranda Kaufman and the superb Professor Jowett, as well as numerous other sources, including the fabulous BBC History Today magazine and podcasts. The resource comes in PDF and Word formats if you wish to adapt and change. Any reviews on this resource which would be much appreciated.

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.

The Industrial Revolution The aim of this lesson is to question how effective Victorian justice was. This is an interesting and engaging lesson for students as they decide who was a criminal (from their looks), which were the most common crimes in the early 1800’s and what you could expect at a public hanging though some source analysis. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to answer the following questions: Why was it so easy to commit crime in the Victorian period in the early nineteenth century and if you were unfortunate to get caught what could you expect from Victorian justice? What was the Bloody Code and why was the law so harsh to offenders irrespective in some cases of sex or age? There are also three case studies to unpick and students are left questioning the morality and effectiveness of the punishments inflicted. Please note that the reform of the criminal justice system is dealt with in other lessons such as the Victorian prison system and the setting up of the Metropolitan Police force by Sir Robert Peel and the abolition of the Bloody Code. There are a choice of plenaries from hangman to bingo and heart, head, bag, bin which get the students to prioritise the most ‘effective’ methods used to deal with crime. 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 British Empire This lesson focuses on the role Gandhi played in achieving Indian independence from Britain which ultimately cost him his life. The first part of the lesson looks at why the Indian population were unhappy with British rule, from the Indian Mutiny of 1857, events happening abroad to the Rowlatt Act culminating in the Amritsar Massacre. They are then introduced to Gandhi, his philosophy of passive resistance (or as he called it satyagraha) and why he set up his Independent Congress Party. This is accompanied with some excellent video footage from the BBC as well as clips from the film ‘Gandhi’ by Sir Richard Attenborough. The second part of the lesson centers around his life and by analysing various sources from which they complete either a table or grid; students then have to decide how big a part Gandhi played in many events leading to Independence and his lasting legacy for India in 1947. 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.

World War II The aim of this lesson is to explore how and why the D-Day landings were a success. Students are given the details about the Atlantic Wall and learn how Hitler’s attempts to design and build it ultimately led to its flaws and weakness in repelling the Allied forces in June 1944. Furthermore, students have to decide which landing site would be more advantageous to the Allies, the port of Calais or the beaches of Normandy. They also analyse the various ingenious inventions of the Allies from the Mulberry Harbours to the underwater PLUTO pipeline. There are some excellent visual sources to accompany the lesson and well as video footage from the BBC. 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. 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.

Norman Conquest The aim of this lesson is to assess how scary the Black Death was in1348. Students are introduced to the idea of why the Black Death was so scary, learning about the symptoms of the Bubonic Plague and Pneumonic Plague and the devastation that lay in its wake from empty villages today to paintings showing devastation and death. They learn key words such as contagion, flagellants, humours and miasmas and how these words link to the learning objective through a thinking quilt. They will also find out how the peasants gained in status as a result of the reduction of the workforce and how this gave them more bargaining power with their landlords over wages. The plenary is a Black Death connecting wall which requires students to link four key phrases and to explain how and why they link together. This lesson is therefore designed to be interactive, fun, challenging and engaging and could be used over two lessons. 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 This lesson sets out to explains how Hitler set Germany on the road to war in 5 steps. Students are challenged to find out how and why was he able to defy the Treaty of Versailles so easily with little or no consequences (shown through a causal spider’s web). Students analyse video footage and a number of sources, using the COP technique (modelled for student understanding) which has proved invaluable for evaluating sources at GCSE. A final chronological recap of the events and evaluation of the most and least important of the events that led to war, will give students an in depth understanding of why World War II started. This lesson is ideal as preparation for GCSE if you are embedding source skills or teaching the interwar years or WWII at Key stage 4. 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.

Cold War The aims of this lesson are to explain what the Cold War was in post war Europe and how it developed between the two existing Superpowers in 1945. The USA and the USSR had different ideologies and students will learn the differences between Capitalism and Communism. Furthermore, despite cordial relations at the three meetings held before the end of the war at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, suspicions were soon aroused. Students will analyse the preceding decisions made about the divisions of Germany and Berlin and make informed judgements as to why these suspicions developed. 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 a lightbulb) 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 The aim of this aim is to assess why coal became known as ‘black gold’. Students learn how important coal was to the Industrial Revolution and how it was used in a number of areas. However the interesting facts focus on its extraction and yet again the dangers involved for all concerned, especially children. Students have to rate how effective the various measures put in place were to overcome some of the problems They also have to tackle some historical hexagonals to get them thinking and linking all the information together. A find and fix plenary should test their recall and knowledge from 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.

The Tudors The aim of this lesson is for the students to understand the causes and prioritise the reasons for the failure of the Spanish Armada. As the students are posed with the question, ‘why did the Spanish eat rope?’, they make up an explosive cocktail to understand the main causes of the invasion. As the story unravels as to the failures of the Spanish invasion fleet, students have to analyse and prioritise which were the main reasons for English success, against Spanish superiority in numbers and firepower. The plenary requires students to evaluate the Blob bridge and explain which blob represents the best fit in this story, from an English sailor, the Spanish public right up to Queen Elizabeth and King Philip. The lesson is differentiated and includes video evidence as well as an interactive diagram plotting the route of the Armada. 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.

The Norman Conquest The aim of this lesson is to challenge the overarching question as to whether the punishments fitted the crimes in the Middle Ages. There is a key focus on literacy throughout the lesson, as students are introduced to a number of key words which they have to fit into a missing word activity and well as using some differentiated story source scholarship to define certain key words using inference and analytical skills. This resource uses visuals to explain the punishments used in the Middle Ages as well as the causes of crime. There is also some excellent BBC video footage to accompany the lesson. Students will be required to complete an extended piece of writing, using the key words they have learnt from the lesson as well as having to justify and explain the key concepts of crime and punishment in an odd one out activity. This lesson is designed to be interactive, 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.

The English Civil War The aims of this lesson are to analyse the Battle of Marston Moor and evaluate how the New Model Army won the battle, as well as to question if Parliament decided to kill the king from the start. Therefore this lesson comes in two parts. This first lesson focuses on how the two sides fought in the Civil War. Students learn about the musketeers and pikemen, before analysing their role in the Battle of Marston Moor. The students take on the job of Oliver Cromwell and make key decisions to win the battle, gaining points as they go along. However they must be careful not to make mistakes and lose the battle with catastrophic consequences for Parliament and the New Model Army. The second part of the lesson looks at an alternative view of the Civil War. Was the decision taken to kill the King early on, or did Parliament arrive painstakingly at this decision over time. Students plot this on a graph before reaching and justifying their own conclusions, using some argument words for help if required. A lightbulb is posed at the start of the lesson and revisited throughout to show the progress of learning. The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies and differentiated materials, and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.

The Tudors This lesson poses the question ‘How much of a threat did Mary, Queen of Scots pose to Elizabeth I?’ Students are taken through Mary’s life from becoming Queen of Scotland to the controversy of her husbands and her eventual house arrest in England. Through sources, visual and video evidence, students have conclude how much of a threat Mary posed to Elizabeth, after pleading their case through the eyes of Mary herself. There is some help to write an extended answer using key words which help mention cause and effect, to sequence events and to emphasise judgements. There is also analysis of the Babington Plot and a deciphering exercise to work out on how Mary was implicated. 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 9-1 Elizabethan England, 1568-1603 The overarching aim of this and the subsequent bundle of lessons is to question and explore how Elizabeth asserted her authority and control in the second half of her reign. The aim of this lesson is to give students the context to the role and importance the theatre played in Elizabethan England. Building upon their knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare, they will learn how the theatre adapted and changed to permanent and purpose built theatres through text analysis, a thinking quilt and video evidence. The second part of the lesson focuses on the globe theatre, with its seating arrangements and the types of plays the audiences could experience. There are some excellent video links to the BBC included in this resource. Students will then apply their skills to a choice of two exam practice questions on ‘importance’ and ‘how convincing’, with help and guidance offered if required. 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.

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.

I have produced these Bitesize Cards to help my GCSE History groups revise. They summarise the content for the Germany 1890-1945, Democracy and Dictatorship course, which can be overwhelming for some students. They contain the main events, people and key words needed for the exam Students can use these 14 cards in lessons or for homelearning to help them with recall, retrieval and retention. I also use them as starters in the lessons or for interleaving to help with the course content. I have broken down the revision cards down into the following themes: Kaiser Wilhelm The Treaty of Versailles Problems in Germany Super Stresemann The Rise of Hitler Hitler’s consolidation of Power The Nazi Police State The Nazi economy Propaganda Youth groups and women Churches Opposition Persecution to Genocide The German Homefront They have proved a great success as a revision tool. I have also posted them on our google classroom (digital platform) so students can access them, when GCSE practise questions are set or they are required to revise for an assessment test. They simply need cutting, hole punching and tying with treasury tags, or simply stapling together. I have included both PDF and PowerPoint versions if you wish to amend or adapt. If you like this resource, please check out my full Revision Guide for Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship 1890-1945 which can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/germany-democracy-and-dictatorship-revision-guide-aqa-gcse-9-1-11764985

AQA GCSE 9-1 Britain: Health and the People, c1000 to present The aim of the lesson is to understand why and how the NHS was introduced to Britain in 1948 and despite initial sets backs and opposition, why it is still an amazing institution and still the envy of the world. Students analyse the reasons how the NHS was introduced by the Labour government and have to explain why. Key people are discussed such as Nye Bevan and Sir William Beveridge and using source analysis and GCSE exam question practice, students evaluate how some doctors were opposed to Bevan and the NHS from the start. Video footage at the time shows how the Government tried to calm some fears and how its message on health has changed through the centuries. There is some text analysis with colour coding and evaluation throughout as well as a focus on literacy in the plenary. 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 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.