I have put together a new section on the website covering “The Decline and Collapse of Soviet Control over Eastern Europe”, which is the compulsory sourcework paper for IGCSE History, Summer 2010.

I plan to teach this unit to my students at the International School of Toulouse in the New Year as their final topic. Over the Christmas Holidays I will prepare full teaching materials and make them available on this site. Until then, this page is designed to provide an overview of how I plan to structure the unit.

There is no clear statement in the IGCSE syllabus regarding the date period covered by the topic. However, in my opinion the examination will cover a topic from the 1980s (e.g. Solidarity in Poland, the role of Gorbachev), especially since the main Paper 1 syllabus addresses the questions “What was the significance of ‘Solidarity’ in Poland for the decline of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe?” and “How far was Gorbachev personally responsible for the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe?”.

Based on the fact that I anticipate that the Paper will focus on a topic relating to the 1980s, I will spend half of the available 12 weeks on events up to 1979, and then spend the other half of the time focusing purely on the 1980s.

If you have any thoughts on what you think the topic for the Paper might be, and / or how best the unit should be taught, why not add a reply to this blog entry below?

Design your own coat of arms by answering a series of detailed questions about your personality and interests. The computer uses the information to design your shield, choose the colour scheme, and recommend the symbols you should use. A great classroom project which turns into a brilliant display of finished projects!

An updated version of the Year 7 History Worksheet; now included is a template map of the UK (for students to plot names relating to places) and a diamond9 diagram for students to plot profession-based surnames in rank order of status.

Year 7 History students create their own family tree after analysing that of The Simpsons cartoon characters using this worksheet.

History Essay Planner

This tool from ActiveHistory helps you to plan History essays!

Simply COPY and PASTE your essay questions into this box and press “submit” (if you submit more than one, each should start on a new line).
The computer will then provide you with an essay plan for each question!

Lesson idea: BEFORE using this tool, compare essay plans produced by the class. Then, compare them to the plan suggested by this tool. Which plan do you think is best? Why?

Students read transcripts of the trial to consider what they tell us about the King, his prosecutors and the attitude of those present.

This resource can be found within this complete Key Stage 3 History Study Unit on the English Civil War.