Birth of Joan of Arc, French martyr, saint and national heroine. (This is the date given in a letter from Lord Perceval de Boullainvilliers. Her actual
date of birth is impossible to verify, and she could only estimate her age)

In this brand new activity, students answer a series of questions asked by King Henry II. Based on the quality of the responses he then decides how likely he is to let them build a cathedral. Complete with a worksheet and a live “leaderboard” to build up a sense of competition, this is a great way to test knowledge and understanding of the “Cathedrals Builders” worksheet which can be found here.

This new workpack gets students to think about the layout, design and engineering of Medieval Cathedrals. They learn about the terminology of Church architecture, watch video clips and make deductions from paintings from the Middle Ages showing church building.

An ActiveHistory Mystery.

The “History Mysteries” lessons are designed as stand-alone projects which each last 3-4 hours.
Through engaging historical topics, they teach skills of research, groupwork, structured writing.
There is a standard teacher lesson plan and student record sheet / markscheme for each activity.

I’ve just launched a brand new section on the website called the “ActiveHistory Mysteries“. I have been trialling these with my own students this term and they have proven to be a big hit! If you try them out with your own students, and / or you have any ideas for other “mysteries” I could develop, please contact me.

he “History Mysteries” lessons are designed as stand-alone projects which each last 3-4 hours. Through engaging historical topics, they teach skills of research, groupwork, structured writing. There is a standard teacher lesson plan and student record sheet / markscheme for each activity.

A useful powerpoint template to help students frame a case for a character in a “balloon debate”.