Religious events in the Early Modern Period
Before moving on to the next topic of study, this activity gets students to investigate a wide range of other events going on in Europe at the same time as the Lutheran Reformation. In this way they get a useful overview of the entire period rather than merely a narrow view of one or two events.

A Powerpoint template getting students to match historical characters from the timeline of Luther’s life to real actors. A completed version is also available, along with a movie trailer produced recently by one of my students. For the full unit, click here.

At the International School of Toulouse, Year 8 students (aged 13-14) are taken off-timetable during the summer term for what we call “Renaissance Day“. The event is popular with both teachers and students. It promotes cross-curricular awareness, gets students working effectively as teams, develops analytical ability and improves presentational skills. The resources to develop your own Renaissance Day can be found here.

I print these off onto A3, laminate them and then cut them up to display all around the classroom. A great way to get the important terminology across!

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.

A decision making worksheet exercise complete with teacher answer sheet is now available here.