What did Nazi Germany contribute to the Spanish Civil War?

A decision-making exercise. Students are asked a series of questions about how they think Hitler should have organised his help to Franco’s Nationalists. The teacher then tells the students what actually happened in each case so that the class can discuss the merits and drawbacks of each policy. Sourcework questions round the exercise off.

Origins of the British Empire

Students have to copy and paste key details into the appropriate cells of a table which outlines who, why, where and how the British Empire developed. A great way of providing an overview of the growth of the British Empire.

Why did Germany get involved in the Spanish Civil War?

Students analyse a series of written sources – primary and secondary – to develop an understanding of why Germany got involved in the Spanish Civil War. By comparing, contrasting, organising points under key headings and summarising their findings, students will end this lesson with a sound grasp of Germany’s motives. Sourcework questions invite students to…

IGCSE History: Causes of the Spanish Civil War

In this worksheet, students use this interactive newsfeed to develop an understanding of the main events leading up to the Spanish Civil War, which they then categorise into social, economic, military and political factors. They produce a biased account from either a Republican or a Nationalist perspective, then consolidate their knowledge by producing a learning…

German Involvement in the Spanish Civil War

A complete scheme of work with interactive exercises and worksheets for IGCSE History. Nazi involvement in the Spanish Civil War is the sourcework paper for examinations in 2009!

Who was Responsible for the Holocaust?

A thorny subject, but an important one: were the German people “Hitler’s Willing Executioners”? GCSE History Students consider the evidence for both sides to reach their own judgement.

Nazi Policies for Jews, 1939-4

The development of the Final Solution in the Third Reich is examined and students produce their own classroom presentation.

Nazi Policies for Jews, 1933-39

Students consider whether each antisemitic policy in Hitler’s Third Reich was designed to threaten, humiliate or physically weaken the Jewish people. They consider how the international community responded to Nazi policies. They then consider what the law should really be regarding the treatment of immigrants and national minorities.

Nazi Propaganda

An analysis of a whole range of Nazi propaganda techniques from Hitler’s Third Reich including sport, posters and cinema. For each, students have to assess evidence of success and failure.

IGCSE / GCSE History Paper 1 Sample Answers

Paper 1 Structured Questions focus – Interactive Cartoon Analysis A large range of cartoons covering the 1919-39 period. For each one, students are asked a sourcework question focusing on the message of the source, and then a three-part Paper 1 style question. When they have written their answer in timed conditions, the computer provides model…

Create a Burger Diagram

A burger diagram is a simple essay planning tool. Students make basic notes covering their introduction, three main sections, and a conclusion. It is a useful way of ensuring that students think about structuring their essays in a logical format.

Chatshow Challenge: the Arab-Israeli Conflict

An end-of-unit activity which tests sourcework skills as well as factual knowledge. Students take on the role of either a Palestinian or an Israeli and go “Head to Head” with an opponent to answer key questions from their own biased perspective. The computer produces two scores for each student for teachers to record in the…

Nazi Policies towards Women

In this worksheet GCSE history students analyse one of Hitler’s speeches to determine how the Third Reich justified the Nazi policy of “Kinder, Kirche, Kuche”. They then categorise his actions according to whether they encouraged women to stay at home or have more babies.

The Renaissance – End of Unit Test / Assessment

Following directly on from the classroom debate, students then write an essay. This worksheet contains detailed instructions on how to link the characters together rather than simply focusing on what each one individually contributed. A clear markscheme is also provided; I get each student to mark 4 different essays, then we collate all the marks…

The Renaissance – Who was the most important person of the Renaissance?

A detailed lesson plan for year 8 history students. A class list is put into the Fruit Machine Name Picker at www.classtools.net to choose the Renaissance character each student should produce a research project on. This Renaissance project will be written in the first person to ensure that the student reads the information, under three…

Nazi Youth Policies: [1] Schools in the Third Reich

Youth Policies: [1] Schools Students match entries from Nazi School Textbooks to the subjects they describe, then each student in the class has a “Napola” school report written for them by several people in the class.

1453 Siege of Constantinople

An introductory worksheet. Perhaps the main reason why the Renaissance took off in Italy – this activity gets the narrative across in an engaging way. Students are given an interactive “news feed” of events, then can choose to produce EITHER a biased news report in Publisher OR a radio broadcast using their microphone OR a…

Nazi Germany – Social Policies [3]: The Moral Maze

Social Policies [3]: The Moral Maze: Students are presented with a logical defence of the principles of Eugenics and Social Darwinism as they existed in the Third Reich. They are then asked how they would nevertheless challenge some of its assertions both on rational and on moral grounds. One to get them thinking and debating!

Bayeux Tapestry Slideshow

View a series of Flash animations from the Bayeux Tapestry with analysis of their meaning. Designed to accompany the Year 7 History worksheet that comes with the Battle of Hastings Decision Making Simulation.

Nazi Social Policies [2]: The European Dimension of Social Darwinism

A stimulating worksheet in which students are shown how many of Hitler’s ideas stemmed from social darwinism theories and practices in Europe and America which were popular at the time (and since). A crucial worksheet which helps students get away from the idea that Hitler was a peculiarly “German” problem.

Living Graph

A “Living Graph” encourages students not only to select the most important events within a topic, but also to rate them against criteria such as success and failure, strength and weakness and so on.

Venn Diagram

A Venn diagram is a classic way of getting students to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between three key events, concepts or people. Characteristics shared in common go in the central area; those shared by just two factors go in the area where those two circles overlap; characteristics possessed by just one go…

GCSE History – Nazi Germany Social Policies: Overview

Students are divided into groups to investigate Nazi social policies towards undesirables and untermenschen. They are instructed how to organise a PowerPoint show to give to the rest of the class and the findings are recorded in a grid.

The Kronstadt Uprising, 1921: Lenin’s Year of Crisis

A new interactive exercise for A-Level / IB History students in which students are presented with a series of news feeds about the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921 which spelt the end of War Communism and the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Causes of World War Two

Causes of World War Two: Past Exam Questions and Research Task This GCSE History handout outlines the main causes of World War Two: The Peace Treaties, the Weaknesses of the League, the Depression, Hitler’s Foreign Policy, Manchuria and Abyssinia, Appeasement, the Nazi-Soviet Pact. It also provides a list of past history examination questions. Students have…

How similar were Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II?

For IB / A-Level historians. How similar were Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II? = Obviously this venn diagram worksheet is only appropriate if students have covered the previous two Tsars; otherwise this worksheet is not necessary.

The February Revolution of 1917

For IB / A-Level historians. Students take a detailed timeline of events and place each event into one of three columns: political damage, military damage, socio-economic damage. From this they decide when exactly the Tsar lost control of the politicians, the armed forced and the ordinary people. They then put each of these crises in…

The Murder of Rasputin: Analyis of the Hollywood Movie

For IB / A-Level historians. At this point, I watch the final 35 minutes or so of the “Rasputin” Feature Film starring Alan Rickman (available from Amazon here). This worksheet follows the viewing and encourages students to analyse the film as they would any other source – what has been left out? what has been…

History Teachers’ Search Engine

Only sites designed for teachers and students will be searched. Join up as a collaborator to add websites to the search engine! Add the search engine to your webpage, blog or IGoogle homepage.

Was Tsarist Russia on the verge of collapse in 1914?

For IB / A-Level historians. An essay planning task. How could such a written piece be structured? Some general advice is followed by a “skeleton” essay framework for those students lacking the confidence to structure a piece themselves at this early stage.

The Impact of World War One Upon Russia: Note-taking exercise

For IB / A-Level historians. Obviously an important factor in the downfall of the regime, although exactly how important depends on the conclusions students reached in their written essay. In this task, students are provided with a basic overview of the main events in the war, and then the teacher provides several ways in which…

GCSE History Source Work

Sourcework Exercise: The Causes of World War One Six important sources, each one looking at a different cause of the World War One, with GCSE History questions and suggested approaches.

The Duma Era: 1906-1914

For IB / A-Level historians. Outlines the Tsar’s relationship with the political parties who took part in the representative assembly he set up in the October Manifesto. How would he justify undermining their powers in the Fundamental Laws and his increasingly undemocratic voting system?

Political Parties in Russia before 1914

For IB / A-Level historians. Political Parties in Russia before 1914: Full Version Political Parties in Russia before 1914: Abridged Version I personally use the abridged version with my students these days, but for students who desire a more thorough analysis, the full version may be more to their tastes. Students are encouraged to look…

Hegel, Marx and Dialectics

For IB / A-Level historians. An accessible introduction to the concepts of Hegelian and Marxist Dialectic which will stand students in good stead for 20th Century Soviet history.

Edexcel is recruiting Examiners for GCE/GCSE History

Edexcel is currently looking for History teachers to become examiners for the June 2008 summer examination series for mainly the following units: Votes For Women Italy 1848-1925 USA & China 1945-76 Life In Authoritarian Regime Joining Edexcel’s Assessment Associate community offers an excellent opportunity to gain greater insight into the assessment of candidates as well…

Causes of the First World War

This handout provides a breakdown of the most recent questions from the IGCSE History examination focusing on the Causes of the First World War. It then provides advice about how to prepare history revision notes for each area using this template.

Causes of the Spanish Civil War Simulation

A brand new history game for students of the Spanish Civil War. After reading about each of the problems facing Spain on the eve of the civil war, students rank them according to urgency and then have to decide which policy seems the most appropriate response to each problem. At the end of the simulation…

Jigsaw Diagram

The Jigsaw template is designed to allow students to make connections between various factors in an engaging manner. The “pieces” of the jigsaw can have text written into them. When they are dragged next to each other, they “snap” into place. The pieces can be colour coded as appropriate.

Lights Out!

This template allows you to load an image, then “turn the lights off” so that you can view just small sections of the image at a time. It provides a great way of getting students to look more closely at an image.

Timeline Generator

A timeline is a great way of getting students to select and summarise key events across a defined period. This activity allows them to do this simply and effectively, and to colour-code the events if they choose to do so. They can also add a background image before printing off their work and / or…

Turning Page Template

This generator allows you to cut and paste text into a template and turn it into an animated book!

Venn Diagram

This interactive Venn Diagram Generator is a great Flash template for use in the classroom.

Ishikawa Diagram

This fishbone (Ishikawa) template is an essay planning tool. Whereas the burger diagram encourages students to think in terms of introduction, three main sections and a conclusion, the fishbone approach involves selecting four main factors, then providing three key pieces of detail about each.

Fishbone Diagram

This fishbone (Ishikawa) template is an essay planning tool. Whereas the burger diagram encourages students to think in terms of introduction, three main sections and a conclusion, the fishbone approach involves selecting four main factors, then providing three key pieces of detail about each.

Diamond 9 Diagram

This Diamond Nine Diagram helps to prioritise and categorise key factors. The most important factors are placed towards the top of the “diamond 9 “. The least important factors are placed towards the bottom. Factors of equal importance are placed in the same row. Each factor can be colour coded for further sophistication.

Random Name Picker

This is a simple tool which is a great way of rounding off a unit and revising important dates, concepts and people. It can also be used to randomly pick a name from a list of students. You can copy and paste your data direct from Word, Excel and other programs. Random Name Picker

Countdown Timer

This online countdown timer has a selection of tunes to choose from, and you can even upload your own to it.

Why did Germany lose World War One?

Essay Project: Interactive Essay-Planning Tool [interactive] Students then use this interactive essay planning tool to submit a suggested way of linking the four factors, and get – at the simple click of a button – a very detailed model essay plan suggesting not only the content of each paragraph but also – crucially – how…

Social Effects of Industrialisation in Tsarist Russia

For IB / A-Level historians. The success or failure of the industrialisation programme can be measured in social as well as in economic terms. This worksheet contains a series of primary sources relating to the living conditions in the towns which allow students to decide whether the economic benefits outweighed the social disadvantages.

Jack the Ripper Source Work

Maxi-sourcework assessment Complete with markscheme to test knowledge and understanding about the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 (1 hour).

Economic Effects of Industrialisation in Tsarist Russia

For IB / A-Level historians. Students are provided with some raw economic data relating to the results of industrialisation in Imperial Russia. They have to draw conclusions regarding success and failure, and try to guess what missing figures in the tables would have been (this is a great way to get students spotting trends in…

GCSE History Revision

A newly updated section, designed for my KS4 IGCSE history class. Complete with history games, worksheets and lesson plans, these history revision pages will keep students engaged in the run-up to the summer history exams.

Other evidence about Jack the Riper

Students are presented with other key facts about Jack and use this to make their own deductions about the killer. These ideas can then serve as the basis for a lively discussion in class.

The Personality of Tsar Nicholas II

For IB / A-Level historians. Students should have a good understanding of the main issues and personalities relevant to the topic. This worksheet pushes things forward by considering the particular contribution of Tsar Nicholas II’s personality to the situation by looking at some primary source accounts and inviting students to form their own judgement.

What did Jack the Ripper look like?

In this worksheet, using witness reports from the crime scenes, students build up their own profile of the killer. How old was he? What social background? What witnesses can be trusted? Why are there such discrepancies between the witness reports?

The Geography of Imperial Russia [interactive]

For IB / A-Level historians. This task, which is best set as a homework exercise, involves getting students producing a map of Imperial Russia which highlights the range and location of nationalities, climates, time zones and natural resources. In this way they can reflect on the idea that maybe the problems of Imperial Russia were…

History Shop

It’s with a great sense of relief that I’ve finally launched the ActiveHistory History Store – a massive repository of history books, history CDs and history DVDs available from Amazon, organised by date period and by genre (historical fiction, popular history, history study books, history dvds). There are hundreds of resources available here which I…

Jack the Ripper – The Police Investigation

This worksheet introduces Charles Warren and Sir Robert Anderson, the policemen in charge of the investigation. Students consider a detailed list of the measures that could have been taken and try to deduce which ones were simply not possible at the time; which ones were possible but which were vetoed by the Home Office and…

An Overview of the Issues Facing Nicholas II in 1894

For IB / A-Level historians. This pack can be used by students following their completion of the simulation to produce a mindmap and / or a powerpoint presentation about the state of Russia when Tsar Nicholas II came to the throne.

Who were Jack the Ripper’s victims?

Students investigate the sad lives of each of Jack’s victims: Polly Nicholls, Annie Chapman, Lizzie Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly – and compare similarities and differences between them by construcing parallel timelines. Were these women to blame for the condition they found themselves in by 1888, or were they victims of the system?

What was the East End like in 1888?

In this worksheet, students are introduced to the terrible social conditions that prevailed in East End of London and make deductions about how these could have helped “Jack”. They are presented with a list of the problems and deprivations in the East End and consider how each would have helped the killer. They also analyse…

Lutheran Reformation Historiography – Online Quiz!

A new quiz which tests knowledge of every major Reformation historian worth knowing about: Roland Bainton, Heiko Oberman, Heinz Schilling, Von Ranke, Max Steinmetz, Schilling / Reinhard, AG Dickens, Christopher Haigh, Joseph Lortz, Gunther Vogler, Friedrich Engels, Peter Blickle, Scott and Scribner, Martin Luther, Harold Bender, George H. Williams, M.M. Smirin, Claus-Peter Clasen, James M….