I have added a testimonies page from satisfied customers – a very big thank you to everyone who offered comments! There are still some more to add, which I’ll do next week.
Author: Russel Tarr
Activities Index
I have put together a brand new page for the Interactive Games and Activities on the site, listing the most popular four activities per year group.
Running Dictation Exericse: The Siege of Constantinople, 1453
Perhaps the defining reason why the Renaissance took off in Italy, the Siege of Constantinople is also a great story. This activity gets the narrative across in a suitably exciting way. Complete with suggested classroom / homework activities.
Head2Head with Hitler: Women’s Policies
A new batch of questions added to the “New Hitler” interview – to check out the work in progress, click here.
Head2Head Hitler: Social Policies
30 questions and answers added to the new database. Women, Children and Religion to follow soon…
Emperor Charles I: Doomed to Failure?
A revision sheet donated to the site by Mr. Fitzsimmons.
Head2Head with Hitler: The Brain is Growing
I have just launched the first part of the new Head2Head Hitler interview – he is barely in power, but he already has 100 things to say! If you are interested in checking out this “work in progress” then click here.
GCSE Revision – PowerPoint
A PowerPoint Presentation donated to the site by Mr. Fitzsimmons.
Key Stage 3 History Skills – PowerPoints
Two excellent PowerPoint Presentations for use in the history classroom generously donated to ACTIVEHISTORY by Mr. Richard Fitzsimmons: Communication at KS3 What is Chronology?
Historiography – Revolutionary Russia
Three worksheets: Historiography 1: February 1917 Historiography 2: October 1917 Historiography 3: The Big Issues
Liberal Britain: Simulation adventure
This popular game, central to the GCSE history syllabus, has been reprogrammed to run more smoothly in the Firefox browser. Several pages have been amended to add extra detail in response to visitor feedback.
Revolutionary Russia: The Provisional Government
Three new worksheets: The Provisional Government: Introduction The Provisional Government: Detailed Analysis and The October Revolution Conclusion: Comparing the Revolutions
World War One Simulation: Life in the Trenches
This simulation allows students to take on the role of an ordinary soldier and take a series of decisions covering the whole period 1914-1918. I have streamlined the programming of this popular activity so that it should now run more quickly and provide more detailed feedback to students studying this central modern history topic.
Tsarist Russia – 2 new worksheets
1. The Murder of Rasputin 2. Essay Framework: Was Tsarist Russia more secure in 1914 than it had been in 1905?
Tsarist / Revolutionary Russia
I have recently updated and improved these pages with several new additions. The old section, which was becoming unwieldy, has now been split into two sections: (a) Tsarist Russia under Alexander II and Alexander III (b) Revolutionary Russia under Nicholas II and Lenin
Why was Thomas Becket Murdered?
A brand new version of a popular lesson designed for Year 7 students.
What did Henry II and Archbishop Becket argue about?
A worksheet in Word, designed to introduce the subject to students, who have to insert bias and propaganda into an account and reach some initial judgements.
How should you vote at the General Election?
General Election 2005 An interactive questionnaire which tells you how you should probably be voting at the next election!
What did Medieval people think heaven and hell were really like?
This worksheet provides students with some gruesome and gripping pictures of hell from medieval sources, and gets them to write their own imaginary sermon based on the sights, sounds and smells of HELL!
What sorts of things could get me into hell?
A worksheet designed to introduce students to the Seven Deadly Sins, and the gruesomely gripping punishments awaiting them in hell if they are committed!
What should I DO to get into heaven?
This worksheet makes the point that getting into heaven, for medieval people, was a careers choice – pilgrim or crusader, monk or flagellant – which route would have suited you?
What should I BELIEVE to get into heaven?
This worksheet is a true / false questionnaire which helps students understand medieval theology. At the end of the exercise they will know whether they are on a Highway to Hell or a Stairway to Heaven!
Why was the Church so important to people in the Middle Ages?
This worksheet is designed to make the point that the Church was not all about praying and hymns, but was the social hub of medieval life. Students will design an attractive poster highlighting all the fun activities offered by the Church.
Virtual Tour Around Tsarist Russia – Official Launch
I have finally launched a brand new decision-making game about Tsarist Russia on the Eve of World War One This simulation is designed to teach students all about the strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures of Tsarist Russia on the eve of World War One. You take on the role of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, a professional photographer…
Head2Head with Henry VIII – Major update
The Head2Head Interview with King Henry VIII has now been updated with a custom-made 3D face. Many thanks to subscribers for enabling me to pay OddCast, the American software corporation, to design this great new addition to the site. I hope the kids enjoy it!
Stalin Head2Head Interview: Custom-made 3D face!
Thanks to www.oddcast.com for designing (and site members for funding) the creation of a custom-made 3D face for the Head2Head Interview with Josef Stalin. At last, the dictator’s moustache can be seen in all its Georgian glory!
Medieval Careeers Advice: Christian Style!
Are you on a Highway to Hell or a Stairway to Heaven? By playing This interactive simulation students will learn about (a) The beliefs and (b) The practices of medieval religion in an engaging way. The game comes complete with a worksheet.
Historiography: Hitler’s Role in World War Two
A fascinating but rather complex historiographical debate, which I have aimed to simplify for students using this worksheet. The debate is initially distilled down to the AJP Taylor / Trevor-Roper clash, which is then broken down into its constituent arguments, and students are then invited to research the views of other historians in more detail.
Digital Video: Why and how can we use it?
A brand new article of mine, which is published in this week’s issue of the TES. Using The International School of Toulouse as a case study, it investigates how digital movies can be produced by students as a way of developing historical knowledge and skills.
Splat the Stalinist!
A brand new game designed for IB / A2 History students, designed to teach them about the significance of key characters of the period – how many can you SPLAT in 60 seconds?
SPLAT the Cold War Celebrity!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the European Reformation Celebrities!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
Using Video in the History Classroom
This article of mine is published in the latest issue of History Review and offers some creative ideas on how to use video in the classroom as well as methods of digitising VHS and DVD resources for use through whiteboards and projectors.
The Nazis: A Warning from History – more worksheets to accompany the TV series
The Road to Treblinka (The Holocaust) Fighting to the End (Opposition to Hitler, and why it failed) (click here to buy from Amazon)
A Virtual Tour around Tsarist Russia
I am currently working on a Virtual Tour Around Tsarist Russia, in which students will be able to learn all about the national minorities, political parties, economic development and key characters of Nicholas II’s Empire. It’s taking a bit of work, but I hope to have in launched within the next couple of weeks!
SPLAT the Liberal Government Politicians!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
The Nazis: A Warning from History – Worksheets to accompany the TV series
Helped into Power (The rise of the Nazis) Chaos and Consent (The system of government in Nazi Germany) The Wrong War (Foreign Policy and Appeasement) (click here to buy from Amazon)
SPLAT the Weimar Republic Figures!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the Nazi!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the Medieval Celebrity!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the Interwar Celebrity!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the Industrial Celebrity!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
SPLAT the Tudor!
A brand new version of the popular game, now with a high score board – can you get onto the Hall of Fame with your historical knowledge?
Weimar Germany Decision-Making Game – Part 1: 1918-21
This simulation is a great way of introducing or revising the issues surrounding Weimar Germany in the years 1918-20.The game is designed to “run itself” with minimal teacher preparation. Each of the 5 key decision points covers a different issue. By working through the activity and completing the worksheet, students will learn about the diplomatic, economic, social and political problems faced by the Republic, and consider how successfully the Republic dealt with them.
Head2Head Chat: Medicine Through Time Expert!
Designed to allow a range of year groups to investigate medicine, surgery and public health at particular points in history.
Weimar Germany Decision Making Game – Part 2: 1921-29
A brand-new simulation, which offers a great way of introducing or revising the issues surrounding Weimar Germany in the years 1921-29.
The German Reformation: PowerPoint Presentation
New Powerpoint Presentation
Weimar Germany PowerPoint Presentations
Revolts and Rebellions | The Crises of 1923
USSR under Stalin: New Worksheets
Why did the USSR win the Great Patriotic War? Designed to follow on from the interactive exercise. Students drag and drop factors to make connections and write up their findings. A series of worksheets: 1. Stalin’s USSR: 1945-53 – Industrial and Agricultural recovery? 2. Stalin’s Legacy: Did he corrupt or fulfil Lenin’s vision? 3. Stalin’s…
Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Consequences of World War One in Germany, Britain and the USSR
A topic which is easy to overlook – so I have put together these materials: Students should open a copy of this table, and fill the gaps by playing one of the following quizzes: Manic Miner Quiz – Consequences of WW1 Cannonball Quiz – Consequences of WW1 Wordshoot Quiz – Consequences of WW1
New Game: Worst Jobs of the Industrial Revolution
Careers Advice: Victorian Style! An interactive, self-contained game designed to teach students about some of the worst jobs in Victorian Britain. Simply answer a series of questions about your personality and preferences, and get a full description of your perfect working-class job. A workheet is provided – a great way of spicing up a unit…
World War One: Section Redesign
World War One: New resources and structure I added several new resources to this page of the site, and decided it was getting unwieldy, so I have now broken it into two sections: Causes of World War One Course of World War One Each one of these is now structured by topic (so it reads…
Game Update: Play Your Dates Right
Updated all of the Play Your Dates Right Quizzes to make the fully compatible with the Mozilla Firefox browser.
The Black Death: Interactive Animation
Flash Animation – Spread of the Black Death Complete with tasks. Allows you to examine the spread of the disease month by month in cities around Europe.
Stalin resources on The “Social Revolution” and the “Cult of Personality”
1. The 1936 Constitution 2. The Stalin Cult 3. The Social Revolution 4. Conclusion
The Princes in the Tower: Interactive Investigation
What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
The Flight to Varennes
Interactive running dictation exercise: The Flight to Varennes
The USSR under Stalin: New Worksheets
More resources on Stalin’s USSR uploaded: PowerPoint Presentation – By Mr. Fitzsimmons C. Economic Policies: Industry 1. Introduction and Overview [student worksheet] [teacher copy] [PowerPoint Presentation] 2. Debate on the causes, course and consequence of the 5-Year Plans [student worksheet] 3. Assessment of the 5-Year Plans [student worksheet] [teacher notes] 4. Industrial Policies: A comparison…
The Peasants’ Revolt: Running Dictation Exercise
Interactive Running Dictation Exercise – Consequences: The Peasants’ Revolt A running dictation exercise. Students should follow it up by producing a biased newspaper report from either a pro-revolt or an anti-revolt perspective.
The Great Patriotic War
Interactive Running Dictation Exercise: The Great Patriotic War
The European Lutheran Reformation: Quiz for AS / A2 / IB History
New Wordshoot Quiz The Causes of the Lutheran Reformation 14/11/04 A2 New Wordshoot Quiz The Henrician Reformation to 1536
The Black Death: New Resources
1. Introductory PowerPoint Go through each of the slides in this presentation, asking the students to raise their hands once they know what the connecting factor is between all the pictures. Then, go back through the presentation a second time elaborating on each picture to give an overview of the topic and engage student interest….
Witchcraft in Tudor Times
Witchcraft PowerPoint Presentation uploaded to accompany the A classroom witch trial!
Stalin’s Purges: New Worksheets
1. Introduction to the Terror – including an investigation of the key characters 2. Causes of the Terror – economic, political, diplomatic 3. Who Killed Kirov? – a sourcework investigation leading to a debate 4. Key Events, 1936-38 – political, economic and military victims 5. The Trials of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin – transcripts and…
The USSR under Stalin: New Worksheets
Agricultural Policies: 1. What were Stalin’s Economic Objectives? [student worksheet] [teacher copy] [PowerPoint Presentation] 2. Collectivisation: Theory and Practice [student worksheet ] [teacher copy] [PowerPoint Presentation] 3. The Ukrainian Famine: Sources and Questions [student worksheet] [PowerPoint Show] 4. The Ukrainian Famine: Individual Research Task [student worksheet] 5. Collectivisation: How successful was it? [student worksheet] [teacher…
Life in the Medieval Village: New Games
Games designed to accompany the Time Machine Journey to the Middle Ages and The Peasants’ Year activities: Social Life in the Middle Ages – CannonBall Fun Game Social Life in the Middle Ages – Manic Miner Game Social Life in the Middle Ages – Wordshoot Game
The Trading Game
Uploaded The Trading Game – an interactive simulation designed to teach students about what continents trade which goods, and what sorts of factors can encourage or hinder international trade. Could be used as a follow-up to a study of the British Empire, or as a cross-curricular link with the Geography theme of Globalisation. I would…
The Luttrell Psalter: Interactive Exercise
The Peasants’ Year – Copy and Paste the pictures into the correct spots in the peasants’ calendar. Follow-up questions included.
Game Updates: Now fully compatible with Firefox
Updated the Horatio Ramsbottom: Victorian Entrepreneur game, the League of Nations in the 1920s game and the Would you have Survived the French Revolution? game to make the fully compatible with the Mozilla Firefox browser. If you are aware of any other games which do not run perfectly with this browser, please let me know…
The Tudor Portrait Mystery
Added Flash elements to the Tudor Portrait Mystery – a ‘zoomable’ image is now featured.
Fling the Teacher: Updated
Updated 154 Fling the Teacher Quizzes to make them fully compatible with the code developed by Andrew Field of www.schoolhistory.co.uk.
Play Your Dates Right: High Score Board
Added a new High Score Board feature to the Play Your Dates Right quizzes.
Jack the Ripper: Updated Worksheets
Jack the Ripper Improvements made to several of the worksheets (Victims, Other Evidence, Who Was Jack?)
Head2Head: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Updated the “Virtual Chat with Martin Luther King Jr” to make the text-to-speech facility Firefox compatible.
George III / IV: Propaganda and Censorship
George III / George IV: A stand-alone worksheet designed to develop understanding of censorship and propaganda.
19th Century Crime and Punishment: Interactive Game
Amendments to the “You be the Judge” game – students now have to explain their choices as they go along to ensure they reflect on them.
World War One: Interactive Quizzes
Three new quizzes – each one with 74 possible questions! Manic Miner Quiz – Causes of World War One Wordshoot Quiz – Causes of World War One CannonBall Fun Quiz – Causes of World War One
GCSE Crime and Punishment: Interactive Simulation
Interactive Simulation: You be the Judge! Pass sentence on a series of ten crimes from 19th Century Britain and see how close you come to the actual verdicts reached at the time!
GCSE Crime and Punishment: Worksheets
A Series of Crime and Punishment Worksheets donated to ActiveHistory by Cathy Warren: Defining Crime: (a) What are the different types of crime? (b) How and why do different periods define crime in different ways? (c) How are laws made? (d) Nature of Crime – Practice Questions Determining Guilt: How do we decide if someone…
GCSE Crime and Punishment during the Industrial Revolution
Crime and Punishment during the Industrial Revolution – Worksheet designed to be completed over a double lesson; students are given a series of crime case studies, and decide what punishments they would have given. These are then compared with punishments actually given at the time.
High Score Board Added to Popular Games!
Added the new High Score Board (using PHP / SQL) to the CannonBall Fun and Wordshoot games.
The Renaissance and the Reformation: Quiz
New Wordshoot Quiz The Renaissance Era
Stalin and the USSR: Worksheets for A2 / IB
A2 The Rise of Stalin – Collapsible revision notes Worksheets on Stalin’s Russia: 1. Divisions in the party before 1924 2. Who should succeed Lenin? 3. Lenin’s Testament 4. What were Stalin’s Economic Objectives? 5. Collectivisation: Theory and Practice 6. How successful was the policy of collectivisation?
The Soviet Union under Stalin: Worksheets for A-Level and IB History
The Soviet Union Stalin’s Police State: Introduction and research task Stalin’s Terror: Overview of the main events research task Stalin’s Terror: Causal Links
Medieval Village: Year 7 Adventure Game Updates
Time Machine Journey to the Middle Ages In response to member feedback, this popular activity has now been completely re-programmed to contain a whole raft of new features, including: a. Quiz questions throughout the game (which each student will only have to answer the first time they visit a location) b. Additional sound effects (even…
Causes of World War One: Worksheets for GCSE / IGCSE
Uploaded a new series of editable worksheets on The Causes of WW1: The Assassination at Sarajevo Serb Nationalism The Alliance System Colonial and Economic Rivalry
Industrial Revolution: Interactive Simulation Update!
“Horatio Ramsbottom: Victorian Entrepreneur” decision-making game. Completely rewritten and updated to cover more factors, with a new worksheet and added interactive elements.
Venn Diagram
What does it take to become a successful businessperson? – An editable Venn Diagram, which can be changed to suit your purposes and which serves as a good introduction to the “Horatio Ramsbottom: Victorian Entrepreneur” decision-making game.
Early Modern European History: Worksheets and PowerPoints
Uploaded a series of PowerPoint Presentations kindly offered to the site by Mr. Fitzsimmons: Counterfactual History The League of Nations to 1930 Witchcraft Trials in Scotland Tudor Monarchs Phillip II and Elizabeth I Revolts in the Reign of Phillip II William the Conqueror Also, two PDF Worksheets from the same source: Charles V Phillip II:…
History Quizzes
Uploaded brand new Wordshoot; CannonBall Fun and Manic Miner games on the following topics: The Radical Reformation Calvin and Calvinism Henry VII – Domestic Policy The USSR under Lenin
History Quizzes: New Developments
Uploaded a new Medicine Through Time game to Wordshoot; CannonBall Fun and Manic Miner Developed the Manic Miner Game to make the initial levels a little easier after feedback from members.
History Quiz: Firefox and Safari Compatible
Adapted all of the CannonBall Games to make them fully compatible in Firefox, Safari and Opera Browsers
History Games: High Score Board Feature!
Added a brand new “Hall of Fame” feature to the Wordshoot quizzes; this will update automatically and provide an element of competition to the game. It will be extended to the CannonBall Games and the Manic Miner Games next week if it is clearly working well.
Manic Miner
Manic Miner A new game: based on arcade platform games, a new way of learning history! The sample game is on Nazi Germany please offer some feedback!
Manic Miner – History Games and Quizzes
Uploaded fresh “Manic Miner” games: The Tudors The Reformation Crime and Punishment The Middle East International Relations in the 1920s International Relations in the 1930s Medicine Through Time England in the Era of Cardinal Wolsey The Renaissance The European Reformation: Key Terminology The Ottoman Empire in the Era of Suleiman the Magnificent Russia under Alexander…
GCSE, A-Level and IB History Quizzes: Manic Miner!
Uploaded fresh “Manic Miner” games: The Era of World War Two Jack the Ripper The English Civil War The Renaissance The Treaty of Versailles Life in the Trenches The Liberal Governments, 190618 International Relations, 191939 The Causes of the Protestant Reformation The Life of Martin Luther Referenda and Democracy Pressure Groups Political Parties Germany in…
Report Writer Software
ActiveHistory Report Writing Wizard A major new application updated and amended to help teachers write history reports. Is this Holy Grail of history application?!
The Lutheran Reformation: Revision Notes
AS Collapsible Revision Notes The Spread of the Reformation Complete with worksheet
John Calvin and Calvinism
AS Collapsible Revision Notes Calvin and Calvinism Complete with worksheet.
The Causes of the Reformation
AS Collapsible Revision Notes Causes of the Reformation
