I have launched some detailed worksheets and completed teacher versions on the topic of “Why did Stalin become leader of the USSR?”.

The Suez Crisis: Tension Builds Students consider the proposal to turn the Suez Canal into an international zone, and the infamous “Sevres Protocol”. They will use two primary sources: Nasser’s rejection of the Western plan and the Sevres Protocol. There are several YouTube videos that can be used: [1 – Czech Arms Deal, USA Anger]…

The Suez Crisis: Roleplay Exercise “In this exercise you will take on the role of a French / British / Israeli civil servant. Each of you will develop a particular area of expertise to share with the rest of the group. The group as a whole will have to decide on some key courses of…

Background: The Palestinian Refugee Problem after 1948 As a recap on the events prior to 1956, students use their textbooks to learn more about Al-Nakba (“the catastrophe”) for the Palestinians. There are teacher notes available for this activity.

As part of my ongoing project to upload teacher notes for all major units over the course of the year, I’ve added a completed version of the timeline, and a factual test / completed teacher answers to this page. Much more to follow…!

Analysis: Why did Israel win the war of 1948-49? Working with a partner, students cut up these slips and then organise them under headings of their choice. Some of the slips may be arguments, whereas others may be substantiating detail you can use to back up these arguments. They should aim for 3-5 categories of…

Professor AJP Sailor takes 5 factors and connects them together in endless combinations to help students consider the Origins of Spanish Civil War and how to link factors in essays.

Timeline Factual Test To ensure that students have gathered the essential information, they should take this “fill the gaps” exercise which contains 15 questions in a table following the same format as the timeline in the previous worksheet. There is also a completed teacher version available.

Introduction and Overview. The UN General Assembly voted in principle to accept the UNSCOP Majority Plan for partition (with some amendments) in November 1947. On May 14th 1948 David Ben Gurion, leader of the Zionists in Palestine, suddenly declared the independence of Israel. The following day 5 Arab nations invaded the new Jewish state. Israel…

A short factual test to round off the Middle East unit.

UN Debate on Partition of the Middle East: The Reality: (a) Plans prior to 1947 UN Debate on Partition of the Middle East: The Reality: (a) Plans of 1947 Whilst the three “judges” are deliberating which partition plan is the most appropriate, the members of the other two groups can be completing these two worksheets.

In the event, UNSCOP was divided about which of these proposals was the best way forward. The Majority Plan (8 votes) supported partition qualified by economic unity. The Minority Plan (3 votes) supported the federal state solution. In this activity students read through primary sources relating to the decision-makers and decide whether they agree with…

In 1947, UNSCOP (the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine) was given the task of working out a proposal for the future of Palestine. They considered 6 possible courses of action. In this activity students will consider the advantages and disadvantages of the schemes they put forward and decide if they settled upon the correct…

A useful recap / revision exercise: this timeline is presented in a “collapsible” format for ease of access.

The teacher can ensure that students have covered the most important events in an appropriate amount of depth by playing this interactive, whole-class quiz using an interactive whiteboard.

Using syllabus points and past examination questions, students start to form an independent judgement on the key question. They will also be required to focus on a short period to research in-depth and report back to the class (here is a sample Prezi Presentation that can be used as a guide). There are two sets…

Students watch this short video and refer to their textbooks to develop a new timeline focusing heavily on the period 1939-47.

This exercise involves students comparing and contrasting the Balfour Declaration, th The Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Hussein-MacMahon Correspondence. They could watch too this short video covering the interwar period. There are also teacher notes available for this activity.

This task introduces students to the interesting character of TE Lawrence, and also deepens their knowledge on the subject of “The Impact of World War One”, which is a core Standard Level Paper 2 topic.

The teacher can ensure that students have covered the most important events in an appropriate amount of depth by playing this interactive, whole-class quiz using an interactive whiteboard.

Using video, web and textbook sources, students start developing a timeline overview of the Middle East Conflict up to 1945. This image could be used as a teaching aid to clarify the borders of the Palestinian Mandate.

A collapsible list of essential revision points covering political, religious, economic, social and regional points.

A class brainstorm about what students already know about the Arab-Israeli conflict is followed by a preliminary write-up. This worksheet could be followed by (a) Going through this PowerPoint Presentation followed by this short video about 9/11. (b) watching this YouTube Video for extra notes.

In this brand new simulation, learn about the political, economic and social landscape of Fascist Italy as you fly across the British Channel and journey around Italy on a mission to assassinate Mussolini!

Choose from the following two options 20 Factual Questions Complete the gaps exercise

Essay Planning Task A worksheet which guides students through the steps of writing an effective essay on Mussolini’s domestic policies

Research Task: Short Version Eight main policy areas will be researched (students later boil these down to five, then link them). The teacher will provide details on the first one using a model research piece and students should make notes. The class will then research the other rows and feedback with their findings.

A brief overview of the main themes and the key events. Students should take notes!

Mussolini (a former schoolteacher and socialist) was appointed prime minister in October 1922 . As Duce (leader), he initially headed a coalition of Fascists and nationalists, but soon assumed dictatorial powers, although muted parliamentary opposition continued until the murder of Matteotti in 1924. As an extension activity, read through Mussolini’s answer to the question “What…

Meet some of the key characters relating to the topic, learn about some of the key documents and artefacts, and take a series of tests before being given an overall score in this decision-making adventure.

A new version of the Jigsaw-Table Exercise.

Students are presented with three possible essay titles, which the teacher can either divide between the class as a homework task OR one of which can be randomly chosen in a subsequent lesson and answered by the entire class in timed conditions.

After the class has had a feedback session based on the individual research tasks, students should complete this interactive exercise which tests their knowledge of the essential points and which additionally provides them with a thorough, completed table of information with which to develop their original notes. Each student is also given a score, which…

A new version of the Jigsaw table exercise.

For the next task, students are provided with a blank version of this grid. Each student is allocated one cell, and use timelines, textbooks and websites to produce a PowerPoint presentation on it. The class should start by going back through the source pack and deciding where and why each source can be placed in…

This sourcepack comes complete with questions and is broken up logically into sections relating to three key periods leading to the rise of Mao.

Students are put into teams and play this competitive game which tests their knowledge and develops their understanding.

With the chronological narrative now complete, students should turn their timeline into a thematic analysis using the structure recommended in this worksheet.

Students and teachers can ensure that they have covered the essential information by using this interactive newsfeed, which covers all of the major points in extra detail.

Now improved with hyperlinks to 80 keywords and an on-screen record of the conversation.

After copying down the information from the presentation , students then watch the first 8.5 mins of this video and make detailed notes to develop their basic timeline. Students then develop their timeline by organising it under the following headings and clarifying dates by using textbooks and / or the web: * Background (to 1927)…

A brief overview of the main parties involved and the key events. Students should take notes!

A new Fruit Machine game created using www.classtools.net.

A new decision-making adventure designed to consolidate knowledge about the rise of Chairman Mao.

A new Fling the Teacher Quiz (45 possible questions) designed for IB level.

A Telescopic Topic created using www.classtools.net

A Telescopic Topic created using www.classtools.net.

A Telescopic Topic created using Classtools.net.

The Suez Crisis: Historiography and Conclusions Students consider an orthodox and revisionist interpretation of the Suez Crisis to consolidate their understanding of this topic and reach an independent judgement. There are teacher notes available for this activity.

Another 1-hour sourcework assignment in the style of the International Baccalaureate syllabus for History, dealing with International Relations 1918-36.

A source work paper based on paper 1 of the International Baccalaureate for History.

A new 1-hour sourcework assignment in the style of the International Baccalaureate syllabus for History.