A new revision quiz which can be played by students as independent revision or as a classroom group challenge.

In this structured debate, students are placed into two teams to formulate questions from their opponents designed to prove their case using references to all the major periods covered by the syllabus. The arguments and evidence put forward, and the synthesis reached, is a useful revision aid.

Mapwork: The growth of Israel. In this exercise, students firstly label all of the key regions and areas onto a large map. Then, in a series of smaller maps they shade the territory occupied by Israel over time by referring to a list of key points.

Timeline of Key Events: Match the Dates. An overview of the entire period, chronologically arranged but with no dates provided. Students see how many of the events they can correctly identify. The completed teacher version is also available.

Picture Round and Terminology Quiz. Students are instructed to locate some pictures of key characters, and produce quiz questions that can be turned into an interactive revision exercise at www.classtools.net.

In this worksheet, students are provided with a “mega summary” on one sheet of paper as a “gap fill” exercise. Covering the major events down the page, broken into columns which compare the role of Jews, Arabs and the International Community, this is an invaluable resource to help students refresh their memories and see the…

Students paste their essay into this interface and get a score based on how many keywords they have included. Excellent for ensuring topic coverage at first-draft phase.

An exercise to develop sourcework skills in the style of the IB examination. There are also some model answers available.

These five characters are very fascinating in themselves; and as they may well be quoted in the sourcework paper, it makes sense to have a little to say about each one.

A Quiz. There is also a completed teacher version available.

A series of structured questions to help students make sense of the causes, course and consequence of the Yom Kippur War. There is also a completed teacher version.

To test understanding following completion of the previous worksheet.

A worksheet of questions to help students understand the fate of the Palestinians between 1948-1973. A good review exercise. There is also a completed teacher version.

Classroom Debate Students use their completed timelines to get into role as different characters from different countries and reach an independent judgement about which of the three key interpretations listed at the outset is the most convincing. They are then given guidance on how to construct a written essay answering the central question. There are…

An article in the style of an IB / A-Level essay, which I have written for History Review, due to be published in March 2011.

Timeline Analysis Students construct a timeline of events broken down into events relating to Jordan, Egypt and Syria. The teacher can then test their understanding using this classroom challenge and this answer sheet.

In this activity, Organise the class 5 teams. Display the first event by clicking the button. All the students should copy this information into their worksheet as instructed. The first team can play for up to 10 points depending on their confidence. They have to not only identify the mistake in the account, but correct…

Introduction and Overview Students are introduced to the main debate that they will investigate: Interpretation 1: Israel was acting defensively. This was a pre-emptive strike against Arab armies who were about to invade her. Throughout the conflict Israel acted with admirable restraint. Interpretation 2: Israel was acting aggressively. She deliberately misread the situation to justify…

Students are provided with a detailed list of factors relating to Stalin’s rise to power. These are organised under 3-5 headings. The following headings might give you some ideas: Political | Economic | Personal | Stalin’s Strengths | Opposition Weaknesses | Stalin’s Successes | Opposition Mistakes | Lenin’s Mistakes | Lenin’s Weaknesses. There is a…

The Suez Crisis: Tension Erupts Students consider the causes, events and consequences of the Suez Crisis through a series of sources, including a short video from Andrew Marr’s History of Britain. There are teacher notes available for this activity and evidence slips for the main exercise, as well as YouTube Videos available: [1 – Sevres…

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.