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.

An end-of unit “Fling the Teacher” challenge with 30 possible questions. All students should start the quiz at the same time, with 10 minutes available. Award 10 points to anyone finishing the quiz successfully within the first minute, 9 points to anyone finishing within the second minute, and so on. I build up a “leaderboard”…

An end-of unit “Fling the Teacher” challenge with 30 possible questions. All students should start the quiz at the same time, with 10 minutes available. Award 10 points to anyone finishing the quiz successfully within the first minute, 9 points to anyone finishing within the second minute, and so on. I build up a “leaderboard”…

An end-of unit “Fling the Teacher” challenge with 30 possible questions. All students should start the quiz at the same time, with 10 minutes available. Award 10 points to anyone finishing the quiz successfully within the first minute, 9 points to anyone finishing within the second minute, and so on. I build up a “leaderboard”…

A student handout highlighting the main periods, people and events so that sources can be placed into their correct historical context as specifically as possible.

In this activity, students analyse 5 separate political cartoons relating to the decline and collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. They are then able to compare their answers to a series of model answers. A useful way of revising the 2010 IGCSE Paper 2 Topic.

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.

In this task students discuss the respective roles of the key individuals and then answer some source work questions about the Solidarity movement.

Students conduct their own research about how each of the countries in the Eastern Bloc broke away from Soviet rule 1989-91 as part of their IGCSE history studies.

Students complete a table which helps them to assess the problems Gorbachev faced, how he chose to deal with them and how appropriate they consider these policies were.

President Ronald Reagan contributed to the decline and fall of the Soviet Union by adopting an aggressive, uncompromising policy towards communism. Students investigate his policies and their impact upon the USSR through a timeline and some source work questions.

Designed to be used as an extension or a homework activity.

Another pressure upon the Soviet Union was the massive cost of keeping up with the United States in terms of nuclear weapons. Students answer questions based around a timeline and as an extension activity conduct some research into the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In this card-sort activity students piece together the causes, course and consequence of the war with Afghanistan, which caused such havoc for the military and the economic position of the Soviet Union.

Students investigate the uprisings in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia to develop their understanding of the poor socio-economic conditions in the Eastern Bloc.

Some sourcework questions designed to be used as a homework / extension activity.

Students investigate the problems in agriculture, industry and society that plagued the USSR by the 1980s. They look at a number of Soviet jokes from the period and deduce what these tell us about life under Soviet rule.

Students compare and contrast communism and capitalism and produce a written summary outlining the inherent weaknesses of the Soviet system.

Students investigate the “Rule by Geriatrics” – Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko – and how this lack of flexibility led to the tragedy of the Korean Airliner incident of 1983.

Students compare and contrast democracy and dictatorship and produce a written summary outlining the inherent weaknesses of the Soviet system.

The Decline and Collapse of Soviet Control over Eastern Europe is the compulsory sourcework paper for IGCSE History, Summer 2010. This is a new programme of study on the website which can be used to teach this interesting topic.

Students are provided with essential terminology and produce their own account of the events of 1989-91 by comparing and making deductions from two maps of Europe during the period.

A new resource for IGCSE history – Causes of the Vietnam War – Sourcework.

A new resource for IGCSE history – Cuban Missile Crisis Sourcework Exercise.

A worksheet for IGCSE History on the Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

A new worksheet for IGCSE history.

The Reichstag Fire Roleplay exercise A roleplay exercise designed to take place over a one-hour lesson. Students investigate the evidence and reliability of the main witnesses after dividing into prosecution and defence teams. A separate team of judges prepare “surprise evidence” for each side. This teacher promptsheet is also necessary.

The tensions between the major powers prior to World War One are outlined using the scenario of a shared house in this worksheet.

An introduction to the relevance of the topic.

An extension / homework activity designed to help students understand a little more about the complex personality of Wilhelm II.

The assassination at Sarajevo was merely the flashpoint of a much deeper conflict between Serbia and Austria, as explained here…

A new resource for IGCSE history – Events of the Vietnam War.

The spark which started World War One. What happened?

I have put together a new section on the website covering “The Decline and Collapse of Soviet Control over Eastern Europe”, which is the compulsory sourcework paper for IGCSE History, Summer 2010. I plan to teach this unit to my students at the International School of Toulouse in the New Year as their final topic….

After watching the film, students should watch this Google Earth Tour and list the 10 key personalities shown in it based on what they learned from the film. As the tour progresses, give some clues / anecdotes about each character to maintain interest. Award merits to the best scoring students in the class. A full…

A three-minute video I put together to give students an overview of some of the main events and personalities of the 20th Century. The appropriate point at which to watch this video is made clear in the PowerPoint presentation above. Before students watch the film, warn them that there will be a quick factual test…

A completely overhauled version of the simulation game about the Wall Street Crash. Students are presented with historically accurate details about the events of the 1920s and decide whether to buy or shares at each stage. A great way of analysing the causes and events of the crash; complete with a worksheet.

A new decision-making simulation about Hitler’s Foreign Policy and the Origins of World War Two. By playing this game you will learn about how Hitler’s policies led to World War Two, and consider whether this war could have been prevented. There are three worksheets to go with this activity, which easily fills a full one-hour…