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. Share…

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 Share this:

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? Share this:

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! Share this:

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. Share this:

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! Share this:

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! Share this:

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. Share this:

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. Share this:

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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. Share this:

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! Share…

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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? Share this:

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.

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…

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…

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. Share this:

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. Share this:

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! Share this:

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 Share this:

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…

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. Share this:

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. Share this:

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 Share this:

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. Share this:

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? Share this:

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…

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. Share this:

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 Share this:

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. Share this:

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. Share this:

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! Share this:

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?! Share this:

The Middle East Crisis

Yr9 The Middle East Conflict 5 Possible Outcomes a new worksheet.JigsawTable Exercise Possible outcomes of the Middle East Conflict Share this:

History Games: AS / A2 / IB History

Cannonball Fun Quizzes a. Russia under Alexander II b. Russia under Alexander III c. Russia under Nicholas II Wordshoot Quiz a. Russia under Alexander II b. Russia under Alexander III c. Russia under Nicholas II Share this:

Stalin and the USSR: Worksheet and Quizzes

Worksheet Comparison of the Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev Eras: A useful revision aid in the form of a Cloze exercise; designed to be used with the CannonBall Fun Quiz or the Historical Wordshoot Game. Share this:

Nazi Germany – Quiz and Worksheets

Why did Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany? A complete one-hour lesson plan, designed to be used with this PowerPoint Presentation and this interactive quiz. Share this: