Teaching the 20th Century World to Key Stage 3

For many pupils this will be their last topic in KS3 history, though some history departments prefer to end with a retrospective long term study. Most pupils enjoy the 20th century, though we need to ensure it is not just one war after another. Almost inevitably the first lesson showcases the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but this time as a murder mystery.
There are also a couple of engaging lessons on recruitment, with hypotheses to test (involving numeracy), and posters to analyse.The case study of Earnest Coleman provides a familiar history mystery, but with a twist. The much-admired lesson on Battalion 101 has already proved a massive hit, combining a history mystery with excellent opportunities for the development of pupils’ emotional intelligence. Similar skills are developed through a study of Dresden and the dropping of the atomic bombs. The post-war period, is approached by an overview using a tension graph and more original use of the 20th and 21st C Olympic Games as a reflection of the changing world from 1914-2012.
This short but engaging task precedes any detailed analysis of the terms of the treaty itself. It has four distinct elements: prediction; analysis of a rarely seen German poster; attaching significance; and refining ideas based on most recent scholarship.
Firstly, students have to...
We thought we would offer you a range of different cameos showing how the history of the Olympics could be imaginatively integrated into your current teaching.
The teaching activities below have all be tried and tested in schools and have been judged outstanding by...
It is now 20 years since the statue to Bomber Harris was erected in Trafalgar Square. Pupils are asked to consider whether it ought to be removed in light of what happened at Dresden. There are...
This is a well-covered topic and most of you will already have your own favoured approach. For that reason I am not offering just one lesson but instead a series of shorter smart tasks, some of which you might want to graft onto what...