For suggestions for 20 top ICT activities using a wide range of data and applications click here to download PDF file.
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Ideas for teaching GCSE history Britain 1890-1918 using ICT
Teaching GCSE History: Britain 1890 – 1975
© National Archive Learning Curve
This section of the site bridges the old OCR Modern World British element and the current requirement for British history. You will recognise much of the material on the Liberal Reforms and the First World War, but there are now new lessons with full resources including PowerPoint presentations on the inter-war period, on the Home Front during the Second World War and the changes to British society that occurred after the Second World War. Because there is considerable overlap between specifications, no attempt has been made to treat topics in any board-specific manner. It will be obvious from the approach taken whether the lesson fits into source enquiry or is preparation for a controlled assessment.
The lessons here relate mainly to the OCR depth study. You might also find the Key Stage 3 enquiry on First World War recruitment helpful too.
Outstanding Lessons
Why did Germany lose the Battle of Britain?
If Britain was only a few days away from defeat in August 1940 how on earth did she win the Battle of Britain a month later?
PLEASE NOTE - This lesson was aimed at Key Stage 3 but should be capable of being used with minimal...Was there really a Blitz spirit? Killer evidence. Smart Task
Historians to this day still argue as to whether there was a Blitz spirit or not. Much depends on the evidence they use.
This ‘Killer evidence’ Smart Task enables you to discover which evidence the students think is most powerful for each side and which would...
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SMART TASK: A Suffragette procession: comparing the evidence
New GCSE British history source enquiry, suitable for SHP or Modern World.
Whether you are studying the OCR unit, AQA or Edexcel you should find this activity helpful.
The activity builds on an initial idea from the revised Edexcel Teacher’s Guide for the new SHP GCSE course. ...
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Why did some women get the vote in 1918? How do YOU see it?
This lesson provides an excellent example of active learning, combining thinking skills and work on interpretations. Students start with one historian's construct. They have to read the historian's mind, that of Paula Bartley. Next they look at other visual models which they evaluate. They then...
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How far did the Liberal government of 1906-14 improve the health of children?
This highly relevant lesson offers a major contribution to the Every Child Matters agenda on staying healthy, as well as picking up the Jamie Oliver's school meals initiative. After a fairly orthodox start, looking at the reasons for the legislation, the lesson moves the emphasis...
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How serious was the German naval threat before the First World War?
This lesson launches an enquiry in which students work in teams to arrive at their own answer to this question. Following a very brief introduction, students are introduced to the idea of a naval race by running to post images of German and British battleships...
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How have cartoonists portrayed the Liberals Old Age Pensions reforms?
This lesson takes a familiar cartoon but gives it an original twist. Instead of seeing the cartoon all at once, students see it in four separate parts, which in pairs they have to draw in turns. This helps them to focus on the details and...
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Reasons for reliability. How reliable a witness would Charles Booth make in an investigation into living conditions at the end of the 19th century ?
This lesson focuses on encouraging students to evaluate the testimony of just one man, Charles Booth. It opens with an analysis of the reasons why the Liberal government introduced its reforms, and asks about the significance of the role Charles Booth played in bringing appalling...
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Should the statue to Haig be taken down from Whitehall?
This active lesson asks students to work in teams to weigh up the arguments for and against the proposal of the title. Initially students are either researchers or witnesses, i.e historians or film directors etc. Working against the clock the researchers, working for either the...
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Why was this World War One painting censored?
Students studying Britain during World War One, whether it be for AQA, OCR or Edexcel, need to know about censorship. This deceptively simple lesson asks penetrating questions which both engage and challenge. Students analyse one of Nevinson’s famous paintings, Paths of Glory, perhaps surprised that...
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