Teaching GCSE History: Crime and Punishment
It is pleasing to see that this topic has been included as a thematic study in the GCSE course by some exam boards, at least. The outstanding lessons here mostly relate to the old SHP courses but will be up-dated to include more recent studies. Not only are local sources put to good effect, there is also a wide range of imaginative approaches reflecting different learning styles. So if you want to test hypotheses about transportation, have a fun kinaesthetic lesson on highwaymen or an Ian Dawson-inspired overview then you’ll find plenty to stimulate your interest.Outstanding Lessons
Teaching GCSE thematically: 10 approaches that really work
Now that all schools have to teach a thematic study I thought I’d share my experience of observing hundreds of…
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Teaching Crime and Punishment
I am sure you all know of the excellent websites out there to help you, but I would particularly recommend the Durham…
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New evidence of Anglo-Saxon mutilations as punishment
Ninth-century England was a bad place to be a criminal, new findings suggest. The skull of an Anglo-Saxon teenager discovered…
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Transportation; what questions can we raise and answer from the statistics?
This is the first of two lessons on transportation and owes its genesis to an idea from Richard McFahn when…
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GCSE SHP Crime and Punishment: The Metropolitan police force in 1830: SMART TASK
This quick starter uses the slow reveal technique which encourages students to explore parts of a cartoon in a particular…
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If the Bloody Code made so many offences punishable by death, why were so few criminals hanged? SMART TASK
Fun lesson in which small groups have to predict punishments meted out for specific crimes in 1786 using original documents…
Read MoreWhy was the Metropolitan Police Force set up in 1829? Smart Tasks
This activity forms the central spine of a lesson on the reasons for setting up the Metropolitan Police Force in…
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Crime and Punishment starter: Smuggling – SMART TASK
This simple smart task uses the rather unusual source of a famous Kipling poem to ascertain what students already know…
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Poaching: Need or Greed? A 3 minute starter SMART TASK KS4
Throughout history, people have had different views of poachers. Were they: a. Starving labourers, snaring game to keep body and…
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GCSE SHP Crime and Punishment: How and why did Victorian prisons change in the first half of Victoria’s reign
Introduction The Chief Examiner’s report for OCR made the following point: “A number of reports have identified 19C prison reform…
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Would you have liked to have been a highwayman? Why would you have stopped?
In this lesson students have to persuade others to become a highwayman and then have to work out why they…
Read MorePosting punishments in periods: an active approach to creating overviews in crime and punishment
This lesson draws on, and extends, an idea developed by Ian Dawson at Trinity and All Saints College. Students work…
Read MoreHow effective was the Metropolitan police force and how would we find out?
This enquiry-led activity focuses on students considering the possible evidence base, as well as knowing how to evaluate existing evidence…
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Were medieval crimes and punishments as brutal as people think? Two smart tasks
First students work collaboratively to distil from 16 pieces of evidence provided, the ones they think give them the most…
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