GCSE History Resources, Lessons & Teaching Ideas
Key Stage 4 Smart Task: Scoop! What on earth was going on in Abyssinia in 1935?
This task is run along the lines of a newsroom simulation. Students take on the role of an editorial team whose job it is to make sense of a complex…
Read MorePrioritising in history at Key Stage 4
As always there is a balancing act to be done. On the one hand you have to deal with the immediate and the urgent; on the other you know that…
Read MoreDeveloping your staff at key stage 4
Teaching GCSE presents its own set of challenges, not least learning the code that you will need to crack to bring your students GCSE success. Because the GCSE history exam…
Read MoreMonitoring performance in history at KS4
The best way of monitoring students’ performance is to set frequent exam based activities, broadly under test conditions and then to mark them WITH the students using GCSE criteria. Students…
Read MoreUsing data in history at Key Stage 4
Twelve years or so ago the only meaningful data we had for GCSE was the percentage of students achieving each grade. The headline everyone was interested in was of course…
Read MoreRaising attainment at Key Stage 4
This section of the site contains four different types of advice. There is general advice, outlining factors that usually explain success at GCSE and a short paper entitled ‘Smoking Out…
Read MoreSelf-evaluation in history at Key Stage 4
Getting ready for a history subject review: knowing what OFSTED inspectors are looking for and the criteria they are using It is essential that you keep up-to-date with current OFSTED…
Read MorePolicy and vision at Key Stage 4
Many of you will feel that having a separate history policy at Key Stage 4 is unnecessary, and yet you will be surprised how many departments have never really articulated…
Read MorePenicillin: From discovery to world-wide use? Who should take the credit?
Students have to divide a $100 million bequest to those people who did most to develop penicillin. But in what ratio? Should Fleming get it all? What about the Oxford…
Read MoreTeaching USA 1900-1990 to Key Stage 4
The first batch of lessons focuses on four examination favourites but each adds a different subtle twist that lifts the lesson and makes students much more active and involved in…
Read MoreTeaching international relations 1945-1990
This section, dominated by the Cold War focuses mainly on teaching its origins, its main crises and the reason why it came to an end. With the recent ‘strengthening’ of…
Read MoreDid everyone benefit equally from life in the USA in the 1920s? A market place activity. SMART TASK KS4
This activity is great for getting students off their feet and talking to every other students in the class – with a clear purpose! The idea is that every student…
Read MoreUsing artefacts to teach history at Key Stage 4
It may be some time since you last used artefacts in your GCSE teaching, but their appearance in Key Stage 4 lessons is actually on the increase in my experience. …
Read MoreTeaching chronology at Key Stage 4
The advent of the current GCSE history specifications has forced us to consider how we help students to develop chronological understanding over different time scales, be it a thousand years…
Read MoreInterpretations in GCSE history at Key Stage 4
Having worked so hard to develop pupils understanding of historical interpretations at Key Stage 3, many history teachers feel short-changed when it comes to Key Stage 4. Not only is…
Read MoreTeaching historical enquiry at Key Stage 4
Some of the best GCSE lessons I have ever seen have been enquiry-led where students have been given a little more scope to raise their own questions, research independently and…
Read MoreFit for purpose teaching strategies at Key Stage 4
This section has highlighted a number of issues relating to GCSE teaching that you might identify with and be interested in seeing other talented teachers’ solutions. It does not claim…
Read MoreThe teaching process in history at Key Stage 4
With so much emphasis placed on the three-part lesson, due largely to the National Strategy, it is tempting to follow that simplistic model at Key Stage 4. Many do, and…
Read MoreLong-term planning at Key Stage 4
Planning for the legacy GCSE history specifications I have featured only a few models from the existing specifications, concentrating instead on the new specifications. For each course offered by each…
Read MoreMedium term planning at Key Stage 4
What should go into a good medium term plan at key Stage 4? 1. Key questions, not just the overarching question from the Board’s specification, but sub-questions too. 2. Learning objectives. These must identify…
Read MoreShort-term planning in Key Stage 4 history
My view about short-term planning at KS4 is simple; keep it short. If you are following a detailed medium-term plan, as you should be, then most of the planning has…
Read MoreThinking skills at Key Stage 4
With a firm foundation of thinking skills now laid at Key Stage 3, thanks in part to the National Strategy, it is really important that in GCSE classes you offer…
Read MoreHistory and numeracy at Key Stage 4
With so much else to focus on in GCSE history you would be pardoned for thinking that this is not top priority. Rather than add to your burden, all I…
Read MoreHistory and literacy at Key Stage 4
What OFSTED said they were looking for in history lessons when reviewing literacy across the curriculum when they last published on the matter. An insider’s view – what OFSTED are…
Read MoreCitizenship at Key Stage 4
Am I alone in feeling the pitiful irony of history not being a compulsory subject at Key Stage 4, whereas citizenship is? When I see and hear how it is…
Read MoreCurriculum models at KS4
As most courses are a blend of SHP and Modern World and there will be at least two new topics you were not formerly teaching, you know where you needed…
Read MoreCurriculum rationale for history at KS4
Choice of specification and order of teaching You will all been settled into your new GCSE course.If you’re thinking of changing it might be worth asking these questions. Questions for…
Read More’50’ imaginative learning activities for Key Stage 4
We all know that the learning experience for students at Key Stage 4 could be more varied in some schools. Students have told us that, time and again. The lessons…
Read MoreWhy was Hitler able to consolidate his position in power between January 1933 and August 1934? Smart Task KS4
This smart task works as a starter. Students are given 7 reasons why Hitler came to power. In just 5 minutes, and working in pairs, they have to see if…
Read MoreThoroughly Modern Millie: How do we know this song is about Flappers? A quick musical starter
Students are given the lyrics of a song about flappers (copy provided) and have to find 10 references that prove the connection. The first is done together as a whole…
Read MoreGCSE 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 sequence, before revealing the whole. Using the animated PowerPoint presentation…
Read MoreHow well do these cartoons cover the causes of World War One?
In pairs, Y9/GCSE students visit 9 different cartoons posted around the wall. They have to work out: Which cause is being ‘covered’ in each cartoon – sometimes two. Which causes…
Read MoreThe learning approach in history at Key Stage 4
Learning in Key Stage 4 history lessons is nearly always good but rarely is it outstanding. Because we are so aware of the examination requirements and the need to induct…
Read MoreLearning Activities: Key Stage 4
Most evidence of history teaching at Key Stage 4 comes from OFSTED reports which repeatedly paint a picture of highly competent teaching but rather restricted learning. Students are taught effective…
Read MoreIndependence History at KS3 and GCSE
Independent Enquirers Learners can develop as independent enquirers when they are provided with opportunities in history to: explore for themselves events, issues or problems from different perspectives and consider the…
Read MoreWhen Prohibition was so popular when it was introduced, why had it failed within 12 years? SMART TASK
In this varied series of activities, students predict from pictures, categorise influence cards, and create a tweet before structuring an answer that will impress a GCSE examiner. Starter Project slide…
Read MoreRaising attainment at Key Stage 4
This section of the site contains four different types of advice. There is general advice, outlining factors that usually explain success at GCSE and a short paper entitled ‘Smoking Out…
Read MoreWho started the Korean War? Smart Task
In this short starter smart task students are given two contradictory accounts of the start of the Korean War, both emanating from Korea. But which account do they think is…
Read MoreWhen Italy signed two peace treaties with Abyssinia just 7 years before, why then did Mussolini invade in 1935? Explanation builder
Students are given a short answer to this question that appeared as an answer on the Student Room website. It was not worth 9 marks. Students have to work out…
Read MoreHow the boards differ in their approach to the historic environment
AQA The historic environment is 10% of the overall course which equates to approximately 12 hours out of 120 guided learning hours. Students will be examined on a specific site in…
Read MoreAssessing students’ understanding of the historic environment in the new GCSE history courses
As we await the verdict of OFQUAL on the draft submissions for the new 2016 GCSE history courses, one of the more interesting outcomes will be that relating to the…
Read MoreIf 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 and then see if they were correct. They then try…
Read MoreThe Marshall Plan: How should we interpret it? Just how philanthropic was it?
The activities in this very varied lesson ask students to raise questions, place sources on a continuum, add analysis to a short descriptive account and quickly tweet a caption to…
Read MoreHitler’s propaganda: the cult of leader. Reading internal clues. KS3 & 4 Smart Task
The aim of this short task is to encourage students to look really closely at images for what is there, not what they think should be there. Students are asked…
Read MoreWhy 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…
Read MoreWhat was the impact of the Californian Gold Rush 1848-9? GCSE SMART TASK
In this series of short tasks GCSE students predict, infer, gather information and then improve existing explanations of the impact of the Californian Gold Rush. Firstly, students have to use…
Read MoreMigration: Online resources
Great migration site www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk Our Migration Story: The Making of Britain is an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded collaboration between the Runnymede Trust and academics based at the universities of…
Read MoreLink between Elizabethan theatre and bear-baiting
Historic England schedulded several of London bear pits so they will not now be built over. The listing of these baiting areas in Bankside near the Globe theatre has highlighted…
Read MoreWas 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…
Read MoreThe end of the Cold War for new GCSE history: taking a fresh look
In a recent article in Teaching History David Reynolds offers some clear insights into this period which might help to clarify issues for your GCSE students. Firstly , he identifies…
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