Site DiarySee the Diary21 Jan: New Activity: Decisions of a Kentish Villager, 1381 This activity was originally devised by Ian Luff and used with great success with his year 7s – then Ian kindly allowed me to develop it. The idea is that students take a series of decisions, building up points to improve their family’s welfare. But will they hit the jackpot and win what they want from King Richard II or face defeat and misery … 18 Jan: New Teaching Issue: Does it matter what we call the ‘Peasants Revolt’? One of my occasional discussions of ‘content’, in this case what we might aim to get out of teaching about 1381. It’s a great story but what links it to other protests covered later in KS3? … 6 Jan: New Activities: Big Human Timelines This is a very simple idea than can be used in a variety of ways to tackle many of the bug-bears of chronological understanding. Use your students as centuries to create a timeline and then all kinds of things become possible … 2 Jan: Exploring the Middle Ages at the British Library Father Christmas was very kind to me, bringing the catalogue for the exhibition on illuminated manuscripts at the British Library. And so it’s great to see the BL education department offering workshops on what can be best described as sense of period … 19 Dec: New Activity: Visiting an Asclepion An activity from Stephen Lodge who teaches in Portsmouth for use with GCSE Medicine through Time … See Diary: See more on the Diary |
Thank you for visiting ThinkingHistory.
If you’re visiting the site for the first time please note that the site doesn’t provide ‘quick-fix’ solutions for a lesson in 20 minutes time. All the activities need thoughtful preparation, tailoring them to the needs of individual classes. Good preparation gives everyone, students and teachers, more enjoyment and a greater sense of achievement. I hope the site proves useful – there’s over a hundred activities [ see full activity list ] plus much other material, articles and ideas [ see full content list ] . Ian Dawson |
The site was begun in 2004 to provide activities, ideas and resources for teachers (especially trainees and NQTs) seeking to broaden their range of teaching methods. The activities exemplify a range of strategies that require physical movement and involvement from students – living graphs, washing-lines, role-plays and many others. The aim of all the approaches described on the site is to deepen students’ historical knowledge and understanding. They work because they increase students’ motivation and interest and lead to students engaging in more constructive discussion of the people and events they’re studying.
A history of 20th century history teaching 
