World History teaching resources for the high school classroom: lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes and simulation games for KS3, IGCSE, IB and A-Level teachers.

"Which 16th Century Ruler are YOU?"

The sixteenth century was a period of profound change, dominated by amazing rulers. These four legends had a big impact on the world, but ruled in very different ways:

• Henry VIII, King of England 1509-1547
• Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 1519-1556
• Francis I, King of France 1515-1547
• Suleiman the Magnificent Ottoman Sultan, 1520-1566

In this unit of study based around the ActiveHistory online simulation, students will consider how they would have reacted to the sorts of situations they faced. In this way they will learn a lot more about each ruler, and which one they most closely resemble!

Stage 1: "Complete the questionnaire"

In the first stage, the teacher shares this presentation on the classroom screen, which guides students through 10 key questions For each of these questions, students have to simply:
Step 1: Copy down the question. in their books / on paper
Step 2: Copy down the choice from the four options provided
Step 3: Add the word "because" and explain their reasons!

In other words, this is a 'teacher-led' lesson guided from the front, with the class being encouraged to discuss each of the four options with partners or small groups before making their choices each time. The teacher coud then take a hand-count of how many students vote for each option, and discuss the merits of each.

Stage 2: "Learn about which ruler you most closely match through the online simulation"

In the next stage, students are firstly given a copy of the questionnaire worksheet to open on their computers. They type their handwritrten notes from the last activity into the appropriate spots underneath each of the 10 key questions.

When this process is completed, the students are ready to play the computer simulation! As they proceed, they will be presented with each question in turn, and when they click their favoured option they will then be given more information about how the ruler that matched their choice followed this path in real life. Students will also be given regular factual quiz questions as they proceed to test that they are reading the informaiton presented to them.

Teacher tip: be sure to regularly check the "leaderboard" (link at the bottom of the screen) which shows all the students' profiles as they build up AND their factual test score.

As an extension activity, students could play the simulation through a second time, making detailed notes on the other rulers, or one in particular that the teacher is keen that the class learns more about (for example, I use the simulation as an introduction to the Ottoman Empire after our studies of The Renaissance and The Reformation, so I am keen for students to build up their knowledge of Suleiman the Magnificent in particular.

Stage 3: "Consolidate your knowledge with some extended writing"

To round off the study, students should be asked to produce a piece of extended writing answering the question "Which 16th Century ruler did you most resemble?". Four separate paragraphs could outline the ways in which the writer resembled each of the four rulers.

· With your profile completed, produce a written answer to the question “Which 16th Century Ruler did you most resemble?”

Suggested structure:
Have one paragraph for each of the rulers with whom you shared at least one characteristic.

Each paragraph could follow this sort of format:

• In some ways I represented [ruler].
• This is because one of the questions I was asked was “[question]” and my answer was [answer] because [reasons].
• He did the same thing - in particular, [explain what he did and why] .
• Another question where we took the same decision was [question]...
• (and so on)

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