These resources are a great way to tie together a study of History of Americas. They specifically cover the period 1945-1980 but the approaches used are easily adaptable for other time periods and regions. Who was the best US President on the World Stage? Classroom debate: Which President achieved the most success outside of the…

Overview This short, simple but effective exercise (requiring nothing more than some drinking straws) helps students understand about the limits of co-operation, the dangers of unbridled rivalry and the importance of co-operation. In this sense it can be used in a variety of contexts but I personally use it to provoke a discussion about the…

It’s been a typically busy year developing ActiveHistory with new resources based on the interests of my students and feedback from visitors to the website! A rundown of resources and events can be found *here*.   (761 views)

Assess the causes of the 1967 6-Day War This sample sourcework exercise is based on the IB History syllabus and comes complete with model answers which I have written myself to share with my own students. (1138 views)

I’ve updated the ClassTools online citation generator so you can now choose from one of four citation styles. Try it out here! (1193 views)

I’ve just put the finishing touches to a new ClassTools template (http://www.classtools.net/timer) which I hope you will find useful. Unlike other online timers, this one is designed to work on tablet devices as well as standard computers. You can also add multiple timers, run them in sequence or all at once, add a tune / YouTube video to…

I am a historical documentary addict. So maybe I should try my hand at writing the perfect historical documentary script using all of my favourite clichés. What follows is my ‘one size fits all’ documentary script which I plan to simply adjust as necessary as the commissions inevitably come rolling in. My “One Size Fits All”…

Historiography – Why do dictators emerge? This activity encourages students to investigate the theories of six different historians (Marx, Davies, Huntington, Gurr, Tilly, Skocpol) whom have formulated theories regarding the causes for the rise of dictators. These theories are compared, contrasted and linked: structuralists are separated from intentionalists. Finally, students consider which of the dictators…

Feedback Process In this lesson, students start to compare and contrast the different methods and conditions used by different dictators to obtain power. Working in pairs, small groups and then as a class, they identify the most prevalent methods and conditions. They then identify exactly which dictators match these criteria and makes notes from the…

Research Template Students use this template to record their findings about the key “Methods” and “Conditions” which led to the rise to power of the dictator they have researched. (1480 views)

Introductory Historiography and Research Task Each student chooses one dictator from the IB Syllabus Africa: Kenya-Kenyatta; Tanzania-Nyerere Americas: Argentina-Peron; Cuba-Castro Europe and the Middle East: Germany-Hitler; USSR-Stalin; Egypt-Nasser Asia and Oceania: China-Mao; Indonesia-Sukarno (839 views)

Part of the ‘Critical Thinking’ PSHCE unit. In this activity, the teacher will take the role of someone with a “Green Hat”. They will choose (or ask the class to vote on) one of the “Imagine a world…” discussion point which are listed overleaf (or invent one of their own). When the discussion point has…

Death of Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi leader who organised the identification and transportation of Jews from occupied Europe to extermination camps. (Executed) (492 views)

Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, illegally landed his plane in Red Square, Moscow (454 views)

Neville Chamberlain became British Prime Minister. (405 views)

One of the most popular applications I’ve developed in the past couple of years has been “Fakebook“, a Fake Facebook Profile Generator that students can use to create engaging narratives of people, places and concepts. I’ve been working on developing the code over the past fortnight so that the application is much quicker (for example…

American actress Marilyn Monroe famously sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to President John F. Kennedy during a birthday party/fundraiser at Madison Square Garden, New York (502 views)

‘Pravda’, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was first published. (Ceased publication 1996) (509 views)

Death of Bram Stoker, Irish novelist and short story writer, best known for his novel ‘Dracula’. (416 views)

The British liner ‘RMS Titanic’ sank in the Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York. More than 1,500 people were killed. (434 views)

Birth of Alexander Herzen, Russian political thinker, activist and writer, known as the ‘father of Russian socialism’, his work led to the emancipation of the serfs (496 views)

Death of Robert Falcon Scott, British Antarctic explorer. He and his team perished while returning from his second Antarctic expedition (415 views)

Birth of Prince Felix Yusupov, Russian nobleman and mining heir, best known for killing Rasputin (424 views)

Death of Lawrence Oates, British Antarctic explorer, a member of Scott’s ill-fated expedition, who famously said ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’ as he walked into a blizzard where he faced certain death (462 views)

American Civil War: the first battle between two ironclad warships – the ‘USS Monitor’ versus the ‘CSS Virginia’, at Hampton Roads, Virginia. Result: indecisive (478 views)

The Beatles gave their first performance on BBC radio in the UK, on the show ‘Teenagers’ Turn: Here We Go’. (Recorded 7th March, broadcast 8th) (432 views)

French aviator Henri Seimet made the first non-stop flight from Paris to London (848 views)

Birth of Augustus Pugin, British architect, designer, design theorist and writer, best remembered for his use of the Gothic Revival style in the Palace of Westminster and many churches (537 views)

British poet Lord Byron gave his maiden speech in the House of Lords, in which he defended Luddite violence against industrialisation, saying they had been driven to it because they had no other choice. (648 views)

U.S. President Richard Nixon became the first president to visit China. His visit led to a significant improvement in U.S. – Chinese relations (413 views)

John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, making 3 orbits in the space capsule ‘Friendship 7’ (488 views)

Death of Elizabeth Siddal, British poet, artist and artists’ model. Wife of the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and model for Millais’ “Ophelia” (397 views)

American spy plane pilot Gary Powers was released from jail in the USSR in an exchange deal with the USA, who released Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. (414 views)