Advice for teachers -
History

Outcome 1

Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.

Examples of learning activities

• Develop a synonym table to unpack a key substantive concept, such as colonialism. Use as many identified synonyms as possible in constructing a written explanation of the concept.
• Using a Lotus Diagram or Fishbone Diagram, identify and examine the causes and consequences of an event, such as the Boston Tea Party.
• Create a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine to identify and rank the significance of key individuals (as listed in key knowledge) in the development of a revolutionary situation.
• Using a list of undated events from the Boston Massacre, arrange the events in the correct chronological order and then re-arrange in order of significance.
• Analyse examples of the work of pro-independence (Patriots) propagandists Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin. Identify and discuss symbolism and message; use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast.
• Create a table that identifies (in columns) the ideas that played a significant role in challenging the existing order (the Enlightenment: Natural Rights, Representative Government, Republicanism and Liberty) and key documents (in rows) that reflect these ideas. For each document include a key phrase in the table.
• Develop a two-tier concept map identifying and explaining key Enlightenment philosophers and their ideas (in the first tier) and the contribution of each idea to a revolutionary situation (in the second tier). Use the concept map to discuss the extent to which Enlightenment ideas were a cause of revolution.
• Undertake a close reading of a significant written primary source, such as The Massachusetts Circular Letter, and paraphrase it in 100 words.
• In small groups, analyse the role of a popular movement (such as the Patriots, the Sons of Liberty, the Daughters of Liberty, the Committees of Correspondence and the Provisional Congresses) in the development of the revolution. Examine the political, economic and social factors influencing their perspective and actions.
• Access the Yale University Open Course on the American Revolution and watch Lecture 11: Independence. Develop a mind map identifying different perspectives on the drafting of a formal declaration of independence. Note the reasons and motives underlying each perspective presented.
• Develop an annotated ‘tension’ timeline that visually demonstrates periods of escalated and de-escalated tension in the development of a revolutionary situation. A tension timeline is not a flat line; rather, it has peaks and troughs indicating escalating and de-escalating tension.
• Play ‘Revolutionary Heads’ (an adaptation of ‘Celebrity Heads’) where one student must guess the name of an allocated individual by asking yes/no questions. The student who guesses the identity of their assigned individual with the least number of questions wins.
• Identify and list the top ten battles of the revolutionary war. For each one, indicate location, date and outcome. Then, rank them in order of significance using either a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine. Include annotations that justify ranking based on evidence. Then, compare and contrast the rankings with other students.
• Collate a list of revolutionary symbols, such as the Liberty Bell, Yankee Doodle, Liberty Cap, Fife and Drum of Freedom, Sons of Liberty Flag, Gadsden Flag). Working in pairs, each pair with a different symbol, prepare and present a digital presentation addressing the 5Ws and 1H (What? When? Where? Who? Why? How?).
• For each of the events and conditions that contributed to the outbreak of revolution (as listed in the key knowledge), construct a historical interpretations table that identifies three different historian’s interpretations for each event or condition.
• 
  Analyse the political, social and economic aims and effects of the British tax revenue Acts through an examination of primary sources and historical interpretations.
  

Detailed example

Analyse and evaluate British management of the colonies and their aims, motive, outcomes and significance

Context

The British imposition of a range of tax revenue Acts had intended and unintended consequences in the American colonies. In this activity, students analyse the political, social and economic aims and effects of each reform through an examination of primary sources and historical interpretations.

Activities

1. In small groups, students are allocated one of the following British tax revenue Acts:
• The Sugar Act 1764
• The Currency Act 1764
• The Quartering Act 1764
• The Stamp Act 1764
• The Townshend Acts 1767
• The Tea Act 1773
• The Coercive Acts 1774
2. Each group identifies key facts and evidence for their allocated Act(s) by analysing related primary and secondary sources. Findings are documented in a table based on the example below:

Motive/ Purpose	Political consequences	Economic consequences	Social consequences	Colonial response	Significance
Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:
Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:	Evidence:

3. Each group prepares and presents a multimedia presentation providing an evidenced evaluation of the significance of their allocated Act(s) to the development of a revolutionary situation.

Extension

4. Students compare and contrast the significance of listed Acts and develop a Ladder of Significance with annotations justifying ranking.

Outcome 2

Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.

Examples of learning activities

• With two copies of a line drawing of the Mitchell Map (1755), colour-code the two maps to show Spanish Territories, British Territories and American Colonies – one before and one after the Treaty of Paris 1783. Compare and contrast the two maps and evaluate consequences and significance of the treaty.
• Compile a comment bank of quotations by leading revolutionary figures. For each one, write a short comment on what it reveals about their ideological convictions, views on changing society, attitude to opposition, consolidation of power and/or other consequences of revolution.
• Using a SOLO HOT comparative map compare and contrast the British Army and the Continental Army in the War of Independence, using factors such as: sources of funding, personnel, technology and equipment, allies, leadership, supplies, local knowledge, naval support, popular support, and overall prospects of success in the revolutionary war.
• Develop a poster focusing on Shay’s Rebellion to identify a range of varied historical perspectives and historical interpretations highlighting the causes, consequences and significance of this event.
• 
  In small groups, each with an allocated significant event that occurred in the new regime, examine the causes, course of events, and political, economic and social consequences. Create and share a concept map, flowchart or table to display outcome of task.
  
• Develop a table that outlines both the Virginian Plan and the New Jersey Plan at the Constitutional Convention. Using three different coloured highlighters, identify the parts of each plan that were rejected, adapted and adopted. Discuss what additional ideas/plans were added to form the Great Compromise of 1787. Consider how the Compromise was formed and its significance.
• Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Add annotations that evaluate political, economic and social consequences of these strengths and weaknesses.
• In small groups, each working with a different key Federalist (James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington) or Anti-Federalist (Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson) develop and deliver a one-minute speech as the individual, advancing their belief about the United States Government.
• Generate a table that identifies the challenges different groups (as listed in key knowledge) faced in the new society. Discuss how each group navigated these challenges and evaluate whether the new society experienced positive or negative changes, using a ten-point scale (negative 5 to positive 5).
• Using a change and continuity continuum, use evidence to debate the level of change and/or continuity the new society brought to different groups (as listed in key knowledge) across both areas of study.
• Choose selected tracks from Hamilton: The Musical to introduce key individuals and their relationships with one another. For example, introduce Hamilton (‘Alexander Hamilton’) and Jefferson (‘What’d I miss?’) and explore their relationships (‘The Room Where it Happens’). Using historical sources, evaluate the accuracy of the representations in the show.
• Using a range of varied historians’ interpretations, create a conversation (talking heads) between historians about the significance of a specific movement, idea, individual or event.
• Create a table that evaluates the causes, responses and consequences of post-war recession in the 1780s.
• Assume the role of George Washington and write a series of journal entries that reflect key ideas and relationships over a range of important dates related to the Philadelphia Convention in 1787.

Detailed example

Evaluate the causes and consequences of significant events

Context

This activity is designed to develop students’ understanding of the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights as it relates to federal and state relations and individuals’ rights and protections. Prior to commencing this activity students should have studied The Ratification Debate and examined Federalists’ and Anti-Federalists’ perspectives.

Activities

1. In pairs, students are allocated one of the Ten Amendments that form the Bill of Rights. They identify the rights and protections associated with their allocated Amendment.
2. Each pair conducts research on their allocated Amendment to identify and analyse primary and secondary sources. They use this as evidence to explain why the Amendment was proposed.
3. Each pair contributes their finding to a Bill of Rights Fishbone Diagram as shown below:

Image description

Extension

4. Students complete an extended response explaining the significance of the Acceptance of Bill of Rights in the consolidation of the new regime.

Outcome 1

Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.

Examples of learning activities

• Create a Kahoot quiz of the key terms listed in the outcome descriptor and key knowledge and use it to establish familiarity and understanding of the terms at the start of the unit. Revisit the quiz periodically to celebrate areas of learning, as well as identify terms that require greater support in understanding.
• Keep a 5x5 Journal. At the conclusion of each lesson, record the five most important things learnt. Every week review the journal and select the top five learnings for the week. An extension to this task, occasionally compare the weekly top fives and discuss the similarities and differences between the lists. Discuss criteria to use when defining what makes one learning more important than others.
• Create an illustrated timeline of events from the accession of Louis XVI to the Night of Patriotic Delirium (4 August 1789). For each event, find one artistic representation and identify whether it gives a positive or negative perspective/interpretation of the event.
• In small groups, each is allocated a ‘significant event synopsis sheet’ that details key individuals or groups involved in an event. Identify the key ideas associated with the event, and outline the political, social and economic causes and consequences of the event. After each group has reviewed their allocated information, the class plays charades. Each group performs their event while the rest of the class attempts to guess what the event is. The synopsis sheets are distributed to the class as their notes. Events could include: American War of Independence, the revolt of the Notables, Day of the Tiles, the ‘Cahiers de Doléances’, the harvest crisis and food shortage, the Réveillon Riots, the events of the Estates-General, the storming of the Bastille, the ‘Great Fear’, and the night of 4 August 1789.
• Sort the key events and conditions (as listed in the key knowledge) that contributed to the outbreak of revolution into the order of most significant to least significant. Explain the ranking with the use of evidence from primary sources and historical interpretations.
• Create a propaganda pamphlet for each of the ideas that challenged the existing order. The aim of this task is to highlight the potential of each ideology to improve on/change the existing order’s rule. Ideas to consider are: critique of privilege, critique of absolute authority, the attack on the Church, popular sovereignty, equality.
• Create a flow chart showing the role of the Enlightenment in the development of a revolutionary situation in France.
• Use cards that portray an image of each of the individuals listed in the key knowledge. On the reverse side, complete the following: name, three key moments in either challenging or maintaining the existing order, two quotes from the individual and three different historical interpretations of the individual’s contribution to revolution.
• Create a life roadmap in a small groups or individually. Allocated a key individual (such as, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, Marquis de Lafayette, Jacques Necker) and a large piece of blank paper, record important decisions and events that shaped their life, historical events, goals and motivations, important relationships and different perspectives on their actions. Report findings to the class.
• Create a hexagon task showing how key individuals, groups and events were connected.
• Complete a tug-of-war activity, highlighting the competing demands between the monarchy and nobility (on one side) and the bourgeoisie, urban workers and peasants (on the other side). Challenge the notion that the nobility was completely unified with the goals of the monarchy.
• Create a picture book of primary sources, supported by historians’ interpretations, explaining the conditions that led to the Night of Patriotic Delirium.
• Choose a type of response to address the following statement: ‘The storming of the Bastille is so iconic that it must be considered the most significant event of the French Revolution’. Support arguments with a range of evidence and factual details. Note: the response type may be in the traditional style of a written response; however, creativity is encouraged. One example is setting out disagreement with the statement in the style of a Cahier.
• Write an obituary for the end of the absolute monarchy. Consider the social, political, economic and cultural legacies and heritages of the empire. Attribute a beginning and end date to the decline and explain the cause of its decline.
• 
  Compile a quote bank of statements from leading revolutionary figures, attempting to locate a contradictory or refuting comment from figures of the ruling elite. Colour-code the quotes: red for a blatant lie or mistruth, orange for a clear lack of understanding of the reality of France during this time, green for truthful/reflective of the reality of France during the timeframe.
  

Detailed example

Fake news during the French Revolution!

Context

This activity is designed to develop students’ ability to evaluate the reliability of primary sources as historical evidence. This task should be attempted towards the end of the area of study learning.

Activities

1. Students keep a rolling evidence chart of key quotes and visual sources throughout the area of study. These sources should include perspectives from a broad range of social groups.
2. Using a shared document, such as Google Docs or Word document, the class collates their primary quotes into a single class document.
3. Students then hold a discussion to classify the quotes as: red for a blatant lie/mistruth, orange for a clear misunderstanding of the reality of France leading up to the Revolution, or green for an accurate/true reflection of the reality of France leading up to the Revolution. Students must substantiate their classification by referring to key knowledge or other sources of evidence.

Extension

4. As a class, discuss how challenging hindsight can be in understanding the motives and experiences of people who lived in the past.

Outcome 2

Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.

Examples of learning activities

• Complete an annotated jigsaw map of France using a jigsaw map of France (A3 photocopy of a political map of revolutionary France is ideal) and the names of key events, war and rebellions as labels. Assemble the base-map jigsaw and attach the labels.
• Provided with a list of the challenges facing the new regime, sort the items into the following: critical, urgent, important or pending future development. Justify the sorting and share responses with the class. Challenges to consider include: October Days, international condemnation of the Revolution, Marquis de Favras plotting to rescue the king, French colonies declaring independence from France, reforms of the Church, formation of counter-revolution groups, counter-revolutionary riots in key cities such as Lyons, workers’ unions and strikes, flight to Varennes, Champ de Mars massacre, the ratification of the Constitution of 1791, food riots and the Revolutionary Wars.
• Write summaries detailing the response of the new regime to the challenges listed in the key knowledge. Each summary should identify the challenge, response and consequences of the response, effectiveness of the response and two key pieces of evidence about the response.
• 
  Evaluate the extent of political, economic and social continuity and change across the whole French revolution.
  
• Create a poster of six significant individuals that influenced change. Rank each individual out of 10 for their contribution and substantiate the rating with evidence. Place the most significant individual in the centre of the poster. Individuals to consider are: Louis XVI, Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Lafayette, Desmoulins, Sieyes.
• Create a seating plan for a dinner party where the aim is to seat like-minded thinkers next to each other and avoid any uncomfortable confrontations. Guests to include: Louis XVI, Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Lafayette, Desmoulins, Sieyes, as well as other individuals representing the peasants or working urban women.
• Using a range of varied historians’ interpretations, create a conversation (talking heads) between historians in reference to the role of sans culottes in shaping post-revolutionary society.
• In pairs or small groups, create a ‘How to survive in Revolutionary France’ guide for one of the following groups: bourgeoisie, parish priests, higher clergy, urban workers, sans culottes, women, peasants, nobility, royalty. The guides should identify what a typical day was like, and provide handy hints on how to flourish in the new society.
• Complete a set of true/false questions base on the role of significant individuals.
• In pairs, complete a quick recall of what has been learnt about the changes and continuities between 1774 and 1795.
• Conduct a class debate on the topic: ‘Robespierre and Danton’s rivalry destroyed the successes of the revolution.’
• Create a ‘before’ and ‘after’ table of daily life for the following groups: bourgeoisie, parish priests, higher clergy, urban workers, women, peasants, nobility, royalty. On completion, identify which group(s) experienced the most change to their lives, and which group(s) experienced the least. Use a Ladder of Significance template to communicate this ranking.
• Select a significant development, change or turning point of the French revolution (such as the Flight to Varennes) and explain what the change and/or development involved, who the issue affected, why the change occurred and the significant consequences of the change. Identify evidence from primary sources and historical interpretations to support the explanation.
• Use a Lotus Diagram template to explore the extent of change in post-revolutionary society. Populate the diagram with the central themes: physical environment, social structure, economic features, ideas, individuals, cultural expressions. Include key facts, primary and secondary source quotations, and short explanations.
• Develop a list of interview questions to ask an individual from one of the following groups about their experiences before and after the revolution: bourgeoisie, urban workers, sans culottes, peasants, women, nobility, parish priests and other clergy. Swap questions and answer them drawing from information and sources covered in class.
• Complete an alphabet brainstorm: recall as much information as possible about an idea, person, event or concept from Outcome 2, starting with a nominated letter of the alphabet. The brainstorm can respond to a stimulus such as a primary source, a video or media resource, or a question derived from the key knowledge.

Detailed example

Evaluate the extent of continuity and change in French society (1774–1795)

Context

This activity is designed to develop students’ understanding of the continuity and change in French society before, during and after the revolution.

Activities

1. Divide students into groups of three.
2. Allocate one of the following categories to each group member: social, political, economic. In each group, one student is responsible for each category.
3. Each student composes a timeline (1774–1795) of events that relate to their allocated category. When completed they report and share back to their group.
4. As a group, students sort the events listed on the timelines into events that reflect change in conditions following the revolution, and events that reflected continuation of conditions throughout the revolution.
5. Students sort the events to determine if there were more examples of change or continuity across the course of the revolution. They evaluate whether the number of changes and continuities is an appropriate measure of significance.
6. Students discuss and record how the changes and continuities influenced leaders to compromise and/or achieve their revolutionary ideals.
7. Students compare the results of sorting with other groups and evaluate similarities and differences.

Outcome 1

Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.

Examples of learning activities

• Develop a synonym table to unpack a key concept, such as Tsarism. Use as many identified synonyms as possible in constructing a written explanation of the concept.
• As a class, establish a shared Russian Revolutions glossary of key terms, groups and individuals. The glossary should be updated regularly and used for occasional spot class quizzes and preparation of revision flash cards.
• View footage of the Tsar’s coronation (available via YouTube) or photographs and complete a see-think-wonder thinking routine. Repeat the process using images of the Khodynka tragedy. Compare and contrast the two events and consider what this reveals about social conditions in Russia at the time.
• Draw on the photographs of the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection to create a folio of ten images that provide evidence of social and economic inequality in Imperial Russia. Annotate these selections, noting each image’s context, subject matter and insights that it provides. Drawing on these images and wider reading, write an extended paragraph outlining the social and economic divisions in Russia.
• Using a physical map of Russia (circa 1900), identify areas of dense and low population. Annotate these areas to highlight geographical factors (climate, natural features, etc.) and discuss how they shaped daily life in Russia.
• Using a political map of Russia showing imperial expansion, identify key cities and the challenges associated with their locations (communication, imports/exports, transport, governance, defence).
• Using a Lotus Diagram or a Fishbone Diagram, identify and examine the causes and consequences of an event such as the 1905 Revolution or Russia’s involvement in World War One.
• 
  Create a flowchart or annotated diagram examining the development of revolutionary ideas: liberal ideas and reforms, Marxism and Marxism-Leninism, and related movements and individuals in the chosen revolution.
  
• Create a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine identifying and ranking the significance of key individuals (such as Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, Rasputin, Kerensky, Lenin or Trotsky) in the development of a revolutionary situation (in February 1917 and/or October 1917).
• Analyse a variety of political cartoons about a specific event (for example, the Russo-Japanese War or Bloody Sunday) or issue (role of the Dumas) or individual (Tsar, Tsarina, Stolypin, Rasputin). Compare and contrast them for origin and motives. Consider and document, in a summary table, the source, explicit content including any relevant symbols, the perspective represented and any comparable or contrasting sources.
• Evaluate the historical significance of major reforms (such as those introduced by Stolypin in 1907). Using appropriate evidence, evaluate the political, economic and social causes and consequences of the reforms.
• Using the metaphor of a Russian Matryoshka doll, identify the chronological causes of both the February and October Revolutions. Compare and contrast causation (movements, ideas, individuals and events).
• Create a ‘character map’ of significant individuals and their relationship with one another. Include photo/image, political ideology and affiliation, and role and significance in the development of a revolutionary situation. For each individual, create a slogan, meme or tweet that encapsulates their personality and ideological outlook.
• Create a timeline that identifies the key crises the Provisional Government faced between February and October 1917 (such as Dual Authority, Lenin’s return, the June Offensive, the July Days, the Kornilov Affair). For each, identify the causes and consequences, rank these crises in order of significance, and present an oral defence of ranking or an individual written summary.
• Evaluate three historical explanations of why General Kornilov attempted a coup in September 1917. Create a concept map summarising the explanations. As a class, discuss the strengths and weakness of each interpretation.
• Using a map of Europe, identify the locations of key revolutionary figures (Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin and Dzerzhinsky) when they were in exile. Annotate locations with dates of exile and the catalyst for entering and leaving exile. Map the route Lenin took when he returned to Petrograd in April 1917.
• Create an infographic summarising Russia’s major campaigns during World War One. Use evidence (including statistics) to highlight significant successes and losses during the war.

Detailed example

Parties of the Political Spectrum

Context

Developing an understanding of political ideas, movements and individuals is essential for understanding the development of a revolutionary situation in Russia.

Activities

1. Discuss the characteristics of right-wing, left-wing and moderate or reformist movements, and develop a list of adjectives to describe each.
2. Investigate political parties/movements, including Tsarism, Octobrists, Kadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. This includes an examination of the history, principles, vision, political ideology and key individuals of each movement.
3. Complete a table, based on the example below, positioning political parties along the political spectrum, with most radical to the left and more conservative to the right.
4. Colour-code columns from red (representing a desire for total change) to green (representing a commitment to preserving the status quo).
5. Use this spectrum to support the development of a written or oral narrative outlining the development of a revolutionary situation.

Image description

Extension

6. In small groups students are allocated an individual from the table and they prepare a one-page biography that includes:
• relevant biographical information
• a summary of the individual’s political ideology and political affiliations
• primary source quotes by and about the individual
• a summary of the individual’s role, contribution and significance to the revolution
• historical interpretations of the contribution of individual to the revolution and the consequences of this contribution.
7. Each group presents and shares their biography with the class.

Outcome 2

Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.

Examples of learning activities

• Create a concept map that illustrates the political, economic and social challenges faced by the revolutionary government in consolidating power. For each challenge, indicate the response and consequence for the new regime.
• Discuss pre-revolutionary promises using Lenin’s April Thesis and identify a list of ‘revolutionary ideas’. For each one, participate in a Barometer activity evaluating the extent to which revolutionary ideas were achieved or compromised.
• Analyse new regime propaganda and what it reveals about the projected role of social groups (peasants, proletariat, women, etc.) in the new society. Compare and contrast this with the diverse experiences of social groups as evidenced in primary sources and historical interpretations.
• Using Soviet symbols and iconography, create a propaganda poster related to a key idea or event. Present to class and justify choices made.
• Compile a comment bank of quotations by leading revolutionary figures (including Lenin, Trotsky, and Kollontai). For each one, write a short comment on what each quote reveals about their ideological convictions, views on changing society, attitude to opposition, consolidation of power and/or other consequences of revolution.
• Collate a range of historians’ quotes on a specific topic, such as the Cheka, War Communism, women’s rights or education. Using these quotes, conduct a class debate on the specific topic.
• Select a significant development, change or turning point (such as the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921) and explain what the change and/or development involved, who the issue affected, why the change occurred and the significant consequences of the change. Identify evidence from primary sources and historical interpretations to support the explanation.
• Construct a three-column Civil War Forces table with columns headed: Red Army, White Armies, Green Armies. Drawing on classwork and wider readings, add information about each group that includes key individuals, motives, locations, strengths and weaknesses.
• Create an infographic comparing and contrasting three economic periods of the new regime (October 1917–May 1918; June 1918–March 1921, March 1921–1927).
• 
  For each social group listed in the key knowledge, create a two-dimensional timeline or living graph that maps key events of both areas of study along the x axis and evaluates the extent to which each event can be seen as progress or decline for specified group along the y axis.
  
• Create a seating plan for a dinner party for eight prominent Russian/Soviet Historians. Aim is to seat like-minded thinkers next to each other and avoid any uncomfortable confrontations. Justify your seating plan in view of historians’ views.
• Read Kollontai’s ‘Letter to Dora Montefiore’ and list the differences Kollantai refers to in the lives of Soviet Russians as a result of the revolution. Evaluate the source by verifying Kollontai’s statements with other sources. If it is not possible to verify the statements, discuss the implications for the use of the letter as a historical source.
• Create a Triple Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the economic models of capitalism, state capitalism and war communism.

Detailed example

Use a Living Graph to evaluate consequences of revolution on social groups

Context

Area of Study 2 includes a focus on change and continuity. To understand the concept of change and continuity, students should consider the impact of the revolution on the experiences of social groups listed in the key knowledge. One way of examining the social impact of the revolution is to evaluate negative and positive impacts on each social group.

Activities

1. As a class, generate a list of key events/challenges/ideas for Russia in the period 1896–1927. Discuss the concept of turning points. Consider which events and ideas represent key turning points and how different events may represent different turning points for different social groups.
2. Teacher explains the nature and purpose of a living graph.
3. In small groups, students are allocated one of the following social groups: nobles, peasants, workers, the bourgeoisie, women.
4. Students prepare a living graph, with the events on the x axis and y axis measuring negative or positive impacts. Groups must rate the impact of the event/development on their designated social group and annotate their ratings with an explanation for their decision.
5. Groups present their findings to the class.

This activity has been adapted from Seixas, P and Morton, T 2013, The Big Six, Nelson Education.

Outcome 1

Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.

Examples of learning activities

• Develop a synonym table to unpack a key concept, such as nationalism. Use as many identified synonyms as possible in a written explanation of the selected concept.
• Keep a 5x5 journal. At the conclusion of each lesson, record the five most important things learnt. Each week, review the journal and select the top five learnings for the week.
• Rank the key events and conditions most likely to spark a revolution, listed from most likely to least likely.
• In small groups, create an infographic that illustrates the development of a popular movement, such as the New Culture and May Fourth Movements, the New Life Movement, the Red Army, the Guomindang (Kuomintang), Chinese Communist Party, between 1912 and 1949. Each infographic should address changing ideas, political relationships and fortunes during the period of the Chinese Revolution. Infographics may be prepared throughout the period of study.
• Create a ‘Who’s who’ chart of key individuals in the Chinese Communist Party, focusing on their relationship to Mao Zedong and rating their relationship out of 10 for loyalty to Mao Zedong Thought.
• In small groups or pairs, complete a Kahoot quiz on one of the following leaders: Yuan Shikai (Yuan Shih-k’ai), Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen), Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek), Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung).
• Create a range of propaganda posters representing the views of the following: Goumindang (Kuomintang), the Chinese Communist Party, the Japanese and Sun Yixian (Sun Yet-sen).
• Create flashcards on the popular movements that shaped China between 1912 and 1949.
  
• Create a Fishbone Diagram for each event and condition listed in the key knowledge. The long bones in the diagram should show the different ways the event or condition contributed to revolution; the short ones should provide supporting factual detail or evidence.
• Undertake a range of short retrieval activities on the key knowledge listed in the study design. For example, answer a set of true/false questions based on the role of significant individuals, or create a quick flowchart of events 1912–1949.
• Use cards that portray an image of each of the individuals listed in the key knowledge on one side. On the reverse side, complete the following; name, three key moments in either challenging or maintaining the existing order, two quotes from the individual and three different historical interpretations of the individual’s contribution to revolution.
• Create a flowchart showing how key individuals, groups and events were connected.
• Complete an alphabet brainstorm: recall as much information as possible about an idea, person, event or concept from Outcome 1, starting with a nominated letter of the alphabet. The brainstorm can respond to a stimulus such as a primary source, a video or media resource, or a question derived from the key knowledge.
• Using a range of historical interpretations, create a conversation (talking heads) between historians about specific movements, ideas, individuals or events that contributed to the outbreak of revolution in China. Suggested interpretations include those of Jonathan Spence, Michael Lynch, Edgar Snow, Jonathan Fenby, and Jung Chang and Jon Halliday.
• 
  Complete a retrieval placemat that contains a series of prompts aimed to consolidate learning.
  

Detailed example

Retrieval placemat

Context

This activity is designed to develop student recall and consolidate what they have covered in earlier lessons. It also helps the teacher to identify any misconceptions or gaps in understanding.

Activities

1. Set up the classroom so that students can start on the task as soon as they enter.
2. Prepare a retrieval placemat with the following questions/statements:
• What key word did you learn or use in the last lesson?
• State three key facts from the last lesson.
• In your own words, explain to a partner a key concept or term from the last week.
• Discuss with your partner what has been learnt in the last week.
• Ask your partner three questions based on the key knowledge covered so far in this unit.
3. Place a copy of the A3 retrieval placemat on each student’s desk place.
4. The placemat can be adjusted to specifically reflect what you have covered in the last lesson or set as homework. This task can be repeated periodically so that students can track their learning over time. Also, new questions can be added to the placemat. Alternatively, students can create a retrieval mat to be administered by the teacher at the end of a number of lessons.

Outcome 2

Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.

Examples of learning activities

• Write summaries detailing the response of the new regime to the challenges listed in the key knowledge. Each summary should include: the challenge, the response, consequences of response, an assessment of the effectiveness of the response. Identify two key pieces of evidence about the response.
• On a blank timeline template (1949–76) with key events and short accompanying explanations provided, sort them into the correct order without using notes and explain why the events were placed in that order. Check the correct order against a teacher-provided template and adjust work as needed.
• Create a PowerPoint deck of the six most significant Chinese Communist Party leaders who influenced and changed society between 1949 and 1976. Rank the influence of each individual on a scale of one to ten and substantiate the ranking using historical sources.
• Create a seating plan for a dinner party where the aim is to sit like-minded thinkers next to each other and avoid any uncomfortable confrontations. The following individuals should be included: Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), Lin Biao (Lin Piao), Liu Shaoqi (Liu Shao-ch’i) and Jiang Qing (Chiang Ch’ing). This task can be refined further by giving a specific topic to be discussed at the dinner party; for example, the Great Leap Forward or the Red Guards.
• Rank the attempts at consolidation of power in order from most effective to least effective. For example: thought reform, San Fan and Wu Fan, Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, Socialist Education movement, the ‘Learn From’ Campaigns and the Cultural Revolution. In an extended response, explain the ranking, using historical evidence and sources.
• Complete a mind map identifying the political, social, cultural and economic conditions that compromised revolutionary aims. Then, complete a mind map identifying the political, social, cultural and economic conditions that supported the realisation of revolutionary aims. Write a response evaluating the extent to which the Chinese Communist Party realised their revolutionary aims.
• Undertake a ‘silent talk’ activity to explore the cultural expressions of Maoism. Teacher prints a series of images and text (these could include songs, artwork, works of literature, architecture, fashion and textiles) in colour on A3 paper and places them around the room. Students examine each print-out and, using post-it notes, add observations that have not already been made about the image/text. Discuss as a class. A range of artwork can be found at the Ohio State University.
• In pairs or small groups, create a ‘How to survive in Revolutionary China’ guide for one of the following groups: landlords, peasants, women, intellectuals, business owners, workers Chinese Communist Party cadres, students, Red Guards. The guides should identify what a typical day was like, and provide handy hints on how to flourish in the new society.
• Develop interview questions for an individual, asking them to compare their experiences before and after the revolution. Select an interview candidate from one of: landlords, peasants, women, intellectuals, workers, business owners, Chinese Communist Party Cadres and leaders, or students.
• Complete a source analysis task on the role of significant individuals in changing society. In pairs, use five sources and devise a range of lower and higher order questions to be responded to.
• Use a Lotus Diagram template to explore the extent of change in post-revolutionary society. Populate the diagram with the following central themes: physical environment, social structure, economic features, ideas, individuals and cultural expressions. Include key facts, primary and secondary source quotations and short explanations.
• 
  Create a tug-of-war chart examining the extent of continuity and change in Chinese society.
  
• Select a speech that Mao Zedong delivered after 1949. Identify the historical context and audience, and summarise the key points of the speech. On completion, evaluate the strengths and limitations of the speeches as a historical source for understanding post-revolutionary China.

Detailed example

Explore the extent of continuity and change in Chinese society 1912–1976

Context

This activity is designed to develop students’ understanding of the continuity and change in Chinese society before, during and after the revolution.

Activities

1. Provide students with a list of conditions that a specific group (listed in the key knowledge) would have experienced before, during and after the revolution. Students sort those conditions along the line below to indicate the extent to which they improved after the revolution.

2. The line should not be completed in the chronological manner to reflect the fact that the decisions made by the Chinese Communist Party could change living standards both in the short- and long-term, and in both positive and negative ways.
3. Students then consider which side of the line has the most items and what that tells us about continuity and change in society.

Extension

4. Students create tug-of-war lines for the following groups: peasants, landlords, women, intellectuals, business owners, Chines Communist Party Cadres, students and the Red Guards.

Books

Beard, CA 1913, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, The Macmillan Company, New York.

Booth, SS 1973, The Women of '76, Hastings House, New York

Countryman, E 1985, The American Revolution, Penguin, UK

Ellis, J 2007, American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic, Alfred A. Knopf, New York

Evans, E 1975, Weathering the Storm, Scribner, New York

Fleming, T 1997, Liberty: The American Revolution, Viking, New York

Hackett Fischer, D 1995, Paul Revere’s Ride, Oxford University Press, New York

Hibbert, C 1990, Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America, 1770–1781, Grafton Books, Grafton

Holton, W 1999, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the making of the American Revolution in Virginia, University of North Carolina, Williamsburg

Kerber, LK 1980, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America, University of North Carolina Press, Williamsburg

Knollenberg, B 1975, Growth of the American Revolution 1766–1775, Free Press, New York

Lengel, EG 2011, Inventing George Washington, Harper, New York

McDonnell, MA 2007, The Politics of War: Race, Class, and Conflict in Revolutionary Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, Williamsburg

Miller, JC 1960, Sam Adams: Pioneer in Propaganda, Oxford University Press, Stanford

Nash, GB 1974, Red, White, and Black: the Peoples of Early America, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

Nevins, A & Commager HS 1961, America: The Story of a Free People, Clarendon Press, Oxford

Norton, MB 1980, Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750–1800, Cornell University Press, New York

Norton, MB 1972, The British Americans: The Loyalist Exiles in England 1774–1789, Little, Brown, London

Phillips, D 1984, Empire of Liberty? United States History from 1492, Pitman, Carlton

Raphael, R & Raphael, M 2015, The Spirit of ’74: How the American Revolution Began, The New Press

Taylor, A 2016, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804, W. W. Norton: New York and London 

Taylor, A 2003, American Colonies: The Settlement of North America to 1800, Penguin

Van Schreeven, WJ & Scribner, RL (ed.) 1983, Revolutionary Virginia: The Road to Independence, Vol. 1, Forming Thunderclouds and the First Convention, 1763–1774, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville

Van Tyne, CH 1951, The Causes of the War of Independence, American Philosophical Society, New York

Wiencek, H 2004, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, Macmillan, London

Wood, GS 2002, The American Revolution, A History, Random House, New York

Wood, GS 1966, ‘Rhetoric and Reality in the American Revolution’, William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 23, No. 1, Jan.

Young, AF, Fife, TJ & Janzen, ME 1993, We the People: Voices and Images of the New Nation, Temple University Press, Philadelphia

Websites

American Archives
Documents of the American Revolution, 1774–1776, University of Chicago

America in Class: Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791 

Annotated Newspapers of Harbottle Dorr, Jr.
Collection of 805 newspaper issues published between 1765 and 1776 in Boston and surrounding towns

The Articles of Confederation
Library of Congress website

Founders Online 

George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741–1799

Yale Law School
Avalon Project Documents in American History

Podcasts and lectures

American Revolution Podcast

BBC In our Time Series – Washington and the American Revolution

The American Revolution
Audio by Joanne B. Freeman

Films and documentaries

Liberty: The American Revolution, 1997 (documentary)

The American Revolution, 2014 (documentary)

America: The Story of Us, 2010, Episodes 1 and 2 (documentary)

April Morning, 1988 (film) 

The Last of the Mohicans, 1993 (film) 

The Crossing, 2000 (film) 

Books

Andress, D 2015, The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Andress, D 2006, The French Revolution and the People, Bloomsbury Academic, London

Ballard, R 2011, A New Dictionary of the French Revolution, Tauris & Co., London

Bosher, JF 1988, The French Revolution, Norton, New York

Bouloiseau, M 1987, The Jacobin Republic, 1792–94, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Cobban, A 1965, Aspects of the French Revolution, Paladin, London

Desan, S (ed.) 2013, The French Revolution in Global Perspective, Cornell University Press, New York

Doyle, W 1980, Origins of the French Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Doyle, W 2013, France and the Age of Revolution: Regimes Old and New from Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte, Tauris, London

Doyle, W 2001, The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Doyle, W 1989, The Oxford History of the French Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Furet, F & Ozouf, M (eds) 1989, Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Massachusetts

Garrioch, D 2004, The Making of Revolutionary Paris, University of California Press

von Guttner, D 2021, The French Revolution: The Basics, Routledge, London

Lefebvre, G 1962–64, The French Revolution (2 vols), Routledge & Kegan Paul, London

Lefebvre, G 1967, The Coming of the French Revolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton

McPhee, P (ed.) 2013, A Companion to the French Revolution, Blackwell Publishing, Sussex

McPhee, P 2004, A Social History of France 1789–1914, Palgrave, New York

McPhee, P 2009, Living the French Revolution, Palgrave, New York

McPhee, P 2013, Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life, Yale University Press, Yale

McPhee, P 2017, The French Revolution, 2nd edn, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne

Popkin, JD 2020, A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution, Basic Books, New York

Rude, G 1959, The Crowd in the French Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Rude, G 1964, Revolutionary Europe, 1783–1815, Fontana, London

Schama, S 1989, Citizens, Penguin, London

Stone, B 2002, Reinterpreting French Revolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Soboul, A 1974, The French Revolution, 1787–1799: From the Storming of the Bastille to Napoleon, Vintage Books, New York

Sutherland, DMG 1985, France, 1789–1815: Revolution and Counter-Revolution, Collins-Fontana, London

Sutherland, DMG 2003, The French Revolution and Empire, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford

Vovelle, M 1984, The Fall of the French Monarchy, 1787–1792, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Websites

France: 1789–1871, Revolution
EuroDocs 

French Revolution
Modern History Source Book, Fordham University

French Revolution: How did the British react to July 1789?

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité 

Lectures and podcasts

The French Revolution
University of Melbourne 

BBC In our time series: The French Revolution's reign of terror

Grey History: The French Revolution
by William Clark

University of Oxford 

Historical Association (United Kingdom)
Professor David Andress

Films and documentaries

A Guide to the French Revolution, 2010 (documentary)

The Rise and Fall of Versailles, 2013 (film)

The French Revolution: Tearing up History, 2018 (documentary)

Books

Bruce, LW 1999, Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War 1918–1921, Da Capo Press, New York

Figes, O 1996, A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924, Pimlico, London

Figes, O 2014, Revolutionary Russia 1891–1991, Metropolitan Books, New York

Fitzpatrick, S (2008), The Russian Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Hill, C 1971, Lenin and the Russian Revolution, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth

Kenez, P 1999, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Kowalski, R 1997, The Russian Revolution 1917–1921, Routledge, London

Lee, SJ (2003) Lenin and Revolutionary Russia, Routledge, New York.

Miller, M (ed.) 2001, The Russian Revolution: Blackwell Essential Readings in History, Blackwell, Oxford

Pipes, R 1996, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution, Vintage Books, New York

Pipes, R 1998, Three Whys of the Russian Revolution, Pimlico, London

Pipes, R 1991, The Russian Revolution, Vintage Books, New York

Rabinowitch, A 2007, The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd, Indiana University Press, Bloomington

Rabinowitch, A 2004, The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd, Haymarket Books and Pluto Press, Chicago

Service, R 2002, Lenin: A Biography, Pan Books, London

Service, R 1999, The Russian Revolution 1900–1927, Palgrave, New York

Shukman, H (ed.) 1988, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the Russian Revolution, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford

Smith, SA 2002, The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Steinberg, M 2001, Voices of Revolution, 1917, Yale University Press, New Haven

Suny, R 1998, The Soviet Experiment: Russia, The USSR and the Successor States, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Wade, R (ed.) 2004, Revolutionary Russia: New Approaches, Routledge, New York

Wade, R 2000, The Russian Revolution, 1917, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Lectures and podcasts

Judith Devlin on the Russian Revolution 

Revolutions with Mike Duncan 

Websites

The Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record Recreated: The Empire That Was Russia
Library of Congress

Russian Revolution
Modern History Source Book, Fordham University 

Russian Revolution
Spartacus Educational

The Marxist Internet Archive 

Russian History
Bucknell University 

Orlando Figes’ website

Films and documentaries

Reds, 1981 (film)

October: Ten Days that Shook the World, 1927 (film)

Russian Revolution in Colour, 2004 (documentary)

Red Chapters: The Hunt for True October, 2005 (documentary)

Lenin’s Secret Files, 1997 (documentary)

Empire of the Tsars, 2016 (documentary series)

Books

Becker, J 1996, Hungry Ghosts, China’s Secret Famine, John Murray, London

Benton, G & Chun, L 2010, Was Mao Really a Monster? The Academic Response to Chang and Halliday’s Mao the Unknown Story, Routledge, London

Chang, J & Halliday, J 2005, Mao: The Unknown Story, Jonathan Cape, London

Cushing, L & Tompkins. A 2007, Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Chronicle Books, San Francisco

Dietrich, C 1994, People’s China: A Brief History, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Dikotter, F 2013, The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945–57, Bloomsbury, UK

Ebrey, P 2006, China: A Cultural, Social and Political History, Houghton Mifflin, Boston

Fairbank, JK 1988, The Great Chinese Revolution 1800–1985, Picador, London

Feigon, L 2002, Mao: A Reinterpretation, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago

Fenby, J 2008, Modern China, HarperCollins, New York

Gao, M 2008, The Battle for China’s Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution, Pluto Press, Ann Arbor

Gay, K 2009, The Aftermath of the Chinese Nationalist Revolution, Twenty-First Century Books. Minneapolis

Gray, J 1990, Rebellions and Revolutions China from the 1880s to the 1980s, Oxford University Press, Melbourne

Hsu, I 1995, The Rise of Modern China, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, New York

Jocelyn, E & McEwen, A 2006, The Long March: The True Story behind the Legendary Journey that Made Mao’s China, Constable & Robinson, London

Landsberger, S & Van Der Heijehen, M 2009, Chinese Posters. Prestel Verlag, Munich

Lawrence, A 2000, China Under Communism, Routledge, London

Li, Z 1994, The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Inside Story of the Man Who Made Modern China, Chatto & Windus, London

MacFarquhar, R & Schoenhals, M 2006, Mao’s Last Revolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge

Mitter, R 2008, Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Mitter, R 2013, China’s War with Japan 1937–1945: The Struggle for Survival, Allen Lane, London

Moise, E 1994, Modern China: A History, Longman, London

Short, P 2004, Mao: A Life, John Murray, London

Spence, J 1990, In Search of Modern China, W.W. Norton & Co., New York

Sun, S 2006, The Long March, HarperCollins, London

Terrill, R 1995, Mao: A Biography, Hale & Ironmonger, Sydney

Memoirs

Chang, J 1991, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, HarperCollins, London

Cheng, N 1995, Life and Death in Shanghai, Flamingo, London

Li, Z 2003, Red-color News Soldier, Phaidon Press, London

Ma, B 1995, Blood Red Sunset: A Memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth

Wu, H 1994, Bitter Winds: A Memoir of My Years in China’s Gulag, John Wiley & Sons, New York

Wu, N 1993, A Single Tear, Sceptre, UK

Yuan, G 1987, Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution, Stanford University Press, Stanford

Films and documentaries

Empire of the Sun, 1987 (film)

To Live, 1994 (film)

Why we fight series: The Battle for China, 1942–44 (short films)

China: The Long March, 1986 (documentary)

As It Happened: Mao – A Life, 2006 (documentary)

As It Happened: The Long March, 2008 (documentary)

Chairman Mao: The Last Emperor, 1993 (documentary)

Morning Sun, 2003 (documentary)

People’s Century: Great Leap, 1997 (documentary)

Red Chapters: The Heroes of Dadu, 1999 (documentary)

Podcasts and lectures

Hammond, K From Yao to Mao 

Baum, R The Fall and Rise of China
The Great Courses: lecture series covering the late Qing period through to modern day China

The Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949
by the Historical Association United Kingdom 

Remembering China’s Cultural Revolution

Mao Zedong and The Chinese Revolution
by Revolutionary Left Radio

Mao Zedong and The Chinese Revolution: History versus Myth

BBC Witness History 

Websites

The John Fairbank Memorial Chinese History Virtual Library 

Chinese Propaganda Posters
Chinese Poster Foundation 

China from 1911 
Modern History Source Book

The Marxist Internet Archive 

Morning Sun: The Cultural Revolution