Lesson context Students have spent eight lessons examining major turning points of the last thousand years in British political history. This is the first lesson of four in which they will plan, draft and revise an essay twice demonstrating their understanding of this topic. For more information on the history curriculum please see the history department handbook or the ‘you may be wondering…’ folder. For more information on the marking and feedback strategies used during this scheme of work please see the ‘you may be wondering…’ folder (especially chapter 43). For more information about the process of drafting and redrafting of essays and the results, please see the ‘you may be wondering…’ folder (especially chapter 32).

Class context 8H (All classes are mixed ability – all lessons are designed to be ‘low-challenge, high-threshold,’ accessible to all but stretching every individual.) This group generally have a strong degree of historical knowledge and understanding and enjoy debating enormously.

Which historical changes most dramatically affected the creation of modern government? 03/04/2019 Do now: Which of the changes we’ve studied most dramatically affected the government we have today?

Students offer an initial reaction to the essay question – this acts both as a recap of what students have already learned and a chance to begin the debate which the essay continues. Hands-down questioning, extension and development of points helps model the kinds of thinking and evidential support desired in the essay subsequently.

We have learned about each major change. Which historical changes most dramatically affected the creation of modern government? 03/04/2019 We have learned about each major change. We will now be demonstrating what we have learned and working on how we communicate/argue effectively… Today: Examining a _____ essay so that… Making a ____ so that…

A brief introduction of the learning intention of the lesson so students are aware of the direction and purpose of this lesson and the next sequence of lessons. Students guess the missing words to ensure a degree of engagement and understanding of the process and its purpose.

Which historical changes most dramatically affected the creation of modern government? 1) Read the example essay and highlight the strengths of each content paragraph. 2) Which paragraph is best? Why? Focus on the content paragraphs (“paragraphs 1- 3”) not the introduction & conclusion. How would you change the worst paragraph to improve it? Start drafting those changes.

Students examine a ‘model’ essay to demonstrate the qualities of historical writing which I wish them to adopt. Each paragraph models a different facet of possible student attainment: one lacks evidence, one has evidence but lacks explanation and one includes both. Focus is made on the content paragraphs, since this is the particular element of historical argument on which students’ improvement efforts are focused. The introduction and conclusion are provided for students’ information but will not be discussed in any depth, if at all. The extension (in yellow) is designed to challenge students to apply their understanding of good writing, although it is not anticipated that many students will take part in this. I will ask all students to show their decision on a whiteboard as a way to identify the extent of students’ recognition of quality in writing and as a prompt for subsequent discussion.

Write your plan on a piece of A4 Which historical changes most dramatically affected the creation of modern government? Use the planning sheet Write your plan on a piece of A4 You have until the end of this lesson to complete your plan.

Students will have no more than fifteen minutes to plan their essay Students will have no more than fifteen minutes to plan their essay. They should do this with a degree of independence although no student has yet mastered this process. It is not anticipated that students will complete their plans – they should finish the lesson knowing the topics of their paragraphs and having begun to identify the evidence they will use (as well as being clear as to the aims of the exercise). Next lesson, all students will have a maximum of ten minutes to complete their plans and will then begin writing.

How well did they get it? What would I do differently next time? Evaluation Added a note to the paragraphing slide to emphasise how I’m referring to paragraphs as students were confused about what paragraphs 1-3 were. ‘Moderated’ the vocabulary of example paragraph 1 as some students argued that it was unclear and so ‘marked down’ paragraph 1 as a consequence. How well did they get it? What would I do differently next time?

This is where I record how a lesson went and how I have tweaked it to improve it.