A Few Reviews
I've not done a review for every book in the ‘Good Reading’ and useful Resources Section but I hope to start adding them now, when books are published or reprinted ...
Better Lessons in A Level History – by Diana Laffin
I am in awe. How can one book encompass multiple intelligences, Pink Floyd, the historicity of evidence, Duplo timelines, Henry VIII’s religious changes, the brilliant ‘silent conversation’ activity, independent learning, Last Tango in Paris, Mussolini’s March on Rome, post-modernism and the author’s Great Uncle Harry?
This book is superb and in many ways its title sells it short because it’s not just about A level lessons – it’s about ‘Better Lessons in History’. Even if you spend most of your time teaching KS3 and GCSE there’s a great deal here that’s of value – so please don’t be put off by the words ‘A level’ in the title or if the exemplars don’t fit your specification. This is a book for all History teachers.
The five chapters deal with 100 Year studies, understanding sources and evidence, knowledge and interpretation, independent learning and improving student writing. Each is exemplified by detailed examples (complete with resources) – which may make reading this sound like hard work but it’s not. It’s a joy! It’s always entertaining and enthusing, making difficult aspects of psychology or history accessible and throughout drawing on deep experience and, more importantly, reflecting about that experience. In an old-fashioned phrase – this book carries its immense learning and understanding of the art and science of teaching very lightly. Humanity, vitality, lightness of touch and sense of humour – it’s got them all. And that film reference? ‘You may as well watch Last Tango in Paris without the sex scenes as study history without the sources.’ How can anyone resist a book that contains such a sentence?
Amazon: Better Lessons in A Level History (History In Practice)
Hodder Education: Better Lessons in A Level History (History In Practice)
Thinking through History - by Peter Fisher
Peter Fisher's Thinking through History resource collection should be on every department shelf. It provides introductions to the nature and value of nine types of learning strategies including:
- Concept Maps
- Lifelines
- Odd One Out
- Mysteries
- Pictures from Memory
- Story-telling
- Community of Enquiry.
This structure and the title 'Thinking through History' reveal that the focus is on helping children to learn more effectively in History - learning through rigorous, enjoyable activities. Each strategy is then explored through at least two and sometimes three topics, (many of which are core KS3 and GCSE content) all trialled in schools in the north-east and written up by the teachers who used them. Many of the resources used in the classroom are provided, both for copying and so that you get a full sense of how the activity works.
For several years I've thought this excellent resource was out of print so it's great to discover it's still available - just note that, because it was published in 2002, its references to the KS3 National Curriculum don't refer to the current Programme of Study. You can find further details at the link below - £39 for 152 pages may sound expensive at first glance but it is a resource you'll go back to time and time again.
Optimus Education: Thinking Through History
Amazon: Thinking Through History
Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton
This book is not just for cricket enthusiasts, like me – but a brilliant piece of social history that’s far more than a story of wickets and runs.
Even if you don't know a yorker from a googly this is well worth reading for its recreation of 1930s society and the story of the individual at the centre of an international sporting crisis.
Amazon: Harold Larwood
History Mysteries by Claire Ward and Sarah Logie
Don't be deceived by the main title 'History Mysteries' which could suggest a set of one-off puzzles, more fun than substance. Instead focus on the sub-title of this book - 'Innovative thinking skills activities for KS3' - which says far more about the value and approach of this package of resources, a direct descendant of Peter Fisher's Thinking through History. Claire Ward and Sarah Logie have taken one strategy from Thinking through History - Mystery activities - and developed it at length in the context of the 2008 KS3 Programme of Study.
Why spend £49 on this 190 page package (and accompanying CD providing all resources, PowerPoints etc)?
You get clear, classroom-trialled advice on why and how to use 'mysteries' and how they can be integrated within your scheme of work. Chapters are arranged by five National Curriculum themes (Conflict and co-operation, Civil Rights, Power and human rights, Everyday life, British identity: movement and settlement in Britain) and provide full resources and guidance on using the mysteries described. A particularly strong feature is the way the mysteries focus on individual people and their actions, motivations and experience - the sense of unravelling personal stories comes through very strongly - but then widen out from the individuals to broader issues. However this isn't simply presented as a set of resources to be implemented with minimal thinking - the Introduction and the final chapter provide good contextual discussion of teaching and learning in History, the potential for professional development within a departmental and school context and the importance of taking these approaches and running with them yourself, developing your own variants and learning more from your own experience about how children learn. Claire and Sarah, both History teachers in Durham, have done an awe-inspiring amount of work in creating these activities but, more importantly, have done a vast amount of thinking about their teaching and how to help children learn. Well worth the price of just 4 textbooks!
For full details of approaches and content, and ordering, see the Publisher's website, click here: History Mysteries
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Better Lessons in A Level History by Diana Laffin
