Customer Reviews

Resources for Teaching History: 11-14

I have waited for this item for several months. When it arrived just before term started I was delighted as it may help me to save some time on planning some new and exciting lessons for my young historians. Indeed this was one thing that the marketing material promised and as such I was drawn to this and its sister title (Resources or Teaching History: 14-16). I paid what I considered to be a rather large price tag for the books and on their arrival I found the promises of the product description about quality lesson plans and resources was, to be frank, not true. The lesson plans consist of one side of paper that resemble no lesson plans I have ever seen, in fact I am certain its contents would pass few inspections. The lesson aims and outcomes (there are no objectives) are vague and unmeasurable ("all pupils will have realised there are always two sides to every story"), the differentiation suggestions seem like an after thought and some of the main phases are excessively long, eliminating pace and lesson energy. Each lesson is accompanied by a photocopiable work sheet which are unfortunately uninspiring and dull. Indeed there are only photocopiable worksheets for every lesson. However, this is not the worse crime these titles commit. It is claimed that each book also has a companion web site on which one can download all of the resources for the lessons where they are required. In fact the first lesson I wanted to use 'What caused the English Civil War?" stated that I needed to go to the web site and "look at the video clips and links on the companion website". I logged onto the companion website and obtained my user password and then eagerly navigated my way to the resources I needed. Unfortunately the companion web site contains not a single link, single resource or anything that could be of any use to a busy teacher. It certainly does not provide quality resources nor support any of the lessons in the book making most of them useless. IT IS EMPTY and therefore make my purchase of these books something of a waste of money. If the web site is sorted I would be happy to amend my review (although the resources would need to be far better than the content of the book) but until then the books I have purchased are of little worth and certainly I would not advise anyone to waste �30 on each of these titles when there are far better resources available for free on the web. At �12.99 a book I may have felt this was a worthwhile punt but at the current price I feel robbed. Shame on the author and publishers for charging academic prices for a year 9 quality publication.

This book delivers just what it says on the cover - lesson plans to inspire secondary History teachers. It is not a step-by-step, you don't have to think for yourself type book, but one with great ideas, suggestions, background and content that you can deliver as you like or use directly as they are. The content is in-depth and the response from my pupils already is one of enthusiasm. There is a lot of variety in the content, delivery and expectations and there are clear methods of stretching the less and more able in your classes. I have already tried out some of the lessons on my classes and the new term has got off to a cracking start. Whether this is your first teaching job or you are coming to the end of your career, this book is highly recommended.