Interactive Amplify History lessons for Grades 9 and 10.

The teacher sets the enquiry question 'How useful is this source to a historian studying attitudes to volunteering in Britain in 1914 to 1915?' and shows the poster 'Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?' with the printed line naming its publisher cropped off. Students rate its usefulness on a five-point Mentimeter scale and note one reason, based on content alone, in their books. The teacher then reveals the provenance (published by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee in 1915 to encourage men to enlist) and students rate again on a second, identical slide, with the teacher flicking between the two results. The teacher asks the students whose rating moved furthest to explain, and uses the comparison to show that provenance changes how a source is useful without making it useless.

Tools: Mentimeter Nine ideas for your own version in Generate

The teacher posts three short extracts on the causes of the First World War: Fritz Fischer arguing that Germany deliberately pursued war to achieve its aims, James Joll on the 'unspoken assumptions' shared across Europe's leaders, and Christopher Clark's case in The Sleepwalkers that responsibility was shared. Each student posts a two-sentence justification in the Padlet column for the interpretation they find most convincing, citing one piece of evidence from their own knowledge. The teacher checks the column sizes, asks the smallest column to make its case first, and then has each student reply to one post in a column they disagree with. Students end by writing a judgement paragraph that names the interpretation they rejected and why.

Tools: Padlet Nine ideas for your own version in Generate

The teacher shares a co-authored PowerPoint deck with one numbered slide per student, each showing the same five factors behind Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in January 1933: the Great Depression, weaknesses in the Weimar constitution, Nazi propaganda, fear of communism, and the political deals of Papen and Hindenburg. Students drag each factor onto a 1 to 5 scale on their own slide and add a one-line reason beside the factor they weighted highest. The teacher switches to slide sorter view to see every slide at once, tallies which factors students put at 5, and calls on students with opposite weightings for the most divisive factor. Students end by writing a 'how far' paragraph that defends their top factor against the class's most common alternative.

Tools: PowerPoint Nine ideas for your own version in Generate

A Year 11 class and a partner school abroad studying the same period hold a mock hearing on who bears most responsibility for the outbreak of war in 1914. The UK class argues that Germany does, drawing on Fritz Fischer's interpretation, and the partner class argues that the great powers stumbled into war together, drawing on Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers. Each side calls witnesses in role, such as Bethmann Hollweg, Sir Edward Grey and Sazonov, who are cross-examined by the other side, and every student has a job: advocate, witness, cross-examiner, researcher passing evidence notes, or juror. The jury is drawn from both classes and votes with reasons in a Mentimeter poll at the end. The hearing is a Teams meeting hosted by both teachers on school accounts, whole class to whole class, and each student finishes by writing which piece of evidence moved them most.

Tools: Microsoft Teams, Mentimeter Nine ideas for your own version in Generate