[Carl Fazackerley]

Hi All

I have recently started in post at a school that has opted for WJEC Spec A for next year.

We have selected the following modules:

Depth
5. Russia in Revolution, 1905 - 1924
7. Germany, 1919 - 1945

Outline
4. The United States of America, 1929 - 1990

Coursework
Haig and the Battle of the Somme
Women in World War One

We have ordered a set of the Heinnemann Spec A textbook recommended by the board but it doesn't really feel detailed enough in the depth studies so I was wondering if anyone might be able to recommend some textbooks that might provide this.

Many thanks in advance

[DaveStacey]

We do the Germany and USA parts. Our core text books are 'Germany 1918-45' by Josh Brooman and published by Longman and 'The USA 1917-1980' by Nigel Smith, published by Oxford University Press. Be aware that you need to top up this last one with worksheets to get up to 1990, although it's possible there may now be an updated version.
For the Germany course we also sometimes use some of the books from the 'Longman 20th Century History Series' although these are pretty old and I don't know if they still publish them.

The one thing I would advise doing with both is carefully planning your lessons to the course spec rather than the text books as these were both written for different courses and go into more detail and more areas that you'll actually need. Certainly in the case of Germany it's VERY easy to get bogged down in trying to teach all the content, rather than what you need to cover for the course.

I'll go through my stuff and fish out a few worksheets over the holidays if you want them. I'll also have a rummage round the dept and see if I can find anything else you mind find useful. PM me your postal address and I'll send you a parcel as most of them won't be digital!

[Carl Fazackerley]

This is VERY much appreciated Dave! PM'd my address.

[alison denton]

Another good book for the Germany depth is the SHP one by Lacey and Sheppard published by John Murray. There aren't very many that cover the entire outline period for USA - and the Nigel Smith one is best I also think.
Not sure about the Russia even though I examine that module for WJEC I don't teach it.

It is entirely possible to actually contact the principal examiners and/ or the subject officer at WJEC though - if you phone the Board and ask for the History Subject Officer and I'm sure they could tell you what book(s) most centres are using

Have you thought about either swapping the Russia for the USa depth, or swapping the USA outline for the Germany outline? It may make it a bit easier to teach.
Just a thought.

The WJEC book for the course is definitely worth having because the exam papers are based on it, but you are right that you need something else as a text, or a lot of supplementing with worksheets etc.

Try NGfL Cymru website too - there is some stuff on there that would be relevant.

Dave's advice about not getting bogged down in the content is really true - the pupils need to see the woods for the trees.

Let me know if you'd like any materials on exam techniques, or for you on marking answers etc.

[Carl Fazackerley]

alison denton, on Jul 11 2006, 09:09 PM, said:

Have you thought about either swapping the Russia for the USa depth, or swapping the USA outline for the Germany outline? It may make it a bit easier to teach.
Just a thought.

I'm interested in what you have to say here as I don't really know the specification on board; why would these changes make it easier to teach?

[Liz T]

Hi Carl,

I'm taking over as HoD in September and I've decided to stick with the WJEC, but change the units to what was taught in my previous school.
We'll be studying: in Depth - Germany and USA. Outline - USA. Coursework - WW1. We use the Brooman and Smith books mentioned in a previous post, and aslo use top up worksheets on the USA Outline paper. The school I'm moving to did Russia In Depth and I think the majority of kids found it quite difficult (judging by the breakdown of thier final GCSE marks). We also have several copies of a Germany book by Wilkes (not sure of the publisher) and these are fab.
Let me know if I can help in any way - just done SoW for the two In Depth units and revamped the WW1 document packs for the coursework.

Liz

[Carl Fazackerley]

Many thanks Liz - anything you could send my way would be much appreciated as there is so much to plan for the course as my school has never had a KS4 before! [only opened in 2003]

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 24 August 2006 - 02:25 PM

[Carl Fazackerley]

Liz T, on Aug 24 2006, 10:11 AM, said:

We also have several copies of a Germany book by Wilkes (not sure of the publisher) and these are fab.

Is this the Folens text?

[Allen]

We teach USA 1910 - 1920, Germany, 1919 - 1945 USA 1929 - 1990 and coursework on Haig with WJEC. I find the SHP books are really good and tend to create my own materials for the outline course using a load of different textbooks. The WJEC produced student book is good for revision and your own notes but not really suitable for use in class. I would agree that the Nigel Smith one is probably the best overall.

johndclare.net is brilliant for supplementing Haig coursework.

Good dvds to use for America:

Untouchables
Rosa Parks Story (cheesy but some great scenes!)
Thirteen Days (Cuban Missile Crisis)
Swing Kids (Hitler Youth/Nazi Resistance)
The beginning of the Pianist (treatment of Jews)
Hearts and Minds (Vietnam)

PM if you want me to send you some of the stuff I use Kate

[Liz T]

Yes, it's the Folens book. Really good too!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Liz T, on Sep 13 2006, 08:48 PM, said:

Yes, it's the Folens book. Really good too!

Ace - have ordered one to have a look at

Allen, on Sep 13 2006, 08:10 PM, said:

PM if you want me to send you some of the stuff I use Kate

Thanks Kate