Did the 20th century see the biggest change in the punishment of offenders?
Starting with sad case of Derek Bentley (pictured), the class acts as jury to decide whether they would find Bentley innocent or guilty? We are sure they will be shocked when they find out the real verdict. This tragic story helps us see why execution was finally abolished in Britain…
After establishing this huge change, your students will evaluate what other changes happened to punishments in the 20th century. Was the 20th century the time of the most change in punishments?
They go on to think of punishments in other eras (great revision) before deciding who would win in a tug of war of importance when it comes to changes in punishments: the 20th century or another era? Your students decide. This can re recorded on an annotated diagram and you could act it out too!
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- Lesson presentation: PowerPoint
- Lesson write-up: PDF
- Worksheet 1: PDF
- Worksheet 2: PDF
