This bundle brings together twelve fully resourced lessons covering the key people, ideas, events and developments of the Renaissance. Designed for secondary and middle school students, the sequence takes learners from the origins of the Renaissance in the Italian city states through to the major cultural, scientific and artistic changes that transformed Europe.
Across the unit, students explore topics including the rise of Florence, the Medici family, patronage, Humanism, Renaissance art, Leonardo da Vinci, Andreas Vesalius, the printing press, Venice, the Islamic world’s contribution to Renaissance learning, and the development of Renaissance medicine. Throughout the sequence, students build a secure understanding of how different factors combined to create one of the most significant periods of change in world history.
As with all Wolsey Academy Premium Lessons, every lesson includes a range of differentiated activities, retrieval practice, literacy support, assessment opportunities, model answers, mark schemes and explicit teaching of historical writing and examination skills. Students regularly engage with success criteria, assess exemplar responses and improve their own work through structured feedback activities.
The lessons are designed to work as a coherent enquiry-based unit whilst also functioning effectively as stand-alone lessons. A variety of discussion tasks, source investigations, research activities, extended writing opportunities, projects and presentations help students develop both historical knowledge and transferable analytical skills.
The bundle also includes access to a Renaissance Medicine RPG Adventure. Students can explore an interactive online world inspired by Renaissance Europe, speak to historical characters, investigate key locations and complete an accompanying task booklet as they uncover the medical developments of the period. This provides an engaging enrichment opportunity and helps bring Renaissance history to life beyond the classroom.
Ideal for teachers seeking a complete Renaissance unit with strong curriculum coverage, clear progression and minimal preparation requirements.
Topics Included
Why Did the Renaissance Begin in Italy?
The Printing Press
Why Were the Medici So Successful?
The Medici and Patronage
Lorenzo de’ Medici
Leonardo da Vinci
Humanism
Renaissance Art
Andreas Vesalius and Renaissance Medicine
How Did the Islamic World Help Create the Renaissance?
The Italian City States
The Republic of Venice