Can anyone suggest some interesting or fun learning activities to help students consolidate their knowledge of a personality? This is my first time teaching Trotsky.
I guess this is a bit late now, but did you consider the various versions of 'This is your life', 'Trotsky on trial' or 'In the hot seat'? They all require a pretty strong student in the 'starring' role, but they can be a lot of fun.
It's also fun to adapt some of the strategies we use with juniors, such as 'mix and match' source extracts (primary and or secondary) about Trotsky with likely authors or situations; matching captions with images, also comparing excerpts from documentaries and asking students to identify each doco maker's purpose.
You could easily adapt the activity based on pairs of statements about Kollontai on p.52 of the BOS Support Material for Modern History. Instead of the final product being an extended response, pairs or groups could present a poster or power point.
Did you know Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico by an ice pick to the back of the head? Since ice picks are hard to come by in Mexico the assassin must have brought one from Russia. This shows that Stalin must have had a sense of humour.
