Hot Seating

This is particularly fun sounding. The teacher sits at the front of the room and plays the role of a historical figure. The students can be given a few minutes to prepare questions. Then they ask 'the character' questions, e.g. why did you do that? what were your motives? was this the right thing to do? The teacher stays in role and answers questions (possibly wearing a distinctive item like a hat to clarify when in character and when as teacher for discipline reasons).

This could be used to Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler, a member of Hitler's Youth, a victim of the inflation crisis. It could be done at various suitable intervals through the year when an important character needs introducing.