Free History Lesson Plans and Free History Tasks

teaching and learnign ks2 All parts of this site have been written and quality assured by Neil Thompson, who has vast experience of history teaching from years in the classroom, leading a department, and being part of SLT.

For even longer he was an OFSTED history inspector, the county history adviser to Hampshire primary and secondary schools and consultant and author for the BBC, DFE, exam boards, publishers, and QCA. Neil continues to support teachers by running national courses and works with teachers in schools. He also runs school-based INSET and acts as ‘virtual adviser’ offering crucial support to new subject leaders.

Free KS1 Resources	Historical focus
The Great Fire – KQ1 – How can we work out why the Great Fire started?	Great Fire of London – causes and historical enquiry
Going to the seaside – KQ2 – What did people do at the seaside 100 years ago?	Seaside holidays – change and continuity
Smart Task: Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole – Who said it? Who am I?	Significant individuals – comparison and evidence
Moon Landing – KQ1 – Has man ever been to the moon and how can we know for sure?	Moon Landing – evidence and historical enquiry
Toys – KQ3 – How can we tell these toys are old?	Toys past and present – using evidence
The Gunpowder Plot: Prove it using a gallery of images	Gunpowder Plot – visual evidence and enquiry
Help Tom to fight the Great Fire – Smart Task	Great Fire of London – decision-making and enquiry
Expert Advice: Key Stage 1 – Mary Anning	Mary Anning – teaching and curriculum guidance
Expert Advice: Planning for a cross-curricular topic on Going to the Seaside	Seaside – cross-curricular planning
Florence Nightingale lesson and sample planner	Florence Nightingale – lesson and medium-term planning
Assessment for learning in Primary history	Assessment for learning and progression
Long term planning for history at Key Stage 1	KS1 curriculum and long-term planning
Thinking skills in history at Key Stage 1	Thinking skills and historical learning
Smart Task: KS1 – Assessment in history	Seaside topic – assessment and historical understanding

Free KS2 Resources	Historical focus
KS2 Example Planner – Vikings Medium Term Planner	Vikings – medium-term curriculum planning
Teaching Life in Tudor Times for KS2	Tudor Britain – teaching and enquiry
WW2 – KQ2c – Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee	World War Two – evacuation and historical evidence
Anglo-Saxons – KQ2 – The mystery of the empty Saxon grave	Anglo-Saxons – archaeology and historical enquiry
Life in Tudor Times – Linking history with numeracy: a Tudor enquiry	Tudor Britain – buildings, evidence and numeracy
Ancient Egypt – The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb	Ancient Egypt – Tutankhamun and archaeological discovery
Roman Britain – Picture this: creating a Roman town	Roman Britain – towns, buildings and everyday life
Vikings – KQ1 – What image do we have of the Vikings?	Vikings – interpretations and historical evidence
How will your school commemorate the end of World War One?	World War One – remembrance and commemoration
Imaginative learning activities at Key Stage 2	KS2 history – teaching and learning strategies
If life was so hard in Victorian cities, why did Wilf move his family there?	Victorian Britain – migration and urbanisation
Primary History: Teaching Victorian Britain Key Stage 2	Victorian Britain – teaching and curriculum guidance
Using a Victorian census to discover what life was like 100 years ago	Victorian Britain – census evidence and enquiry
Victorian Cities	Victorian Britain – urban life and industrialisation
History and literacy – Making sense of a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn	Tudors – primary sources and historical literacy
Assessment of interpretations of Boudicca	Roman Britain – interpretations and assessment

Free KS3 Resources	Historical focus
Teaching KS3 History: Black Peoples of the Americas and slavery	Slavery and Black history – teaching and enquiry
Free at Last? How far had the Civil Rights Movement come by 1963?	Civil Rights Movement – change and historical judgement
How well do these cartoons cover the causes of World War One?	World War One – causation and cartoon evidence
Court of King Cholera: Where am I in the picture?	Industrial Britain – public health and source analysis
Puzzle Corner 3: The strange case of the missing slave	Slavery – visual evidence and interpretation
Puzzle Corner: The strange case of the steel helmet	World War One – evidence and historical deduction
Expert Advice: Key Stage 3 and 4 – Using the 4 Bs	Teaching strategy – improving historical learning
Fit for purpose teaching strategies at Key Stage 3	KS3 history – personalised learning and teaching strategies
Battalion 101: Why did they shoot? A history mystery	Holocaust – causation and historical enquiry
What can we learn about the Empire from a Christmas pudding?	British Empire – evidence and interpretation
What made runaway slaves successful?	Slavery – causation and historical enquiry
What can we learn about medieval churches from the outside and inside?	Medieval Britain – religion and material evidence
Puzzle Corner 2: Analysing Victorian photographs – the Tredegar patch girls	Victorian Britain – photographic evidence

Free KS4 Resources	Historical focus
Smart Task: Opening up of the Western frontier by the railroads – a history mystery	American West – railroads, causation and enquiry
Smart Task: Medieval medicine – What can we work out from the picture?	Medicine through time – medieval medicine and evidence
Smart Task: GCSE SHP Medicine – 18th century surgery	Medicine through time – surgery and change
Smart Task: How popular was the Vietnam War? What can we learn from just two photographs?	Vietnam War – interpretations and photographic evidence
Hoover’s rubbish: Roosevelt moves in	USA – Depression, Hoover and Roosevelt
Thoroughly Modern Millie: How do we know this song is about Flappers?	USA in the 1920s – Flappers and social change
GCSE SHP Crime and Punishment: The Metropolitan Police Force in 1830	Crime and Punishment – policing and cartoon evidence
How well do these cartoons cover the causes of World War One?	World War One – causation and cartoon analysis
Squeezing the sources dry: how to make the most of source work in GCSE history	GCSE source skills and historical evidence
Expert Advice: Key Stage 3 and 4 – Using the 4 Bs	Teaching strategy and historical thinking
Attitudes of the US government to Native Americans: milking an image for meaning	American West – Native Americans and visual evidence
Smart Task: What do election posters tell us about Who Voted Nazi?	Nazi Germany – elections, propaganda and source analysis
Smart Task: A Suffragette procession – comparing the evidence	Women’s suffrage – comparison of historical evidence
Smart Task: Deciphering a Cold War cartoon using the slow reveal technique	Cold War – cartoon analysis and source skills
Vesalius’ claim to fame – using the B.A.D. formula to prepare for a BBC interview	Medicine through time – Vesalius and Renaissance medicine
Prehistoric Medicine: Getting your GCSE course off to a great start	Medicine through time – prehistoric beliefs and treatments
Why was this World War One painting censored?	World War One – censorship and interpretations
How have cartoonists portrayed the Liberals’ Old Age Pensions reforms?	Liberal reforms – interpretations and cartoon evidence
GCSE Modern World History: Using football to teach inter-war relations 1919–39	Inter-war relations – international relations through football
Marking the anniversary of the Wall Street Crash	USA – Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression

KS2 Example Planner – Vikings Medium Term Planner

Here is a typical example of a medium term plan which exist for all main KS2 topics, in line with the most recent history National Curriculum. You will notice that…

The Great Fire – KQ1 – How can we work out why the Great Fire started?

This innovative session places pupils right from the start of the enquiry in the role of detectives to discover when, where and why the Great Fire of London broke out….

Teaching KS3 History: Black Peoples of the Americas and slavery

The title of this section reflects the fact that the new curriculum should not any longer be boxed up into just six discrete silos called study units. Instead there should…

Teaching Life in Tudor Times for KS2

The Tudors from Key Stage 2 history, it is too good a learning experience for pupils for them to miss out on. if you want to see how you could…

WW2 – KQ2c – Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee

The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website section on Eric the evacuee. There is nothing wrong with…

Anglo-Saxons – KQ2 – The mystery of the empty Saxon grave

This highly engaging lesson places pupils in the role of detectives. After a short briefing they have to work out the significance of the various clues found in the bodiless…

Going to the seaside – KQ2 – What did people do at the seaside 100 years ago?

From mime to movie. SMART TASK This fun activity is carried out by children working on tables of six. Half the class work on one image, the other half on…

Ancient Egypt – KQ3 part 1 – The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb

The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb: a brilliant reconstruction relay The activity that forms the basis of this lesson is called reconstruction relay. It is GUARANTEED to enthuse even the most…

Smart task Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole: Who said it? / Who am I?

This simple task encourages children to spot the differences between Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. With a large A4 image of Florence on one side, and Mary Seacole on the…

Toys – KQ3 – How can we tell these toys are old?

This smart task complements the existing lesson on the site using ICT . Rather than re-write the whole lesson this is added as an extra task. Using slides 2-5 show…

Roman Britain – KQ4 part 1 – Picture this. Creating a group drawing of a Roman town with all key buildings included in the right place

After re-capping the main features of Iron Age settlements, pupils work collaboratively in role as spies trying to find which special buildings the Romans had in their towns. They then…

Free at Last? How far had the Civil Rights Movement come by 1963?

How far have Afro-Americans come in their struggle for equality over the last 160 years? With many schools operating a 2-year Key Stage 3 curriculum, it is important to offer…

Vikings – KQ1 – What image do we have of the Vikings?

This two part session gives the topic on the Vikings a really active start. Following an introduction to the Vikings in time and place, including a competitive Time Team task,…

SMART TASK: A history puzzle – Opening up of the Western frontier by the railroads. A history mystery

This history puzzle focuses on a well-known painting, Across the Continent, but one which is actually more puzzling than might at first appear. The task starts simply and then becomes complex….

SMART TASK: Medieval medicine. What can we work out from the picture?

A smart task based on an original idea from Lorna Hunter, of Swanmore Technology College. This deceptively simple example of a familiar technique takes students from the known to the…

SMART TASK Key Stage 4: GCSE SHP Medicine: 18th century surgery

This quick activity asks students to explore the detail in Rowlandson’s cartoon called ‘Amputation’. They score one mark for each of the 10 labelled examples of relevant detail and 3…

Smart Task: How popular was the Vietnam war? What can we learn from just two photographs?

This simple starter uses just two contrasting photographs, one showing the popularity of Johnson’s policy towards Vietnam, the other opposition to it. How can we explain the difference? Students generate…

Hoover’s rubbish: Roosevelt moves in

This lesson on a fairly familiar theme approaches GCSE cartoon analysis in a different way. Instead of showing the students the cartoon they are to interpret, they are simply given…

Thoroughly Modern Millie: How do we know this song is about Flappers? A quick musical starter

Students are given the lyrics of a song about flappers (copy provided) and have to find 10 references that prove the connection. The first is done together as a whole…

GCSE SHP Crime and Punishment: The Metropolitan police force in 1830: SMART TASK

This quick starter uses the slow reveal technique which encourages students to explore parts of a cartoon in a particular sequence, before revealing the whole. Using the animated PowerPoint presentation…

How well do these cartoons cover the causes of World War One?

In pairs, Y9/GCSE students visit 9 different cartoons posted around the wall. They have to work out: a. Which cause is being ‘covered’ in each cartoon – sometimes two. b….

Court of King Cholera: Where am I in the picture?

This activity works in two ways; it activates pupils’ prior knowledge in a fun way and raises questions about conditions at the time the chosen image, A Court for King…

Puzzle corner 3: the strange case of the missing slave

Pupils will find that this example of a black slave, painted out of an eighteenth century painting of a tobacco lord’s family, makes an intriguing starter to any lesson on…

Puzzle corner: The strange case of the steel helmet

A short intriguing starter activity for pupils presents them with a puzzle to solve. In the First World War, why did head injuries increase when the metal helmet replaced the…

The Gunpowder Plot: Prove it using a gallery of images

This skilfully differentiated lesson places pupils in the role of detectives that have to find evidence to back up statements that have been made about the Gunpowder plot. They are…

Help Tom to fight the Great Fire. Smart Task

This ICT based activity draws heavily on the superb new website created as a joint enterprise by the National Archives, National Portrait Gallery, Museum of London and London Fire Brigade…

Italian foreign policy-outstanding lesson

At what point did Mussolini seem to side more with Germany than with Britain or France? Students arrive at the lesson having familiarised themselves with key events of Mussolini’s foreign…

How will your school commemorate the end of World War One?

This short advice sheet invites schools to consider how they will commemorate the centenary of armistice day and provides an illustrated PowerPoint presentation offering 8 attractive ideas to set you…

Squeezing the sources dry: how to make the most of source work in GCSE history

The downloadable six page document on answering source-based GCSE questions: matching learning strategies to question type, summarises the best advice from the examination boards all in one place. It gives…

Expert Advice: Key Stage 3 and 4 – Using the 4 Bs

Using the 4 Bs to encourage independence You recognise the problem. No sooner have you set a piece of open-ended enquiry work with you initially as facilitator, than the hands…

Fit for purpose teaching Strategies at Key Stage 3

Personalising learning by establishing what students already know about a topic, before beginning teaching. Case study: Comparing students’ initial perceptions with their end-of-study study views of the First World War…

Imaginative learning activities at Key Stage 2

This section accompanies the ones on teaching and learning approaches. It offers you a few ideas you may not have tried for a while, or at least not within the…

Expert Advice: Key Stage 1 – Mary Anning

She sells sea shells: planning a topic on Mary Anning, Dinosaur hunter, using the Anholt’s Stone girl, Bone girl “Would you like to go Dinosaur hunting? Well one young girl did…

Expert Advice: Key Stage 1 – Planning for a cross-curricular topic on Going to the Seaside

This advice is for KS1 teachers planning a cross-curricular topic and focuses on how to integrate history, geography, literacy and ICT. Start the topic with a brief discussion with the…

Attitudes of the US government to the native Americans: milking an image for meaning

The simple PowerPoint presents students with an image which has six separate panels for them to investigate. Only by exploring each in turn can the true meaning of the document…

SMART TASK Key Stage 4: Working out what the election posters tell us about Who Voted Nazi

This simple task engages students in thinking for themselves why people voted for Hitler in the 1930s. It uses the simple but visually appealing medium of election posters. Students work…

SMART TASK: A Suffragette procession: comparing the evidence

Whether you are studying the OCR unit, AQA or Edexcel you should find this activity helpful. The activity builds on an initial idea from the revised Edexcel Teacher’s Guide for…

SMART TASK Key Stage 4 Deciphering a Cold War cartoon, using the slow reveal technique.

The interactive PowerPoint presentation of the famous Stalin’ The Birdwatcher’ cartoon encourages students to add layers of meaning as more and more of the cartoon is revealed. They then have…

Vesalius’ claim to fame. Using the B.A.D formula to prepare for a BBC interview

The BBC is making a documentary on Renaissance medicine in which they have devoted two minutes to the work of Vesalius. Unfortunately, their Vesalius expert is ill and they thought…

Prehistoric Medicine: Getting your GCSE course off to a great start

This lesson was taught by Mike Herrity when Head of History at Wildern School, Hedge End, near Southampton. On an OFSTED inspection the lead inspector pronounced the lesson quite outstanding…

Why was this World War One painting censored?

Students studying Britain during World War One, whether it be for AQA, OCR or Edexcel, need to know about censorship. This deceptively simple lesson asks penetrating questions which both engage…

How have cartoonists portrayed the Liberals Old Age Pensions reforms?

This lesson takes a familiar cartoon but gives it an original twist. Instead of seeing the cartoon all at once, students see it in four separate parts, which in pairs…

Battalion 101. Why did they shoot? A history mystery

This lesson could be used as part of a Year 9 course or with the Germany module of Y10/11 SHP or Modern World. Students are confronted with moral issues and…

What can we learn about the Empire from a Christmas pudding?

This lesson starts with a simple fun activity, working competitively in teams to locate the source of ingredients for an Empire Christmas pudding using a world map to help. Pupils…

What made runaway slaves successful?

This short enquiry enables pupils to come up with their own ideas about runaway slaves working from first hand evidence of adverts for the slaves ‘arrest’. They work in pairs…

If life was so hard in Victorian cities, why did Wilf move his family there?

If life was so hard for families in the towns why did so many leave the countryside and move to the towns in Victorian times? – a history mystery Starting…

The mystery of the empty Saxon grave

This highly engaging lesson places pupils in the role of detectives. After a short briefing they have to work out the significance of the various clues found in the bodiless…

Eric the evacuee

Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website section on…

Florence Nightingale Lesson and sample planner

Fighting Fit. What did Florence do to improve the lives of the soldiers when she arrived in the Crimea? One example of a series of lessons for teaching Florence Nightingale…

Assessment for learning in Primary history

Assessment for Learning is much vaunted and many faceted. If we break down what it means in its constituent parts, many of you will feel that you do most of…

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Written by Neil Thompson