Teaching History at KS1 - KS1 History Topics - Years 1 & 2

KS1 Medium Term Planner for Spreading the Word: Caxton to Bell

The ‘significant people’ element of the KS1 history curriculum now requires pupils to compare achievements of individuals within a linked theme - in this case communication in a topic called ‘spreading the word’. We have chosen Caxton and Bell, rather than Berners-Lee who, although mentioned...

Caxton and Bell – KQ1 – Caxton

Following a mysterious PowerPoint slow reveal in which pupils look for clues to Caxton’s fame, pupils are given a brief illustrated summary of the key moments in his life which are consolidated with a sequencing activity. Pupils then make a series of more creative tableaux...

Caxton and Bell – KQ2 – Quick the King and Queen are coming! How Caxton changed the way books were made

Having shown pupils how books were made before Caxton’s time, the main focus of the lesson is on how the new system worked. To prevent this being a dull session on technology, pupils are placed in the role of apprentices to Caxton who have to...

Caxton and Bell – KQ3 – How and why should Caxton be remembered?

Having discussed the possible options for ways of commemorating his achievement, pupils have to create a new plaque on his statue, because the old words have worn and faded away. But what shall we write? Pupils offer ideas and then select the 6 most relevant...

Caxton and Bell – KQ4 – How did Alexander Graham Bell manage to make a telephone work so long ago? and why did he want to?

The focus here is on sequencing of events, looking for turning points in his life and for his personal motivation. How did his life choices end up with him inventing the telephone? What drove him to make this invention before others?

Activity 1 - Slow reveal

Be...

Caxton and Bell – KQ5 – Why was Bell’s invention so important, then and now? Bells and whistles!

Pupils write a plaque to go on the side of a new statue that has been built to commemorate Bell’s achievement in response to government’s offering a prize to the school who can come up with the best plaque. But they can use only 25...

Teaching about the past in EYFS

Preparing for the new EYFS framework in September 2021

Although most schools and settings prefer not to refer to history as a discrete subject on the Early Years curriculum, there is always a lot of talk about the past, often through the use of story books....

Caxton and Bell – KQ6 – How has the telephone improved since the days of Bell?

This session really helps pupils to get a strong sense of change through time, linking the past of Bell’s time to the present bringing things right up to date. It even hints at the changes ahead as phones have recently started to get bigger, having...

Mary Anning – KQ1 – Why do we remember Mary Anning?

This introductory session attempts to place Mary's life in a broader context of time and place and to whet pupils' appetite, without telling much of the story of her life. This follows in the next session. key to the introduction is the use of sources...

Mary Anning – KQ2 – What did Mary do in her life that was so special?

Pupils move from the sequencing of the major events of Mary’s life to a more sophisticated understanding of which of these events were the most significant. By creating a fortunes or living human graph, pupils are able to see the ups and downs of her...

Mary Anning – KQ3 – What sort of person was Mary that helped her to succeed in a man’s world?

This a much shorter enquiry than the others, and comprises just three short activities

Step 1

Having recapped the story of Mary’s life, ask pupils to work in small groups to generate adjectives to describe Mary’s character.

Step 2

Pupils are then shown a list of pre-prepared adjectives on...

Mary Anning – KQ4 – Which other people were important in Mary’s life and why?

This activity is an interesting way of getting pupils to think about Mary’s life but in a non-narrative way. Instead of re-telling the story in sequence they have to look back over her life and to think about which characters played a significant role. The...

Mary Anning – KQ5 – How do we know about Mary’s actions which happened so long ago?

The main activity in this session is called Prove it! A number of pieces of evidence from Mary’s time are placed around the room, as if it were an art gallery. Pupils are not given 10 statements about Mary’s life, provided as RS1 but are...

Mary Anning – KQ6 – How and why should Mary Anning be remembered? Have your say.

In Lyme Regis they are going to improve their museum dedicated to Mary Anning. It will cost a lot of money and the Council are not sure she deserves all this money being spent on her. Pupils have been asked by the locals to write...

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

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. Using a wide range of carefully chosen images, pupils have to sift through the evidence...

The Great Fire – KQ2 – What happened during the Great Fire and how do we know?

This lesson focuses on the idea of evidence and proof. Can pupils find evidence to back up statements made in books? Can they tell which is the strongest piece of evidence to support a statement? By learning how to select the sources which they think...

Florence Nightingale – KQ1 – Why do we think Florence Nightingale is remembered? (New)

Pupils make deductions from a range of visual clues to see if they can work out what job Florence Nightingale did, before being told the story of her life through an illustrated PowerPoint presentation. Selected slides are then used to consolidate pupils’ ability to sequence...

Florence Nightingale – KQ2 – Why did Florence place herself in such danger by going to the Crimea? (New version 2021)

Who influenced her decision to go? Already introduced to the major events in Florence’s life, children now speculate on why she took the brave decision to go to the Crimea. Thinking creatively, they discuss who might have influenced her decision positively and negatively, using a short...

The Great Fire – KQ3 – Why did the Great Fire burn down so many houses?

This Great Fire lesson focuses on developing children's powers of explanations. They will already have looked at the sequence of events and will be able to offer a few simple reasons. This lesson aims to take them beyond a simple list towards deeper understanding of...

Florence Nightingale – KQ3a – Fighting Fit. What did Florence do to improve the lives of the soldiers when she arrived in the Crimea? ( New version 2021)

In this lesson children compare the appalling conditions in the hospitals on Florence’s arrival at Scutari. With the help of animated rats!! They list the most significant problems and then compare with a hospital which had been transformed by Florence. They annotate a...

Florence Nightingale – KQ3b – Smart task – What did people really think of Florence Nightingale?

Learning objectives

• children can respond in role showing awareness of differing attitudes to Florence • they can judge whether each group would approve of giving Florence a medal

Starter

Start by slowly revealing a picture of the medal awarded to Florence (slide 2) and asking children to speculate what it...

The Great Fire – KQ4 – Could more have been done to slow the spread of the fire?

This session comprises three distinct phases. The first is mime-based, looking at the firefighting methods used and discussing their disadvantages. The second looks at what action was taken to stop the fire spreading and the third at the issue of at culpability for not doing...

The Great Fire – KQ5 – How did people manage to live through the Great Fire?

Miraculously for a city that was the third largest in the world, consumed by a fire that lasted for days, very few people died, as far as we know. There is some real doubt as to whether there really were so few, suggesting that it...

The Great Fire – KQ6 – How shall we rebuild London after the Great Fire?

This lesson gives full rein to children's creative flair, disciplined by evidence. The City of London is offering a prize for the best design for a rebuilt London after the Great Fire. If the children know the causes well, and they should do after using...

Florence Nightingale – KQ4a – What was Florence Nightingale’s greatest achievement?

Pupils have been drafted in to help with the wording on a statue to Florence Nightingale which had badly worn away over time and is now in danger of being indecipherable. But there is room for only 30 words on the new plaque. Which words...

Florence Nightingale – KQ4b – Florence Nightingale’s days are numbered. Brilliant cross-curricular History and Mathematics

Every so often you see an inspiring example of history and numeracy working together seamlessly. Such a lesson was taught by Ros Boulton of South Farnborough Infants. She wanted her children to do far more than draw a simple timeline of Florence Nightingale’s life. She...

Florence Nightingale – KQ5 – How do we know so much about Florence Nightingale when she lived so long ago?

This differentiated core activity is Prove it! Working in pairs as detectives with their own find the clue sheets and clipboards, pupils are given 10 statements about Florence and have to find the original sources that helped historians to make these statements. These pictorial sources...

Florence Nightingale – KQ6 – Should Florence Nightingale rather than Mary Seacole have her statue at St.Thomas’ hospital?

NB This lesson overlaps, as you would expect with a similar lesson on Mary Seacole. It is slightly different in emphasis but if you are studying both women in equal depth you need to use Key question 6 from just one. If you are studying...

Mary Seacole – KQ1 – How can we work out why Mary Seacole is famous? NEW

This session focuses on working out WHY Mary Seacole is commemorated today 200 years after she was born, and looks at the different ways in which she is remembered. The debate about whether she, or Florence Nightingale , better deserves a statue outside St.Thomas’ hospital...

KS1 Medium Term Planner: Louis Braille

The current history curriculum at KS1 asks schools to provide a little more coherence in their choice of significant people to study, suggesting that they might be linked by theme. I agree with this improvement. Here we have a possible theme of ‘our senses’ or...

Mary Seacole – KQ2 – What were the most important events in Mary’s life? NEW

Pupils watch a short film to establish the outlines of the story and then have to sequence a differentiated set of images of the key events of her life. They finish by discussing which events were the most significant in Mary’s life and identifying turning...

Louis Braille – KQ1 – Why do you think Louis Braille is remembered today: Smart task

Step 1

Start by showing the image of Louis Braille on slide 1 of the PowerPoint. Explain that he is a very famous man who lived 200 years ago and that what he invented is still used today, even though he was only 15 years old...

Mary Seacole – KQ3 – What was Mary’s greatest achievement and how do we know? NEW

The focus here is mainly on the evidence for Mary’s achievement. This is important as she was a more-or-less forgotten figure for 200 years. So how do we know that claims about Mary’s life are true? The skill of finding evidence to back up statements...

Louis Braille – KQ2 – What were the most important moments, and who were the most significant people, in Louis Braille’s life?

This session comprises 3 key activities, so it is important to devote sufficient time to it. Please note that activities 2 and 3 are particularly challenging and were taught to a high-attaining group of pupils. You may want to modify the activities, beyond the suggestions I...

Louis Braille – KQ3 – What motivated Louis? Why did he decide to invent a system of writing for the blind? Smart task

In contrast to the multi-faceted KQ2, these two relatively short activities will not take as long. They focus on Louis’ motivation, principally by means of a diamond-4 prioritising activity.

Step 1

Ask pupils why they think Louis tried so hard to invent his own system of reading...

Mary Seacole – KQ4 – How did life change for Mary after the Crimean war? NEW

Pupils create a fortunes graph showing the highs and lows of Mary’s life after the Crimea, identify a key turning point in her fortunes, and then consider ways in which Mary was helped when she fell on hard times.

Objectives

- Pupils are able to sequence events...

Louis Braille – KQ4 – What changes to people’s lives did Louis make?

Step 1

This is a short activity in which pupils are asked to think of any uses of Braille they know of in everyday life, perhaps by showing the start of Magic Grandad video which introduces the idea of a Braille menu.

Step 2

They are...

Louis Braille – KQ5 – What makes Braille so special? Smart task

This very short task is preliminary to the major task that follows in KQ6 which explores how we should commemorate Louis’ achievement. It is important that they consider the crucial role his character played. His single-minded determination from one so young is simply extraordinary and...

Louis Braille – KQ6 – What should go in our Braille museum? Curator’s dilemma

Set the scene

When Louis died no national papers covered the story. 100 years later in 1952 his body was moved to the building called the Pantheon in Paris where, over the main door are written the words: “To its Greatest Men.” But Louis is known...

Mary Seacole – KQ5 – What made Mary so special? NEW

A short session aimed at generating adjectives to capture the special qualities that Mary had and to provide examples of where she exhibited those characteristics.

Learning objectives

- Pupils can list at least 3 adjectives to describe her distinctive character - Pupils understand that Mary was exceptionally kind...

Mary Seacole – KQ6 – Why doesn’t everyone agree that Mary deserves her statue at St.Thomas’ hospital? NEW

This lesson places pupils in the role of Mantle of the Expert. A new monument to Mary Seacole was erected outside St Thomas Hospital in 2016 . But there have been complaints. Surely it was Florence who was associated with St Thomas’ hospital , not...

Remembrance Day: Key Stage 1

In this section of the site, a lesson and an interactive presentation are featured. The first Outstanding Lesson looks at the question: "What are memories and which things do we all remember at different times of year?" It focuses on the concept of memory using...

Teaching the Gunpowder Plot to Key Stage 1

Ever since the Gunpowder Plot was included in the Programme of Study for Key Stage 1, there have been howls of protest from infant teachers who protest that it is futile trying to teach KS1 pupils the motivation behind Guy Fawkes' actions. Whilst I do...

Gunpowder Plot – Key Stage 1

If you are teaching about Bonfire night, Guy Fawkes or the Gunpowder Plot you will find the planning advice and fully resourced Outstanding Lessons provided here of particular value. The first lesson is called A moving story. Pupils hear the story of the Gunpowder Plot...

Guidance for teaching Amy Johnson as a Famous Person in Key Stage 1

This study of a significant individual has been designed to form part of a broader topic on a similar theme which is one of the key new requirements of the current National Curriculum for history. It can also be covered as discrete topic in its...

KS1 History Planning for Going to the Seaside topic

Medium term planning and planner for Going to the Seaside KS1

This history topic has been designed to be taught in Year 1 Term 3 and the literacy links make that assumption but there is plenty of challenge for Y2 pupils as well. The downloadable planner...

Teaching the Wright Brothers as a Famous Person in Key Stage 1

The Wright brothers offers an exciting opportunity for pupils to explore a topic that should engage their interest, provide plenty of opportunities for drama and creative thinking and should fit well into a cross-curricular topic plan. Pupils live in a highly technologically-driven world, so this...

Wright Brothers – KQ1 – What do you think the Wright brothers did to make them famous?

At the very start of the topic, on the assumption that you haven’t told them what the topic is about!! pupils are shown slide 2 in the form of a slow reveal. 4 coloured boxes obscure a picture of the Wright Brothers’ Flyer. But can...

Planning for a cross-curricular topic on Going to the Seaside

This advice with associated downloadable resource below 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 children about where they are going on their summer...

Wright Brothers – KQ2 – How did the Wright brothers manage to be the first to launch a man powered flight?

This enquiry comprises a series of three smart tasks: the first is a sequencing task based on storytelling; the second a ‘living graph the third an optional ‘reconstruction relay drawing task’ . All contribute to helping pupils gain a firm grasp of the key events...

Teaching history at Key stage 1

Activity 1 - Slow reveal

Preparing for the new EYFS framework in September 2021

Step 1

Step 2

Learning objectives

Starter

Step 1

Step 1

Objectives

Step 1

Step 2

Set the scene

Learning objectives

Medium term planning and planner for Going to the Seaside KS1