Outstanding History Lessons at KS1 | Keystage History

ks1 lessons in practice Outstanding history Lessons at KS1. If you have ever searched the internet for inspiration for your history sessions you will know how frustrating it can be. Luckily the answer is at hand. Built up from twenty years’ experience of working with infant schools, the site brings into one place some of the best history lessons you can expect to find. Not only are they logically developed with clear learning objectives, thoughtful structure and fit-for-purpose, fully-resourced activities, they are all in some ways creative or imaginative. They are not run of the mill. They will almost certainly fire your imagination and stimulate an even better idea.

castles knowledge organiser

Castles knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about castles because they are one of the most fascinating buildings that have been there for hundreds…

castle planner

Castles – medium term planner

The main focus of this topic is the exploration of the past beyond living memory through a topic that is…

castle

Castles – KQ1 – What makes a castle a castle?

Having elicited pupils’ initial knowledge of castles from books film and family visits, pupils are asked to explore a number…

kenilworth castle

Castles – KQ2 – Why did people build castles in the past?

This session is straightforward in that pupils are introduced via a short video to a variety of reasons which not…

castles kq3

Castles – KQ3 – What made castles so strong?

Rather than going through all the different methods used chronologically, this really fun session focuses on one year and casts…

castle kq4

Castles – KQ4 – What were medieval castles like to live in and how can we possibly know when so many are now ruins?

This five-part lesson starts with pupils in role as workers for company charged with recreating what a medieval castle would…

castles kq5

Castles – KQ5 – How did castles change over time?

This lesson starts with encouraging pupils to spot differences between 3 castles to give them confidence before working in groups…

castle kq6

Castles – KQ6 – How are castles used today?

Pupils have to deduce from a range of visual clues of castles they will see around them, the uses to…

Mary anning

Mary Anning – assessment task

Focus: Significance This simple-to-administer, uncomplicated task uses a contemporary image to stimulate pupils to think about Mary Anning’s long-term significance….

grace darling

Grace Darling – assessment task

Focus: Interpretations Y1 Pupils compare contrasting images of Graces’ rescue and try to explain how and why they are different….

seaside

Seaside – assessment task

Focus: similarity and difference and change Assessing Year 1 children’s understanding of how different going for a swim in the…

william caxton

Caxton and Bell – assessment task

Focus: characteristic features of period & using sources Y2 Using just one image which contains lots of clues, pupils have…

Moon landing – assessment task

Focus : Using sources Pupils have to identify key features from a visual source to answer a question regarding the…

rosa parks

Rosa Parks knowledge organiser – KS1

Rosa Parks was an important black woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when she was treated unfairly….

mary anning

Mary Anning knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Mary Anning because she became very famous at a very young age. She was an expert…

wright brothers

Wright brothers – assessment task

In this brief diagnostic assessment task , supported by 4 pictorial clues, pupils are asked to show if they understand…

titanic lifeboat

Sinking of the Titanic – assessment task – looking at consequences and change

This task asks pupils to consider consequences of the disaster and changes over time arising from it Assessment task and…

Florence Nightingale – assessment task

Focus: Change and significance This task offers pupils 3 carefully chose images to support their understanding of the achievements of…

amy johnson arrives in darwin

Amy Johnson – assessment task – Can you explain why Amy Johnson was so important?

The children are given the task sheet containing three pictures and the question. Each has been included for a particular…

toy train

Toys; old and new – assessment task

Focus concept: Making deductions/ similarity and difference This task is designed to be non-threatening and to be carried out in…

scott of the antarctic

Scott of the Antarctic – assessment task Y2

Focus concept: Causation The first task serves as a more gentle introduction to the idea of cause by looking at…

mary seacole

Mary Seacole – Assessment task – Assessing pupils’ understanding of the work of Mary Seacole

Target concepts: characteristic features of the period and significance This task is designed to elicit pupils’ understanding of the contribution…

amy johnson ko

Amy Johnson knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Amy Johnson because she was a very famous British pilot who flew her plane, called Jason,…

toys KO

Toys old and new knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about old toys to help you to understand the difference between toys people played with in the…

Moon landing – end of unit quiz – KS1

Welcome to the end of unit Moon landing quiz for KS1. You’ve learned so much about how astronauts traveled all…

amelia earhart

Amelia Earhart knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Amelia because she was a very famous American woman who learned how to fly and then…

amelia earhart by plane

Amelia Earhart – KQ1 – Why do we think that Amelia was famous?

This introductory session starts with firing pupils’ curiosity via a slow reveal in which pupils build a picture of her…

amelia earhart cartoon

Amelia Earhart – KQ2 – What were the main events in Amelia’s life that shaped her ?

Having listened to an illustrated description of Amelia’s early life, pupils have to select suitable adjectives to describe her character…

amelia in flight gear

Amelia Earhart – KQ3 – Why was Amelia so keen to fly when so few women at the time were interested?

A relatively short session exploring Amelia’s motivation starts with pupils drawing on their prior knowledge to consider why she took…

amelia earhart cartoon

Amelia Earhart – KQ4 – What were the main ups and downs in Amelia’s life?

Using the living graph technique pupils sequence the events of Amelia’s flying career and then physically create points on a…

amelia earhart by plane

Amelia Earhart – KQ5 – How do we know so much about Amelia’s life when she lived so long ago?

In this session pupils get to work as history detectives matching clues within sources to statements historians have made about…

amelia earhart plaque

Amelia Earhart – KQ6 – What was Amelia’s greatest achievement and how should it be remembered?

Working towards the end goal of producing a book cover to encapsulate the key details of Amelia’s achievements, pupils learn,…

3 queens knowledge organiser

When three queens ruled knowledge organiser – KS1

In this topic you are going to find out about three of the most famous queens that each ruled this…

3 queens

When three queens ruled – KQ1 – Which three queens of England are most remembered in history and why?

This active and entertaining first session aims to provide pupils with a clear chronological overview of the last 500 years…

cartoon of queen victoria looking out window

When three queens ruled – KQ2 – How different was life in England when the 3 queens were ruling?

Out of the window Children are shown three images of scenes from the different periods as seen through a window….

When three queens ruled – KQ3 – How do we know about the queens who lived so long ago?

Handling sources of evidence Having explored the range of visual sources available to historians studying the three queens, pupils actively…

elizabeth I

When three queens ruled – KQ4 – What important changes happened when each of the queens ruled?

Change / Significance Starting with 3 short video presentations, pupils go on to research the key changes from each of…

3 queens

When three queens ruled – KQ5 – How should we remember these famous queens?

Pupils explore a range of ways in which monarchs are commemorated, focusing on Queen Elizabeth II, before going onto design…

poppy field

Poppy Day: what are memories?

This is the first session on Remembrance Day. It uses the excellent story of Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge as a…

What do we remember on Poppy Day / Remembrance Day?

This session revolves around a PowerPoint presentation which poses 6 significant questions, each designed to encourage pupils to think and…

seaside knowledge organiser

Seaside knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about this topic to help you to understand how different life was over the last 100 years….

columbus

Columbus knowledge organiser – KS1

Columbus is a world-famous navigator and explorer whose daring voyages in search of the Indies led to the opening of…

scott knowledge organiser

Scott of the Antarctic knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Scott as he was one of Britain’s most famous explorers. Perhaps you are studying other explorers…

grace darling knowledge organiser

Grace Darling knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Grace Darling because at a young age she carried out a brave rescue and saved 9…

mary seacole knowledge organiser

Mary Seacole knowledge organiser – KS1

Mary was a remarkable lady best remembered for her work during the Crimean war (1853-1856) where she helped injured soldiers,…

wright brothers knowledge organiser

Wright brothers knowledge organiser – KS1

For centuries, man had dreamed of flying like birds. By the end of the 19th century, men could rise into…

moon landing

Moon landing knowledge organiser – KS1

This event captured the attention of the whole world with hundreds of millions, perhaps 1 in every 5 people, watching…

titanic knowledge organiser

Sinking of the Titainic knowledge organiser – KS1

In this topic you are going to find out about the most famous ship, at the time the biggest ever…

great fire knowledge organiser

Great Fire of London knowledge organiser – KS1

The Great Fire of 1666 is an event that most people know about today not least because it changed the…

rosa parks

Rosa Parks – KQ1 – Can we work as history detectives to work out what Rosa Parks did that made her famous?

Pupils are pitched straight into the role as history detectives using mainly visual clues to piece together the possible reasons…