Top 10 things your pupils need to know about Roman Britain
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Top 10 things your pupils need to know – Roman Britain
Teaching KS2 Roman Britain and the Roman Empire
KS2 Roman Britain outstanding lessons
The key change to this topic, introduced by the NC orders is to place the history of Roman Britain within the broader context of the Roman Empire. This is largely because at KS3 fewer schools now study the Roman Empire. So at KS2 we now need to look more closely at the reasons for the expansion of the Roman empire and how the Romans managed to keep control over such a vast area. Whilst we will still carry on with our work on interpretations of Boudica (Boudicca), the differences between Celtic and Roman life styles in town and country, and the Roman legacy, we need to find some time to look at why the mighty Roman empire came to an end. With all KS2 schools now studying the Iron Age pupils now have a better awareness of the Britain the Romans conquered and their study of the Saxons should help them to grasp the immediate legacy the Romans left behind.
Our OFSTED-approved outstanding medium-term planner with all accompanying lessons and all-important resources allows you to teach the topic with full confidence that you are addressing all the important content at the same time as developing crucial historical skills and concepts.
Planners
Roman Britain – KQ1 part 1 – From Caesar’s invasions to Claudius’ conquest
This first part of the first enquiry links to earlier work on the Iron Age and takes pupils from Julius Caesar’s two short-lived invasions through to anticipating Claudius’ invasion and conquest just under 100 years...
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Roman Britain – KQ1 part 2 – Why did the Roman Emperor Claudius leave hot sunny Italy to invade cold wet Britain?
This lesson uses a variety of approaches including role play, decision-making, card sorts, hot seating and completing speech bubbles. The focus is clearly on causation. It follows on from lessons in which pupils have...
Roman Britain – KQ1 part 3 – The Roman invasion: have the books got it right?
This lesson follows on from the decision-making role play 'Why did Claudius invade?' Pupils are now asked to create a written explanation good enough to beat a textbook. To do this, they get involved...
Roman Britain – Supporting KQ1 – Julius Caesar and the invasions of Britain. Why did he come?
Julius Caesar and the invasions of Britain. Why did he come? Exploring human motivation.
When Julius Caesar invaded in successive years 55BCE and 54BCE what was on his mind?
We can suppose that his thoughts might have...
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Roman Britain – KQ2 part 1 – Should the Celts take on the Romans? A reconstruction relay.
The Roman Army
This highly active, boy friendly activity has proved extremely popular in schools and has led to some high quality learning because the children are fully engaged. The children in role as Celtic spies...Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 – Boudica’s rebellion: from sequencing to living graph
This KS2 lesson on Roman Britain uses the idea of a living graph to see the ups and downs of Boudica's life as a way of helping children make sense of the narrative of events....
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Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 additional information – Boudica’s rebellion: from sequencing to living graph
The focus on the dramatic story of Boudica is a good opportunity to help pupils to understand why things happen in history, but it also open a window onto the wider world of the massive...
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Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 – Making sure you are teaching Boudica in the right way.
Let’s start with the name. Boudica is the correct spelling, not Boudicea. Boudica means ‘victory’.
Her chariots were light, springy, wicker vehicles not the armoured cars with scythes of Victorian legend!
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What do we know of Boudica...
Roman Britain – KQ2 part 3 – What image do we have of Boudica today?
Key Stage 2 pupils find Boudica fascinating so this is a good context for exploring the tricky ideas of historical interpretations. They start by drawing their own picture of her based on a Roman account...
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Roman Britain – KQ3 – How were the Romans able to keep control over such a vast empire?
This lesson offers considerable variety in terms of learning approaches. Pupils work in tug-of-war teams to represent the differently weighted factors that help to explain why the Romans were able to control such a vast...
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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 research each before attempting to...
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Roman Britain – KQ4 part 2 – Is this another Roman villa?
NB Feb 28 2020. It has been brought to our attention this morning that the link to the video doesn't work as the video has been taken down by channel 4. As this is an...
Roman Britain – KQ5 – How can we solve the mystery of why this great 400 year empire suddenly came to an end? Can you make the links?
As this is a brief overview question, without time for much independent research, pupils are introduced to a series of ideas which they have to comprehend, illustrate and then see if they can spot the...
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Roman Britain – KQ6 – What have the Romans ever done for us? Under the cloth
This activity is a good fun way of concluding a study of the Romans. It is called ‘under the cloth’. A local museum has sent a display on the Roman legacy to the local village...
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Why did the Romans spend so much time building roads? KS2 short task
