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10 Things to do to make your history teaching better at KS2
1. Teach through historical enquiries.
Enquiries are the most effective subject pedagogy in history, not least because when well drafted, they make pupils think. You will notice that all the lessons on the site deliberately have...
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...
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...
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 activitiesStep 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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?...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 medalStarter
Start by slowly revealing a picture of the medal awarded to...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
