A simple way of ensuring that your pupils are thinking historically is to focus their activities using key command words. Too many tasks at KS1 and 2 involve narrating and describing, What other forms of command words can we use to make sure that the thinking is likely to be historical? here are my top 10-there are more!
So, when did you last ask your pupils to
- Account for, explain
- Argue a case e.g. why we need a statue for Mary Seacole
- Compare e.g. life for people of different levels of society/living at different times
- Criticise
- Debate both sides of an argument
- Distinguish between fact and opinion.
- Evaluate, e.g. how well a BBC video explains a key historical issue
- Judge How useful/reliable a certain testimony / source is or to what extent?
- Prove a statement backing it up with well-chosen evidence
- Summarise the significance of a person’s achievements, a turning point etc.
