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!!…

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trial by comat
Crime and punishment – KQ1 – How do we know what punishment was like 800 years ago.

How were criminals punished 800 years ago, and how do we know? The story of the fox and the goose…

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Going to the Seaside
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…

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evacuating children
WW2 – KQ2a – Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated? Introductory task

Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated throughout the war, and what was the experience of evacuation really…

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Charles I and Sir Edmund Verney
Teaching KS3 History: Early Modern History

The following Key Stage 3 history lessons for teaching Early Modern History 1500 -1750 have all been judged to be…

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don't do it mother
WW2 – KQ2b – Evacuation enquiry – links with numeracy

This lesson comes towards the beginning of the topic after pupils have explored the nature and reasons for evacuation. I…

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Teaching Life in Tudor Times for KS2

The world has gone mad! Gove has axed the Tudors from Key Stage 2 history. My advice. Carry on regardless….

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robin hood
Crime and punishment – KQ2 – What does the legend of Robin Hood tell us about medieval justice?

In the following activities, KS2 pupils learn: a. that medieval justice was loaded in favour of the rich and powerful;…

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Eric the Evacuee
WW2 – KQ2c – Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee

The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website…

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portrait of henry viii
Life in Tudor Times – KQ1 – Henry VIII a question of interpretations. Could you spot Henry VIII in a police line-up?

This is a really fun lesson which shows children what is meant by historical interpretations in an engaging and accessible…

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Anglo-Saxons map
Anglo-Saxons – KQ1b – Where did the early Anglo-Saxons live and how do we know? Bells and whistles

This ambitious but engaging lesson asks children to test some simple hypotheses about where the early Anglo-Saxons settled.  They start…

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stand firm
WW2 – KQ3 – How was Britain able to stand firm against the German threat?

This enquiry revolves around a central contemporary cartoon which encapsulates life on the Home Front and how it was geared…

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artist illustration
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ3 – What can we learn about life in the Stone Age from a study of Skara Brae?

Enquiry based lesson on images of the remains of buildings found from a study of Skara Brae, a stone-built Neolithic…

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ration book
WW2 – KQ3 additional information – Rationing

In order to prevent serious shortages, as early as 1936 the British Ministry of Food had begun to make plans…

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artist illustration
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ3 Supporting information – What can we learn about life in the Stone Age from a study of Skara Brae

More than 5,000 years ago, during the New Stone Age, Neolithic farmers and herders reached a group of islands to…

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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…

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portrait of henry viii
Life in Tudor Times – KQ1 part 2 – Great starter on interpretations of Henry VIII

Working closely with academic authors, in this case Catherine Fletcher, always gives a fascinating insight into what historians want to…

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Crime and punishment – KQ3 – More of the same. How did crimes and punishments change between 1500 and 1750?

All you need for this lesson on Crime and Punishment 1500-1750 is to turn your classroom into an art gallery…

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Saxon Grave KS2
Anglo-Saxons – KQ2 – The mystery of the empty Saxon grave.

This highly engaging lesson places pupils in the role of detectives.  After a short briefing they have to work out…

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stonehenge
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ4 – Why did they build Stonehenge?

Pupils are shown a video tour of the site and discover when, where, and how it was built. They speculate…

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Bronze age scene
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ4b – How should we remember the Bronze Age?

Pupils study finds from three separate Bronze sites, including them most recent excavations, to enable them to discover the main…

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Crime and punishment – KQ4 – Why did punishments become so bloody in the 18th century?

Pupils label their own copy of a motivating Hogarth print showing popular attitudes to public executions before explaining the puzzling…

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wright brothers
Wright Brothers – KQ3 activity 1 – Why did the Wright brothers succeed where others had failed?

Sarah Duck describes how her class tackled this key question. The task involves children reading small diamond-shaped text cards, to…

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Going to the seaside – KQ2 – What did people do at the seaside 100 years ago?

From mime to movie. SMART TASK This fun activity is carried out by children working on tables of six.  Half…

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Life in Tudor Times – KQ2 – Why did Henry Break with Rome? Love or religion?

This KS2 history enquiry revolves around Henry VIII’s divorce and the break with Rome, one of the best-known stories in…

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WW2 – KQ4 – Curator’s dilemma. Which 8 objects should we show to explain how Britain coped with the effect of war on the Home Front?

In this activity pupils are cast in the role of local museum curators specializing in the commemorating and interpreting of…

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danebury
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ5 – What was life like in the Iron Age and how do we know?

Pupils speculate as to what holes in the ground shown in an aerial photograph might be, before annotating an artist’s…

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Anglo-Saxons – KQ3 – Coming of Christianity – How did people’s lives change when Christianity came to Britain and how can we be sure?

A series of smart tasks, rather than a full outstanding lesson. The first part of this two part session looks…

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wright brother flyer
Wright Brothers – KQ3 activity 2 – Spying on the Wright Brothers.

This reconstruction relay – part of KQ3, Why did the Wright Brothers succeed where others had failed – is fantastic…

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Edwardian Seaside Postcard
Going to the seaside – KQ3 – How do we know what holidays were like 100 years ago?

Designing an authentic Edwardian Seaside Poster This KS1 history lesson uses the Mantle of the Expert approach to place pupils…

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wiki
Evaluating websites in history at KS3-5: 3 pieces of top advice

Students are too trusting of what they read on the Internet. Most striking, they implicitly trust Google to verify sources…

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crime and punishment graph
Crime and punishment – KQ5 – Why did so much change happen in crime and punishment the 19th century?

Great range of activities including: generating enquiry questions about increase in crime from a line graph; explanation builder to work…

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Pupils create a living graph
Life in Tudor Times – KQ2 part 2 – the highs and lows of Catherine of Aragon

The context of this lesson was to explore the highs and lows of Catherine of Aragon as a lead up…

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home front objects
WW2 – KQ4 – Britain during World War Two – Call My Bluff

This activity is designed to promote creative thinking as well as to deepen pupils’ understanding of the objects that are…

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Dragons Den in history
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ5b – Dragons Den : Which technological development should our Iron Age settlement get next?

Set the scene. A group of the most important members of the Iron Age settlement have gathered to consider their…

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anne boleyn letter
Life in Tudor Times – KQ2 part 3 – History and literacy – Making sense of a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn

OR 14 ways of telling this is a love letter. Pupils are given a copy of a letter from Henry…

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Wright Brothers – KQ4 – The Wright Brothers first flight. KS1 Prove it!

How can we possibly know about the Wright Brothers first flight when there’s nobody alive now who saw it? This…

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maiden castle
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ6 – Iron Age Hill Fort at Maiden Castle

Iron Age Crimewatch AD 50.   Who killed the 52 dead bodies at Maiden Castle?  Key Question 6 KS2 pupils…

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seaside scene
Going to the seaside – KQ4 – Do we go on seaside holidays for the same reason people went 100 years ago?

Children discuss the reasons they might have for going on a seaside holiday NOW and then think of the different…

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wartime christmas
WW2 – KQ4 – Christmas for children on the Home Front during World War Two

This is not an outstanding lesson as such, more a collection of good ideas and support material to stimulate even…

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A Tudor inventory
Life in Tudor Times – KQ3 – Through the Keyhole

This lesson features the lives of 4 different Tudor people as evidenced from a key document that they each have…

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Anglo Saxons – KQ4 – Anglo-Saxons struggle against the Vikings – How did the Vikings try to take over the country and how close did they get?

This task encapsulates the struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings in an engaging way that really makes pupils think…

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alfred 878
Anglo Saxons – KQ4b – Alfred and Guthrum: 878 the year things changed

Following a lively, interactive and illustrated story-telling session, reinforced by a sequencing activity, pupils consider the reasons for Alfred’s success…

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Wright Brothers
Wright Brothers – KQ4 – one teacher’s alternative approach – Wright brothers: prove to me that it really happened

This lesson was taught by Sarah Duck, Leading Teacher for History, Hampshire LA.  She kindly describes for us how the…

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hardwick hall lesson
Life in Tudor Times – KQ3 part 2 – Linking history with numeracy; a Tudor enquiry

More glass than wall? Is this a fair description of Hardwick Hall? And how do we find out? This SMART…

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alfred the great
Anglo-Saxons – KQ5 – Alfred the Great. How great was he?

In this outstanding lesson, pupils are asked to critique and then improve the BBC children’s website entry for Alfred the…

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prison
Crime and Punishment – KQ6 – Enquiry – Has the way we catch and punish criminals improved in the last 100 years?

Having analysed a graph showing the way the prison population has risen so dramatically over the last 75 years, pupils…

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alfred the great
Keeping up to date with your teaching of Alfred the Great

The outstanding lesson on Alfred addresses the key question as to his greatness. Has it been exaggerated? You might like…

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Going to the seaside – KQ5a – How have seaside holidays changed over time?

Can you help Grandma sort these seaside holiday photos? This smart task which forms the first half of this KQ5…

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