Teaching History at KS1 - KS1 History Topics - Years 1 & 2 | Keystage history

keystage 1

Welcome to the teaching history at KS1 section where you will find masses of advice on how to make KS1 history lessons fun and how to help pupils to take their first steps into the fascinating world that is the past. You will be helped to design and plan an exciting primary history curriculum in line with the requirements of the National Curriculum taking into account the difficult areas of assessment and progression in history.You also will be helped to make the most of history’s contribution to the whole curriculum by being shown cutting edge practice in the areas of cross-curricular planning, literacy, thinking skills and creativity.

If it is imaginative ideas for KS1 history lessons you are looking for, then you will definitely want to spend time in the teaching section with its hundred great primary history teaching strategies and in the learning section with its wide range of imaginative approaches and brilliant ideas for products that children will love.As a subject leader, you will find easily accessible advice that is ‘right on the money’. Years of helping hundreds of infant teachers with their history planning, resourcing, and monitoring in history, has enabled me to know exactly what is needed, and which support strategies really work.

scott of the antartic

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ3 -Why did Scott risk his life going to the South Pole?

The concept of an intrepid explorer may not be completely alien to even the youngest children as the media does…

Grace Darling – KQ4 – How do we know about Grace Darling’s actions which happened so long ago?

There are two distinct elements to this session. Firstly, pupils develop a sense of period and of evidence by thinking…

titanic lifeboat

Titanic – KQ5 – Why weren’t more people saved from the Titanic?

In this problem-solving activity, pupils have to speculate, using a stimulus image and then evaluate a range of given reasons…

moon landing

Moon Landing – KQ5 – Would you take the Golden Ticket and travel to the moon?

This lesson follows on from lessons introducing the reasons why men first went to the moon, what they did when…

lifeboat

Grace Darling – KQ5 – How did sea rescue improve as a result of Grace Darling’s story?

This session comprises 2 principal activities: matching descriptions of lifeboats to time periods to deepen pupils’ sense of change, continuity…

modern lifeboats

Titanic – KQ6 – What are the best ways of stopping disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic ever happening again?

Pupils are employed as safety advisers to the UK and US governments in the aftermath of the sinking of the…

apollo 11

Moon Landing – KQ6 – Commemorating the Moon Landing

How do you think we should remember the first man on the moon on July 21st 1969? What symbol could…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ4 – How do we know what happened on Scott’s last journey? A KS1 smart task

Pupils have already studied Scott’s last journey and have turned a series of events into first a living graph and…

Grace Darling – KQ6 – How should we remember Grace Darling?

This last key question of 6 on the medium-term planning, focuses on her legacy and why we should commemorate her….

scott of the antartic

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ5 – Why did he not get to the South Pole first?

In this lesson in the teaching sequence on Scott as a famous person, or as part of a more integrated…

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Toys – KQ3 – How can we tell these toys are old?

This smart task complements the existing lesson on the site using ICT . Rather than re-write the whole lesson this…

Toys – KQ4 – What sorts of toys did our grandparents play with and how do we know?

Optional question: What toys did our grandparents get as Christmas presents when they were your age? Start with a discussion…

toys

Toys – KQ5 – Who played with these toys in the past? and how can we know?

This is particularly suitable as an extension question for the older/ higher attaining pupils in KS1 if you are teaching…

toy museum

Toys – KQ6 – How can we set up our own toy museum?

This final KS1 lesson on the Toys topic cements children’s understanding of old and new in an interesting way. Activity…

Sample page from outstanding website produced by Warwickshire's Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum

Toys old and new: Sorting and setting

This lesson draws on some excellent resources you may not have come across, produced by museums in Bedfordshire and Warwickshire. …

OFSTED’s report on teaching of Toys-outstanding lesson

When the inspector entered, the pupils were sitting on the carpet around the teacher. She was gently exploring whether they…

Teaching Gunpowder Plot

How did Guy Fawkes feel before, during and after the night of the 5th November: pupils do the thinking.

Getting children to think about how Guy Fawkes felt, before, during and after the Gunpowder plot. This simple task, resourced…

top 10 history teaching

10 things history leaders need to know about the new OFSTED 2019 Framework

10 things you need to know about leading history 1. Show you are teaching history You will have to show…

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great fire

Swapping a Great Fire for a volcanic eruption? Looking for a new famous Event at KS1?

In a recent article in the Historical association’s Primary History Sue Townsend makes a very strong case for introducing…

Gunpowder Plot Smart Task: Dear producer

Over the last few sessions, the children have become familiar with the story of the Gunpowder Plot using a range…

‘Fitness for purpose’ teaching and learning strategies in KS1 history

Throughout the site there are lots of examples of imaginative activities, for both teaching and learning. These need to be…

In Living Memory: Key Stage 1

Comparing pupils’ lives with the recent past not only enables pupils to handle more familiar sources and make direct comparisons…

Using role play area when teaching Castles at KS1

There are at least 6 ways you can help young children make sense of the past using your role play…

william caxton

Teaching Caxton and Bell at Key Stage 1

These two famous people are linked by the theme of communication; spreading the word. Tim Berners-Lee founder of the world…

wee willy winkie

Comparing different nursery rhymes: Wee Willie Winkie

This fun lesson uses images and very simple text as well as artefacts. It provides an essential grounding in an…

scott of the antarctic

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ6 – How should Scott be remembered today?

Exciting finale to the topic sees pupils analysing different ways in which Scott has been commemorated in the past, coming…

florence nightingale

Fighting Fit. What did Florence do to improve the lives of the soldiers when she arrived in the Crimea?

In this lesson children compare the appalling conditions in the hospitals on Florence’s arrival at Scutari. With the help of…

The Gun Powder Plot; using drama

Using drama to teach the Gunpowder Plot at KS1: a big hat, a lantern and a sleeping guard

You may choose to use drama for any number of reasons. You might simply want to recap the story. Perhaps…

KS1 pupils’ work on Great Fire and Florence Nightingale assessed

You have told us that you need more help on assessment at KS1. So we have now gone beyond principles,…

Using data to improve history teaching and learning at Key Stage 1

Given that there is no subject-specific data on history at KS1 this might seem a strange inclusion on the site. …

Florence Nightingale

2 fun facts for pupils studying Florence Nightingale at KS1 and 2 key learning points

Just thought these two fun facts might interest your pupils, building on infants’ interest in animals rather than death rates…

What is History?

12 key ideas young children need to grasp in history, and how they might do it. Most of you reading…

Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole SMART TASK

Who said it? / Who am I? This simple task encourages children to spot the differences between Florence Nightingale and…

teaching porcess

The learning process in history at KS 1

Given that this site specialises in giving practical support to busy teachers and subject leaders, you may be surprised to…

Gunpowder plot lesson

The Gunpowder Plot : a moving story

This is an account of a lesson taught by Sarah Duck, now a Leading Primary Teacher. She combined high quality…

guy fawkes

The Gunpowder Plot: Prove it using a gallery of images

This skilfully differentiated lesson places pupils in the role of detectives that have to find evidence to back up statements…

reception classroom

Teaching In Living Memory to Key Stage 1

Within living memory is one of the periods of time KS1 pupils need to study. At first sight it might…

polly put the kettle on

Polly put the kettle on. Learning about then and now, past and present

This is one of a series of 3 separate sessions on different nursery rhymes, building up children’s understanding of the…

Can we help our American millionaire to make his castle come alive? SMART TASK

This activity uses the idea of the Mantle of the Expert to engage children in a serious, real-life task. A…

Castles

Spying on your rival lord’s latest new castle

This is a really fun way of helping children to look closely at the detail of a medieval castle. They…

Illustration of children with guy 1960s

Bonfire Night when Granny was a girl: Smart Task

These activities have been designed for the current curriculum, covering the past within living memory and commemorative events. The three…

washday

Washday in the past; helping the hopeless Mr Lather

The children will be familiar with the range of processes involved in washing clothes in the past. They will have…

Help Tom to fight the Great Fire. Smart Task

This ICT based activity draws heavily on the superb new website created as a joint enterprise by the National Archives,…

KS1 : Going to the Seaside-the mystery of the pier

One of the more interesting features of the Seaside holidays topic is the fact that it opens up discussion, even…

Keystage1 roles of learners

Roles of learners

One of the best ways of exciting young children in history is to put them in role. Dorothy Heathcote’s approach…

Left luggage activity on the Titanic using artefacts provided by a Southampton Museum

Imaginative history outcomes at Key Stage 1

A key part of motivating infants in history is providing interesting practical products that really stimulate their interest. When so…

50 imaginative history learning activities for KS1

This ground-breaking section offers a massive range of ideas, arranged in alphabetical order. Some of the titles may seem a…

Why should Mary Anning be remembered? Have your say. SMART TASK

In Lyme Regis they are going to improve their Museum dedicated to Mary Anning. It will cost a lot of…

keystage 1

Inclusion at Key Stage 1

In addition to advice on: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution etc, this site focuses…

Keystage1 roles of learners

Personalised learning in history at KS 1

This is certainly one of the key areas to be focusing on in the next few years and lies at…