Outstanding History Lessons At KS2

This section comprises two parts: the main one is the series of outstanding, fully-resourced and described, lessons graded 1 by an OFSTED history inspector when they were grading individual lessons. You are given the learning objectives and every activity in sequence all with accompanying PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. The other lesson activities, from parts of lessons, are called smart tasks, exemplifying features of outstanding lessons and, again, all fully resourced.

Ancient Egypt – assessment task – The afterlife

Key Elements: ideas, attitudes and beliefs This assessment tasks focuses on a single picture. Pupils are asked how the image…

Ancient Greece – assessment task – Life for women in Ancient Greece

This is a Year 6 task which focuses on Key Element 2a : characteristic features of life for men women…

Anglo-Saxons – assessment task – What were the main changes that took place in Anglo-Saxon England?

Focus: significance and change Using 3 images to help you, what were the most important changes that took place in…

Early Islamic Civilisation – assessment task – Why was life in 10th century Baghdad was so significant.

Using two contrasting illustrations to help them, pupils have to explain why life in 10th century Baghdad was so significant….

Mayan civilisation – assessment task – What can we tell about Mayan society 1,000 years ago?

Focus skill/concept: Understanding characteristic period features and cultural diversity Using 3 images pupils are set the task to explain what…

Roman Britain – assessment task – interpretations of Boudicca

Focus: interpretations Another Year 4 task in which pupils have to compare two unseen illustrations from books about Boudicca. Having…

Roman Britain – assessment task – Why did the Romans invade?

Focus: causation Short written explanation or, for some, the completion of two speech bubbles. What did the Romans / Claudius…

Roman Britain – assessment task – Roman legacy

Assessing pupils’ understanding of the legacy of the Roman Empire on life in Britain This task is designed to elicit…

Stone Age to Iron Age – assessment task – changes from Stone Age to Iron Age

Focus: sequencing This Y3/4 task is highly visual and entails simple sequencing of unseen images followed by reason why changes…

Tudor Britain – assessment task – What can we learn about the way Elizabeth ruled the country from portraits

Focus: evaluation of sources Children work on an unseen portrait after the teacher has read out the caption which explains…

Victorian Britain – assessment task – How do we know this picture shows Victorian Britain?

Pupils are given artist’s impression of a typical Victorian scene which they have never seen before. They have to identify…

Vikings – assessment task – Depictions of the Vikings

Focus: historical interpretation After looking at similarity and difference between two depictions of the Vikings, pupils then offer reasons why…

WW2 – Assessment task – How do we know that this picture shows England at the beginning of the Second World War?

Focus: characteristic features of life for men, women and children Once again based on a very detailed and colourful artists’…

Strengths and weaknesses of 10 different approaches to local history at KS1 and 2

1. A general history of the community Advantages Can build a sense of place enhancing pupils’ awareness of how the…

Ancient Egypt – end of unit quiz

Congratulations on completing your unit on Ancient Egypt! Now that you’ve explored this incredible ancient civilization, it’s time to put…

Early Islamic civilisation knowledge organiser – KS2

You are studying this topic so that you realise that a thousand years ago Baghdad was the largest city in…

Keeping your teaching of Stonehenge up-to-date

Just when you thought you knew all there was to teach about Stonehenge suddenly a major discovery turns much of…

Ancient Egypt – SMART task – Puzzle corner: Mystery of the pyramids in the desert

This thinking skills task has been designed to encourage pupils to work out plausible answers to the puzzling question, one…

The mystery of why the pyramids were built in the desert is finally solved

Many of you teaching Ancient Egypt in depth as part of a broader topic on ancient civilizations will , no…

Teaching Olympic games in 2024

Are you planning to teach about the Olympic games which are coming to Paris in July 2024? If so you…

Britain during the Second World War knowledge organiser – KS2

In this topic you will learn why Britain went to war and was threatened with invasion by Hitler’s Germany during…

Shang dynasty knowledge organiser – KS2

You are studying the Shang dynasty because it was the first Chinese civilization in ancient times and one for which…

Shang dynasty – KQ1 – Why do YOU think the Shang dynasty MIGHT be important?

Lively introductory session which creatively gets pupils to find things out for themselves and check their understanding using bells and…

Shang dynasty – KQ2 – How different was the Shang society to other civilizations at the time?

Using the expert/envoy technique to research and disseminate information from dossiers on a range of different aspects of Shang society,…

Shang dynasty – KQ3 – What can we tell about the Shang dynasty from the objects that have survived?

Here the focus is on developing enquiry-led learning which is as much about asking valid historical questions as it is…

Shang dynasty – KQ4 – Why has our understanding of the Shang dynasty changed so much in the last 100 years?

Opening up the tricky concept of interpretations of the past, this session enables pupils to grasp that history is always…

Shang dynasty – KQ5 – What was distinctive about the Shang people’s beliefs?

Having used a fast-paced Information Run activity to acquire the key points about Shang religion pupils are set the task…

Shang dynasty – KQ6 – If the Shang dynasty was so well organised why did come to an end after just 600 years and what makes it so special for people today?

Pupils compare 5 different simple textbook explanations, which they colour code, before building their own explanation, based on what seems…

Crime and punishment knowledge organiser – KS2

You are studying this topic in history because it helps you to understand how things have changed,(and have stayed roughly…

Black and British knowledge organiser – KS2

You are studying this topic in the hope that you will discover how Black British is an important part of…

Victorian Britain knowledge organiser – KS2

You are learning about Victorian Britain because this was a really significant period of huge change in industry and technology,…

Mayan civilisation knowledge organiser – KS2

The height of Maya civilization came at the time when the Saxons were fighting the Vikings in Britain, but it…

Benin knowledge organiser – KS2

Benin was a very important civilization, not just within Africa but in world history too. An important part of what…

Vikings knowledge organiser – KS2

Probably one of the most captivating of KS2 history topics, the Vikings present wonderful opportunities to capitalise on pupils’ fascination…

Anglo-Saxons knowledge organiser – KS2

During this period England emerged as a recognisable nation and Christianity became established. The recent coronation of Charles III is…

Keeping up to-date with teaching of the Maya – Archaeologists uncover scoreboard for ancient Maya ball game

In the Archaeological Zone of Chichén Itzá, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a…

Adapting Keystage history lessons – FAQs

1. Why are lessons still called ‘outstanding’? I am often asked how the lessons section of the site should be…

Ancient Greece knowledge organiser – KS2

In your study of Ancient Greece you will learn how a civilization that flourished over 2500 years ago still influences…

Roman Britain knowledge organiser – KS2

The arrival of the Romans to Britain and their occupation for over 350 years marks a turning point in the…

Stone Age to Iron Age knowledge organiser – KS2

The earliest known humans arrived in these lands around 900,000 years ago. During this time there were huge changes: the…

10 places to go to find out about your local area

1. Go to your library Your local library will nearly always have a local history section that can tell you…

Black and British – KQ1 – How shall we tell the story of the first Black Britons in Britain?

Pupils watch a brief introductory video for just 70 seconds, the point at which the film stops short of identifying…

Black and British – KQ2 – What part did Black people play in British life when they started to settle 500 years ago?

Focusing on four key documents, pupils have to work out what we can say about the role of Black people…

Black and British – KQ3 – What difference did the slave trade make to the experience of the Black people?

Having understood the nature of the transatlantic slave trade, and Britain’s role within it, pupils work in expert groups to…

Black and British – KQ4 – When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that their sacrifice has been properly recognised?

When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that…

Black and British – KQ5 – How did the arrival of the Empire Windrush change the way Black People were treated in Britain?

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