Keystage history>
Great class story to use with Ancient Egypt at KS2
A few years ago when I was working closely with the staff at Belleville school in South London, we discussed…
Read More9 ways to ensure that your local history topic is successful at KS1 and 2
9 ways to ensure that your local history topic is successful Don’t even begin your chosen local topic unless…
Read More10 things you must know about King Alfred before you teach about Saxons and Vikings at KS2
1. Was Alfred born to be king? An unlikely ruler for a start. Although he was the son of the…
Read MoreAssessment in history at KS3 revisited-yet again!
KS3 assessment revisited. Recently Sally Burnham and Geraint Brown revisited their earlier seminal paper on assessment now 10 years old…
Read MoreUsing stories in history at KS3 and 4 as well as primary classes
Daniel Willingham and other have long made the case for the use of story in history teaching at all keystages…
Read MoreTop 10 tasks for effective history subject leaders
We all need reminding of what our core purposes are from time to time as we get caught up in…
Read MoreTeaching Early Islam at KS2
A recent article in the Historical Association’s magazine Primary History suggested that subject leaders need to ensure that the following…
Read MoreMaking sure your KS2 pupils know the real reasons for the Mayan collpase: latest research
The Maya’s apparently sudden decline in the 9th century AD has long been a subject for historical debate. Now scientists…
Read MoreTop 10 Command words for primary history activities
A simple way of ensuring that your pupils are thinking historically is to focus their activities using key command words….
Read MoreOFSTED looking for clear progression models in history
Central to much of the discussion in OFSTED about focussing more on subjects and the curriculum is the issue of…
Read MorePowerful personal memories of Remembrance Day
As we all remembered the fallen yesterday, I had particular reason to think of family loss. In the Great War…
Read MoreHow did the Viking fleets keep afloat on their voyages?
The unsurprising answer is TAR. The Vikings knew how to produce it on an industrial scale, making batches of 200-300…
Read MoreWhich cartoon best explains the paradox of the Nazi Soviet pact?
The Unholy Alliance: why on earth did Hitler and Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact when they clearly hated each other?…
Great blog on narrative v analytical writing at A level
If any of you are feeling that the A level history markschemes don’t make much sense you will draw consideable…
Read MoreHas Mary Beard got it right about TV history?
Mary Beard has sparked controversy yet again , this time about the way history is portrayed on TV. Too many…
Read MoreTeaching Mary Anning as a significant person at KS1
Many of you will know that I have been trying to wean schools off teaching JUST Florence Nightingale, and have…
Read MoreNew explanation as to why Mayan civilization collapsed- my KS2 kids can do better
Below is a recent short explanation as to why the Mayan civilization collapsed. I think that KS2 pupils can do…
Read More7 best ways to make sure that your history curriculum is OFSTED 2019-ready
There has been a lot of coverage recently of OFSTED’s intention to focus more on the quality, range and impact…
Read MoreCommemorating centenary of ending of World War One: Using fiction to teach about remembrance at KS1 and 2
Fiction provides opportunities for children to explore what life might have been like for people living during the war and,…
Read MoreWhy Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone)
Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone). Sam Wineburg’s just-published book in which he makes it clear that the…
Read MoreLynching in the US in the 20th century 1919-54
Crammed into this very active lesson are: slow reveal of an arresting image; interesting information about the role of the…
Read MoreHow good is your teaching and learning policy?
So primary schools and secondary history departments are happy to vaunt their teaching and learning policies. I applaud the fact that…
Read MoreWhy did they build so many churches in medieval times?
This simple task starts with pupils exploring and then prioritising a range of accessible ideas in order to arrive at…
Read MoreGreat short video on how Elizabeth I manipulated her image
Great video lasting just 6 mins during which an expert curator decodes the messages behind medals and miniatures. Really interesting….
Read MoreGCSE History: Guide to planning and teaching Edexcel 9-1 GCSE
Lots of thinking has taken place to decide the best way to structure the new Edexcel 9-1 GCSE history course. The…
Read MoreGender issues when selecting your significant person to teach in history at KS1
There has always been a tendency towards gender stereotyping when selecting which ‘famous’ men and women to teach at KS1….
Read MoreHitler Youth AS/A2 task
This smart task uses one of the most frequently misunderstood Hitler Youth posters. By taking students through a step-by-step deconstruction…
Read MoreWhat were the real reasons why William organised the Domesday survey?
In this active lesson pupils start by speculating possible motives (given a couple of clues) and then work in groups…
Read MoreGreat new read for your incoming Y7 pupils studying Battle of Hastings
You know how keen your Y7 pupils are when they arrive, so why not strike while the iron’s hot and…
Read MoreAS SMART TASK Vietnam; why was Rolling Thunder ultimately unsuccessful?
When by the end of 1965 US pilots had flown over 24,000 sortie missions and wiped out 355 of North…
Read MoreWhy was Anne Boleyn executed? Which of these seems most plausible?
In this short task students work out for themselves the key inter-related reasons why Anne Boleyn was executed. Using the…
Read MoreUsing living graphs in history at KS4 and 5: don’t let the activity replace the thinking and long-term recall
I have long been a fan of using living graphs, especially to help students appreciate extent and speed of change…
Read More10 commandments for successful source work at A-level
Although it grieves me to say it, these strategies may not have much to do with better teaching or understanding…
Read MoreOutstanding medium-term planner for Vikings
This KS2 Vikings planner, judged outstanding by an OFSTED history inspector now links to all the fully-resourced outstanding lessons and…
Read MoreTeaching Anglo-Saxons: Alfred and the Danes at KS2
Many of you have kindly written to say how much your pupils have enjoyed the lesson where they have to…
Read MoreNew resource for teaching evacuation at KS2 using sources critically
If you are teaching about evacuation World War Two, possibly as part of our innovative Thematic unit ‘Beyond Face vale’…
Read MoreCauses of World War One: problems of evidence. Why is it so difficult to work out who caused the First World War? Smart Task
This is a very short 5 minute warm-up activity to help students get a feel for the partisan sources that…
Read MoreOn the move: teaching the theme of migration at KS3 Smart Task
CONTEXT When looking at movement and settlement as a theme you will clearly want to look at: • the reasons…
Read MoreInternational relations overview 1914-2004 using a piece of COAL Smart Task
Starter Start the lesson dramatically by thumping a lump of coal on the desk. Explain that this lump of coal…
Read MoreThe execution of Charles I – advising a film director: a study in source analysis and evaluation
This lesson uses a set of 4 contemporary images and a secondary narrative account to examine how the author seems…
Read MoreUseful resource on Peterloo massacre KS3
Really useful short video on Peterloo , ‘Manchester’s Tiananmen square’. Presented as a graphic novel, the visuals are really clear…
Read MoreTeaching Anglo Saxons & Vikings Outstanding lessons for KS2 history
The National Curriculum has afforded separate status for individual units of work on the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. Whilst this may…
Read MoreVikings – KQ1 – What image do we have of the Vikings?
This two part session gives the topic on the Vikings a really active start. Following an introduction to the Vikings…
Read MoreVikings – KQ2 – Why have the Vikings gained such a bad reputation?
Having explored the nature of the stereotypical Viking image in the first session, it is now time to examine the…
Read MoreVikings – KQ3 – 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…
Read MoreVikings – KQ3 Additional Resource – How did the Vikings try to take over the country and how close did they get?
This article supports KQ3 The first raids early 790s 1. In 789 three ships from Norway landed in Dorset. The…
Read MoreVikings – KQ4 – How have recent excavations changed our view of the Vikings?
Evidence of Viking occupation Using the Mantle of the Expert approach, pupils help a confused museum curator to write high…
Read MoreVikings – KQ4 Supporting information – The invisible Vikings?
Key Question 4 address the key issue of evidence to support, or contradict, the idea that the Vikings were simply…
Read MoreToo many Cooks? Too pale, stale and male to be worth studying?
Australians are currently deep in debate about the enormous cost involved in yet another celebration of Cook’s voyages to Australia….
Read More£2.2. million to be spent on time-saving curriculum materials in hist, geog and science
Sounds great doesn’t it. Even better when you realise that the money is to fund school-based initiatives rather than top-down…
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