Year 6 History WW1 unit

This unit is designed for year 6. The unit focuses on WW1 – paying particular attention to the main participants, military innovation and key dates. Throughout this unit, children will spend time learning the geography of the different empires. They will also learn how to carry out different types of historical research; develop their understanding of the weapons used to fight WW1; better understand the Treaty of Versailles and the role it played in WW2. It develops the following skills and knowledge from the National Curriculum:

1. To know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; achievements and follies of mankind
2. To gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’ and ‘civilisation’
3. Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses.
4. Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
5. Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

Lesson 1: A Chronology lesson which uses photographic evidence to give the children a deeper understanding of how and why different periods/peoples in time were so different. Children make links between different time periods as they start to use the language of chronology.

Lesson 2: Children use atlases and maps to gain a better understanding of the different countries and empires involved in WW1.

Lesson 3/4: Children work together to collaboratively research some of the major events of WW1. They also spend time researching some of the key technologies which were vital to the War.

Lesson 5: Children learn more about the key weapons used to fight WW1 whilst also making decisions about the effectiveness of these methods of warfare.

Lesson 6: Children create a multimedia presentation by researching the lives of different people living through that time.

Lesson 7. Children research different reasons why WW1 started so they can engage in a class debate.

Lesson 8: Children work in teams to compete in a game which helps them better understand the importance of the Treaty of Versailles.

Within this unit plan there are hyperlinks to other resources associated with the plan.