Who was Edith Cavell and can we call her a heroine?

A standalone lesson that investigates Edith Cavell and her impact on World War One.

The lesson is well planned and allows for students to brainstorm their understanding of what a hero is.

It then allows for the class to come up with a set of criteria from which they will be able to judge whether Edith Cavell is a hero.

Students will be asked to fill in a fact-file on Cavell’s life and follow this up with completing a ‘Qualities of a Hero’ worksheet which they will need to provide real life examples of the qualities chosen by the class which Cavell exhibited.

Students are then asked to discuss as a class to what extent they believe Cavell was a heroine using both their qualities of a hero sheet and their completed fact-file.

The final activity is a creative task in which they need to write a speech honouring Cavell’s contribution to World War One. Students are provided with specific prompts and questions to address in the speech.

If time permits- students can read out their speech to the class.

The aim of the lesson is to introduce students to a wonderul and heroic woman who as time moves on might get overlooked!

This lesson is aimed at Year 6,7,8.