A two-week writing unit on the text Archie’s War, by Marcia Williams. It links perfectly with my History unit on World War I but it can also stand alone.
There is a heavy focus on sentence structure in this unit, with three levels of differentiation - this makes it suitable for Years 3 - 6.
**A fully planned and resourced 6 or 7 week unit on the Tudor Age of Exploration. Suitable for upper KS2 but easily adaptable for lower KS2. **
The unit follows a historical enquiry cycle, with key questions throughout.
Teaching strategies focus on visual tools and active learning, so that children have a constant frame of reference for this historical period.
There are links to current issues around colonialism with an exploration of whether Columbus was a hero or a villain.
Each lesson can be kept ‘short and sweet’ or you have the option to ‘explore deeper’ with discussion about all the key concepts.
Covers the National Curriculum objective: ’ A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066’.
Also covers the following Geography from the KS2 curriculum: ‘Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian’.
Ancient Greece History Unit
6 week unit for KS2
What is a civilization?
Compare Greeks with other civilizations
Geography of Greece
Greece then and now
Greek gods and goddesses
Athens vs Sparta
Democracy
End of unit assessment
**A fully planned and researched 6 week unit on The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China. **
Suitable for Upper KS2 but easily adaptable for Lower KS2.
Covers the National Curriculum objective: ‘The achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China’.
**A fully planned and resourced 6 week unit on World War 1. Suitable for upper KS2 but easily adaptable for lower KS2. **
The unit follows a historical enquiry cycle, with key questions throughout.
Teaching strategies focus on visual tools and active learning, so that children have a constant frame of reference for these events that are almost out of living memory.
Each lesson can be kept ‘short and sweet’ or you have the option to ‘explore deeper’ with discussion about all the key concepts.
Covers the National Curriculum objective: ’ A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066’.
Now with SATs style reading questions!
This eight lesson reading unit uses the Marcia Williams version of Oliver Twist (although any suitable abridged version could be used instead, or indeed, the musical film).
The unit also focuses on the historical context of the book, enabling children to visualise what life was like in Victorian England and for those living in workhouses.
The life of Charles Dickens is also explored.
The reading objectives covered are from the Y5 curriculum, but this unit could easily be adapted for years 3 - 6.
All video links, text extracts and worksheets are included, so you’ll have everything you need, except the book itself.
A three or four week writing unit based around the books ‘Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World’ and ‘Fantastically Great Women who Saved the Planet’ by Kate Pankhurst.
The writing outcome is a Biography with a range of sentence structures and cohesive devices. The sentence structures are differentiated by ability group:
Consolidate: Coordinating conjunctions.
Core: Subordination.
Extend: Relative clauses.
This unit was originally taught to Year 5 but it could easily be used from Year 2 - 6, due to the accessible nature of the original books and the grammar covered. We also used supporting material from ‘What Would she do? Real-life Stories of 25 Rebel Women’ by Kay Woodward and other books of a similar theme.
This is a brilliant unit that has so many opportunities for discussion about racial and gender equality and women’s rights.
A writing unit based on the book ‘Heroes’ by David Long.
Includes work on relative clauses and cohesive devices.
Suitable for Year 5 or 6.
Also links with World War I History (as the focus stories are about war dogs).
A unit of work based on developing drawing skills, linked with World War 1 and War Artists.
This unit would be suitable for LKS2 and UKS2 (Y3 - Y6).
Included:
Power Point with resources needed for each lesson;
Examples of famous American and UK War Artists’ work with opportunities for evaluation;
Drawing practice slides, resources and video link;
Figure drawing.
I am based on the Isle of Wight, so the historical focus is on the Isle of Wight Rifles - the regiment based there during WW1. You could use as is, or adapt to include the regiment in your location. The lower price reflects this.
Writing unit for Y4, Y5, Y6 (UKS2)
Re-write the chapter in your own words
Poseidon Gets Salty (how Athens got its name)
Use informal language
Cohesive devices
Speech/dialogue to move the action along
Formal/informal language
Link to history (Ancient Greece)
Mythology