Planning and resources for primary teachers from http://www.ks2history.com. Our history topics include Stone Age to Iron Age, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Victorians, Shang Dynasty etc and the list is expanding each month, with literacy units to link to the topics too.
Our popular resources have been tried and tested in hundreds of classrooms.
Planning and resources for primary teachers from http://www.ks2history.com. Our history topics include Stone Age to Iron Age, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Victorians, Shang Dynasty etc and the list is expanding each month, with literacy units to link to the topics too.
Our popular resources have been tried and tested in hundreds of classrooms.
Here is a recipe from Ancient China for millet porridge that you can make with pupils as they learn about the Shang Dynasty or to use for Chinese New Year.
Instructions for making oracle bones out of clay and adding Ancient Chinese symbols to make a message. This is a fun activity for Chinese New Year or for leaning about Ancient China.
An activity to help pupils describe 2 contrasting settings from the story of Beowulf. Pupils will use the diagram to record words and phrases from the Danish moors outside Heorot and the warm feasting hall inside the palace.
Performing Poetry
Walter de la Mare - 2 week unit
A two-week literacy unit of work for Year 4, containing lesson plans and pupil resources, looking at how this poet creates a haunted atmosphere in some of his spooky narrative poems. In this unit pupils will:
- read and listen to classic poems by Walter de la Mare
- use inference skills to understand narrative poetry
- engage imaginatively with poetic language
- create their own versions of the one of the spooky poems
- investigate how the poet creates a haunted atmosphere
- explore how sound effects can enhance a performance
- prepare and give a performance to an audience
The poems include 'The Huntsmen', 'Some one' and 'The Listeners'
Romans planning for 2nd/3rd Grades.
Includes 10 history lessons and 10 literacy lessons.
History lessons:
1. Introduction: How did the Roman Empire begin?
2. Rise and Conquer!: How did the Roman army help the Roman Empire to expand?
3. Invading Britannia: How did Britain become part of the Roman Empire?
4. Who was Boudica?: How did Boudica rebel against the Romans?
5. Building up Britain: What did the Romans build after they settled in Britain?
6. Time to Relax!: What did people do for leisure in Roman Britain?
7. Digging up the Past: What do archaeological sites tell us about Roman Britain?
8. Home Sweet Home: What were houses like in Roman Britain?
9. What did the Romans do for us?: What important things did the Romans introduce to Britain?
10. Summing up: What have we learned about this period of history?
Literacy Lessons:
The ten lessons in this unit aim to give children the opportunity to understand the features of instructions as a genre. In the first week, children will engage with the text type by following instructions to make edible Roman roads out of biscuits, chocolates and custard! There is also a grammar focus on using prepositions and imperative verbs. In the second week, pupils will use drama to develop ideas and extend their vocabulary. They will then plan their own set of instructions about becoming gladiator champions and they will then have the opportunity to draft, edit and present their final instructions.
The literacy objectives covered in this unit are:
- To give and follow verbal instructions
- To use prepositions
- To read and follow written instructions
- To identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
- To use a range of imperative verbs
- To prepare a group performance
- To make a plan for my writing
- To write my own instructions
- To edit my writing
- To make decisions about how to present my writing
The PDF files contain the full lesson plans and all accompanying pupil resources.
This is an activity designed to help pupils understand how tension mounts in the story Beowulf. Focusing on the scene where Beowulf journeys through the lake to battle Grendel's Mother, pupils should discuss where each card should be placed on the diagram to show how tension is built and relieved by the storyteller.
Lesson 7. Picturing the Kingdom: What was Benin Kingdom art like?
In this lesson, pupils will consider what its surviving artwork tells us about Benin Kingdom. They will develop their ability to analyse art work and they will learn the technical vocabulary associated with it. Then pupils will prepare and record their own podcasts about one peice of art from Benin Kingdom and have the opportunity to use what they have learned to create their own works of art.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and a pupil activity sheet.
For upper KS2.
Lesson 3. Coming out of its Shell: What did the people of Benin Kingdom believe?
This lesson addresses how important storytelling was in Benin culture. Pupils will discover some of the mythologies of Benin Kingdom and will look in detail at its creation story - a fabulous tale involving a snail shell and a talking hornbill! They will take on the role of storyteller and find their own ways of retelling the creation story.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and two pupil activity sheets.
For Upper KS2.
Lesson 9. Benin Bronze Debate: What was left after Benin Kingdom was destroyed?
In this lesson, pupils will evaluate the types of evidence left that tell us about Benin Kingom. Then they will research the looting of the Benin bronzes and will take part in a class debate to decide whether or not the bronzes should be returned to Nigeria.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and two pupil activity sheets.
For Upper KS2.
Performing Classic Poetry
Edward Lear - 2 week unit
A two-week literacy unit of work for K/1stGrade, containing lesson plans and pupil resources, looking at some of Lear's most funny and imaginative poems. In this unit pupils will:
- listen to classic poems by Edward Lear
- investigate the sounds and language patterns of the poem
- make a comic version of 'The Owl and the Pussycat'
- identify rhyming words and patterns
- make a new version of the poem 'The Jumblies'
- prepare and give a performance to an audience
The poems include 'The Owl and the Pussycat', 'Calico Pie' and 'The Jumblies'.
This is a ten-lesson unit of work based on reading and writing instructions.
The ten lessons in this unit aim to give children the opportunity to understand the features of instructions as a genre. In the first week, children will engage with the text type by following instructions to make edible Roman roads out of biscuits, chocolates and custard! There is also a grammar focus on using prepositions and imperative verbs. In the second week, pupils will use drama to develop ideas and extend their vocabulary. They will then plan their own set of instructions about becoming gladiator champions and they will then have the opportunity to draft, edit and present their final instructions.
The literacy objectives covered in this unit are:
- To give and follow verbal instructions
- To use prepositions
- To read and follow written instructions
- To identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
- To use a range of imperative verbs
- To prepare a group performance
- To make a plan for my writing
- To write my own instructions
- To edit my writing
- To make decisions about how to present my writing
The PDF file contains ten lesson plans and all accompanying pupil resources.
This is a simplified version of the story of Boudica. You can use this to read aloud or for pupils to use their comprehension skills to read for themselves.
Lesson 2. The Makings of a Kingdom: How was the Kingdom of Benin first established?
This lesson invites pupils to discover how the Kingdom of Benin was born when a group of rainforest villages joined together as a conglomerate. Pupils will learn about some of the ways that the early kingdom protected itself so well and will research the famous Benin moat.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and two pupil activity sheets.
For Upper KS2.
Lesson 8. Lasting Legacy : What happened to Benin Kingdom after the period AD 900-1300?
In this lesson, Pupils will consider how the period AD 900-1300 fits into a bigger picture of Benin's history. They will find out how historians classify Benin's history into three main periods. Pupils will discover what happened when British troops destroyed Benin City in 1897 and will develop an argument to show whether or not the invasion was justified.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and two pupil activity sheets.
For Upper KS2.
In this activity pupils will reflect on how things changed in Benin Kingdom after the last Ogiso king was exiled from the kingdom and the second dynasty of Obas took charge. The worksheet provides a Venn diagram sorting activity.
This worksheet helps pupils to learn the vocabulary associated with the early Kingdom of Benin, when a group of villages joined to become a conglomerate. Pupils can use this worksheet to prepare a picture glossary of useful historical terms.
This is a recount of how the last Ogiso king was exiled from the Kingdom of Benin and how the second dynasty of Obas took charge.
The PDF file also contains a storyboard template for pupils to record their own version of the story.