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Archaeology: A view from the classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.
Perhaps it is the earthiness of the ground beneath our feet which arouses pupils' curiosity. Or maybe, the idea of the unexpected with the hope of finding something precious or unusual, that is so engaging about archaeology....
Archaeology: A view from the classroom
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A Vision of Britain Through Time
Website
This free-to-use and publically accessible website has now been updated and re-launched with a new look, extra content and improved search tools thanks largely to funding from JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee of Britain's universities).Among the latest additions is a full listing of every General Election result, 1832 to...
A Vision of Britain Through Time
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Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
Primary History article
Perhaps the hardest skill to develop in history is a sense of period. What was it really like to live in Ancient Egypt? Who should we study? Or, in this case, which workers were typical? Were these craftsmen in Deir el Medina typical of all the workers in Egypt? Or...
Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
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Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
Progression & Assessment
In the 2014 national curriculum for primary and secondary history one of the key differences is that, for the first time since 1991, there are no level descriptions against which you can assess pupils' progress. The new attainment target says simply that:
‘By the end of each key stage, pupils...
Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
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Lessons with strong literacy links
Lessons
Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
All history lessons have literacy links. The following lessons on this website have particularly strong links with literacy and the Literacy Hour.
Urban spaces near you - cross-curricular work history, literacy, art & design, and science
The Aztec experience persuasion genre: producing...
Lessons with strong literacy links
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Teaching with Meaning: Supporting Historical Understanding in the Primary Classroom
Article
In essence, history is a record of human affairs. The problem in making this record is that events are past and gone and have to be reconstructed. Evidence may be uncertain and incomplete. Inevitably, several plausible accounts of an event are often possible. As mental re-constructions, these accounts are our...
Teaching with Meaning: Supporting Historical Understanding in the Primary Classroom
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Objects and visual image exemplar: toys and games
Exemplar
This was a half-term cross-curricular topic with a mixed Year 1/2 class. It focused on forces in science, storytelling in English, and objects and pictures in history. The children in the class had a wide range of abilities, with a large number having very poor expressive language. Therefore many of...
Objects and visual image exemplar: toys and games
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Reading documents exemplar: Victorian school advertisement
Exemplar
Reading documents exemplar: Victorian school advertisement
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Tudor World Lessons
Article
Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
Lessons available on this site.
See also these short lesson exemplars: Finding out about Tudor life from topic books, Columbus a hero? (discussion and debate) and Columbus (story-telling).
Lessons
ReformationHow the Tudors came to PowerQueen Elizabeth ITudor Portraits: Who am I?Spanish...
Tudor World Lessons
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Teaching Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings in Britain
Reference guide for primary
This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of teachers and subject leaders, join the Historical Association today
Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
‘Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings' is the...
Teaching Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings in Britain
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Visual image and discussion exemplar: questioning a photograph
Exemplar
Almost more than any other source a photograph provides an incentive to dig, to burrow, to stretch, to tease out, to investigate and follow up leads.
A good starter activity. We used a photo in this way to begin our Britain since 1930 unit with a mixed Year 5/6 class....
Visual image and discussion exemplar: questioning a photograph
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Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Science
Lesson Resources
Please note: this free resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is part of a set of subject areas also covering History, Literacy and Art & Design.
Fieldwork in urban public parks, gardens and open spacesPublic spaces offer a range of opportunities for children's learning, and can enable children to investigate, observe, wonder, record and...
Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Science
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Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Literacy
Article
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is part of a set of subject areas also covering History, Science, and Art & Design.
See also Cross-curricular learning
Public spaces offer a range of opportunities for children's learning, and can enable children to investigate, observe, wonder, record and create....
Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Literacy
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A Local Study
Lesson Plan
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum. For more recent resources see:
Local significant individuals
Scheme of work: Local history - the story of our high street
Scheme of work: Local history - transport
Using a house for your local history study
Lessons available on this site...
A Local Study
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Anglo-Saxons: a brief history
Reference guide for primary
Jump to: Anglo-Saxons in Britain | Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms | Areas to examine | Key concepts & links
This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of teachers and subject...
Anglo-Saxons: a brief history
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Investigating Victorian mining disasters
Lesson Plan
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
In this series of lessons about two mining disasters, I integrated learning in history, literacy and ICT. As the children are an able group, I intended to challenge them to explore primary written sources, to identify differences between them, to...
Investigating Victorian mining disasters
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Investigating Henry VIII
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The lesson required the children to consider carefully their own opinions about Henry and anything that they knew about him. This was followed up by a literacy lesson in which they used the evidence to express a point of view regarding...
Investigating Henry VIII
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Topic book blitz: asking and answering questions and Tudor Britain
Short Lesson Exemplar
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The topic book blitz approach, where children freely scan a range of topic books, provides both a marvellous stimulus to curiosity and questioning, and an authentic purpose for using research skills.
One of our key principles is Questions and Questioning.In this...
Topic book blitz: asking and answering questions and Tudor Britain
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Saxon Ship Burial
Lesson Plan (KS2)
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here.
The class had investigated life in Roman Britain. A visit to Dewa Centre in Chester together with class lessons and individual...
Saxon Ship Burial
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Saxon Settlers in Britain
Lesson Plans (KS2)
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here.
This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free...
Saxon Settlers in Britain
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Ways of making Key Stage 2 history culturally inclusive: A study of practice developed in Kirklees
Article
Kirklees, West Yorkshire comprises Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley. There is a population of 300,000. Minority, ethnic pupils account for nearly 20%. Over the next decade it is predicted that there will be an increase in the number of pupils of Pakistani, Indian, African, African Caribbean and Chinese descent entering the...
Ways of making Key Stage 2 history culturally inclusive: A study of practice developed in Kirklees
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History: Using Stories
HA Quick Guides
‘Making the past present and bringing the distant near' Thomas Babington Macaulay 1828 Smollett's constitutional HistoryAs a teacher covering some area of primary history such as Florence Nightingale or Victorian Britain have you ever heard the dreaded words from a child ‘So what?' This can actually be a front for...
History: Using Stories
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Planning for diversity in the Key Stage 2 history curriculum
Article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum and some content is now outdated, e.g. reference to the QCA. This article may therefore be more useful for those engaging in research than for practising teachers. See Primary History summer resource 2019: Diversity for current guidance.
In a series of three articles Hilary Claire...
Planning for diversity in the Key Stage 2 history curriculum
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The creative history curriculum
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Do you give in to bullying, stay loyal to your leader, admit your actions, betray your neighbours, challenge discrimination or just keep quiet? These were the issues faced by Year 4 children at East...
The creative history curriculum
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Why history matters? Round Table discussion podcast
Podcasts
Podcast of the round table discussion available here!The History Matters Annual Conference in May saw the best turnout we've had for some time with a healthy and representative mix of HA members. Our thanks to all those who contributed their time and energy in delivering workshops and lectures. Our afternoon...
Why history matters? Round Table discussion podcast