Bonfire Plot | Year 1 History Unit

A no-prep, 6-lesson history unit on Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally. Written for Year 1 (ages 5-6). Pick it up at lunchtime, teach it that afternoon - every lesson has a full teacher script, projectable slides, a pupil worksheet, and an exit quiz.
Driving question: Why do we light bonfires on the 5th of November?

What’s included

• 6 x Teacher lesson plans (Word, fully scripted)
• 6 x Pupil worksheets in 3 differentiated tiers (Support / Core / Stretch)
• 6 x Projectable slide decks (PowerPoint, ~22 slides each)
• 6 x Exit quizzes (single-page printable, with answer key)
• 1 x Knowledge Organiser (Word, 2-page A4 landscape)
• 1 x End-of-unit assessment with baseline + mark scheme
• 50+ original illustrations included throughout
• Curated kid-appropriate YouTube videos linked from each lesson’s slide deck

Curriculum links

• UK National Curriculum - KS1 History: Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
• an event beyond living memory that is significant nationally - in this unit, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605
• what England was like in 1605 - King James I, Catholics and Protestants explained gently
• the plan - 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the Houses of Parliament
• the anonymous letter sent to Lord Monteagle, a real document preserved at The National Archives at Kew
• what happened after the plot was found out - the plotters were caught and punished
• how we remember the 5th of November today - bonfires, fireworks, the rhyme, sparklers

What pupils will learn

• Pupils know that on the 5th of November we remember an event from a long time ago, the year 1605
• Pupils know that a group of people, the PLOTTERS, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with the King inside
• Pupils know the name of the most famous plotter - GUY FAWKES
• Pupils know the King at the time was KING JAMES I
• Pupils know that a real letter was sent to LORD MONTEAGLE warning him to stay away from Parliament
• Pupils know the plot was found out the night before, on the 4th of November, and that Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellar with the gunpowder
• Pupils know the plotters were caught and punished, and that no one was hurt by the gunpowder