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.
A lesson for KS2 about Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and printable activity sheets.
This lesson is part of our popular Ancient Greece Pack for Key Stage 2.
Lesson: What was Alexander the Great’s impact on the Greek empire?
This lesson explores the life and impact of Alexander the Great. Pupils will look at sources that give clues about Alexander’s global impact and then they will act out the story of his crucial role in expanding the Greek empire. Once familiar with Alexander’s story, pupils will be given a map work challenge to record the four stages of the expansion of Alexander’s empire.
Objectives:
To find out why Alexander the Great was a significant figure
To analyse the historical impact of Alexander the Great’s rule
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Ancient Greeks Lessons Pack for KS2: A fully-resourced unit of 10 history lessons for KS2, covering the Ancient Greece topic.
This primary history resource has been created by KS2History.
A lesson for KS2 about daily life for children in Ancient Greece, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and printable activity sheets.
This lesson is part of our popular Ancient Greece Pack for Key Stage 2.
Lesson: What was daily life like for children in Ancient Greece?
This lesson is designed to help pupils to understand more about key areas of daily life for Ancient Greek children. Pupils will play a game to compare elements of their own lifestyles to life for different children in Ancient Greece. They will research information about food, education, clothing and entertainment and then design their own version of an Ancient Greek pull-along toy. At the end of the lesson, pupils will examine how four historical sources from Ancient Greece give more clues about daily life for children.
Objectives:
To explore different areas of daily life for Ancient Greek children
To find out about popular Ancient Greek toys
To consider how we can know about what daily life was like so far in the past
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Ancient Greeks Lessons Pack for KS2: A fully-resourced unit of 10 history lessons for KS2, covering the Ancient Greece topic.
This primary history resource has been created by KS2History.
Download our popular Easter Performance Poetry unit for KS1. One week’s worth of literacy planning!
A five-lesson literacy unit of poetry planning for Years 1 and 2, based on performing Easter poetry and built around the KS1 English objectives.
In this unit, pupils will read a classic Easter poem about a fast white rabbit and they will consider how the sounds and language patterns come alive when the poem is read aloud, particularly reflecting on the use of verbs and similes. Children will work towards creating their version of the Easter poem and turning it into an effective performance, which could be used for an Easter assembly or celebration.
The aims of the unit for pupils are:
• To listen to a classic Easter poem being read aloud
• To identify verbs and similes
• To prepare a poetry performance including actions
• To perform a poem to an audience
The PDF file contains 5 full literacy lesson plans, copies of the poem and all accompanying pupil resources.
You may also like our other KS1 resources
Y2 English Bundle
Y2 SPAG Questions
Going to Sea Poetry Pack
KS1 Sentence Types Poetry
Summer Performance Poetry Pack
A lesson for KS2 exploring how the Romans built up Britain with roads and other structures - including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and printable activity sheets.
This lesson is part of our popular Romans unit for Key Stage 2.
Lesson: What did the Romans build after they settled in Britain?
This lesson looks at the different buildings and structures that the Romans introduced to Britain to improve the efficiency of society. Pupils will be introduced to new vocabulary and then research Roman roads and aqueducts. There is a choice of activities; pupils will either map out some key Roman roads or they will make their own aqueduct model and test it out with running water.
Objectives:
To explain how the landscape of Britain was changed by what the Romans built
To give examples of how the Romans designed buildings and structures to make a more efficient society
This primary history resource is created by KS2History.
You may also like our other Romans topic resources:
Roman Britain Planning Pack
Escape from Pompeii Literacy Planning Pack
Romans Literacy Pack (Instructions Unit)
A full lesson for KS2 exploring Iron Age art. The resource includes a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
What was Iron Age art like?
In this lesson pupils will consider what kind of artefacts tell us about life in the Iron Age, including weapons and jewellery. They will investigate the distinctive designs found in Celtic art and use these ideas to make their own Celtic brooch design.
Objectives:
To describe some of the features of Iron Age art
To use design ideas from Celtic art to make an Iron Age artefact
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
This is the tenth lesson in the popular Stone Age to Iron Age Unit for KS2..
This primary history resource was created by KS2History.
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Iron Age Hillforts (Lesson for KS2)
Bronze Age (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Artefacts & Evidence (Lesson for KS2)
Stonehenge Mysteries (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Boy Literacy Planning - 2 Weeks
Stone Age to Iron Age Planning Bundle for KS2
Download our popular two-week unit of work for Years 3/4 based on the book ‘How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth’, with a focus on instructional texts. Perfect for linking the Stone Age topic in literacy!
This unit gives children the opportunity to understand the features of instructions as a text type. In the first week, children will engage with the text through research, a hands-on toy washing challenge and the opportunity to create their own ‘Woolly Mammoth Cleaning Kit’. They will become familiar with the text type by following instructions to make their own milk bottle mammoth models and identifying features of the text. There is a grammar focus on using prepositions and imperative verbs.
In the second week, pupils will use drama to develop ideas and extend vocabulary. They will then plan their own set of instructions and they will draft, edit and present their final written outcome.
The literacy objectives covered are:
To retrieve and record information from non-fiction
To participate in discussion about a text
To use a range of imperative verbs
To use prepositions
To read and follow written instructions
To identify the features of instructions
To identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
To prepare a group performance
To use a rich and varied vocabulary
To make a plan for my writing
To write my own set of instructions
To edit and evaluate my writing
To integrate visual devices
The PDF file contains 10 full lesson plans and accompanying pupil resource sheets.
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Stone Age Boy Literacy Planning
Stone Age to Iron Age Resource Pack
Stone Age to Iron Age planning bundle of all 3 packs
A full lesson for KS2 introducing the topic of Skara Brae. The resource includes a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
What was Skara Brae?
In this lesson pupils will find out how things changed in Britain in the Stone Age when people began to settle in farming communities like Skara Brae. This lesson allows pupils to conduct their own research online about the discovery of Skara Brae and helps them to systematically organise their notes so that they can make a presentation.
Objectives:
To research the history of Skara Brae
To find out about the way people lied in the Neolithic period
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
This is the fifth lesson in the popular Stone Age to Iron Age Unit for KS2..
This primary history resource was created by KS2History.
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Prehistory Timelines (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Cave Art (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Artefacts & Evidence (Lesson for KS2)
Stonehenge Mysteries (Lesson for KS2)
Bronze Age (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Boy Literacy Planning - 2 Weeks
Stone Age to Iron Age Planning Bundle for KS2
A full lesson for KS2 introducing the story of Cleopatra VII and her legacy as the last main Ancient Egyptian pharaoh. The resource includes a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Who was Cleopatra and how is she remembered?
In this lesson, pupils will learn about Cleopatra VII and her legacy as the last main pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Pupils will act out her story, including the defeat of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. Pupils will read a range of opinions about Cleopatra from historical sources and be encouraged to form their own conclusions about her character.
Objectives:
To explore the story of Cleopatra VII
To investigate Cleopatra’s legacy and some of the different opinions about her.
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
This lesson is part of the KS2History Ancient Egyptians Planning Pack for KS2.
This primary history resource is created by KS2History.
A full lesson for KS2 introducing Iron Age hillforts. The resource includes a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
What was life like in an Iron Age hill fort?
Pupils will discover what life was like in an Iron Age hill fort in Britain. This lesson encourages pupils to engage imaginatively with this historical setting and reflect on how life in this period might have been different to life today, making a storyboard to record their ideas. As an extension activity pupils are challenged to find out about archaeological sites like Maiden Castle.
Objectives:
To understand how British society changed in the Iron Age
To imagine what life might have been like in an Iron Age hill fort
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
This is the ninth lesson in the popular Stone Age to Iron Age Unit for KS2..
This primary history resource was created by KS2History.
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Iron Age Art (Lesson for KS2)
Bronze Age (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Artefacts & Evidence (Lesson for KS2)
Stonehenge Mysteries (Lesson for KS2)
Stone Age Boy Literacy Planning - 2 Weeks
Stone Age to Iron Age Planning Bundle for KS2
A fully-resourced unit of 10 history lessons for KS2, covering the Maya Civilization history topic. This KS2History planning pack includes 10 detailed lessons plans, each with accompanying pupil resource sheets and Powerpoint slides.
The ten sessions in this unit aim to give an overview of the history of the Maya Civilization, with a particular focus on the period leading up to the height of the civilization in AD 900. As with all KS2History.com units, there is an emphasis on allowing pupils to consider the sources of evidence that form our understanding of this period of world history. The unit also takes the opportunity to draw contrasts with comparable themes from British history.
The aims of the unit for pupils are:
To gain an overview of significant people, places and events from the Maya Civilization
To explore how the geography of the Maya area impacted trade, daily life and the growth and decline of the civilization
To consider broader historical context and draw links with British history and other familiar aspects of world history
To become familiar with historical sources and debates, to address misconceptions and to use accurate vocabulary relating to the Maya Civilization.
This pack contains everything you need to teach this unit, including differentiated activity ideas so that it can be adapted to the needs of your class. The Powerpoint text is also editable.
The planning pack covers the following lessons:
What was the Maya Civilization?
How did the landscape of the Maya area affect trade?
How did Maya settlers survive and thrive in the rainforest?
What do Maya ruins tell us about city-states?
How useful are the pictures of Frederick Catherwood as a source of information about the Maya?
Did the Maya invent football?
Why was maize so important to the Maya people?
Who was Pakal the Great?
How did the Maya keep track of time?
What is the mystery of the abandoned Maya cities?
This resource includes 1 x PDf file (containing all lessons and resources) and 10 x separate PPT files.
Reading comprehension based on an information text about the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Great alongside the Stone Age to Iron Age topic or for a guided reading text!
Problems downloading? Click here for download help
This pack contains the information text, two pages of questions, an additional challenge and an answer key.
The questions are aimed at Year 3 and Year 4 but could be used by other year groups too. This is a useful resource for English lessons, guided reading, independent research or homework.
Check out our other popular Stone Age resources:
Skara Brae Reading Comprehension Pack
Stone Age Boy Planning
How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth Planning
Stone Age to Iron Age Resource Pack
Stone Age Planning Bundle
A full lesson for KS2 about Anglo-Saxon clothing, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
What kind of clothes did the Anglo-Saxons wear?
In this lesson, pupils think about how their own clothing choices compare to the clothes available to Anglo-Saxons. Pupils will find out about typical clothing for Anglo-Saxon men and women and they will have a go at colouring wool using natural materials for dyes. Finally, pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on the sources of evidence that might inform historians about Anglo-Saxon clothing.
Objectives:
To find out what Anglo-Saxon clothing looked like
To discover how Anglo-Saxons made clothes out of natural materials
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
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Anglo-Saxons Unit for KS2: A fully-resourced unit of 10 history lessons for KS2, covering the Anglo-Saxon topic.
What was it like in an Anglo-Saxon village? A complete lesson for KS2
Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from? A complete lesson for KS2
A lesson for KS2 investigating the evidence around whether the Ancient Greek story of the Trojan Horse was based on real events, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and printable activity sheets.
This lesson is part of our popular Ancient Greece Pack for Key Stage 2.
Lesson: Did the events of the Trojan Horse story really happen?
In this lesson, pupils will learn about the tradition of oral storytelling in Ancient Greece. Pupils will listen to the Trojan Horse story and analyse the evidence to decide which parts of the story are likely to be based on true events. Pupils will use their analysis to form a structured response to the question Did the story of the Trojan Horse really happen?, before being left with a challenge to imagine their own trick to break through the walls of Troy.
Objectives:
To draw my own conclusion about the Ancient Greek story of the Trojan Horse
To evaluate stories from history by examining sources of evidence
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Ancient Greeks Lessons Pack for KS2: A fully-resourced unit of 10 history lessons for KS2, covering the Ancient Greece topic.
This primary history resource has been created by KS2History.
A lesson for KS2 introducing Britain just before the time of the Roman invasion - including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and printable activity sheets.
This lesson is part of our popular Romans unit for Key Stage 2 and helps to set the context for the Roman invasion of Britain.
Lesson: What was Britain like before the Romans invaded?
This lesson explores what Britain looked like just before the Roman invasion and it provides a key background before analysing the impact of the Roman invasion in subsequent lessons. Pupils will explore an Iron Age tribal map and consider how the geography affects invasion strategies. Then pupils will become Roman ‘spies’, reporting on key aspects of the culture, landscape and lifestyle of Iron Age Britain.
Objectives:
To explain what Britain looked like just before the Romans invaded
To evaluate how different aspects of life in Iron Age Britain might have affected the success of the Roman invasion
This primary history resource is created by KS2History.
You may also like our other Romans topic resources:
Roman Britain Planning Pack
Escape from Pompeii Literacy Planning Pack
Romans Literacy Pack (Instructions Unit)
Romans Planning Bundle of all three planning packs
Download this fun KS1 English lesson revising the four types of sentence: statement, command, question and exclamation.
In this lesson pupils will recap the different sentence types and then create ‘Who Am I’ poems about animals and transport using the four different types of sentences, supporting the TAF statements for Y2.
This resource contains a full Powerpoint presentation that takes you through the lesson including revision, main activities and a plenary. There is also an accompanying worksheet for pupils.
This activity is great for revising SPAG objectives at in Year 2 and can also be adapted for other year groups.
Lesson 8. Who was Fu Hao?: Why is Lady Fu Hao's tomb significant to historians?
Pupils will investigate who Lady Fu Hao might have been by looking at some of the artefacts found in her tomb. They will learn about how people in Shang times were often buried with a tomb full of treasures to take with them to the afterlife. Pupils will engage imaginatively with a scenario about a slave being taken to the grave with his master and they will write a persuasive letter to escape such an unfortunate destiny.
The PDF file contains the full lesson plan and a pupil activity sheet.
For upper KS2.
A full lesson for KS2 exploring the topic of jobs for Victorian children, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
What was life like for working Victorian children?
In this lesson, pupils will find out about the different kinds of work that Victorian children undertook. Pupils will watch videos exploring work in mines, factories and fields and will consider what these jobs would have felt like for children performing the work on a daily basis. Pupils will make a paperchain of Victorian children to present information about different jobs and have the opportunity to hot-seat in the role of a child worker.
Objectives:
To find out what sort of jobs were taken by Victorian children
To explore what life was like for Victorian working children
The lesson plan includes differentiation ideas to adapt the activities for the needs of your class.
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Introduction to the Victorians: (FREE): A full lesson for KS2 introducing the Victorian period, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Who Was Queen Victoria?; A full lesson for KS2 exploring the life and significance of Queen Victoria, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Victorian Inventions: A full lesson for KS2 about famous Victorian inventions, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Industrial Revolution A full lesson for KS2 exploring the impact of the Industrial Revolution, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Victorian Railways A full lesson for KS2 about the introduction of the railways, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Victorian Schools A full lesson for KS2 about Victorian schools, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Victorian Clothing A full lesson for KS2 investigating Victorian clothing, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Victorian Crime and Punishment A full lesson for KS2 about crime and punishment in the Victorian period, including a detailed lesson plan, Powerpoint and pupil resource sheets.
Download this popular two-week Victorians English planning for Year 5 / Year 6, based on studying and performing Victorian poetry. This Victorians poetry planning can be used alongside a Victorians topics or as a standalone unit covering classic poetry.
In this unit, pupils will read and listen to the dramatic poems 'The Kraken' and 'Charge of the Light Brigade' by the Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and they will consider how the sounds and language patterns come alive when the poems are read aloud. Children will work towards creating their own poems in the same style and will prepare to perform them aloud.
The aims of the unit for pupils are:
• To listen to classic and narrative poems by a Victorian poet
• To identify poetic devices and to explain their effects
• To research the literary influences of classic Victorian poetry
• To prepare and perform a poem to an audience
• To engage with a poet’s use of imaginative language to create monsters and battle scenes.
The PDF file contains 10 full literacy lesson plans, copies of the poems and all accompanying pupil resources.
SPECIAL OFFER: new TES buyers can use code OUTSTANDINGOCT at checkout to download for free!
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This worksheet allows pupils to research the context of Charge of the Light Brigade by using the web to retrieve and record information about the Crimean War.