Bonfire Night & Gunpowder Plot UKS2

Bonfire Night & The Gunpowder Plot – Upper KS2 PowerPoint + 3 Printable Activities

Explore the Gunpowder Plot with this illustrated, pupil-facing history resource for Years 5–6. Pupils investigate the plot of 1605, the roles of Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes, the warning letter to Lord Monteagle and the religious tensions behind the conspirators’ actions.

The colourful PowerPoint develops historical vocabulary, chronology and understanding of cause and consequence. Pupils consider how a failed plot became an annual celebration, linking historical events with Bonfire Night traditions and safety today.

What’s included?
• 21-slide widescreen PowerPoint: 16 lesson slides, two teacher planning references and three printable activity slides.
• Three illustrated A4 PDFs: Key Words and Events; My Gunpowder Plot Recount; Fact File and Quick Quiz.
• Vocabulary matching, event sequencing, Talk Partners discussion and a “Find the Four Mistakes” assessment activity.
• A confidence exit ticket and lesson summary.
• Teacher references covering curriculum links and Rosenshine’s principles.

Differentiated tasks offer picture sequencing, recount writing and a greater-depth explanation using evidence about the period’s religious tensions.

Support for TAs and pupils with SEN includes illustrated vocabulary, paired rehearsal, word banks, sentence starters and a structured recount worksheet. The fact file and cover-and-recall quiz also support independent revision.

Ready to teach and print, with opportunities to connect history, spoken language and writing.
NB. This lesson was designed and written by a teacher. The draft PowerPoint was made by Claude AI, the graphically enhanced version was then made by ChatGPT, and all editing was done by Copilot. Every stage was overseen, amended where necessary, and approved by a teacher. Total time approximately 8 hours.