The Great Plague of London (KS1)

Published: 23rd January 2011

Samuel Pepys and the Great Plague of London

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This was originally part of a 7-week unit looking at the Great plague of London, the Great Fire of London, and Samuel Pepys as a famous person. Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.

Key questions:

  • What was it like to be in London at the time of the Plague?
  • What did people do?
  • How do we know?

Great Plague Teachers Notes and Resources 

See links at bottom of page

The aim was for children to:

  • learn about and understand a past situation and enter into past lives
  • understand the sequence of events during the Plague (chronology)
  • read and understand challenging texts
  • revisit and consolidate their understanding of the diary and instruction genres. 

Teaching methods

  • Storytelling
  • Drama and role play
  • Reading documents (exemplar)
  • Learning about the past
  • The Visual Image

See our guide to primary teaching methods

Related lessons:

Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London

Attached files: