-
Poetic writing
Primary History article
Poetry is a major area for pupils creative and imaginative historical writing. Pupils writing historical poetry can draw upon a wide range of poetic modes, for example haikus, sonnets, blank verse. Poetry is an excellent vehicle for public presentation, with pupils reading their composition to their class members. To use...
Poetic writing
-
Writing: demonstration and modelling
Primary History article
Pupils' historical writing can take thousands of different forms, for example, an advert, comic, magazine article, love letter, short story, exam essay, poster or account of a castle visit. For pupils to compose in any genre they must understand and assimilate the genre's skeletal framework, its mode, tenor, field - pp....
Writing: demonstration and modelling
-
Children writing history: The writing spectrum
Primary History article
"Henry the 4th ascended the throne of England much to his own satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin & predecessor Richard the 2nd to resign it to him, & to retire for the rest of his Life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be...
Children writing history: The writing spectrum
-
Multi-modality and writing history
Primary History article
We all now live in the digital age.
The smart phone, kindle, i-pad and computer mean children are immersed and interact in a digital world of moving, still and spoken images. They are also able to communicate digitally socially: for example, Twitter and Facebook. Social media facilitate social as well...
Multi-modality and writing history
-
Writing & History Overview
Primary History article
History provides an extremely rich context for literacy and writing, see Case Study 3: Evacuees. As such, Writing History is an element in a whole school policy towards literacy that emphasises Language Across the Curriculum for all subjects and areas. references. Case Study 1 illuminates the concept that pupil writing permeates...
Writing & History Overview
-
Think Bubble 60: Writing from experience
Primary History article
The business of ‘experiencing' history is in as healthy state as it is possible to imagine. In a recent straw poll of primary GTP trainees in the Oxford-Bucks partnership over 80% cited drama, role play or similar inter-active experience as being the most memorable feature of learning history in the...
Think Bubble 60: Writing from experience
-
In My View: Children Writing History
Primary History article
Getting ready
Before actually putting children to paper and pencil it is useful to spend some time clarifying the issues relating to the written task through other verbal media, which will help above all the least able pupils. We have found the following activities help children prepare for writing at...
In My View: Children Writing History
-
Primary History 60: Writing History & Literacy
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Editorial and In My View
04 Editorial: Writing history and historical literacy
05 Writing history - Jackie Eales
06 Children writing history - John Fines (Read article)
Features
08 Think Bubble - Writing from experience - Peter Vass (Read article)
09 A view from the classroom - Cathie McIlroy...
Primary History 60: Writing History & Literacy
-
Chronology and local history: Year 6
Primary History case study
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial note: This short paper introduces a highly creative, imaginative and enthralling case-study of a local history project for year 6 pupils. The teaching programme has a chronological spine that provides coherence and focus. Chronology is...
Chronology and local history: Year 6
-
A living timeline
Primary History case study
The problem
Pupils' background knowledge - Tudors and Victorians
Here at Knebworth House, primary school children visit us to enhance their learning of both the Tudors and the Victorians, in particular; both are popular periods to study within the primary curriculum and both have special significance for us at Knebworth....
A living timeline
-
Constructivist chronology and Horrible Histories
Primary History case study
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
I chose Horrible Histories for this exploration of children's understanding of chronology because I thought it would be fun - and I approve of the Horrible Histories. They use sources, question sources, provide alternative interpretations and...
Constructivist chronology and Horrible Histories
-
Supporting initial teacher trainees to think about chronology
Primary History article
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
As a teacher trainer I am very conscious that many prospective primary teachers' formal history education stops at the age of 14. As a consequence their knowledge and understanding of history and sense...
Supporting initial teacher trainees to think about chronology
-
Scene shifting: Using visuals for chronology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Vivid pictures from and of the past, its material culture, can be stimulating and effective tools for teaching chronology.
Their use is not, however, straightforward. Children bring into school mental images and stereotypes about the past...
Scene shifting: Using visuals for chronology
-
Chronology & Topics at Key Stage 2
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Nearly Complete History Of Almost Everything outlines the chronology of various aspects of our lives, and gives a flavour of the enormity at first glanceof ‘teaching chronology'. Topics, which are not tied to a particular...
Chronology & Topics at Key Stage 2
-
Timelines and technology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Timelines are basic tools for developing knowledge and understandings about chronology, providing the frameworks and contexts for historical enquiry. Information and Communications Technology [ICT ] offers a range of tools for viewing [and creating timelines, ranging...
Timelines and technology
-
Time, Chronology, language and story
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Time, although an extremely complex, abstract concept, is one that begins to develop in children's minds as soon as they are born. Although it cannot be seen or touched and leaves no visible trace, very young...
Time, Chronology, language and story
-
Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Research during the last ninety years has suggested that ‘time' concepts, such as chronology, duration and the usage of dating systems are difficult for children to assimilate. However, my research suggests that temporal concepts can be...
Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
-
Enriching young children's understanding of time
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As a primary teacher in the United States, I was sometimes caught off guard by students' ideas about time. Some 10-year-olds, I noticed, still could not read a clock or calculate the time between recess and...
Enriching young children's understanding of time
-
Young children and chronology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
"How did you stop yourself from getting the plague?"
This quotation from a child signals some of the challenges of teaching children about chronology in the primary school. Learning about chronology involves:
Knowing the conventions of...
Young children and chronology
-
Understanding Chronology at Key Stage 2
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Introduction - Issues and Concerns
Was I wise to accept the invitation to write this piece? There has been little research to shed light on the question [of what understanding of chronology can we expect of...
Understanding Chronology at Key Stage 2
-
Think Bubble - Jumping stories: selective chronology
Primary History feature
I recently finished a most interesting commission with the educational publishers, Schofield and Sims. They asked me to help put together a comprehensive timeline of British History to cover as broad a chronological perspective as possible. They wanted this to be the complete Cavemen to Cybermen story all on one...
Think Bubble - Jumping stories: selective chronology
-
A View from the Classroom - Chronology
Primary History feature
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As a teacher, the passing of time in a classroom may be: challenging, stimulating, appear endless, be subject to constant change, though never dull. Years pass, yet at times it can seem but yesterday, when I...
A View from the Classroom - Chronology
-
Developing pupils' chronological understanding
Article
In its latest triennial history survey report, History for all, Ofsted concluded that, ‘history teaching was good or better in most primary schools' and, ‘most pupils reached the end of Key Stage 2 with detailed knowledge derived from well-taught studies of individual topics'. The report went on to note, though,...
Developing pupils' chronological understanding
-
Teaching Time
Primary History article
History is about time, it subsists in time, time is the medium by which it happens. No-one can deny the importance of time in teaching history, yet it is probably the one element that causes more dispute than any other. The meaning of time
Understanding time
There is time we...
Teaching Time
-
Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
Primary History article
During my teaching of history I have been amazed by the asinine questions that children and adults ask about the subject matter. For example, a child once asked, ‘Sir, if Queen Cleopatra hadn't been bitten by the asp would she still be alive today?'. This question suggests that despite comprehensive...
Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
