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Eweka's story: Benin and Big Picture History
Article
The prospect of teaching Benin as a non-European Study within the time frame 900-1300 AD is challenging! Traditional oral evidence suggests that the critical event during this period in Benin's past was a transition from the Ogiso to the Eweka Dynasty, named after its first Oba, which resulted in it...
Eweka's story: Benin and Big Picture History
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Planning for local history
Article
Editorial comment: Barbara writes from the viewpoint of a classroom teacher facing the challenge of ‘Doing local history' for the first time.
Planning for local history
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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
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Pull-out Posters: Primary History 70
Alternative sources for the Romans, and a variety of Enquiry questions
Pull-out Posters: Primary History 70
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History teaching and learning when you can’t have the children in the classroom
Primary History article
The past year has been difficult, with children across the country sent home in March 2020. Teachers were in the unenviable position of attempting to provide an education for classes we were unable to have adequate contact with. There were children who had very little or no access to a...
History teaching and learning when you can’t have the children in the classroom
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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Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.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
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What do we mean by Big Picture History?
Primary History article
Perhaps the best way to start thinking about Big Picture history is to say what it is not - it is not about rote learning dates or remembering ‘famous people and events' - Alfred the Great, The Battle of Hastings, Henry VIII, Florence Nightingale ....and so on! This factual knowledge...
What do we mean by Big Picture History?
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History in the news: George Floyd protest in Bristol – Colston statue toppled
Primary History feature
The killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May 2020 sparked off protests against the way in which black people are treated both in America and many countries across the world. Thousands of people attended an anti-racist demonstration in Bristol. A group of the...
History in the news: George Floyd protest in Bristol – Colston statue toppled
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Pull-out Posters: Primary History 68
Britain and World timeline 2000BC to 0BC; The Dark Ages
Pull-out Posters: Primary History 68
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Printed pictures with text: Using cartoons as historical evidence
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Written and printed sources are often multi-modal in nature, i.e. they combine images and text (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2001). Indeed, many printed sources in the print age, c. 1500-2000 and nearly all in the digital...
Printed pictures with text: Using cartoons as historical evidence
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Pull-out Posters: Primary History 67
Britain and World timeline, 0BC to present
Pull-out Posters: Primary History 67
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Promoting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage in your primary history curriculum
Primary History article
It goes without saying that the events of Black Lives Matter have prompted many leaders and teachers to take a step back and reflect on their curriculum content and how effectively it reflects the diverse story of our islands. However, it is not just Black History that is requiring more prominence...
Promoting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage in your primary history curriculum
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Pull-out Posters: Primary History 66
Process map for writing a new Scheme of Work for history
Pull-out Posters: Primary History 66
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One of my favourite history places: Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds
Primary History article
When I was born my family lived in Kirkstall close to the Abbey and Abbey House Museum. We moved to Ireland Wood not long after this photograph was taken (I am the small one in the middle) but if we ever had a day out in the city we would...
One of my favourite history places: Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds
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Incorporating the Second World War into your local history work
Primary History Summer Resource 2018
The 2018 primary summer resource for members is bursting with practical ideas on how to incorporate the Second World War into your local history work. September 2019 is the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, so what better time to start thinking about how to embed this...
Incorporating the Second World War into your local history work
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One of my favourite history places: the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Primary History feature
This certainly represents one of the more unusual in the ‘My favourite place’ series: a hospital for the mentally ill for the poorer sections of society. Buildings such as this, however, were often imposing structures with fine architecture and an important history. With a growing recognition of the importance of...
One of my favourite history places: the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum
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British History Online - Digital Resources
Article
British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust, we aim to support academic and personal users around the...
British History Online - Digital Resources
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Changes in an aspect of social history from 1945 to 2000: youth culture
Primary History article
A history-themed topic based around music is a popular choice among many teachers and children. Music is after all a thread which runs through all of history, and one through which we can explore many other aspects of life in different times. It can be an exciting avenue into exploring...
Changes in an aspect of social history from 1945 to 2000: youth culture
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An integrated literacy and history unit of work
Primary History article
The passing of Harry Patch - the last World War I veteran - in the summer of 2009 is a fitting starting point for children in Key Stage 2 (7-11 year-olds) to begin to tackle some of the issues of the First World War. Many classes already study the Second...
An integrated literacy and history unit of work
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Pupil voice: Democratising history lessons in Key Stage 1
Primary History article
Why is pupil voice important? Children are at the centre of everything we do and safeguarding their well-being and ensuring their progress across the curriculum is a key emphasis for schools. Recognising the importance of pupil voice in this is key.
Robin Alexander’s Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking Classroom Talk (2017)...
Pupil voice: Democratising history lessons in Key Stage 1
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Blending history and creative writing: imagining a lost Anglo-Saxon poem
Primary History article
Decoding a manuscript, exploring glittering archaeology, imagining the emotions and sensations of a battle, and learning Old English vocabulary. These are all tasks that we, as teachers of medieval literature in the English Department at King’s College London, have assigned to our undergraduate classes.
However, Key Stage 2 children can...
Blending history and creative writing: imagining a lost Anglo-Saxon poem
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A History of the World: 100 objects that tell a story
Primary History article
‘A History of the World in 100 Objects' was the most creative, imaginative and dynamic development in primary History Education for thirty years. It ties in perfectly with and supports the government's draft NC for History...
A History of the World: 100 objects that tell a story
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'Be bloody, bold and resolute': Two possible interpretations of 'local history'
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As a pre-Plowden primary teacher who queued to get my copy of that report in 1967 and as a contributory author to the Cambridge Primary Review (Alexander, 2009) forty-two years later I can claim, not an...
'Be bloody, bold and resolute': Two possible interpretations of 'local history'
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Year 7 explore the story of a London street
Teaching History article
One street, twenty children and the experience of a changing town: Year 7 explore the story of a London street
Michael Wood and others have recently drawn attention to the ways in which big stories can be told through local histories. Hughes and De Silva report a teaching unit through...
Year 7 explore the story of a London street
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Dig it: Literacy, ICT, Archaeology and History
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: Pupil reading of written and printed texts is a central element in their ‘Doing History'. As such, it is one of numerous integrated pedagogic activities that combine to make up a lesson, a series...
Dig it: Literacy, ICT, Archaeology and History
