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Aztec Experience
Lesson Plan
Take a holiday with the Aztecs! Children design holiday brochures.
History providing a context for literacy. Demonstration and modelling of the holiday brochure genre, and the transfer of understanding of the generic form into an historical context.
Pupils produced their own brochures giving information about life in the Aztec capital,...
Aztec Experience
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The Iliad
Lesson Plan
The aims of this Iliad lesson for year 4/5 children are:
to develop an understanding of the weapons and tactics used in ancient Greek warfare
to be able to read and understand a challenging text and extract information from it.
Literacy objectives are to develop the children's skills in:
extracting...
The Iliad
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Propaganda and its power
Lesson Plan
My Year 6 class were studying Britain since 1930.
I wanted the class to understand the power of propaganda, and of how convincing it could be. The values that underpin democracy were at the heart of the lessons featuring a fictional politician with controversial views, Mr Busterbank.
There was throughout...
Propaganda and its power
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Doing history in the early years and foundation stage
Article
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
Introducing the youngest children to the concept of history can be a challenging prospect for some foundation stage practitioners, particularly if they feel their experience of the subject has been limited or their own memories of...
Doing history in the early years and foundation stage
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Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Conquistadores in Aztec Mexico
Historian article
When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Mexico during the early sixteenth century there were many repercussions for the indigenous people. Their conversion to Christianity and the sacking of their temples are two of the most well known examples. However, it is often forgotten that the Aztecs had only a pictorial...
Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Conquistadores in Aztec Mexico
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Why history matters? Round Table discussion podcast
Podcasts
Podcast of the round table discussion available here!The History Matters Annual Conference in May saw the best turnout we've had for some time with a healthy and representative mix of HA members. Our thanks to all those who contributed their time and energy in delivering workshops and lectures. Our afternoon...
Why history matters? Round Table discussion podcast
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Using Spaces Near You
Article
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum; some content may be outdated and links may be broken.
Urban spaces such as parks and gardens offer a range of opportunities for children's learning. In these green patches children can investigate, observe, wonder, record and create.
Using Spaces Near You
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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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Local history fieldwork
Article
Successful Local History fieldwork How can you and your children get the most out of a site visit? Read this brief account of an example of Local History fieldwork with children: it was based on the NPHP Top Ten Pointers...
Local history fieldwork
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A Vision of Britain Through Time
Website
This free-to-use and publically accessible website has now been updated and re-launched with a new look, extra content and improved search tools thanks largely to funding from JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee of Britain's universities).Among the latest additions is a full listing of every General Election result, 1832 to...
A Vision of Britain Through Time
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The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
Historian article
How did King Harold II die at the Battle of Hastings? The question is simple enough and the answer is apparently well known. Harold was killed by an arrow which struck him in the eye. His death is depicted clearly on the Bayeux Tapestry in one of its most famous...
The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
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Prehistoric Bristol
Classic Pamphlet
This period is represented in the valley of the Bristol Avon by the Acheulian industries, named from the type station of St. Acheul in the Somme valley, which has yielded many ovate and pear-shaped hand-axes characteristic of the period. These industries flourished during the very long Second Interglacial phase, a...
Prehistoric Bristol
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History in Schools: What is the Future?
History Debate Podcast
The Future of history in our schools
Whether you have children or not, whether you're a teacher or not, if you have a love of History this debate matters to you.
History in Schools: What is the Future?
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Does scaffolding make them fall? Reflecting on strategies for developing causal argument in Years 8 and 11
Teaching History article
Jennifer Evans and Gemma Pate, history teachers in two Essex schools, had noticed that sometimes a writing frame did the opposite of what was intended. Sometimes a card sort fostered rich discussion and ownership; sometimes it led the students down a reductive rather than mind-opening path. Sometimes modelling of paragraphs...
Does scaffolding make them fall? Reflecting on strategies for developing causal argument in Years 8 and 11
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Queen Victoria as a Politician
Article
Even had Queen Victoria not presided over the achievements of the age which bears her name, her career would still hold a fascination for the historian. She was, for one thing, the solitary woman in a male political world. She was possessed of a personality at once perceptive and simple,...
Queen Victoria as a Politician
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Helping pupils with Special Educational Needs to develop a lifelong curiosity for the past
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pupils in England have an entitlement to study history or geography until the age of sixteen. However, increasingly, some pupils seem to be discouraged from taking up this opportunity as it can be seen as...
Helping pupils with Special Educational Needs to develop a lifelong curiosity for the past
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Online CPD Unit: Creativity in the History Classroom
E-CPD
Oh no - not more extended writing! Firing pupil motivation through creative tasking.
This E-CPD unit considers the issues departments needs to consider in planning for both challenging and engaging history.
The example of teaching below comes from the Historical Association Key Stage 2-3 History transition project website (2005). The...
Online CPD Unit: Creativity in the History Classroom
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Beyond Multiple Choice: Questions and Answers, Pedagogy and Technology in the History classroom
E-CPD
*This unit was produced a number of years ago and whilst still relevant from the pedagogy side of things many of the ICT aspects are outdated.
Interactivity: A Grail-like QuestIn recent years the buzzword in many sectors, whether it be business, communications, entertainment or education, has been interactivity. One of...
Beyond Multiple Choice: Questions and Answers, Pedagogy and Technology in the History classroom
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Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historian article
Much research has been devoted in recent years to Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (EH), completed in 731 at the joint monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow; but in one crucial respect little progress has been made: the editing of the text. The excellent edition published by Charles Plummer in 1896...
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
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The Kingdom of Benin 1500-1750
Podcast
In this podcast Dr Toby Green of King's College London examines the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Benin.
The Kingdom of Benin 1500-1750
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The T.E.A.C.H. Report
HA Report
The TEACH report outlines the sort of good practice in teaching sensitive topics which is available for teachers to share, not least through the Historical Association's programme of subject-specific training.
The T.E.A.C.H. Report
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Exploring the use of historical fiction to support historical learning
Article
How many of us became interested in history through reading a good historical story? When starting this article we came up with a seemingly endless list of historically based stories and films which have inspired us. Clearly, we are surrounded by references to the past in popular culture and our...
Exploring the use of historical fiction to support historical learning
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Learning styles and Cache (Cognitive Acceleration in History Education): Children as thinkers
Article
The teaching of gifted children reflects our beliefs about how they learn and mentally develop. Such learning theories are both explicit and tacit. One such theory – Cognitive Acceleration in History Education [CACHE] – underpins Case Studies 1 & 2 – the Mr Men Mystery, pages 17-21, and The Body...
Learning styles and Cache (Cognitive Acceleration in History Education): Children as thinkers
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Think Bubble: The passion to know why
Article
I gave half an ear recently to a radio debate on the nature of scientific genius. A number of examples were given of infants doing calculus and toddlers designing suspension bridges, but the most convincing statement came from a panellist who defined the phenomenon as ‘the passion to know’. The...
Think Bubble: The passion to know why
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The Great Exhibition
Article
‘Of all the decades to be young in, a wise man would choose the 1850s’ concludes G.M. Young in his Portrait of An Age. His choice is understandable. Historians and contemporaries have long viewed the middle years of the century as a ‘plateau of peace and prosperity’, an ‘age of...
The Great Exhibition
