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Asking the right questions. A study of the ability of KS2 children to devise and use questions as part of their own research
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Enquiry is an essential part of teaching history in the primary classroom. Asking and answering questions and selecting information relevant to the focus of an enquiry are important skills for young historians. Children often have much experience in answering questions in history...
Asking the right questions. A study of the ability of KS2 children to devise and use questions as part of their own research
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English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
[THINK BUBBLE, has burst, r.i.p... Diogenes, a curmudgeonly Ancient Greek cynic, has taken its place. The original Grumpy Old Man Diogenes typically looks back to a mythical golden age]
Introduction
Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember a time when primary school...
English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
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'Hands On' Archaeology, A Case Study: Visiting the Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) in York
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Developing an understanding of archaeology during historical studies can be important. It enables children to realise how we come to know and indeed understand about the past. Studying the work of archaeology helps develop vital...
'Hands On' Archaeology, A Case Study: Visiting the Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) in York
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Standards in primary history: onward and upward? A view from OFSTED
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
An OFSTED advisor discusses their views on the standards of primary history.
Standards in primary history: onward and upward? A view from OFSTED
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Rhyd-y-Car cottages at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The miner’s cottage is part of a project at The Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagans, to preserve folk history. Since its founding in 1948, over 40 buildings, including a row of six original miners’ cottages from Rhyd-y-Car, have been dismantled and...
Rhyd-y-Car cottages at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life
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Questions you have always wanted to ask about...Using historical maps in the primary classroom
Primary History article
Anna Disney and Peter Hammond answer questions about historical maps.
Questions you have always wanted to ask about...Using historical maps in the primary classroom
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A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
In her article in Primary History No 21, Jayne Woodhouse highlighted that the study of history needn’t be all about national events. Essentially it is a series of stories, often about ordinary people and their ordinary lives, which can be built up...
A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
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Think like an archaeologist!
Primary History article
Since the great brick-built cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa were first excavated in the early twentieth century, other large and thousands of small sites have been discovered. Clay was the raw material (bricks) for Indus architecture and everyday objects. Pottery was produced in industrial quantities on the foot wheel, an...
Think like an archaeologist!
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Back to basics: using maps in primary history
Primary History article
Maps tend to be more associated with geography but they have always been vital to history. This article focuses on the way maps have evolved in history, what they provide for the historian and ways in which they can be used when teaching primary history. A chronological account of the...
Back to basics: using maps in primary history
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Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In a recent article in Primary History Denis Hayes suggests that despite many lively ways of learning about the past, ‘history concepts will always be beyond both the experiential and conceptual reach of the youngest pupils’. Consequently...
Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
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'I could change the world if I put my mind to it!' Teaching Controversial Issues and Citizenship Through a Project on heroes and heroines
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Rye Oak School is in its second year of ‘Fresh Start’ status and there are many issues in the school, including poorly motivated children and behavioural problems. Many of the children in the school were...
'I could change the world if I put my mind to it!' Teaching Controversial Issues and Citizenship Through a Project on heroes and heroines
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What made Cleopatra so special?
Article
Ancient Egyptian civilisation is rich and mysterious with distinctive visual imagery and strange animal-headed gods. The exotic differences of the society have always intrigued the western imagination and so they continue to ensure that this is a popular unit with both teachers and children. There are plentiful resources with new...
What made Cleopatra so special?
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How to teach chronology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. For more recent resources see:
Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge (2014)
Scheme of work (KS2): Chronology: Books through time
Scheme of work (KS2): Chronology: Numbers through time
Britain and World timeline 4000-2000BC
Britain and World timeline 2000BC to 0BC
Britain and World timeline, 0BC...
How to teach chronology
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A visit to the Red Lodge, Bristol: using ICT to record and communicate children's learning in history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
There is a huge potential for using ICT to enhance children’s historical learning. This article suggests ways in which ICT was employed to record children’s impressions of their visit to an historical building.
A visit to the Red Lodge, Bristol: using ICT to record and communicate children's learning in history
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Chronology - an Olympic timeline
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pat Hoodless illuminates how chronology can provide a spine, a backbone and an ‘essential framework' to support and shape pupil learning of NC History.
The Olympic movement provides the perfect opportunity to consider the broad sweep...
Chronology - an Olympic timeline
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Teacher trainees writing history
Primary History article
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Introduction
I would like to share some Cumbria University Year 4 primary history specialist student's written work with you. These students who are in their final year have just completed their last assignment...
Teacher trainees writing history
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Children's thinking in archaeology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Young children enjoy prehistory Tactile, Physical and Enactive engagement with archaeological remains stimulates, excites and promotes children's logical, imaginative, creative and deductive thinking. Through archaeology there are infinite opportunities for ‘reasonable guesses' about sources and...
Children's thinking in archaeology
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Primary History 90: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 90
As head of state the Queen stands as our figurehead, a role she has held for seventy years. During that time much has changed. For most of us reading this journal we have known no other sovereign, never had a time when the Queen was not...
Primary History 90: Out now
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Case Study: Engaging history with National Trust tracker packs
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
White Horse Hill in Oxfordshire is home to the famous chalk White Horse, and it has been for the last 3000 years. The history surrounding this hill, high up on the Berkshire Downs, goes back...
Case Study: Engaging history with National Trust tracker packs
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Written sources and local history at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Working on written sources is fundamental to historical learning. A document, inscription or sign brings children directly into contact with the past in much the same way as an artefact. It is real and conveys...
Written sources and local history at Key Stage 1
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Primary History 97 – Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 97
Dear Colleagues,
We hope that you like our new approach to Primary History. We are building on what we have provided in the past editions by increasing our emphasis on classroom application including some pictures of children undertaking historical tasks.
We are delighted that this edition...
Primary History 97 – Out now
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Primary History 92: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 92
It seems like such a short while ago that we were all joyfully celebrating the platinum jubilee (or platy joobs) and yet this edition contains an article focused on our new monarch, King Charles III, and some of the changes we are having to get used...
Primary History 92: Out now
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How do pupils understand historical time?
Some evidence from England and the Netherlands
One of the key aims of the English history National Curriculum is to ensure that pupils ‘know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative’. Teaching chronology is also important in the Netherlands. In this article we cover some aspects of teaching and recent research from...
How do pupils understand historical time?
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Time for a story
Using stories in the Early Years and Foundation Stage
Stories are an important part of a young child’s way of making sense of their world. Hilary Cooper’s excellent article ‘Why Stories?’ explores some of the reasons why stories are important to young children and their growing ‘understanding of the world’. This article is going to explore some recommended stories...
Time for a story
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Local history and literacy using written (and other) sources
Primary History article
Jo Barkham shows how creative and challenging teaching can stimulate and engage even the youngest pupils in the reading of written, printed and multi-modal sources...
Local history and literacy using written (and other) sources
