Medium Term Plan
What Was It Like
For Children In The
Second World War?
Subject: History
FOCUS: How to find out about events, people and changes during this time from an appropriate range of sources.
To ask and answer questions, and to select and record information relevant to this period in History.
Recognise that the past is represented and interpreted in different ways and to give reasons for this.
Read Anne
Franks Diary &
Boy in Blue
Striped PJs
Learning Objectives
Key topics and questions/differentiation Resources
Introduction to
WWII.
What was the Second
World War?
When and where did it
take place?
What were the main
events?
Outcomes
Children learn about the
leaders, key events and
dates of the war.
Children learn when and
where WW2 took place.
Lesson One
Establish what the children already know about the war – create
individual mindmaps/brainstorm/flow charts.
Discuss how we could find out more about the war – talk about sources that are used in history – primary and secondary. Show the following video
clips; stopping at appropriate moments in order to ask what we can learn from it. Jot down relevant info.
Watch America in the 20th Century: World War II: The Road to War – Segments such as War Comes to Europe (9:10min), World War 2 Begins
(1:03min), The War in Great Britain(2:36min) – all in sharepoint folder.
After watching review what has been learnt – ensuring that they know: when the war took place, the main countries involved, why it started
(Hitler’s invasion of other countries and why Britain tried to stop him).
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Knowledge & Comprehension Get the children to find out and place the main events of the war onto a timeline. LS – use (Connections, Children in World War 2 page 8 & 9) worksheet, ‘World War 2 Main Events Timeline’
Application
Use the WW2 events to create a longer timeline to include other significant events or periods in history
Analysis
Children locate key countries involved on a world map and use it to establish why it was a ‘world’ war – use a blank map and colour code allies and enemies (The Outbreak of War worksheet)
Creation
Make a display of flags from the allies and axis to show countries involved in the war.
Evaluation
Children in the
Second World War’
pp4-7
‘Connections’ p6
World map
The Outbreak of
War
Video clips –
sharepoint.
World War 2 Main
Events Timeline’.
www.topicbox.co.uk
Who were the main
leaders?
Outcomes
Children learn about the
Lesson Two
Ask the children if they know any of the key leaders from WW2 – Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Hiroto etc. Brainstorm what they know and discuss
as a class. Short biography of each one:
http://library.thinkquest.org/10927/leadww2.htm
leaders, key events and
dates of the war.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level Come back as a class and share findings.
Knowledge
List the main leaders during WW2, both allies and axis
Comprehension
Find pictures of the main leaders, cut them out and write a few words about each one.
Application
Write 10 questions you would have asked Winston Churchill if you could have met him.
Analysis
Write a short biography on one of the main leaders.
Creation
With a partner make up a tv chat show interviewing one of the leaders – one interviewee, other interviewer.
Evaluation
Hold a debate about whether there should be a war or not. Could use a consequence wheel here to help guide them – Should there be a world war?
The Blitz
To learn about bombing
raids on Britain (Blitz)
To understand how
people protected
themselves
Outcomes
Do the children
understand where the
shelters were and why
they were needed
(teacher discussion)
Can the children
empathise with how
Lesson One
Starter: (Don’t tell students lesson title or objectives at this point) Show students the image of the VE Day Street Party. Students have to use
the 5Ws to try and understand what is going on in the picture. Take feedback from students and guide their thinking. Ensure they understand that
people held these parties because they had been through 5 years of Total War
Photographs of bomb damage
Audio sources
Video clips
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2010/sep/08/the-blitz-in-colour-video
http://warwitness.e2bn.org/projectpage-Living-through-the-bombing-43-52.html
video clip - Blitz memories Shared Documents.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Plenary
Feedback and share activities.
The magic of
Curriculum
Visions learning
photograph of
bomb damage in
Leicester and
photos A and B
http://www.guardia
n.co.uk/uk/video/2
010/sep/08/the-
blitz-in-colour-
video
http://www.primary
homeworkhelp.co.uk
people may have felt at
those times?
Knowledge
Using the photos what keywords/information can you find out from them.
Comprehension
Write a newspaper report about a street bombed in the Blitz using photograph using the photographs as
inspiration
Application
Pretend that you are a newspaper reporter interviewing Connie (http://warwitness.e2bn.org/projectpage-Living-
through-the-bombing-43-52.html what questions would you ask her to find out more about the Blitz and life
then.
Analysis
Prepare a report about the Blitz
Evaluation Evaluate the different types of sources – how useful were they in finding out about the Blitz – compare and contrast different types of sources venn diagram
Creation
Pretend to be Connie and write a diary of a day in your life and explain how you are feeling.
Could use MELTABRC here with a written source
/war/blitz.htm#sir
en
http://warwitness.e
2bn.org/projectpag
e-Living-through-
the-bombing-43-
52.html
The Blitz
To learn about bombing
raids on Britain (Blitz)
To understand how
people protected
themselves
Outcomes
Do the children
understand where the
shelters were and why
they were needed
(teacher discussion)
Lesson Two
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/blitz.htm#siren
Replay the air siren again – what did people have to do when they heard the sound? Share back info found from previous lesson. What do the
children think this sound is? How does the sound make you feel? What type of sound is it?
Shelters – use pictures and any other sources to get feeling of them
Brainstorm some of the feelings that you might have if you had to be one of those shelters. Explain that you may have to be in there for many
hours, and as soon as you leave, the sirens may sound again.
These are primary sources – what questions could you ask these people? This went on for months. Use ppt – Shelters Shared Documents– to
conjure up nouns, adjectives, verbs, thoughts that the people in the pictures might be having.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
ppt – Shelters
Shared
Documents–
Blitz memories
Shared Documents
Can the children
empathise with how
people may have felt at
those times?
Plenary
Feedback from different activities
Knowledge & Comprehension
Pretend that your house is about to be bombed. Which 10 items would you take with you into the shelter and
why? Think about what would make you feel happy and safe.
Application
Compare the air raid shelter to your classroom. List 5 things which are similar and 5 things which are 5 different. Venn diagram
Analysis
Can you think of a safer place to be in an air raid than an air raid shelter?
Evaluation
Make a chart to show the pros and cons of different types of air raid shelter.
There is a worksheet to support:
AIR RAID SHELTERS
Creation
Design a modern air raid shelter – what would you have in it that wouldn’t have been in World War 2?
Could use SCUMPS here with looking at air raid shelter picture
Assessed piece of
writing
Imagine you were a child having to spend nights in an air raid shelter. It might be a Morrison shelter indoors, or an Anderson shelter in the garden. Write a diary entry
of one night, starting from the time you go into the shelter. Think about what you would want to take with you and how might pass the time. How would you be feeling?
LS students – provide a framework to help guide their diary entry with some key vocab provided.
HA students – make a link with how the bombers might be thinking and feeling – 2 sides to the story.
Plenary – get children to read out diary entries. Discuss other ways that families could protect themselves.
How people protected
themselves during the
Blitz.
LESSON ONE
Use the OHP or interactive whiteboard to show the class a photograph of the impact of bombing. (Blitz photos October 11th in folder Shared
Documents). What would life have been like? Discuss with children how the lives of families changed during the Blitz. Read with the class an
example eyewitness account of the Blitz. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/07/remembering-the-blitz-london-fox
Get the children to identify things that families had to do to protect themselves from the bombing – shelters, black outs, sirens etc.
Discuss with them how they think the bombing impacted on people’s lives.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
If time they could make gas masks using template in folder.
Knowledge
Using either internet research or non-fiction books about the Second World War get them to make a list of the
different ways that families could protect themselves from the German bombing raids. Ask the children to list
equipment they would need for each method of protection.
Comprehension
Use the worksheet to find out about different ways of protection – giving an explanation for why they might
help.
http://dcbdocs.dulwich-beijing.cn/ks2/Year6/Shared%20Documents/Planning%202010-2011/Autumn%202010-
11/Humanities/World%20War%20II%20resources/Shelters,%20Air%20Raids,%20Blackouts,%20Evacuation/air%
20raid%20precautions.pdf
Application
The children will mark on a map places that were bombed and explain why. (Liverpool because of the docks,
London as the financial and governmental capital of the country, Coventry, war production, Swansea, ports, as
were Cardiff, Bristol, Plymouth and Southampton)
Analysis
Design and make a gas mask box that would appeal to children.
Evaluation
Could use SCUMPS here with looking at gas mask
Creation
Design a poster using the facts that are provided to show people how to prepare for a black out correctly. Give
reasons on poster for why these precautions need to be in place. Worksheet to support:
PREPARING FOR THE BLACKOUT
Laptops
WW2 info books
(Blitz photos
October 11th in
folder Shared
Documents).
http://dcbdocs.dulwi
ch-
beijing.cn/ks2/Year6
/Shared%20Docume
nts/Planning%20201
0-
2011/Autumn%20201
0-
11/Humanities/Worl
d%20War%20II%20
resources/Shelters,
%20Air%20Raids,%2
0Blackouts,%20Evac
uation/air%20raid%
20precautions.pdf
http://www.curriculu
mtv.com/history/W
W2/videoFolder/0di
rectVideoScreen.ht
ml
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/gasmasks.htm
Preparing for the
Blackout
What it was like to be
an evacuee
To identify and
describe reasons for,
and results of,
historical events,
situations, and changes
in the
periods studied
To describe and make
links between the main
events, situations and
changes within and
across the
different periods and
societies studied
Outcomes
Describe some likely
feelings and
experiences of an
evacuee
Use words associated
with evacuation
accurately and
appropriately
LESSON ONE
Recap what ch have learned about the Blitz - they could ask each other questions in response partners and assess themselves as what they know -
and the main cities that were bombed.
Play the children an excerpt from war sound effects that includes an air raid siren and bombing raids (the link to the sound is on the right of the
following page:) http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitz.htm
– close eyes and imagine what it was like. Discuss with the children what it must have felt like for children living in cities under attack during the
Blitz. Get them to suggest what children might have written in their diaries about the bombing raids.
Recap the list of precautions that families took to protect their families i.e. Anderson shelters, gas masks, blackout, masking windows, barrage
balloons etc. Discuss with the class how effective each method was in protecting the population of Britain. How else could people be protected?
What could the govt do to protect children in the cities?
Show photograph of children at station – what is happening?
Show ppt from curriculum visions on evacuation http://www.curriculumtv.com/history/indexWW2.html
Watch the video clip that is provided in it.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Plenary – discuss emotions that both parents and children may have had at this time – record and keep for future use.
Knowledge
Find out how far children travelled when they were evacuated. Show what you would pack into your suitcase
to be evacuated.
Comprehension
Find some pictures of children being evacuated and make a collage to show that aspect of the war – try to show
the different emotions or put in speech bubbles to show how the children and parents might be feeling.
Application
Design a poster to promote evacuation.
Analysis
What could govt do to persuade parents to evacuate their children? Write a list of slogans that could be used to
help persuade parents. Use examples of posters to support – should have some in classroom, otherwise in folder
– in poster folder called ‘sonny’, ‘evacserve’ and ‘mothers.’
Evaluation
Describe the effect evacuation had on different children when they returned home.
Creation
Design a comic for an evacuee in WW2
http://www.eyewitne
sstohistory.com/blit
z.htm
Videos, photographs
and books containing
information about
evacuation
· Example letter
from an evacuee
Could use MELTABRC here with a written source from the government persuading parents that evacuation is a
good thing
What it was like to be
an evacuee
To identify and
describe reasons for,
and results of,
historical events,
situations, and changes
in the
periods studied
To describe and make
links between the main
events, situations and
changes within and
across the
different periods and
societies studied
Outcomes
Describe some likely
feelings and
experiences of an
evacuee
Use words associated
with evacuation
accurately and
appropriately
Using different sources
of information work
together to find out
more about evacuation.
Get children to use mind
maps when recording
their research?
LESSON TWO
Read the children an example letter that has been written by an evacuee home to their family. http://dcbdocs.dulwich-
beijing.cn/ks2/Year6/Shared%20Documents/Planning%202010-2011/Autumn%202010-
11/Humanities/World%20War%20II%20resources/evacuation/ks2_hi_britain_since_1930_evacuation_letter_home.pdf
Get the children to identify who has sent the letter and their reasons for writing. Ask the children to highlight information in the letter that
helps to tell them about what it was like for children in the Second World War. Discuss any gaps in the information in the letter i.e. only details
about the effect of the war on the village and not the whole of the country.
Tell the children that they are going to be collecting information from a range of sources to find out more about what it was like to be an evacuee.
Discuss with the children the differences between primary and secondary sources. Get the children to identify that they should be looking at
primary sources to help them draw their own conclusions about life as an evacuee.
Differentiation – ensure children are working in mixed ability groups
Split the children into small groups and provide them with a large sheet of sugar paper and some marker pens. Tell the children that they can use
the paper to collect information about evacuation. Set up a number of resource stations around the room:
Audio memories on computers –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ww2outbreak/7922.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/learningzone/clips/queryengine?config=results_within&viewpage=1&SuppressCaching=1&ContentType=text%2Fhtml
%3B+charset%3Dutf-
8&oper_1=eq&attrib_1=SCHOOL_LEVEL_NAME&attrib_2=SUBJECT_NAME&oper_2=eq&attrib_3=TOPIC&oper_3=eq&page=1&format=list&val_2
_1=&val_3_1=Second+World+War&existingSearchText=&pagesize=12&val_1_1=Primary&additionalSearchText=evacuation
Photographs showing evacuees in the cities and in their evacuation centres – copies to be given to you.
History topic books.
Access the Internet –
http://www.war-experience.org/education/evacuation/tyrrell.asp
There are 4 first hand accounts on this website but also in evacuation folder – evacuation 1, evacuation 2, evacuation 3 and evacuee story 4.
and search for information on evacuees – woodlands site
Example evacuation tags containing information about different children.
Leave out some quotes/letters from children who have been evacuated – copies to be given out.
Plenary
Get some children to share their research. Discuss with the class how the lives of children changed during the Second World War.
· Large sugar paper
and marker pens
ICT room or
laptops
Photographs showing
evacuees in the
cities and in their
evacuation centres
quotes/letters from
children who have
been evacuated
What it was like to be
an evacuee
Assessed piece of
writing
LESSON ONE Assessed piece of writing
Recap all the evidence that they found last time regarding evacuation – individual mindmaps/brainstorm/flow charts.
Get the children to use the information that they have collected to write a letter home as an evacuee containing historical information about the
time period and culture. Encourage the children to use their knowledge of evacuation and appropriate terms, eg billeting officer, host family, evacuation, evacuee
When they have finished editing them get the children to write them up neatly – you can then cold tea sponge them to make them look old etc for
display.
LS/EAL - children can use the postcard template. http://dcbdocs.dulwich-beijing.cn/ks2/Year6/Shared%20Documents/Planning%202010-
2011/Autumn%202010-
11/Humanities/World%20War%20II%20resources/evacuation/ks2_hi_britain_since_1930_evacuation_postcard_home.pdf
Describe some likely
feelings and
experiences of an
evacuee
Use words
associated with
evacuation
accurately and
appropriately
Rationing
Why rationing was
necessary
about the impact of
rationing on the way
of life of people
living in Britain
during WWII
infer causes of
rationing
identify some
similarities and
differences between
foods available during
the war and today
LESSON ONE
Starter Activity
Discuss with the children why some types of food were in short supply. Provide descriptions of first hand accounts of rationing –
all in sharepoint under rationing.
Introduce the idea of rationing. Show the children ration books, or pictures of them. Ask them to calculate how much sugar, eggs,
meat, sweets, etc their family would have been able to buy. How could they have supplemented their rations? Reference will need to be made to the knowledge of the war that the children gained in the first activities, eg bombing of ships and docks, in order to stimulate understanding of the causes and some of the characteristics of rationing.
It may be necessary to point out that many of the foods available today are due to changes in the population structure after
1945 and would not have been available before this date.
Show ppt ‘rationing’ in folder.
Video clip to watch
http://warwitness.e2bn.org/resource_46.html
Show children example of ration book.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Plenary
Why were wartime children a lot more healthy than most children today?
http://www.bbc.co.u
k/ww2peopleswar/ab
out/lzone_school_yo
ungpeople.shtml
example ration book
Photocopies of the
relevant extracts
from the Story
extracts page
Mars bars or
chocolate bars
Mini whiteboards or
plain A4 paper
Laptops
Ration book
http://www.bbc.co
Knowledge
Split the children into pairs and provide them with a list of food rations for the Second World War. Get
the children to work together to make a list of different meals that could be made using the rations.
Tell them to indicate foods bought with the ration coupons and other foods that could be grown by the
families.
Comprehension
Find out what a week’s rations would cost today.
Application
Plan a menu for a week remembering you are being rationed.
Analysis
Write a report on rationing – looking at specific items (like make do and mend books) – how and why
they were used?
Evaluation
Find a recipe from WW2. How does it compare to a modern recipe?
Creation
Plan a planting scheme for a vegetable garden to provide food all year.
.uk/schools/primar
yhistory/world_wa
r2/food_and_shop
ping/
ICT room or
laptops
Rationing
Lesson Two
Use one of the recipes from WW2 to make in kitchen.
Other ways in which
the war affected
people.
Lesson One
Explain to the class that as the Second World War increased in length so more and more men were called up to fight for the armed forces. Tell
the children that some men stayed at home in Britain if they were too old or if they were in a reserved occupation. Discuss with the class some of
the jobs that the men carried out before they went off to fight in the war.
Split the children into pairs and provide them with a mini-whiteboard. Get them to make a list of all of the different jobs needed to help the
country fight against the Germans. Tell the children to include jobs in the armed forces and jobs to support the troops i.e. making uniforms,
building armaments etc. Bring the class back together and get them to describe some of the different jobs that they have listed. Ask the class to
identify jobs that could be carried out by women working in Britain to support the armed forces.
Explain to the class that traditionally these jobs were carried out by men but were now undertaken by women to help with the war effort. Get the
class to describe some of the problems and difficulties faced by women in these new roles.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Woodlands
Junior School
Website
‘Homefront’ page
CD recorder
Blank CD
Microphone
Plenary
Discuss with the class why women were eager to take on these new roles and jobs.
Knowledge
Find out about the work women did in WW2.
Comprehension
Look at some propaganda posters and create your own persuading women to work.
Application
Write and perform a radio broadcast for housewives to help them cope with wartime shortages.
Analysis
Using sources imagine you are a women in a new role – what do you like about it and what do you dislike?
What will happen when the war has ended?
Evaluation
Give the children selected sources, eg photographs of soldiers, women at work, the home guard, a funeral,
newspaper headlines. Consider what can be inferred about the effects of the war on people's lives, and about the
qualities people needed to survive.
Creation
Children to select one of the jobs discussed to create a wireless radio advert to persuade women to apply for the
selected job. Tell the class to think about the language that would have been used in the 1940s and to avoid
modern day slang words in their adverts. Record onto CD.
Children’s experiences
of the war.
Anne Frank
Human Rights
describe different
experiences that
children had of the
war
suggest some reasons
for these differences
Discuss with the children factors that might affect children's experiences of the war, eg where they lived, their nationality. Explain that children in many countries were bombed. Locate areas of heavy bombing on the world map.
Explain to the children that many of the countries were occupied by the Germans during the war and many men, women and
children were imprisoned because they were Jewish (holocaust) many were placed in concentration camps where most died.
Establish the idea of refugees having to leave their homes. Refer to the many children and their parents, who were imprisoned
and killed because they were Jewish. Refer to extracts from the story of Anne Frank.
http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/
Share with the children some background information about refuges and the war.
Discuss the meaning of the word 'refuge' and then what the word 'refugee' means. Explain how the two words are linked. Discuss
the reasons why people become refugees and come to live in the UK. Discuss which of these reasons might have been more
prominent in World War Two.
http://www.annefran
k.org.uk/bbcdrama/l
earning-
resources/primary-
resources/citizenshi
ppshe
http://www.annef
rank.org/en/Subsi
tes/Home/
There is a new
BBC series – 5
episodes – which
we have. There
are links to
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Knowledge
Sequencing activity of Anne frank’s life.
Comprehension
Draw a storyboard about the life of Anne Frank.
Application
Make a scrapbook page using pictures from internet of the annexe, try to incorporate the prison like feeling it
might have had.
Analysis
Explain why we need to remember and keep retelling stories of WW2.
Evaluation
Make connections between bullying and the discrimination and prejudice suffered by many during the war.
Create an Anne Frank Anti Bulling tree to challenging bullying in your school. (BBC lesson plan and worksheet
to support)
Creation
Consider the conditions in hiding and create a booklet with formal instructions for living in the Annexe. (BBC
lesson plan and worksheet to support)
activities that
could be done with
each episode. The
PSHE/Citizenship
ones would be
good to do.
http://www.annefran
k.org.uk/bbcdrama/l
earning-
resources/primary-
resources/history-
and-english
about conflicts going
on today and how
they affect the lives
of children
to make connections
between the Second
World War and today
suggest conflicts
happening in the
world today
suggest reasons why
the world is/is not
better today than
during WWII
Discuss with the children areas of conflict in the world today. Tell them about the United Nations and their role in peacekeeping.
Discuss whether there is peace in the world today and whether things are better today than they were at the time of the Second
World War.
Information about conflicts today and their effects on children can be obtained from many charities including the Refugee
Council, Christian Aid and the Red Cross, as well as from newspapers.
Complete one Bloom’s activities – appropriate to level
Knowledge
Write a definition of democracy and dictatorship. Find examples of democracy at school.
Comprehension
Explore the differences between what we need and what we want. Pupils to write down suggestions under two
headings, 'Needs' and 'Wants'. discuss results.
Encourage them to focus on things they really need to live. What do they think everyone has a right to? What is
http://www.oxfam.or
g.uk/education/reso
urces/rights/?42
http://www.annefran
k.org.uk/bbcdrama/l
earning-
resources/primary-
resources/citizenshi
ppshe
everyone entitled to? In group discuss which ones are essential for survival – make a poster of them. Oxfam
lesson plan and worksheet to support.
Application
Using an individual child's story to explore wider issues about the rights that all children should have –
construct a table showing these. Oxfam lesson plan and worksheet to support.
Analysis
Learn about what makes up identity. Mind-map Anne’s identity as well as those in the class. Pupils could use
ICT to create a mind map of their identity using photos (scanned in or digital) and clip art to make a ‚virtual
me‛. Print and display. BBC lesson plan/worksheet & ppt to support
Evaluation
Using a quotation write a persuasive letter regarding children’s rights to a ‘real’ audience. Oxfam lesson plan to
support and some useful website addresses.
Creation
Consider the importance of Human Rights. View rights violations during WWII and consider the rights and
responsibilities in school to create a display for younger years. (BBC lesson and ppt to support).
Research Project – to explore one area of interest from what learnt in WW2 unit – link with ICT – ppt presentation at the end.
Library – need to book a research slot for the next few weeks.
Could you MELTABRC here with written sources used in research.
Recall what they already know about the topic,and identify what they still need to find out
Explain that for the remainder of the term that they will work on an individual research project on an
aspect to research of WW2. Brainstorm some key topics or areas of interest that they would like to
research. Take one area and discuss what kinds of questions are good research questions (they will need to
come up with 4 essential questions about their topic). Talk about what makes good research questions - the
difference between open ended and closed questions. For those children who did this in year 5 ask them to
recall their experiences of research – what worked and what didn’t? Tell the children that by the next
lesson they will have needed to come up with the topic that they want to research.
Define a task by identifying its parts, interpreting key words and ideas, and stating in their own words what they need to do Library Skills
ICT
Know what makes a good research question
with one aspect that they would like to research. Ask them to use the back of their humanities book and think about essential questions that they could ask – ensuring that they are open-ended. Get them to discuss their questions with a response partner to help ensure that they are open ended. Get them to pick 4
Types of questions
essential questions. When they are happy with them they can start to fill out the graphic organiser – topic and essential questions only.
Look at assessment criteria.
Research Project
– looking for good
sources of
information
Talk about how they will now go about researching their questions – discuss different types of sources – primary and secondary. Recap the use of contents and indexes in books, internet sites that they can understand. Reinforce the idea that there is no point in using a source if they do not understand what it is saying. In your research library slot/ICT time get them to find sources that they think will be useful for their research. Note these down in the back of humanities book.
Library or Reseach Session
Find and note down sources that will be useful to their research – books only.
ICT session – use some of
your session to get the
children to look for useful
websites and note them
down.
Select an essential question and use a website such as woodlands to model taking notes – reinforce the word
PLAGARISM! In research session and/or ICT children to start making notes – sheet can be used or can be
done in books. Remind children that they MUST cite their sources and create a bibliography as the go along.
Define a task by identifying
its parts, interpreting key
words and ideas, and stating in
their own words what they
need to do
Model the next stage of the research process – using your notes to write in your own words what you have
found out. If they are ready children can start to do this in the back of their humanities books or if using
ICT can do it straight into a ppt/other presentation document – if they are still writing notes let them know
they only have one more week to do this.
Finish writing up notes and think about how they will present their information – if using ppt, reinforce what
they have done in ICT lessons this term – making it interesting, thinking about audiences etc. Handwritten
ones – how will they set them out? Could do it as an oral presentation – video it/podcast??
Differentiation for G & T
Content
Self Selected Content: Children to select from a range of student generated options in order to carry out further investigation –
some ideas might be:
The Gurhkas Atomic Bomb Women in War The Holocaust
Process
Reflective Brainstorm what they already know about their chosen area. Then select a question for in-depth inquiry –
plan the process and product. Reflect upon learning at the end. Examples of questions might be: Examine how the war affected groups of people who never feature in this period of history such as:
Ethnic minorities who came to Europe to support the cause – the Gurkhas, Hindus, Pacific Islanders
What are arguments for and against the atomic bombings of Japan being justified?
What important role did women play during the world war 2?
Who invented the atomic bomb?
Open Ended Encourage the children to interrogate the evidence they find and begin to draw their own conclusions from
that.
Self Selected Process Select resources and methods independently.
Product
Self-selected product Students to choose their own way of presenting their learning.
Feedback & Evaluation Before the inquiry begins need to draw up a rubric with each student to evaluate their research process
throughout and at the end of the learning.