Activity List
Simply, this is a complete list of the activities on this site (and similar on the SHP site).
Overviews
The Middle Ages to the present day - all in one graph for the 2008 KS3 PoS |
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An introductory activity that will get students thinking and asking questions and will reinforce their chronological understanding |
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A grand overview, creating a physical timeline across the room and asking students to identify the big medical ideas of each era |
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A valuable revision activity for GCSE, telling the story of the germ! |
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A living graph that examines change, continuity and significance in the history of Public Health |
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Can your students find their ideal match and improve their knowledge of medicine through time? Flowers and chocolates optional! |
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A group activity for comparing periods of history – good for KS2 and KS3 – good for A level synoptic understanding. |
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The only edible timeline in existence, guaranteed to stretch and develop students’ chronological understanding. |
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An end of year overview activity. Bring your own jelly and ice cream. |
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An overview activity for the end of KS3. |
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An overview activity for the end of KS3 that asks students to think about significance. |
Pre 1066
Act out Egyptian ideas by turning your students into human anatomy |
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The simplest possible demonstration of the theory |
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Turn you classroom into a physical map and tell the story of the Roman invasion |
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Load a legionary with his equipment and change pupils' thinking about the lives of Roman soldiers |
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Play the part of Paulinus and help pupils understand why empires were built |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
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What’s in the picture? Find out and explore how the Romans saw themselves |
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Use your pupils as milecastles, turrets and forts to help them understand the Wall and, if they’re lucky, where their site-visit fits into the big Wall picture |
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A brief play that introduces Boudica’s rebellion – more Blue Peter than Pinter |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
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Walk through the events and ask pupils to take the key decisions |
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Thinking skills for Medicine through Time – Creating Memory Frames |
Constructing memory frames on PowerPoint that summarise the key points, aiding memory and revision |
Create a physical timeline, using students to represent the periods and key developments in Ancient Medicine |
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Big Brother meets History of Medicine: Debating Significance |
Who was the most significant figure in Ancient Medicine? Was it really Hippocrates or would you chose someone else? |
Can your students spot the forgery? |
Normans
Battle of Hastings: Decisions on the Spur of the Moment? (Groan) |
Recreate the battle and help your students understand why the Normans won |
Create a map of England, walk your pupils through key decisions and see how their chronicles match up to the real thing. (Don't forget the hair dryer!) |
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Rebellions, castle-building, changes in land ownership, Danish invasions, the Harrying of the North and William getting angry in French – c'est magnifique |
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A physical, involving and very clear way into the nebulous business of assessing consequences. We're hanging out the consequences on a washing line! |
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Your chance to play William – can you pupils sort out your motives? |
Middle Ages
A physical but non-contact introduction to the murder of Thomas Becket (with card sort activity) |
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A hot-seating activity that can be used at KS3 or extended for use at A Level. RADA qualifications not required! |
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Can your students do better than King John or will they lose their crowns? |
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Your script for playing the part of Oswald and answering your student’s questions. Apple juice required! |
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Put your pupils into roles, find out who survives and explore the consequences of the Black Death |
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Hang out the effects of the Black Death on a change–continuity washing line |
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Put your students into role as villagers facing the aftermath of the Black Death, French attacks and Poll Taxes |
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The Crusades, the Hundred Years War & Edward I’s British wars – all in one lesson |
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A role play – will your nobles depose the king? |
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A role–play introduction to the people and events for A level and above |
c.1500–1700
Create a living graph to show just how unlikely a king Henry Tudor really was |
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You play the part of Henry VII and your students are the nobles - how will they feel about bonds? |
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Turn your room into a map of Europe and chart Henry's road to glory – or failure |
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A role play that focusses on people and the importance of monasteries to communities |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
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A map, a whiteboard, a camera – and enhanced understanding of Warbeck’s travels |
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Holy Box and the Altar Table – 16th century religious changes |
Create your own church interior – then change it, then change it again, then ... |
A role–play that brings people and decision–making off the page and helps students deepen their understanding. |
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Hats, false beards and an introduction to causation! |
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You'll need to move the furniture for this one – but it clearly, simply and painlessly explains the power situation in Europe in 1558. On the SHP website |
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Tell the story of the Armada by turning your pupils into ships and develop their understanding of causation and interpretations |
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Report the big news of 1559; simulate the work of Pare and Vesalius as they struggle to save Henri II; identify key aspects of Renaissance Medicine |
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Explore the reasons why Pare made his surgical breakthrough by creating a mobile factors web. |
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A role play for A Level students who take the roles of the leading villagers of Deerhurst, dealing with the pressures put on them by Royalists and Parliamentarians |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
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Bring the accused to court to tell their stories. Can the rest of the class predict who will receive the death penalty? Why was the legal system so unpredictable? |
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What's it about? That would be telling. Better click here and find out! |
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Would you become a highwayman? Explaining the causes of crime |
Turn your students into causes and get the rest of the class to sort out the rise and fall of highway robbery. Sadly, no masks or horses required. |
Use a tin of tomatoes to help students understand Harvey's discovery |
c.1700–1900
Why was 18th century smuggling so profitable, and so accepted? On the SHP website |
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Recreate the journey times before and after turnpikes and revolutionise understanding |
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Find the connections and show how one invention led to another and transformed the textile industry |
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A role play that’s simply not fair – but very good for learning |
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Liven up the railway revolution with a trip from Stockton to Darlington |
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Test your acting skills and get your students researching Chartism with renewed interest and purpose |
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Explore the difficulties Lister must have had in using the carbolic spray and perhaps discover why he faced so much opposition. Activity by Ian Luff, on the SHP website |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
1900 & After
This activity explains simply, but powerfully, why Salvarsan was effective, but risky. Activity by Ian Luff, on the SHP website |
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Walk your students through the map of Europe and make your decisions - then discover the grim reality |
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Arm wrestle your way to understanding the German army’s reaction to defeat |
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Sally Burnham demonstrates how these complex events can be readily assimilated. Chocolate biscuits an essential resource! |
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Help your A Level students get to grips with all those Weimar acronyms |
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Can your students buy a bar of chocolate before their money runs out? |
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An active overview of key events that creates more complex explanations |
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Make the Depression personal and enhance students' understanding |
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Turn a difficult topic into an enjoyable, effective and inspirational lesson |
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Were the politicians of the 1930s really blunderers? |
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An active overview that’s challenging, enjoyable and effective |
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How did Hitler's forces reach the Channel? What was special about their tactics and what did the Allied defences get wrong? |
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Simulate the rival qualities of Spitfires and Messerschmitts and give your students more fire power in their explanations |
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A really good overview activity that helps students to see the patterns in all those events. |
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Recreate the tensions of the search for Viet Cong to help students understand why the US army couldn’t win |
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A gloriously simple way to make your students’ understanding far more sophisticated |
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Your chance to fiddle the votes and improve your students’ understanding |
Non-Period
Turn you pupils into a timeline and accelerate their understanding of vital chronological terms |
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Create a timeline showing why interpretations change |
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Simple techniques for developing a key aspect of chronological understanding |
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Help your A level students remember who was who |
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Ever confused Mary Tudor and Mary, Queen of Scots? A simple way of disentangling the Marys and many other confusing people. |
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Get your next A level topic off to a demanding start by turning your class into the royal council, the cabinet or the Politburo. |
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A motivating and fun way to start a topic – all the way from KS2 to A level |
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Demonstrate how we use clues to reconstruct the past. A shattering experience for all! |
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A gloriously simple idea for use from KS2 to A level, as a lesson starter or to conclude a whole Key Stage |
