Activities for KS3
This page lists all the activities that are relevant to KS3.
General Techniques
Use your students to create a memorable timeline that will help them understand all kinds of issues of chronology (Added Jan 11) |
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Simple techniques for developing a key aspect of chronological understanding |
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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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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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A gloriously simple idea for use from KS2 to A level, as a lesson starter or to conclude a whole Key Stage |
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Create a timeline of your family's generations to travel back in time to … |
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How Uncle Frank can introduce and open up discussions on migration through history |
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Personal memories as stimulus for creating or summarising a sense of period |
Using your own memories to model the key features of any period |
Puzzle and intrigue! A mysterious way to help students sum up a topic, exemplified by the Norman Conquest. |
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How to use Granny to develop a sense of duration as far back as the Romans. |
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Ideas for helping students develop as learners in the historical Market Place. |
What is History
Turn you pupils into a timeline and accelerate their understanding of vital chronological terms |
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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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The body in the bog becomes the body in the classroom to build students' enquiry and source skills. Activity by Susan Edwards and Nichola Boughey. (Added January 10) |
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What's it about? That would be telling. Better click here and find out! |
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Demonstrate how we use clues to reconstruct the past. A shattering experience for all! |
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Using a coin as a way in to the conceptually difficult issue of BC and AD. Can your students spot the forgery? |
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The Riccall Mystery – how do we carry out historical enquiries? |
Start with an imaginary excavation, finish by understanding vital ideas about enquiry. A lively and involving introduction to the process of historical enquiry |
This PowerPoint sequence can be used before a new enquiry to remind students of the process.(Added Aug 09) |
Overviews
Every war between 1066 and 1900 in one activity - creating links across KS3? (Added January 10) |
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Use Top Trumps cards and the Rebellion Steps to help students see the really big picture |
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The Middle Ages to the present day - all in one graph for the 2008 KS3 PoS |
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A sorting activity helping students see why life changed so much during the Industrial Revolution |
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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. |
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Using family history to create an overview of the 20th century |
Students can struggle to see the 20th century as a whole - can family stories help? |
When did Prime Ministers and Parliament become more powerful than the monarch? |
Complete the thematic story of monarchy with a graph showing when monarchs really lost power |
Pre 1066
The body in the bog becomes the body in the classroom to build students' enquiry and source skills. (Added January 10) |
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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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Walk through the events and ask pupils to take the key decisions |
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A timeline to develop a sense of duration |
Norman Conquest
The 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? |
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The Riccall Mystery – how do we carry out historical enquiries? |
Start with an imaginary excavation, finish by understanding vital ideas about enquiry. A lively and involving introduction to the process of historical enquiry |
Puzzle and intrigue! A mysterious way to help students sum up a topic, exemplified by the Norman Conquest. |
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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A brief simulation demonstrating the impact of poor harvests on villagers. Also worth using as background to the Industrial Revolution. |
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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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Will your decisions improve life for you and your family or lead to death as a rebel? |
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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? |
1450 – 1700
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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Holy Box and the Altar Table – 16th century religious changes |
Create your own church interior – then change it, then change it again, then ... |
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. |
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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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Using locality to introduce the Civil War – The Civil War in Leeds |
Your students become the people of Leeds in 1642. Will they survive the Civil War? An activity showing how to use your locality to inspire interest in the Civil War. |
Create a graph to tackle students' misconceptions about what Parliament wanted from the Civil War. |
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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? |
1700 – 1900
When did Prime Ministers and Parliament become more powerful than the monarch? |
Complete the thematic story of monarchy with a graph showing when monarchs really lost power |
Find the connections and show how one invention led to another and transformed the textile industry |
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A sorting activity helping students see why life changed so much during the Industrial Revolution – Note, this activity is also included above, in Overviews |
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Recreate the journey times before and after turnpikes and revolutionise understanding |
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Why did Prime Ministers become more powerful than the monarch c.1780-1830? |
A quick card sort to summarise the reasons for change in royal power |
Liven up the railway revolution with a trip from Stockton to Darlington |
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A role play that’s simply not fair – but very good for learning |
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Test your acting skills and get your students researching Chartism with renewed interest and purpose |
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Making the Industrial Revolution human through family history |
How great-grandfather Seth opens up key features of the Industrial Revolution |
An outline idea for helping students understand how revolutionary the Industrial Revolution was |
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How did the Industrial Revolution change where people lived? |
The Population Revolution 1750-1901: Use the space in your classroom to map out the change from rural to urban life |
Who's got the answer to the problem? The story of the Industrial Revolution |
An overview activity introducing a wide range of developments from 1750-1900 – a positive view of the Industrial Revolution! |
1900 & After
Walk your students through the map of Europe and make your decisions - then discover the grim reality |
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Turn your classroom into a map of Europe to help students deepen their understanding of the outbreak of World War One. Activity created by Megan Underwood (added August 09) |
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Created by Megan Underwood, this activity shows Y9 pupils why trenches were such effective defensive structures (added December 09) |
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Arm wrestle your way to understanding the German army’s reaction to defeat |
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Can your students buy a bar of chocolate before their money runs out? |
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Ian Luff explains how to introduce students to Hitler’s rise to power and then build in complexity. Added Dec. 09 |
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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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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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Getting personal with wars – family starters for investigating the start of World War Two |
I don't know why my Dad joined up in 1939. What possibilities can you suggest? |
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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Turn your class into bomb aimers to discover how difficult their task was - and why civilians were so at risk in bombing raids. (Added December 09) |
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How safe were air raid shelters for the poor in Britain's cities? |
Ian Luff demonstrates the weaknesses of air–raid shelters and provides a documentary activity exploring the destruction of one shelter in London. (Added December 09) |
A really good overview activity that helps students to see the patterns in all those events. |
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Will students risk trying to cross the Berlin Wall? |
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How powerful was an atomic bomb compared with other weapons? All you need is an egg - and some egg-proofing! (Added December 09) |
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A gloriously simple way to make your students' understanding far more sophisticated |
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Hot water? electricity? What was new when you were growing up? |
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Using family history to create an overview of the 20th century |
Students can struggle to see the 20th century as a whole - can family stories help? |
