It worked for me: key stage 1 cameos
Contents
Can you prevent another Great Fire?
Nicola Beazley of Sarisbury Infant School near Southampton has created
a lesson for key stage 1 that uses source material in a problem-solving
activity. The activity was carried out by a year 2 class studying the
Great Fire of London.
The children had already begun studying the topic and had carried out
activities such as sequencing and looking at the diaries of Samuel Pepys.
As an extra challenge Nicola decided to set them a ‘history mystery’.
She read the children the following passage as an introduction:
‘More than 13,000 houses, 87 churches, and the main buildings
in the city had been destroyed. Amazingly only five deaths were documented
but up to 200,000 people were left destitute. The cost of accommodation
soared, and a fire court was set up to judge disputes over who owned
which property. The Great Fire had left Londoners with a great task
– rebuilding their city.’
Some of the children were amazed by the figures. Nicola used a channel
4 website to view images of London before and after the fire. The children
made comparisons between the pictures and then divided themselves into
groups. At this stage the children didn’t know what to expect!
Town planning task
The class talked briefly about the devastation of the city and how
the people might have felt. Nicola used this opportunity to set them
a challenge. She told the children that they were now the new town planners
of London and were responsible for the rebuilding the city. As a group
they must decide what action to take. This immediately sparked a lot
of animated discussion.
The groups were provided with paper and pencils to record their thoughts
and ideas. Most children started with a centrepiece, such as a town
square or key building and then planned around it. As they worked Nicola
went round each group listening to their suggestions and adding extra
problems. For example one group said that they would rebuild the houses
and that people would pay for them. Nicola challenged their idea saying
that people would not have any money after losing everything in the
fire. As a result some children thought about the idea of getting jobs;
others thought about imposing taxes!
These are some of the problems that were given to the children to solve:
At the end of the lesson each group reported back on their ideas and
the class voted on the best suggestions. With children making the decisions
between them they learn to look at evidence and make judgements about
it. Sharing information at the end of the task was very useful. Children
could explain the problems that people in 1666 might have faced and
were more able to understand why certain changes (such as the introduction
of building regulations and insurance) were bought into force.
‘Using thinking skills activities in the classroom is an excellent
way to move children from just learning about a subject and finding
out the answers, to being able to solve more complex problems,’
notes Nicola. ‘It helps them to think for themselves rather than
relying just on books or source materials.’
