Task which focus on the children becoming Historians
Chronology
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Sort a pack of postcards showing items from different periods, sequencing them in order of age,
giving reasons for choices. If appropriate make a time line. Alternatively, sequence real objects,
Make a time line, sequencing birthday/wedding/retirement cards and toys, letters etc, which
represent the different stages of someone’s life.
Asking Questions
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Use a picture or artefact and brainstorm for questions. Use as a springboard for further research.
Comparison
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Compare pictures “old” and “new” e.g. farming equipment, classrooms etc. Draw out similarities
and difference. Ask; what has changed and why? What has remained the same and why?
Looking at causes, consequences and motives
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With regard to a specific situation, children can pretend to be “advisors” and can write letters to
monarchs or leaders pointing out their beliefs concerning the causes, consequences and
people’s conflicting motives regarding that situation.
Focus on a detail
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Look at a fragment of a picture (e.g. part of a Greek vase). Consider the detail (e.g. What does
this tell us about life at that period? Can we can ascertain anything for certain? What reasonable
guesses can we make about life at the time? What will we never know? What questions would
we like to ask? Talk about what the rest of the picture might have looked like. Ask children to
draw what they think the whole item may have looked like. If it is possible, compare pupil pictures
with a picture of the whole item. Talk about how archaeologist work from fragments and use this
type of skill to try to imagine what a whole item may have looked like.
Speculating
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Use an artefact. Speculate about who made it/where; who used it, for what purpose. Examining –
what is it made of? Dies it have a smell? What does it feel like? Is it authentic or a replica? How
big is it Recording – Draw the artefact carefully, label it, write down the measurements; say
where found and record the speculations?
Finding out about people in the past
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Collect evidence about the history of family members of friends, or the history of well – known
local people : photos, documents, oral evidence, objects, archives and old buildings.
Comparing fiction and what is known of the past
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Read a historical novel and compare details with evidence from the period. Speculate as to the
kind of evidence the author used as a basis for the story. Similarly, compare artists impressions
found in many school text books with art work completed at the time.
Deducing information
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Make a “suitcase” or a box found in the attic (e.g. full of Victorian, WW2 items). What can be
deduced about the person who owned the suitcase, their family/friends and life at the time?
Should these deductions be tentative? Why?
Look at letters, diary entries, wills, school log books, school punishment books, a ship’s log, and
make tentative deductions, Carry out further research.
Leaving information for future generations
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Cf. Cleopatra’s Needle. Make a “box of Delights” – a time box to bury for a future generation to
find. Ask children what they would put in the box to represent life today, and request reasons for
choice of objects. Fill a box and bury as appropriate.
Drawing tentative conclusions
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When children have had chance to do quite a lot of research into a period or aspect of a period,
ask them to write or audio - record, or present a radio show if they are experts. Help children to
talk about the limitations of evidence, and to identify what additional information they would like to
have in order to have a more complete understanding of that period.
Considering the usefulness of a piece of evidence for an enquiry
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Take a piece of evidence and talk about how valuable / useful it is in providing accurate
information about the past. What are the limitations of the evidence? Could the evidence be
biased?
Corroborating the evidence – How could the information provided be corroborated by reference
to a picture, photo, another document, oral testimony etc.
Interpreting evidence
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Artefacts, pictures, documents etc – Talk about what may account for the differences? How could
a hypothesis be tested? How could information be corroborated?
Digging up the past
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Talk about the work of archaeologists. Find some pictures of artefacts belonging to the period
you are studying. Stick them on a firm backing and laminate if desired. Cut the pictures up into
pieces as if making a jigsaw.
Bury the objects in one or more containers with appropriate “earth”. Help children dog for the
fragments with care, the clean them if necessary, measure them, examine them and write a label
for each find. The label should indicate when the object was found, where (place and
approximate depth) and give the measurements (speculate as to the full size of the object). Place
exhibits in a class museum along with the labels. Try to find other evidence which relates to the
objects found; documents, pictures, engravings. Visit museums and ask a real archaeologist to
talk about his/her work.
Assembling information about a particular period – making it clear where they came from
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Making a class display, an information book for the library, a newspaper which reports events of
a particular period.
Reconstructing
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Reconstructing – some part of the past via drawings, painting, collage, technology etc. based
upon the evidence (e.g. a tudor house, a Victorian street). Point out the limitations of the
evidence – orally and in writing.