People At War

Teaching Resources

The People at War website was trialled in four schools, you can view available feedback from students and teachers here

1. Ways to use this site

2. Curriculum Topics
- 2.1 What’s the story?
  - 2.1a History KS2 – Britain since 1930
  - 2.1b History KS3 – A world study after 1900
  - 2.1c Resource Downloads
- 2.2 Connections
  - 2.2a History KS2 – Connect the photos
  - 2.2b History KS3 – Local history
  - 2.2c Resource Downloads
- 2.3 Time Tourists
  - 2.3a History KS2 – Time Tours
  - 2.3b History KS3 – Time Tourists – The passing years
  - 2.3c Resource Downloads

3. Feedback
- Link to Feedback form

4. Links and Contacts
- List of useful sites and contact emails and telephone numbers to be supplied.

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1. Ways to use this site

Above all, use this site in a way which works for you, your students and your school. You can choose sections of it, simply tackle one task or even download just one image. We have set out a range of different ways to use the site but its primary purpose is to help you as a teacher to achieve your aims without creating extra work.

- to teach World War Two.
This site contains a wide-ranging selection of evidence relating to the impact of WW2 on the Home Front in Britain. You can use this evidence to look at the period 1939-45, to explore the impact of the war on children, on civilians and on the armed forces. You can use the activities as they stand, or download the images and sources and create your own presentations and exercises.

- to do a comparative study of the impact of WW2 on two major cities – Hartlepool and Swansea, in different parts of the country.
Was the impact of the war similar in both cities? After all, both were major industrial areas, and both were ‘blitzed’ by the Germans. Does the evidence presented here show that the impact of the war was similar, or different? And of course you could always use one [or both] of the cities to compare with the evidence in text books and on other websites of the impact of the war on London, Birmingham, Coventry. Is it possible to generalise on the impact of war on cities? On Britain?

- as the basis for your own local study.
You can use the approaches adopted here – even the templates if you wish – to develop your own local study of the impact of WW2 on your town or area. There are many NOF digitisation projects and it should be possible to find digital images from your neighbourhood to produce similar activities as found here. If not, then images and documents will be readily available in the local studies library or archives.

- as a way to encourage pupils to really interrogate evidence, and to begin to draw conclusions from this.
It is often the most difficult skill for pupils to really dissect a piece of evidence and draw conclusions from it. Many of the activities here encourage close study of evidence, and ask pupils to reach their own conclusions.

- as a way to build up your own set of resources for teaching about World War Two.
You can use the activities here just as they are, or use the templates to modify these and personalise them. The resources are deliberately varied – some to use online, some to print off and work with away from the computer. Adapt them to fit in with your way of working and the ability of your pupils.

- to make learning more active.
We have deliberately tried to make some of these activities more open-ended than is often the case. To encourage pupils to be historians, rather than to learn facts. We want to get away from closed questions and answers, to try to build on the natural inquisitiveness of most pupils.

- to be fun!
‘Excellence and enjoyment’ encourages a more open and less prescriptive approach to learning. We have tried to put together a set of teaching and learning activities that embody this approach.

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Curriculum Topics

What’s the story?

History Key Stage 2 – Britain since 1930

A study of the impact of the Second World War or on the lives of men, women and children from different sections of society. (11b)

Equipment

To make best use of this site in your classroom you will need:

LCD data projector with whiteboard, or enough computers for children to work in small groups
Speakers or headphones
Writing and drawing materials
If wishing to use the activity without computers, you will need to print out the images you wish to use and their corresponding clues.

Objective

By playing the ‘What’s the Story’ activity online, children will explore images relating to the impact of WW2 on the people of Swansea and Hartlepool. They will be encouraged to question what they see and think about the stories behind people and actions shown in the images..

Time Required

One full lesson

Suggested Classroom Activities

What’s the Story? Who were they, why were they in the image, what were they doing and what could have been their next steps?

We recommend that you begin your session by working through the PowerPoint Presentation which contains copies of all images used in the online activity. If possible print out the images and clues onto A4 paper and give to children working in small groups. There are twelve images in the presentation.

Ask children what they think is happening; what the story behind the images is. Use the clues to trigger ideas and discussion.

Then let the children work together. This can be done around computers using the online version, or at desks using the materials you have photocopied.

Using the online version, an additional button (sound) offers an audio version of the clue text and, where possible, additional sound effects area added to help make the text come alive to children with poor reading skills or eyesight.

By breaking the class up into small groups, discussion and questioning can be greatly encouraged. G&T students can be stretched by using the internet to search for more detailed background information, source similar images and artefacts or track down oral histories which could add to the class’s work.

Extension activities

Divide the class into 12 groups and ask each group to spend 10 minutes looking at each image/text combination.

Ask each group to prepare a one minute story to present to the rest of the class. They could use their drama skills, drawing or simply read some prepared text. It would be really interesting to combine all three approaches. Depending on their learning and language level probe them on their understanding and whether they have met anyone who survived WW2, or was a child of someone that had.

At this point you can develop the lesson further in any direction you require. You may wish to explore one image in more detail – the PowerPoint presentation offers all images and text for you to use with your whiteboard.

Gifted and Talented students can be encouraged to dig deeper – perhaps writing a short diary of a day in the life of their person, or writing their story as a letter to a friend.

Worksheet 1 will help children record observations.

Assessment The worksheets included in this site can be used as part of your methodology for assessment of understanding, knowledge and skills. (note this section to be completed once teacher testing complete so we can incorporate teacher input).

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History Key Stage 3 – A world study after 1900

A study of WW2 and its impact on Britain, Europe and the wider world. (13)
A local history study

Equipment

To make best use of this site in your classroom you will need:

LCD data projector with whiteboard, or enough computers for children to work in small groups
Speakers or headphones
Writing and drawing materials
If wishing to use the activity without computers, you will need to print out the images you wish to use and their corresponding clues

Objective

What’s the Story? is an activity suitable for stimulating the early stages of a local history study exploring the impact of WW2 on local people.

Time Required

One full lesson in the computer suite, or during homework
One full class lesson

Suggested Classroom Activities

We recommend that children play this activity without teacher supervision online either during homework or as a computer suite session.

This will prepare them for a more intense classroom session where you will work through their ideas and ‘stories’ in a group context.

Having played the activity online and in a classroom setting, we suggest you use the PowerPoint Presentation to lead a group discussion focussing on the similarities and differences between Swansea, Hartlepool and your local community. If you have planned to carry out a local history study, then it is worth saving this activity until you have completed that work as you can share local images with those we have supplied.

Children can use this session as a jumping off point for their own work: creating an imaginary war diary for example. Gifted and talented children especially can benefit from taking the themes in this game and using those as building blocks for their own local research.

All clues are replicated by the spoken word for children who have difficulty in reading on-screen text or prefer the auditory experience.

Extension Activities The images offered in this game could form the focus for an interesting animation exercise using simple software or digital cameras to re-record each image and add children’s own words as commentary – proving the ‘story’.

Leading on from that is the opportunity for drama and role play. Children could work in groups to choose an identity and explore it either individually or collectively.

Taking that idea further could encourage children to visit the local library or museum to research for similar stories; ask older members of their families if they had ever met local people who survived WW2 – and, most interestingly – to compare those stories with groups of people who never often feature in popular histories; the poor, disadvantaged and those from ethnic minorities who came to Europe to support the British cause. (Gurkas, Hindus, Pacific Islanders, etc). A Google search of the Internet will lead to several opportunities.

Worksheet 2 will help children record observations.

Assessment

The worksheets included in this site can be used as part of your methodology for assessment of understanding, knowledge and skills. (note this section to be completed once teacher testing complete so we can incorporate teacher input)