Teaching Resources

Teachers comments - Secondary level

People at war Sign Off.

With the end of the project in sight I feel the resource that has been constructed is a great testament to the hard work and effort put in by all involved. Find below a rough guide as to the structure of the lesson that was focussed around the ‘People at War’ site and the response it was greeted with by the pupils.

Connection phase:

It was in this phase of the lesson that the group got to browse the Hartlepool Images and then we focussed on the ‘What’s the Story’ task relating to the munitions factory workers. Rather than use the resource on the site the group were asked to work in pairs on mini-white boards to come up with a conclusion to the question at hand.

Activation phase:

The group then investigated the ‘Mulgrave Castle 1939’ time tourists resource which was supported by other ‘in house’ resources regarding evacuation.

Demonstration phase:

The group were then asked to demonstrate what they had learnt, and to also extend beyond this and use their own imagination, to empathise with the evacuees of World War II by writing a ‘Time Tourists’ report.

Consolidation phase:

The lesson ended with a great quiz style activity that was found via the ‘People at War’ Links section:

http://www.channel4.com/apps26/learning/microsites/E/essentials/history/units/warchild_bi.shtml

Ultimately, the group responded well. I felt the local nature of the resource allowed them to engage with the topic with more enthusiasm, particularly via verbal means. However, as is so common within my school the children are more reluctant to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding through written means. It would however be possible to complete the activation phase then demonstrate the ‘Time Tourists’ activity via drama and achieve greater success. I will definitely give it a go next term. I also wish to use the image bank with my KS4 pupils who are currently revising for their final examinations, one of which is regarding Britain and WWII. This once again will be in an attempt to fuel interest as they often become apathetic around this time of year.

More specific points to note about the resource:

  • The printable resources for the ‘What’s the Story’ activity are meant to be specific to the image however, I found when browsing the Hartlepool images that they are only supported by the ‘Munitions Workers’ resource.
  • The use of ‘review’ within the instructions for the ‘Time Tourists’ writesheet resource could be replaced however; it should not cause too much hassle at KS3.
  • Within the ‘Hartlepool Connections’ activity the instructions within the writesheet state ‘space to explained’ and should be amended to ‘space to explain’.