Teaching Resources
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.