Great Fire of London KS1 – Best history teaching resources
Come 2 September we all remember the devastating inferno that blazed through our capital in 1666…
- by Teachwire
Up until the point when a 69-year-old woman removed someone else’s dessert from a freezer on a popular television show, no baker had caused such a fuss as Thomas Farriner of Pudding Lane, 351 years ago in London.
Time will tell if The Great British Bake Off will be studied in schools in the year 2368, but until then we’ll keep focusing on old Tom and the little to-do that emerged from his establishment.
It’s an important event, and one that can be weaved into almost any area of the curriculum, so here we’ve picked out the best lesson plans, resources and activities to get you going.
Although, if you’re a little fed up with teaching the Great Fire of London as a significant event, Bev Forrest has alternative KS1 ideas up her sleeve, including the sinking of the Mary Rose or the Titanic.
Year 2 scheme of work
This incredible Year 2 Great Fire of London scheme of work is based on the events of 1666 and includes planning and resources for a half-term. You get teaching notes, worksheets, teaching slides and more.
KS1 cross-curricular activity ideas
Give your class a burning desire for drama, art, history and science with these KS1 cross-curricular activity ideas for the Great Fire of London.
Year 2 SATs writing assessment resource pack
This Year 2 Great Fire of London writing assessment resource pack gives KS1 children the chance to create cross-curricular writing that can be assessed against the KS1 Teacher Assessment Framework (TAF).
Pupils need to write a set of instructions for how to rebuild the city after the fire. Inside the pack you get a pupil writing checklist to encourage independent proofreading and editing, as well as a Powerpoint, picture cards, writing sheets and a TAF writing assessment checklist.
Minecrafting the Great Fire
The Museum of London has a wonderful selection of teaching resources on its website including an interactive story and, perhaps best of all, a Minecraft version of 1666’s tragic tale.
Story of the Great Fire
This massive (and free) resource has absolutely loads for you to choose from. Contrast fire-safety from the past with today, study the buildings of the period and create your own, look at rhymes and songs or write diaries in the style of Samuel Pepys.
That doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you will find with these resources.
Samuel Pepys
The Historical Association produced this topic pack on the Great Fire of London, which covers the events leading up to it, its causes and why it spread and what London was like afterwards. It also looks at Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren.
This set of KS1 resources was created by teachers who adapted a range of history approaches from Nuffield Primary to fit their classes.
