Primary History - Make History Come to Life
by Chris Hein and Kelly Stewart
DESCRIPTION OF PRIMARY HISTORY BASIC FUNCTIONALITY:
Primary History can provide educational information through videos, photos, timelines, virtual tours, fun facts, and interactive games regarding the following social studies topics: Ancient Greeks, Romans, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Children of Victorian Britain, and Children of World War II history. Primary History targets elementary students in content and images. It can be used to integrate technology in a meaningful way into social studies lessons. This website is not limited to just socials studies - many of the interdisciplinary lessons include economics (i.e. buying a meal in wartime), writing (a letter/journal about evacuation during WWII), and music (i.e. audio/sound bite resources).
ACCESSING PRIMARY HISTORY:
The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Primary History page is a free program and does not require any registration or downloads. Simply, click on the link below and begin exploring.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/
However, please take a moment to review the Terms of Conditions, located here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/terms/
TUTORIAL
IMPORTANCE IN THE CLASSROOM:
For all elementary grades, Primary History is meant to be a supplemental tool for students to witness history coming to life. The program can be used to expand learning modes (i.e. review facts already reviewed in the classroom in a different format). Teacher's resources include worksheets, quizzes, and other interactive and extension activities for measurement.
TOPICS EXPLORED:
Ancient Greece:
- The Greek Life
- Growing up Greek
- Athens
- The Olympic Games
- Greeks at war
- Home Life
- Gods and heros
- Sparta
- Arts and theatre
- Sea and ships
|
Roman:
- City of Rome
- Rebellion
- The Roman Army
- Leisure
- Roman remains
- Invasion
- Technology
- Roman defense of Britain
- Roads and places
- Family and children
- Religion
- Romans in Scotland
|
Anglo-Saxon:
- Who were they?
- Anglo-Saxon life
- Stories and pasttimes
- Kings and laws
- Alfred the Great
- Invasion and settlement
- Anglo-Saxons at war
- Growing up
- Anglo-Saxon beliefs
- What happened to them?
- The Normans
|
Vikings:
- Who were the Vikings?
- Family life
- Vikings at sea
- Viking raiders
- Viking towns
- Vikings at home
- Beliefs and stories
- Trade and exploration
- Viking settlements
- What happened to them?
|
Victorian Britain:
- An introduction
- Children in coal mines
- Children at school
- Children at play
- Leisure
- Children at work
- Children in factories
- Victorian schools
- Rich and poor families
- Toys and games
|
Children of WWII:
- World at war
- Evacuation
- War time homes
- Food and shopping
- The war effort
- Children at war
- Air raids- the Blitz
- Daily life
- Growing up in war time
- The war ends
|
POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS TO TEACHING AND LEARNING:
- Social Studies
- Review of any history of available topics (i.e. Greece-Ancient Olympics) - make history come to life (virtual tours)
- students could then keep blog/journal answering the questions: What do you see? Where did you go? What did it look like? What did you learn? Would you go there in real-life? Anything else?
- student could compare/contrast ancient Olympics vs. current Olympics - what sports are included/not included? what changes to ceremonies have been made?
- Movement activity: students could re-enact Olympics in the classroom
- teacher could read a fable/story, students could "finish the story" assisting them with thinking/reasoning skills, analysis of classical cultures, etc.
- Literacy
- Students can read/view the Diary of Anne Frank
- there are many classroom activities that can be adapted to any grade level here
- Economics
- Students will be able to virtually buy a meal during wartime
- Students will be able to identify air-raid precautions and could research the cost of items for purchase
- Writing
- Students can review the "daily life" of evacuees and then write a journal entry/assignment if they were an evacuee
OTHER TOOLS LIKE PRIMARY HISTORY:
Primary History - Inquiry Skills - board game that encourages students to ask questions and research artifacts from the past
Tech Tools to bring history to life - list of tech tools that can aid a teacher in bringing history to life
History Essentials - another resource for teachers to find interactive teaching/learning lessons
Lesson plans for all subjects (including history) - Utah Education Network
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.