So, you might be wondering how the Adventure Through History courses actually translate to the classroom… and it’s a good question. On the face of it, they’re very brief and you may also think they cover too much in little depth.
Again, you’d be right…
Sort of.
The whole idea behind Adventure Through History is teaching in a repetitive way, so that pupils are constantly reminded of the chronological order of historical events, eras and ideas. This has many benefits.
#1 It helps them understand what they are learning and put it into some sort of logic. For example, when they are learning about the Stone Age, they do already know that it was a long time ago. But do they really know how long ago? Time is a very tricky concept for little minds anyway. So how on earth do we help them understand just how long ago the Stone Age was? For a 7-year-old, 100 years or 10,000 years doesn’t really matter – both are a long time ago. What we can do, is teach them timelines, and teach from prehistory to modern day each year, so for four years, they are reminded about how big Earth’s history is. By our starting point being the Mesozoic era (name me a child that isn’t fascinated by dinosaurs!) we are showing pupils that history isn’t just from the Stone Age onwards; it is in fact 4.6 billion years of history, and this in itself, helps to showcase just how tiny our present-day history actually is.
#2 By teaching in order each year, we can not only look at a broader subject list, but we can also revisit topics again and again from different angles at different ages. This is useful because as children mature, their views and opinions develop, particularly as other subject knowledge grows and deepens. So, in year 3, when our pupils have an insight into the role of Ancient Egypt and powerful female Pharaohs, by the time we revisit women’s rights in year 5, pupils already have knowledge that women’s rights have varied from culture to culture, and era to era. They will know how women haven’t always been seen as second-class citizens, and the same can be said for racial prejudices. We can continually revisit these sensitive topics again and again, but each time our pupils naturally have a slightly different outlook. Adventure Through History’s method of teaching means pupils get the chance to look at so many topics each year of their ks2 life, rather than doing one topic then never going back to it. Surely a great way to consolidate knowledge, concepts and moral issues?
So, how do you actually use it?
It’s pretty straight forward, the PowerPoint is there with all the information teachers need, as well as separate teacher guidance, with hints and definitions of key words. Let’s not forget answers to all the questions and tasks for the PowerPoints (how annoying when resources don’t come with answers, right?) are also included. You introduce the topic of that week, read out and discuss the weeks’ key words and away you go. Work through the slides, forging class discussions with pupils wherever possible, for that is where the wonder of children’s mind’s is really highlighted. Nothing makes us happier than hearing our own children discussing history and historical ideas. To see their minds working and hearing them wondering and asking, “why though?” is amazing. And it’s what we wanted for our Adventure Through History children too. Just to enjoy history and never stop wondering why?
The lesson plans are there to help teachers understand the order of the lesson, and what’s needed each week. There are also wider learning suggestions, should you want to continue the learning that little bit further using other subjects.
Resources are fun and have been created to make learning history fun, from archaeological digs in the dirt, to Ice Age fashion shows to Roman talent contests. We want our pupils to love learning about history and remember these lessons for years to come. But we also know that we need to get children thinking not just doing. So, there are a mixture of tasks, some practical and some slightly more formal (but still fun, of course).
Our final tip when using Adventure Through History in the classroom is to ENJOY it! History is amazing and has so much to offer. There really is a topic for everyone’s interest, it’s just a case of helping our pupils find theirs. When that happens, we know we’ve done our bit.