Activities by Key Stage
This listing of activities by Key Stage goes against my idealism but I know that it’s the route many teachers will take to look for activities so, in this case, pragmatism wins over idealism.
Why am I uncomfortable with listing activities by Key Stage? Simply because a good activity works with any age and can be adapted for use with any age-group. Take the Spanish Armada activity. It can be used to develop story-telling skills at KS2 and for introducing ideas about interpretations. At Key Stage 3 the same activity can develop more sophisticated ideas about causation. At Advanced or undergraduate level it can be treated as a hypothesis to stimulate reading, revision and up-dating or even re-telling from the standpoint of a Spanish or English historian or a Victorian or early 21 st century historian. Not really so very different from KS2 work on interpretation, except hopefully the level of detail and complexity of argument will have matured!
So I’m wary of branding an activity as for KS2 only because a good teacher may well see how to adapt it and use it with another age-group. The Norman Conquest activities are other good examples. They are often used at KS3 but I’ve used them all at undergraduate level, adding some detail here and there, but they’re essentially the same activity – it’s just that the level of demand was shifted upwards through the questioning and discussion.
Therefore quite a number of activities appear in this section more than once because, with a little adaptation, they can be successful with a variety of age-ranges. If you think an activity could be used with an age-range other than the one specified do let me know.
Non-UK Readers
Note for overseas readers – you may find it helpful to follow this link for an explanation of the English system of Key Stages [ click here ].