大象传媒

Activities for Schools: The Armed Forces

The resources on this page can be used by teachers and community educators in classrooms and learning centres. Lesson Plans are based on extracts from stories which were submitted to the WW2 People's War site. They are suitable for both primary and secondary students and have curriculum links to History, English, RE, Citizenship and Media Studies.

• Lessons meet the skill and content requirements for the UK curriculum in history, English and citizenship (England and Wales).
• It may be possible to use some exercises to support RE classes at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.
• The lessons could be adapted to use as part of centre-designed history coursework for Key Stage 4.
• Some topics will naturally fit into one lesson and others may run over a number of weeks.

This lesson plan includes:

• Lesson 1: The RAF (Key Stages 2, 3 and 4)
• Lesson 2: The Army (Key Stages 2, 3 and 4)
• Lesson 3: The Royal Navy (Key Stages 2, 3 and 4)

How to use these lesson plans

• Use as a structured scheme of work on the British Home Front, 1939-45.
• Use as generic lesson plans for the teacher, rather than material to be given direct to the pupils.
• Alter the plans and cut and paste questions in order to make resource sheets according to the ability and age of the pupils.
• The plans are for mixed ability groups, although the teacher may want to split groups and tasks according to ability.

In learning about the past it is always best to start in an environment that is familiar. All children have some understanding of the world of today, which they can use as a point of reference to compare against historical events. It is important for children to view the world in which they live as a continuation of society in the 1940s, not as completely detached from it.

The list of resources at the beginning of each lesson includes a reference to stories from the 大象传媒's WW2 People's War site, extracts from which are on the Story extracts page. You may find it useful to print out the full stories. There is also a guideline of preparation materials that are generally found in schools or can be provided by the teacher.

Lesson 1: The RAF

Key Stages - 2, 3 and 4

Objectives - To gain an understanding of the significance and contribution of the Royal Air Force to the war effort in World War Two, and to consider the experiences of members of the RAF and the main air battles. To develop note-taking, research and communication skills.

Photographs and extracts from the following WW2 People's War stories can be found on the accompanying Story extracts file.

• Service with 56 Hurricane Squadron during the Battle of Britain
• Lucky to Have Legs: Saved by a Brave Pilot, RAF Attlebridge, Norfolk
• Night Flight to Turin
• Timeline fact files - Battle of Britain (1 June 1940) and Dambusters Raid (16 May 1943)
• Armed Forces categories for other stories

Other resources needed for the class

• Photocopies of the relevant extracts from the Story extracts page
• Photocopies of Pupil Task Sheets
• IT room
• 'W' data capture sheets (see Activity 1)

Teaching and Learning Activities

Starter Activity

Split pupils into groups of three or four. Give each group the extract Service with 56 Hurricane Squadron during the Battle of Britain.

Ask half of the groups to imagine they are scientists producing a presentation for the War Ministry in 1938, on why the Royal Air Force is important. Ask the other half of the groups to imagine that they are War Ministry civil servants producing a report arguing that aircraft are too dangerous to use and that they should concentrate on the Army and Royal Navy.

Activity 1

Book an IT room. Display the title 'Battle of Britain' on the board, along with the Battle of Britain fact file.

Split the class into groups of three pupils. Give every pupil a data capture sheet with a large 'W' on. The 'W' needs to be large enough for the pupil to write inside. You can produce this easily by creating a character with Word Art in Microsoft Word and enlarging it.

Tell the class that one pupil in each group will look at Why the Battle of Britain happened, another will research Where the Battle of Britain happened, and the third will research Who was involved in the Battle of Britain. Individual pupils will then need to go to a computer and link to the Battle of Britain fact file. They should record the key points relating to their topic inside their 'W'.

Activity 2

Ask each pupil to feed back their research to the others in their group. They should use this information to design and compile a fact file entitled 'Things you should know about the Battle of Britain'. They should save their fact files so that they can add to them throughout the lesson. At the end of the lesson the fact files can be included in a display on the armed forces in World War Two.

Activity 3

Read the extract Service with 56 Hurricane Squadron during the Battle of Britain. In groups of three, pupils discuss the questions below. They should be considering the importance of ground support staff and mechanics to the smooth running of the RAF.

Activity 4

Divide the class into groups of four. Read the poem Night Flight to Turin in full. As a class, discuss where Turin is and why it would have been an important target for the Allies to bomb. Pupils should be thinking about Turin being an industrial town in Italy. Therefore, the bombs could damage the enemy's war effort.

Introduce 617 Squadron. Then ask the class to link to the fact file about the Dambusters Raid in the Timeline (16 May 1943), to find out more about this squadron. Ask each group to read the fact file and to complete the task below.

The groups present their poems or songs.

Activity 5

Split the class into the same groups of three as in Activity 3. Read the extracts Service with 56 Hurricane Squadron during the Battle of Britain, Lucky to Have Legs: Saved by a Brave Pilot, RAF Attlebridge, Norfolk and Night Flight to Turin, and ask the pupils to complete the following task.

Activity 6

In order to complete their fact files, ask pupils to read a selection of stories from the RAF category of the WW2 People's War site. Ask each pupil to find two quotations and add these to their fact files. Complete the fact files and print them up.

Plenary

The groups swap fact files and read as many different examples as possible in five minutes. Then ask each pupil to give one important fact that they have learned about the Royal Air Force during World War Two.

Lesson 2: The Army

Key Stages - 2, 3 and 4

Objectives - To gain an understanding of the significance and contribution of the Army to the war effort in World War Two, and to consider the experiences of members of the Army and the main battles. To develop note-taking, research and communication skills.

Photographs and extracts from the following WW2 People's War stories can be found on the Story extracts page.

• James Hill's D-Day: 3rd Parachute Brigade
• Behind Enemy Lines in Normandy
• 21 Years Old on D-Day: With the Royal Engineers in Italy
• The 'D-Day Dodgers' in Italy
• Buried Alive in the North African Desert
• Timeline Fact Files relating to key military campaigns
• Armed Forces categories for other stories

Other resources needed for the class

• Photocopies of the relevant extracts from the Story extracts page
• Photocopies of Pupil Task Sheets
• IT room
• 'W' data capture sheets (see Lesson 1 Activity 1)
• School videos with extracts from WW2 army battles

Teaching and Learning Activities

Starter Activity

Ask the class to write the names of as many battles as they can think of on the board. Discuss why historians remember certain battles and not others.

Activity 1

Divide the class into three large groups to look at the following topics: D-Day, the Italy campaign and the North Africa campaign. Divide each large group into three smaller groups - A, B and C. Give each small group a 'W' data capture sheet (see Lesson 1 Activity 1 for how to create and use these).

Group A is to look at Why, Group B at Where and Group C at Who, in relation to their topic. Ask pupils to link to the Timeline in order to complete the research on their group topic.

Activity 2

Each small group feeds back their research to the rest of their large topic group. The large groups should then use this information to create a PowerPoint presentation to inform the rest of the class about each campaign.

Activity 3

Split the class into groups of four or five. Give them copies of the extracts about the Army and of the Pupil Task Sheet. Ask the class to agree on six or seven categories - like Bafta award categories - relating to what makes a good documentary. They could consider historical knowledge, sensitivity and the extent to which the documentary maintains the interest of the audience. Tell the class that when they present their documentaries you will have a Bafta-style award ceremony (although acceptance speech time will be limited). Ideally, each group will then receive some type of prize or certificate.

Activity 4

The class present their documentaries. The class should then vote in a secret ballot on which documentary should receive the award for each category. You can count the votes and (if you need to) adjust them according to expert professional knowledge in order to ensure all good work is rewarded. The best documentaries should be judged in terms of historical knowledge, sensitivity and the extent to which they maintained the interest of the audience.

Plenary

Ask each pupil to say one thing they have learned while working in their teams, in the form of an acceptance speech. It should be something positive as this is normally what the stars say at the Baftas.

Lesson 3: The Navy

Key Stages - 2, 3 and 4

Objectives - To gain an understanding of the significance and contribution of the Royal Navy to the war effort in World War Two, and to consider the experiences of members of the Navy and the main naval battles. To develop note-taking, research and communication skills.

Photographs and extracts from the following WW2 People's War stories can be found on the accompanying Story extracts page.

• X-craft and Operation Source
• The Sinking of the SS 'Vornix'
• X-craft, the Tirpitz and Inadequate Tow Ropes
• HMS 'Penelope', Sunk by Enemy Action 18th February 1944
• Fleet Air Arm - Fairey Barracuda
• Timeline fact files - Battle of the Atlantic (January 1939) and Tirpitz Sunk (12 November 1944)

Other resources needed for the class

• Photocopies of the relevant extracts from the Story extracts page
• Photocopies of Pupil Task Sheets
• IT room and Media room
• 'A' data capture sheets (see Lesson 1 Activity 1)

Teaching and Learning Activities

Starter Activity

Put a map of the British Isles on the board. Ask the class to look at the map. Split the class into pairs and ask them to compile as many reasons as possible why ships are important to Britain. Link to the wartime home front and the idea of importing food such as fruit.

Feed back and discuss as a class.

Activity 1

With the class in pairs, briefly discuss how an enemy nation could prevent Britain using its ships.

Feed back and discuss as a class the importance of the Royal Navy to defend Britain.

Activity 2

Give pupils a data capture sheet with a large 'A' on it (see Lesson 1 Activity 1 for details).

Split the class into pairs and ask them to click on the fact file on the Battle of the Atlantic in the Timeline. Each pair should record key point notes on the Battle of the Atlantic.

Activity 3

Divide the pupils into groups of three or four. Read the extracts from the Story extracts page. Ask each group to consider the questions below.

Feed back and discuss as a class.

Activity 4

With the pupils in pairs, read the extract X-craft and Operation Source. Ask each pair to answer the questions below.

Feed back and discuss as a class.

Activity 5

You could record this activity if you have the appropriate facilities at school.

Divide the class into groups of four. Read the 'Tirpitz' Sunk fact file in the Timelinee and the story X-craft, the Tirpitz and Inadequate Tow Ropes.

Each group reads their diary extracts to the rest of the class.

Plenary

Ask each pupil to give one reason why Britain needed a navy.

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