Teachers' notes
Tudor kings and queens
Aims:
- To ask and answer questions relevant to the focus of historical enquiry.
- To select and interpret relevant information from texts about kings and queens during the Tudor period.
- To place information in chronological order on a timeline.
- To apply their understanding and knowledge of Tudor kings and queens by working with a partner to create and guess the answers to clues.
Age group 8–11
- England and Wales
Year 4/Year 6 - Scotland
Year P4/Year P6 - Northern Ireland
Year 5/Year 7
Literacy skills:
Making notes and using evidence from text to explain events and ideas; adapting non-narrative forms and styles to write fiction or factual texts; make judgements about texts that will be useful.
Curriculum links:
- History – England and Wales
- Social studies, People, past events and societies – Northern Ireland
- The World around us, History – Scotland
Content:
- Interactive whiteboard: Read the descriptions of Tudor kings and queens. Can the children identify the missing information on the timeline?
Key dates and facts in the description of Henry VII on screen 2 can be discussed together before they are entered on the timeline.
More able pupils could be asked to find out additional dates and events for the timeline. Can they work out how long the kings and queens held power? Are there any similarities and differences between the kings and queens they have learnt about? - Activity sheets: The activity sheets have been designed to be used in succession. The first sheet provides a useful introduction to the partner activity on sheet 2. The activity sheets encourage pupils to use their knowledge of Tudor times to make connections between information. When writing their own ‘Who am I?’, older or more able children may be able to create clues for their partners without the prompts. They will also need to think carefully about the types of clues they could share with their partners, ensuring they are helpful and are clearly communicated.
- Extension: Children could engage in further research about a particular monarch and produce a mini project on Tudor kings and queens.
They could produce a short talk or speech for the rest of the class.
In pairs, children could be given categories to research about Tudor times, such as costume, life for the rich and the poor, education, food and entertainment.
Encourage them to consider the impact that events during these times have had on today’s society. Which kings and queens made the country richer or poorer? Who made life better or worse for ordinary people?
Suggestions for questions:
- Activate prior knowledge: Can you think of the names of any kings and queens of England, Scotland or Wales? Have you ever visited a castle? Do you know who it was built for?
- Reflect on learning: What is a clue? How do clues help us learn? What types of clues did we look for in the text when we were filling in a timeline? Why do you think kings and queens during Tudor times are so famous? What did they accomplish? Do you think the kings and queens you have studied had a positive or negative impact on the country overall? Give evidence for your answer.
- Extension: Can you think of other ways that we use clues, for example, by looking around us to work out what season it is? From the information you have found out about kings and queens during Tudor times, what do you think life might have been like during these times? What types of reminders of these times do we still have today? Do you think the differences between kings and queens and ordinary people are similar today? Or have things changed?