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The Great Fire of London
Diaries

Find out about the famous diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn. Write your own diary entries, including a realistic entry set during the Great Fire. Finally, share diaries in a ‘coffee house’ setting to celebrate the completion of this block.

Block Overview

Session 1 Who ARE they?

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.
  • Learn about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally.

English

  • Write about real events.

Teaching and Activities

Children will:

  • Meet Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn and understand their diaries give us information about life in their times, including the Great Fire of London.
  • Write their own diary entry about modern day life.
  • Use adjectives to add interest and information to their writing.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Example of an appointment diary
  • Writing or topic books

Session 2 FREEZE!

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time and a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms.
  • Understand where the people and events fit within a chronological framework.

English

  • Participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with drama.
  • Adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role.
  • Improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences.

Teaching and Activities

Children will:

  • Learn where people and events fit within a chronological order, using a time line.
  • Participate in mime or drama to further understand the feelings and emotion generated by the Great Fire of London.
  • Perform to an audience.
  • Learn how to make comments and suggest improvements for peer assessment.
  • Work to improve their drama presentation.

You Will Need

  • Time line, as used in previous sessions
  • Role play clothes if available
  • Appropriate props

Session 3 What did you say?

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events.

English

  • Improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences.

Teaching and Activities

Children will:

  • Show their understanding of the events in the Great Fire of London through drama.
  • Write speech bubbles depicting these emotions and feelings.
  • Consolidate use of exclamation marks and question marks.

Provided Resources

  • Large speech bubble shapes for teacher to model writing
  • Smaller speech bubble shapes for children to write on.

You Will Need

  • Freeze Frame photographs from session 2

Session 4 Quills and ink!

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

English

  • Write about real events.

Teaching and Activities

Children will:

  • Understand how writing implements have changed over the years.
  • Realise afresh how very old the diaries of Samuel Pepys are.
  • Write a realistic page from a diary as written during the Great Fire of London 1666.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Group photos from session 3 and speech bubbles
  • A4 paper tea stained to look old
  • Plastic drinking straws
  • Ink or paint thinned with water
  • Small containers for the ink
  • Coloured feathers
  • Basket or bin

Session 5 Coffee House!

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally.
  • Understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

Teaching and Activities

Children will:

  • Complete writing and then make covers for their historic diaries.
  • Read their diaries to each other in a Coffee House setting to celebrate the completion of this block.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Washing up liquid
  • Plastic drinking straws
  • A4 size plastic trays
  • Old 1d coins
  • Coffee shop role-play items
  • Beverages to serve in coffee house
  • Oat based biscuits

Weblinks

How to bubble paint from artful-kids.com
i.ytimg.com/vi/gI8syGX9EpI/0.jpg – (note you will need to copy and paste this link, it will not work directly) Image of Samuel Pepys Diary.

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