CREATIVE CURRICULUM PLANNER Y4

What was it like for children in the Second World War?

In this unit children find out about the effects of the Second World War on children in their local area, nationally and internationally. There are also opportunities to consider the effects of war on children today.

Children use a range of sources, including the recollections of people alive at the time. They consider the reasons for and results of key aspects of the war.

Main Teaching
What was it like in WWII? When and where did it take place? Use a map to show who was involved and a timeline to illustrate when. Do the children recognize pictures of key figures? What do they already know about the war? What do they want to find out?
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Group Activities
The war has begun listen to Chamberlains broadcast. Prior to this lesson we will have made gasmasks and completed a newspaper report for the day the war began. Our first experience of the air raid siren. Take cover. Gas masks, smoke machine and sound-scape. The children hide under the tables. How do they feel? Evacueesphotographs of evacuees at train stations. Have an evacuees suitcase as a prop. What do the children already know? Look inside the suitcasewhat would the children choose to bring? Drama work: children in groups. Call out related objects and the children make these shapes. Use evacuee photos. The children create their own freeze frame photograph. Thought track. Make evacuee tags.

Plenary
Thought tracking the photographs we have made.

What was the Blitz? Areas most likely to be affected and high risk cities. The home front. Lots of work to be completed on this in Literacy also (historical stories & newspaper reports.) Look at why the Blitz began and what the Germans used to drop down on us use pictures/props to show maybe life

Creating Anderson shelters for use during the Blitz. Look at shelter photos and talk about how they must have been feeling. Look at positives and negatives. Give the children materials to create bomb shelters and disguise them using plants and grass.

Evaluation.

Link with materials in science. Evaluate. Link to design and technology.

size cut outs of the bombs. Look at eyewitness accounts and show the film of the reconstruction of the Blitz bombings and damage. Life on the home front. What did people eat in the war. Rationing. Look at food stores and menu boards. Look at typical meals and compare with those of today. Talk about why foods were so limited in supply. Define. Look at photographs and discuss how people lived and survived this time. In what other ways might the war have effected people. Give the children selected sources, eg photographs of soldiers, women at work, the home guard, a funeral, newspaper headlines.
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Look at the home guard application form and ask the children to try and complete it. Rationing: make ration books and have ingredients that were rationed. Act as a grocer and the children visit the store (with their ration books) to obtain ingredients to make ww2 recipes.

Reorder a recipe we have just made using the interactive white board. Taste and review.

Ask the children to write captions/thought bubbles for one or more of the pictures peer support for LA children. WW2 mind readers!

Share, review and discuss ideas. Record on digital voice recorders.

Work with the children to list what the pictures show. Consider what can be inferred about the effects of the war on people's lives, and about the qualities people needed to survive.

Hold an evacuee day in school.

Evacuee Day: Tags, gas mask boxes, costumes, Parents say good bye to their children as they get on the train (make tickets before hand and have a ticket office.) The children go in and sit at their tables/carriages They have to sit in the correct carriage. Play WWII games such as Beetle whilst passing the time on their trip to the countryside. Selectors to arrive and pick up the children. Whilst they wait share info about their families with talk partner. Who they

Evaluation of the day completed through the letter sent home.

will miss. First day at a country school, imagine meeting other children for the first time, talk about families. An evacuees letter. Send the letters home to parents. Link to recount work in Literacy. Use tea bags to create old fashioned newspaper. Evacuee country cooking. Evacuee playground games in the country school. Gardening and chores.

What were a childs experiences of life in the war? Lots of work completed on this during Literacy (British, German and Jewish childrens points of view.) Look at photographs of homes that were bombed in all countries to ensure children know it wasnt just British children that were affected by the war.

Listen and read recounts from different children affected by the war. Give the children photographs of different children and ask them to write a speech bubble explaining what has happened and how they are feeling.

Share points of view and compare.

What was it like to be a child living in this area during World War II? Interview session. Make preparations before.

Think of questions to ask someone who was a child during World War II. Send letters home to parents asking if they know anyone who was a child during World War II that would like to come and visit. Create a display ready for the adult visiting for the children to show and discuss. A big map for the visitor to show where things might have happened and to explain memories. Make a war time recipe to eat when our visitor is in school. Could we also film the interview?

Recount the interview. Write a short report for topic books.

How did WW2 affect this area locally? Show pictures of bomb damage or just every day events in WW2 in the local area. Discuss The One That Got Away and the Prisoner of War camp in Swanwick. Show pictures and sections of the film. What has been done since to prevent another war?

Make a wanted poster for The One That Got Away with details of his escape.

Review posters on a gallery walk to WW2 music!

United Nations theme.

Collect great ideas (1 best idea from each group) to make a

Look at the war in Afghanistan and how that war started. Compare photographs of bomb damage and soldiers. Talk about the involvement of citizens. Talk about the UN and their involvement in peace keeping. Is the world better or worse at keeping peace today?

Working in teams to design a peace treaty. Hold a debate, children who think that the world has improved and is more peaceful and those who dont. Both sides think of arguments for there ideas. Hold a vote at the end. Working in groups the children take into consideration the different views expressed today and design a contract people should follow to keep peace on this earth.

class peace treaty. All children sign it to signal the end of war and future peace.

Could finish with a street party to celebrate the end of World War II, think about how people celebrated it and exactly what happened.