KS1 Great Fire of London Lesson Plan Ideas

History
Timelines – Introduce the idea of timelines with the children. You could start off by
doing a weekly class timeline. Think of a main event from each day of the week and put
it together, or children could think of events that have happened to them in the past
and to put them on a timeline. Then look at the story of the Great Fire of London and
after the children know the story, get them to stick pictures in their book with rough
times above them to see the sequence of events. These timeline cards are great for
prompts.
History of London – Give the children pictures of London around 1666 and pictures of
London today. Ask them to discuss the similarities and differences that they can see.
They could have two large circles in their books or on paper and they have to write in
one circle the similarities and in the other, the differences.
Alternatively you could give the children a selection of photos from past and present
London. They have to cut them out and sort them into the correct category. These
picture cards could be cut out and sorted.
Geography
London – Look at the geography of London. Look at the main features and buildings
that make up the London skyline. Give children an idea of what London looks like with
help from these display posters.
Talk about other cities in the UK and discuss why London is the capital.
When the children have done work on London give them pictures and see if they can
pick out the pictures that are of buildings and landmarks of London.
Compare London, a city, with the country. Discuss the differences and similarities.
Get the children to think of where they would rather live, and why.
Landmarks around London – use these photos for research and discussion. Identify
of any of the children recognise these places and can discuss their experiences
of them. Use a Map of where the Great Fire blazed to find what landmarks were
affected then, and which ones wojuld be affected now if the fire happened in the same
place today.

Use these photos to look at modern London.

PSHE
Look at the people who
help us in society today,
especially firemen. Discuss
what they do for us and
what would happen if we
didn’t have firemen. Make
the children aware that there
we no firefighters in 1666.
Science RE
Why did the fire spread so far and stay alight for so long? Show the pupils pictures The great fire of London got rid of the
of typical seventeenth-century houses, churches and street scenes. Encourage plague of rats – Look at the story of
them to describe the street scene and what the houses are made from. Discuss with Moses and the plagues that tormented
the children the reasons why the fire spread rapidly and why people took refuge in Egypt. Use this PowerPoint to tell the
churches and in boats on the river. story of Moses.
Through the exploration of Changing Materials, investigate the effects of heat on Look at the role of fire in this
eggs, chocolate and sugar in hot water. Ask the children to make predictions about story too.
whether they think the materials will change and be able to be changed back.

Use this vocabulary poster to encourage scientific vocabulary.

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 KS1 Great Fire of London Lesson Plan Ideas
English
Read the story of The Great Fire of London to the class including all the main characters.
Get the children to then pick out the main events and illustrate the main events in their
books. Then give them muddled up sentences from the story and get them to put them
in the right order, preferably under the pictures they have drawn.
These word mats are good for helping the children remember key words.
Diary entry – Discuss with children what a diary entry is and look at what the children
might include when writing a diary entry based on The Great Fire of London. Things
might include people in boats on the river, the flames spreading, the direction the fire
is spreading etc. the fire happened over several days so use these posters to show
the children what happened each day and get them to write a diary entry for each day
using this template.
Postcards – Get the children to imagine they have gone to London for a holiday and
they are going to write a postcard back home to tell their families and friends what
they have been up to. They can either imagine they have gone to modern London or
they were visiting London at the time that the fire broke out.
Character profile – Create a character profile of Samuel Pepys.
Create a word bank of useful words - the children could collate words describing
what an eye witness to the fire might hear, see, smell and feel.
The journalist - hot seat or interview a pretend eye witness. The children think of
questions they would ask and then use their answers in a report or recount of the
event. The interview could be reported and filmed within the class as if being reported
by TV newsreader.
Topic Map – use this research map for children to make research notes to use in later
recount and reporting written work.
Word search activity - based on London landmarks.
Get some inspiration or share your Great Fire of London activity ideas here!
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Mathematics
Days of the week – Read the story to the children with the help of these posters.
Tell the children the main events linking them to the days of the week on which they
happened. Once the children have established the days of the week in the right order,
use a “magic bag” with the pictures in relating to the Great Fire of London and see if
they know the corresponding day of the week. This game could be used to consolidate
the days of the week.
2D and 3D shape – Get the children to look at the houses that were part of London
in 1666. Look at what shapes make up these houses. Look at both 3D and 2D shapes
on the houses. Challenge them to create nets to recreate the houses, and when they
have all created a house put them together to create the city of London in 1666. This
category of nets might help some children in creating their houses.
Art and Design
Use different materials to create a collage of the fire of London. Include the Tudor
houses too.
Look at Tudor house and the patterns that were created with beams. Get the children
to draw, in pastels, their own Tudor houses.
Explore colour mixing and how to create different oranges, reds and yellows.
Then create a whole class Great Fire scene using handprints. Use the activity sheet to
understand the terms primary and secondary colours.
Use black card to create silhouetted buildings to put in the foreground of a Great Fire
display, with tissue paper flames creeping from doors and windows that can be folded
back to open.
Each child makes a 3D model of a building so a whole model city can be created. Use
grasses or matchsticks for the thatched roofs.