Helping primary age children learn about Remembrance Day

It’s that time of year… waking up to darker mornings, thick coats and scarves coming out plus pumpkins (and snowmen) adorning the shelves of the shops. Half term is nearly here, and before long, poppies will be all around us – many will wear them, whether at home, school or on the television.

Students will even sell poppies themselves to raise money. Remembrance Day is on the horizon, but how much do young people know about the real story behind it?

With the topic fresh in people’s minds, it makes it an ideal topic to teach students about ‘events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally’ or relatable ‘significant historical events, people and places in their own locality’. What better way to teach history than a topic that is bound to have a direct link to many of the students in the room – whether that’s in their current day or their grandparents’?

Our classic mystery 'Remembrance' by an excellent teacher has been made into a FREE iPad app (usually £1.49) - search 'KS2 Remembrance' on the App Store to download or click here. It is a relevant, story-based task consisting of 24 illustrated slips which pairs or threes work through together. It has the key dates of the world wars and hints at how they link to our lives now, but all through the eyes of a young person like them, Sarah.

 

Get this iPad app FREE - click here or search 'KS2 Remembrance' on the App Store

Students read through the slips, create groups and give them names (to drag and drop slips into), add sticky tape to link similar slips together or use the note tool to add thoughts they have along the way. They do all of this, with the goal of answering "Why did Sarah attend the Remembrance Service?"

The process involved in this free app, and the fact that there is no one right answer, lends itself to helping students develop key skills of collaboration, higher level thinking and retention of information.

For more information, please go to the information page on our website OR download the app now.

Edited re-post from November 2014 (last year's was about our Windows version)