KS3 & KS4 Teachers' Notes
These notes are designed as a guide to The Gunpowder Plot:
Parliament and Treason 1605 website and its use in the classroom
with pupils at KS3 and above.
The website is packed with archival material - documents,
journals, engravings, paintings and more, making it the ideal
basis for historical study. Researched and written by historical
and educational experts, the material is trustworthy and authoritative.
The KS2 children's
version provides an alternative route for pupils at the
younger end of KS3, with accompanying KS1 & 2 teachers notes. Both sites are particularly suited to
use with whiteboards.
Curricular Links
The website is ideal for use when teaching history, specifically
'Britain 1500-1750'. It is also the ideal stimulus for cross-curricular
work in Art, English, Drama, PSHE, RE and ICT.
Terrorism
The Gunpowder Plot is fraught with obvious parallels to religious
divides and terrorism in the 21st century. We have avoided
making overt connections with current tensions in the text
of this website, leaving that to the reader.
The site would make an interesting stimulus for debate and
discussion around the subject of terror attacks, the attitudes
of Londoners then and now, religious extremism and so on.
Timeline
The website contains two interactive timelines, one targeted at KS3 and above, another slightly simpler for the KS2 audience. These enable students to place events in their historical context.
We’ve created a timeline poster incorporating the information held in the KS2 interactive version. This can be downloaded and printed out at either A3 or A4 size for use in lessons or classroom display.
In addition to the poster you can download a timeline factsheet, again incorporating information from the KS2 version. This presents the timeline in a Word document, allowing you to adapt it for your use in the classroom.
Questions/Suggestions/Ideas
A different outcome?
What might have happened if the Gunpowder Plot had succeeded?
This could be a stimulus for creative writing, storytelling,
drama or artwork.
Characters
Can pupils research the story of the Plot from the perspective
of different characters? They could build up a bank of different
viewpoints, including not only the plotters' stories but the
intended victims' feelings too.
Records and reportage
How were records kept in 1605? How does that differ from
Parliament records and media reports today? Look at issues
of political and personal bias and opinion and/or the issues
surrounding archiving.
Artwork
The site contains portraits, plans, maps, cartoons and more,
which would all make an interesting basis for art projects.
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