History · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Queen Elizabeth II: A Modern Monarch

Active learning builds lasting understanding of Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign by turning abstract timelines and ceremonies into tangible, hands-on experiences. Year 1 students connect with history through movement, objects, and family stories, making her seven-decade role feel immediate and relevant to their own lives.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Significant individuals
• KS1: History - Changes within living memory

• 25–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 35 min · Small Groups

Timeline Build: Royal Milestones

Provide printed images of key events like coronation and jubilees. In small groups, children sequence them on a long paper timeline, add sticky notes with dates and drawings, then share with the class. Extend by adding family memories.

What do you think a monarch's job is?

Facilitation Tip

During the Timeline Build activity, provide pre-printed images and years on separate cards so children physically order them to internalize chronology.

What to look for

Show students three different photographs of Queen Elizabeth II from various decades. Ask them to point to the picture that shows her when she was younger and one that shows her when she was older, explaining one difference they notice.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 30 min · Whole Class

Role-Play: Coronation Day

Assign roles as Queen, guards, and crowd. Practice simple script of crowning with a paper crown. Perform for the class, discuss feelings and duties. Record on video for playback.

What do you notice about the important things that happened during Queen Elizabeth II's reign?

Facilitation Tip

For the Role-Play: Coronation Day, assign clear roles like ‘queen,’ ‘bishop,’ and ‘crowd’ to structure the scene and keep it purposeful.

What to look for

Ask students: 'If you were the monarch, what is one important job you would do to help people?' Encourage them to think about Queen Elizabeth II's public appearances and duties discussed in class.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 25 min · Pairs

Sorting Events: Then and Now

Give cards with events from her reign and modern equivalents, like black-and-white TV vs smartphones. Pairs sort into 'Queen's time' and 'today', explain choices. Create a display board.

Why do you think Queen Elizabeth II is remembered as an important person?

Facilitation Tip

When Sorting Events: Then and Now, use large mats labelled ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ so children can visually group cards and discuss differences together.

What to look for

Provide students with a card showing a picture of a crown. Ask them to draw one thing Queen Elizabeth II did as monarch and write one word to describe her reign.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Individual

Family Interview: Living Memory

Children prepare 3 questions about the Queen's reign for family. Share answers in circle time, draw pictures of responses. Compile into a class book.

What do you think a monarch's job is?

Facilitation Tip

In the Family Interview activity, model three question starters on the board to guide timid speakers and keep conversations flowing.

What to look for

Show students three different photographs of Queen Elizabeth II from various decades. Ask them to point to the picture that shows her when she was younger and one that shows her when she was older, explaining one difference they notice.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by starting with what children already know, such as family celebrations or crowns they’ve seen in stories. Use concrete objects like toy crowns or printed photos to anchor abstract concepts like ‘monarch’ and ‘jubilee.’ Keep language simple and visual, pairing spoken words with gestures or images to support dual coding. Avoid overloading with dates; focus on sequencing and change instead.

Successful learning looks like students sequencing events in order, acting out roles with confidence, discussing changes over time using personal examples, and sharing family stories with pride. They should show curiosity about her public duties and explain at least one way Britain changed during her time.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Role-Play: Coronation Day activity, watch for students who describe the Queen as making all the laws herself.

  Turn their attention to the voting process you model during the role-play, where the class votes on a new class rule together and the teacher (as monarch) signs it afterward.

• During the Sorting Events: Then and Now activity, watch for students who say nothing changed during her reign.

  Guide them to compare pairs of cards, such as a 1950s radio next to a smartphone image, and ask what each object tells us about daily life then and now.

• During the Timeline Build: Royal Milestones activity, watch for students who place her birth year as the year she became Queen.

  Have them first sequence their own family events on a blank strip, noticing that birth comes before adulthood, then apply that pattern to her life events.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation