Buildings with a Story: Local LandmarksActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning brings historical inquiry to life by linking abstract ideas to concrete experiences. For this topic, children need to see, touch, and discuss the buildings around them to grasp their significance. Hands-on tasks like walking, photographing, and modeling make history immediate and memorable for Year 2 students.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify at least three significant landmarks in their local area, naming each.
- 2Explain the original purpose of a chosen local landmark using evidence from images or descriptions.
- 3Compare historical photographs of a local landmark with its current appearance, noting changes.
- 4Articulate one reason why it is important to preserve historical buildings in their community.
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Local Walk: Landmark Hunt
Plan a short school walk to 2-3 landmarks. Provide clipboards and checklists for students to sketch features, note uses, and ask 'What was it built for?'. Follow up with class sharing of drawings.
Prepare & details
What is a landmark and can you name one in your local area?
Facilitation Tip: During the Local Walk: Landmark Hunt, assign small groups a specific area to cover so every child has a role in spotting and recording landmarks.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Photo Comparison: Then and Now
Gather old and new photos of local landmarks. In pairs, students sort images by date, discuss changes, and draw one change they notice. Share findings on a class timeline.
Prepare & details
What was an old building in your town or village originally built for?
Facilitation Tip: For Photo Comparison: Then and Now, provide a side-by-side sheet with sentence starters to guide students’ written observations.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Story Circle: Oral Histories
Invite a local resident or use pre-recorded talks. Students prepare 3 questions in advance, listen in a circle, then retell the story in drawings or sentences.
Prepare & details
Why do you think it is important to look after old buildings?
Facilitation Tip: In Story Circle: Oral Histories, model asking follow-up questions like 'What did the building sound like?' to deepen responses.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Model Makers: Mini Landmarks
Provide recycled materials for students to build a model of a local landmark. Label original purpose and one change over time. Display models with class descriptions.
Prepare & details
What is a landmark and can you name one in your local area?
Facilitation Tip: While making Model Makers: Mini Landmarks, circulate with a checklist of features to include, such as doors, windows, and any special details.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Teaching This Topic
Teachers approach this topic by centering student curiosity and local knowledge. Avoid overwhelming children with dates; instead, focus on stories and functions that resonate with their daily lives. Research shows that when students identify personally with a topic, their retention and empathy improve. Use open-ended questions to scaffold thinking without leading answers. Limit whole-class input to brief, clear instructions followed by active tasks.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students confidently naming local landmarks, describing their original uses, and explaining why preservation matters. They should ask questions, compare changes over time, and show pride in their community’s heritage. Group discussions and shared work reveal growing understanding.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Local Walk: Landmark Hunt, watch for students assuming only grand buildings count as landmarks.
What to Teach Instead
Use the walk to highlight everyday places like libraries or post offices, and ask students to explain why each building matters to their community.
Common MisconceptionDuring Photo Comparison: Then and Now, watch for students thinking old photos show the building exactly as it was first built.
What to Teach Instead
Have students trace over photos with tracing paper to mark additions or repairs, then discuss what these changes reveal about the building’s history.
Common MisconceptionDuring Story Circle: Oral Histories, watch for students viewing landmarks as irrelevant to their own lives.
What to Teach Instead
Prompt students to share personal connections like 'My grandma went to this school' or 'My mum works in this shop,' then map these links on a class chart to show shared heritage.
Assessment Ideas
After Local Walk: Landmark Hunt, give each student a postcard. On one side, they draw a local landmark. On the other, they write its name, original use, and one sentence explaining why it is important to keep it.
After Photo Comparison: Then and Now, show two images of the same landmark. Ask: 'What differences do you notice between the old and new pictures? What do these changes tell us about the building’s history?' Listen for evidence of change over time.
During Local Walk: Landmark Hunt or after Photo Comparison: Then and Now, ask students to hold up fingers to show how many purposes a building might have had. Follow up by asking: 'How do we know what it was used for?' Collect examples of evidence like signs or building features.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge early finishers to design a tourist leaflet for their landmark, including a map and three reasons to visit.
- Scaffolding for struggling students: provide a word bank with terms like 'factory,' 'school,' or 'church' to support labeling during the walk.
- Deeper exploration: invite a local historian or preservation officer to speak with the class about how decisions are made to keep or change buildings.
Key Vocabulary
| Landmark | A recognizable natural or man-made feature used as a point of reference. In history, it is often a building or monument with historical significance. |
| Chronology | The arrangement of events or dates in the order in which they happened. This helps us understand the sequence of changes to a building over time. |
| Preservation | The act of protecting and maintaining historical buildings or sites so they can be enjoyed by future generations. |
| Purpose | The reason for which something exists or was made. For buildings, this means what it was used for when it was first built. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for History
5E Model
The 5E Model structures lessons through five phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), guiding students from curiosity to deep understanding through inquiry-based learning.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
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