History · Year 2

Active learning ideas

Communication and Technology

How did people share exciting news or send a birthday wish before you could just tap a message on a phone? This topic journeys back in time to discover the world of handwritten letters, dial-up telephones, and special family nights around a black and white television.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• National Curriculum in England: History Programmes of Study: Key Stage 1

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Mystery Object
• 45 min · Individual

Classroom Post Office

Set up a classroom postbox. Pupils write short letters or draw pictures for their friends, address an envelope, and post it. Designated 'posties' can then deliver the mail at the end of the day or week.

Identify two ways people communicated over long distances in the past.

Facilitation Tip

Provide templates for letters and envelopes to help structure the pupils' writing.

What to look for

Use a 'think, pair, share' activity where pupils discuss the pros and cons of sending a letter versus an email. Listen to their reasoning to gauge understanding.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Mystery Object
• 30 min · Small Groups

Communication Technology Timeline

Using picture cards of different communication devices (e.g., telegram, rotary phone, black and white TV, computer, smartphone), pupils work in small groups to place them in chronological order. They should discuss their reasoning for the order they choose.

Explain how watching television has changed since it was first invented.

Facilitation Tip

Before they start, hold up a picture of a smartphone and a letter to establish the concepts of 'new' and 'old'.

What to look for

Pupils complete a 'then and now' worksheet, drawing a picture of a family watching TV in the past and a family watching TV now, adding labels to highlight the differences.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Mystery Object
• 25 min · Whole Class

The Television Experience

Watch a short clip of a children's programme from the 1950s or 1960s in black and white. Afterwards, lead a whole-class discussion comparing the experience to watching television today, focusing on colour, screen size, and the number of channels.

Compare sending a text message today with writing and posting a letter in the past.

Facilitation Tip

Ask pupils to imagine their whole family sitting together to watch, as it was often a special, shared event.

What to look for

Provide pupils with a simple checklist with 'I can' statements, such as 'I can name an old type of telephone' or 'I can explain one way TV was different', for them to tick.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Begin with objects pupils can touch and explore, like an old camera or a rotary phone, to spark their curiosity. Use stories and role-play to help them imagine waiting for the postman or the excitement of a new TV programme starting. A large, visual timeline in the classroom is an excellent tool to help pupils track the changes and place inventions in order.

By the end of this topic, pupils will be able to describe different ways people communicated in the past and compare them to the technology we use every day.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• People in the past had no way to talk to someone far away instantly.

  While not as fast as today, the telegraph (invented in the 1830s) could send short, written messages called telegrams very quickly over long distances using wires. Telephones also allowed instant conversation long before mobiles existed.

• Black and white television was just a broken colour television.

  The technology to show pictures in colour hadn't been invented or was not widely available for televisions yet. Black and white was the only way to watch TV for many years.

• Everyone had a telephone in their house as soon as they were invented.

  Telephones were very expensive at first and not many people had one at home. Many families had to use a public red telephone box to make a call.

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Methods used in this brief

• Mystery Object