Samuel Pepys: A Witness's Diary

Active learning helps Year 2 students connect with Samuel Pepys' diary because the events happened long ago, making them feel distant. By handling replica pages, role-playing readings, and sequencing events, children experience the diary as a real person’s record rather than just a story.

• Year 2
• History
• 4 activities
• 25 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Identify key events Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary during the Great Fire of London.
2. Explain why Samuel Pepys' diary is considered a primary source for understanding the Great Fire.
3. Compare the personal perspective in Pepys' diary with potential official accounts of the fire.
4. Analyze how Pepys' descriptions convey the emotional impact of the fire on Londoners.

Stations Rotation

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Diary Excerpt Stations

Prepare four stations with simplified Pepys excerpts: sights from the river, burying possessions, sounds of panic, and helping neighbours. Groups read, draw key details, and note emotions at each. Rotate every 10 minutes and share one finding per station.

Prepare & details

Who was Samuel Pepys and how do we know what he saw during the fire?

Facilitation Tip: For Diary Excerpt Stations, place magnifying glasses at each station so children can closely examine replica pages and practice decoding old handwriting together.

Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room

Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer

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

Role Play

⏱ 25 min·Pairs

Pairs: Role-Play Diary Readings

Pair students to read excerpts aloud, with one as Pepys expressing feelings and the other as a listener asking questions. Switch roles after each entry. Conclude with pairs sharing most surprising detail.

Prepare & details

What did Samuel Pepys write about in his diary during the Great Fire?

Facilitation Tip: During Role-Play Diary Readings, assign pairs different excerpts so they can focus on tone and emotion, then switch to hear how perspectives change.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Role Play

⏱ 35 min·Whole Class

Whole Class: Build a Fire Timeline

Project Pepys' dated entries. Class adds quotes and drawings to a large timeline. Discuss sequence and Pepys' changing mood over days.

Prepare & details

Why is it helpful to read what a real person wrote about a historical event?

Facilitation Tip: For the Build a Fire Timeline, give each student one event card to sequence on a long strip of paper so everyone contributes to the final timeline.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Role Play

⏱ 30 min·Individual

Individual: My Witness Diary

Students write and illustrate one diary entry imagining they are Pepys on a fire day, using class glossary of his words. Share in circle time.

Prepare & details

Who was Samuel Pepys and how do we know what he saw during the fire?

Facilitation Tip: In the My Witness Diary activity, provide lined paper with a date stamp so students practice writing in Pepys’ style with clear dates and personal details.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Start with short, vivid excerpts to hook students’ emotions, then layer in historical context through simple comparisons like how fires spread today. Avoid over-explaining; let students puzzle out Pepys’ language in pairs first. Research shows that children retain more when they connect personal stories to big events through active tasks like sequencing or role-play.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying Pepys as a real person who wrote daily accounts, explaining key details from his diary, and recognizing why eyewitness accounts matter. They should use evidence from the diary to describe the fire’s duration and impact.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Diary Excerpt Stations, watch for students who dismiss Pepys’ writing as fiction because it feels old-fashioned.

What to Teach Instead

Reinforce that Pepys wrote daily facts by having students highlight dates and actions on their replica pages, then share one factual detail they noticed with the class.

Common Misconception

During Build a Fire Timeline, watch for students who think the fire ended in one day.

What to Teach Instead

Point to Pepys’ multi-day entries on the timeline and ask students to count how many days it lasted, using the dates as evidence.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After Diary Excerpt Stations, provide three short statements about the Great Fire: one from Pepys’ diary, one from a textbook, and one made-up statement. Ask students to circle the diary statement and underline the personal detail or emotion that helped them decide.

Discussion Prompt

During Role-Play Diary Readings, pause after each pair shares and ask: ‘What feelings did Pepys describe that an official report might not include?’ Guide students to notice emotions like fear or relief in their classmates’ readings.

Exit Ticket

After My Witness Diary, collect slips where students write one thing Pepys saw or did during the fire and one sentence explaining why his words help us understand the event. Use these to check their grasp of eyewitness importance.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to write a second diary entry as if they were Pepys on a different day during the fire, using at least two emotions he described.
• For students who struggle, provide sentence starters like "On [date], Pepys saw..." and word banks such as "flames, smoke, panic, Thames."
• Deeper exploration: Ask students to research how London rebuilt after the fire and compare it to modern city planning, using a Venn diagram.

Key Vocabulary

Diary	A personal record of daily events and thoughts, kept by an individual. Samuel Pepys kept a detailed diary for many years.
Primary Source	An original document or object created at the time of an event. Pepys' diary is a primary source for the Great Fire of London.
Eyewitness Account	A report of an event given by someone who saw it happen. Pepys' diary entries are eyewitness accounts of the fire.
Historical Interpretation	The way historians explain or understand past events, often based on evidence from sources. Different interpretations can arise from different sources, like Pepys' diary.