History · Year 3

Active learning ideas

Local Landmarks Through Time

Active learning works for this topic because children need to see and touch the past to understand how it shapes the present. Moving beyond textbooks to real sites and images makes abstract changes over time visible and memorable.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS2: History - Local History Study
• KS2: History - Historical change over time

• 30–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 60 min · Small Groups

Site Visit: Landmark Hunt

Plan a walk to a local landmark. Provide clipboards for students to sketch current features, note uses, and interview passers-by about changes. Follow with a class debrief to share findings and link to pre-visit photos.

Identify the oldest building or landmark in our area and explain its original purpose.

Facilitation Tip

During the Site Visit, assign small groups a landmark to document with photos, sketches, or notes to ensure everyone contributes.

What to look for

Provide students with a picture of a local landmark. Ask them to write: 1) One thing they notice about the building's appearance. 2) One question they have about its history.

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

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 30 min · Pairs

Photo Match: Then and Now

Print paired old and new images of the high street. In pairs, students spot differences like vanished shops or new roads, then annotate changes on overlays. Discuss reasons for alterations as a class.

Compare historical images of our local high street or centre with its present appearance.

Facilitation Tip

For Photo Match, provide clear printed pairs of images and ask students to circle three differences before sharing with partners.

What to look for

Display two images of the same local street, one historical and one modern. Ask: 'What are the biggest differences you see between these two pictures? What do these changes tell us about how people lived here in the past?'

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

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 45 min · Small Groups

Timeline Build: Site Story

Supply cards with dates, events, and images for a landmark. Groups sequence them on a large mural timeline, adding drawings of changes. Present timelines to justify preservation needs.

Justify the importance of preserving local heritage sites for future generations.

Facilitation Tip

When building the Timeline, use large strips of paper on a wall so students can physically place events and discuss their sequence together.

What to look for

Ask students to hold up fingers to indicate how many different purposes they think a specific old building (e.g., a former mill) might have had throughout its history. Follow up by asking one student to explain their choice.

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

Activity 04

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Whole Class

Heritage Role-Play: Past Voices

Assign roles as past residents or builders. Students script and perform short scenes about the landmark's original purpose, then debate modern preservation. Record for a class heritage display.

Identify the oldest building or landmark in our area and explain its original purpose.

Facilitation Tip

In Heritage Role-Play, assign roles based on real historical figures connected to the landmark to ground the activity in authentic voices.

What to look for

Provide students with a picture of a local landmark. Ask them to write: 1) One thing they notice about the building's appearance. 2) One question they have about its history.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should emphasize direct observation first, then connect it to stories and documents. Avoid starting with abstract timelines or maps; let students experience the landmark’s space and scale. Research shows that tactile and visual experiences create stronger memory anchors than verbal explanations alone.

Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying key features of a landmark, explaining its historical purpose, and comparing past and present uses with evidence from their observations and discussions.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Site Visit, watch for students assuming only grand buildings have histories worth studying.

  Bring a checklist of everyday structures like shops, bridges, or houses to guide their attention to non-famous sites during the Landmark Hunt.

• During Photo Match, watch for students believing landmarks never change their purpose over time.

  Ask students to label each photograph with the landmark’s purpose in that era and compare notes to see how uses shift.

• During Heritage Role-Play, watch for students assuming preservation always blocks progress.

  Provide role cards that include both preservationist and developer perspectives and guide debates with pros and cons from the landmark’s history.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation