History · 3rd Class

Active learning ideas

Work and Daily Life in the Past

Let's step back in time! This topic invites your pupils to become local detectives, uncovering the secrets of daily life for people who walked their streets 100 years ago.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: History, 3rd/4th Class - Local Studies: My locality through the ages

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

Activity 01

• Mystery Object
• 45 min · Small Groups

Granny's Attic Investigation

Pupils work in small groups to examine a collection of mystery artefacts from the past (e.g., a flat iron, a butter churn, a fountain pen, old coins). They use a worksheet to record their observations, guess the object's purpose, and consider who might have used it.

Identify the main types of work people did in the locality in the past.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage pupils to use all their senses and start their sentences with 'I wonder...' to promote curiosity.

What to look for

Use a 'Think-Pair-Share' activity where pupils first think about a question (e.g., 'What was the hardest chore for a child in the past?'), then discuss with a partner before sharing with the class. Listen to their reasoning to gauge understanding.

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

Activity 02

• Mystery Object
• 30 min · Whole Class

A School Day: Then and Now

After learning about schools in the past, pupils create a large Venn diagram on the floor with two hoops. Using written cards, they sort features of school life into 'Then', 'Now', or 'Both'.

Compare a school day for a child in the past with your own school day.

Facilitation Tip

Have pupils physically walk to the hoops to place their cards to make the activity more kinaesthetic and engaging.

What to look for

Pupils create a 'Then and Now' booklet. Each page can compare an aspect of life, such as 'Homes', 'School', or 'Games', with a drawing and a few sentences for each.

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

Activity 03

• Mystery Object
• 60 min · Whole Class

Local Jobs Walking Tour

Take the class on a short, planned walk around the immediate locality. Stop at key locations to discuss what jobs might have happened there 100 years ago, for example, at a river for a mill, an old shop front for a grocer, or a particular field for farming.

Explain how changes in technology affected daily life and work in the area.

Facilitation Tip

Use old maps or photographs of the area on the walk to help pupils visualise the changes.

What to look for

At the end of the topic, pupils complete a 'Two Stars and a Wish' reflection: two things they learned or enjoyed (stars) and one question they still have (a wish).

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with the familiar by mapping a pupil's own day, then use this as a scaffold for comparison. Introduce historical sources like photographs and artefacts as 'clues' to be investigated. Encourage group work and discussion to allow pupils to build a shared understanding before they complete individual tasks.

Through exploring old photos, objects, and stories, your pupils will be able to vividly compare their own lives to those of children in the past and explain the big changes that have happened.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• Life in the past was boring because they had no internet or video games.

  While they didn't have the technology we have, children and adults had many ways to have fun. They played street games, played musical instruments, told stories, went to dances, and had strong community gatherings. Life was different, but full of its own kinds of entertainment.

• Everyone in the past was a farmer and lived in a thatched cottage.

  While farming was the most common job, many other jobs existed, especially in towns and cities. There were blacksmiths, cobblers, shopkeepers, teachers, and factory workers. Homes also varied, from cottages in the countryside to terraced houses in towns.

• Things from the past were just 'old' and not as good as things today.

  Objects from the past were well-designed for the jobs they had to do. Many items were made by hand from strong materials like wood and iron and were built to last a very long time, unlike some modern things which can break easily.

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Methods used in this brief

• Mystery Object