Department: History  Homework Enrichment Tasks

Year 7

Research

  • To help consolidate your knowledge on our first topic Invaders and Invasions, look into a famous Anglo-Saxon excavation site called Sutton Hoo. What can we learn about life in Anglo-Saxon England from the site? Use this link to help you: The Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo | British Museum
  • To help consolidate your knowledge on the Battle of Hastings look into the famous Bayeux Tapestry (Normandy, France). What features/events does it contain? What can we learn about the Battle by looking at the Tapestry? What is the Bayeux Tapesrty about – The story of the Tapestry (bayeuxmuseum.com)
  • To help consolidate your knowledge on the Medieval Church. Look into what Medieval Churches are still standing and what features do they show? How is the Church important today as well as back then?

Watch

Do

  • Go to a local Medieval castle (for example Portchester Castle). Which key symbols and features can you find? Are there any that you don’t recognise? Find out about them or come back into school and ask your teacher!
  • Go to other local sites in the area such as the Historic Dockyard. The Tudors will be an important part of the end of Y7 History learning. The Mary Rose Museum is full of interesting & important knowledge about this time period.
  • Create a Kahoot quiz on a topic you have studied in class. Ask your teacher if this could be played as a starter or plenary in one of your lessons.
  • Revise the spellings and definitions key terms on the unit knowledge organisers such as:

Monarchy, Chronology, Provenance, Sources, Reformation, Dissolution of the Monasteries

Year 8

Research:

  • What happened to the ‘Princes in the Tower’ – find out who they were, why they went missing in 1483 and who the likely culprit was. Use this link to help you: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-princes-in-the-tower/
  • The Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship. Why was she built, how did she sink, what happened on that fateful day in 1545? The Mary Rose exhibition in Southsea is fantastic, but lots can be found out for free using online websites, for example: Why did the Mary Rose sink? | The Mary Rose
  • The siege of Portsmouth that took place early in the English Civil War in 1642. What happened, which side won and who was involved? You can go down to Southsea and take pictures of the fortifications.
  • The impact of the Industrial Revolution on Portsmouth and the local area. Charles Dickens, one of the greatest Victorian novelists, was born in Portsmouth and many of his stories draw on his early experiences of life in the port. Speak to your Geography teacher and find out how Portsmouth grew in the 1800s using old maps.

Watch

There are many films, documentaries and Youtube videos that will support your academic learning in Year 8. Horrible Histories is always fun and informative: BBC iPlayer – Horrible Histories

Do

  • Read historical novels set in the time period you are studying. For example, in the industrial Victorian period which we study, the Enola Holmes novels are brilliant as well as The Agency novels by Y.S Lee.
  • Visit a historical site nearby – focus on Tudor and Victorian places such as Longleat House, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight or a walk around Old Portsmouth.
  • Create a Kahoot quiz on a topic you have studied in class. Ask your teacher if this could be played as a starter or plenary in one of your lessons.
  • Revise the spellings and definitions key terms on the unit knowledge organisers such as:

Reformation (religious) / Babbington Plot / Cipher / Civil War / Revolution / Regicide / Empire / Luddites / Urbanisation / Poor House / Abolition of Slavery

Year 9

Research

  • Who were the key figures involved in WW1 and what happened to them after the war ended.
  • One of the Suffragettes and Suffragists and find out how they were treated before and after winning the right to vote.
  • How Hitler convinced Germany to give him power in the 1930sand become the ‘Chancellor’ (equivalent of the role of the Prime Minister in our country).
  • What was America’s relationship with the world before 1914 – how had America grown in the 1800s and why were they reluctant to enter the First World War until 1917.
  • Who were the American Presidents of the Twentieth Century and what were their main achievements – the story of John F Kennedy, America’s first Catholic president, is fascinating and of course you can investigate the various theories that surround his assassination in Dallas in 1963.
  • Your own heritage – where are you from? Create a family tree with relatives that explores and records the stories of your ancestors.

Watch

How World War I Started: Crash Course World History 209 – YouTube

Battles of The First World War: Top 10 Most Important – YouTube

Suffragette (film, 2015) Available on Disney+ or to rent from Amazon Prime

Suffragettes – Stories from Parliament (Part 1 of 2) – YouTube

Suffragettes – Stories from Parliament (Part 2 of 2) – YouTube

What If the Allies Captured Hitler Alive During WW2 – YouTube

WW2 – OverSimplified (Part 1) – YouTube

WW2 – OverSimplified (Part 2) – YouTube

Surviving the Holocaust: Full Show – YouTube

Holocaust survivor interview, 2017 – YouTube

Do:

  • Make a poster for one of the topics above containing ‘random information no one knows… but should!’
  • Make a timeline of the Twentieth Century – the bigger the better!
  • Create a Kahoot/Booklet quiz on a topic you have studied in class. Ask your teacher if this could be played as a starter or plenary in one of your lessons.
  • Revise the spellings and definitions of the following key terms:

Triple Entente, Triple Alliance, Détente, Holocaust, Shoah, Liberation, Kristallnacht, Beer Hall Putsch, Stock Market, Republican, Democrat, USSR, Communism, Capitalism.