Standards Site

 
 
Your path:  Standards Site Home > Schemes of work > History at key stages 1 and 2 > What was it like for children in the Second World War? > What was the Blitz?
Schemes of Work
Schemes home Planning Adapting units Combining units     Schemes help QCA
About this unit
Prior learning
Where this unit fits in
Expectations
Adapting the unit
Resources
Vocabulary
All objectives
All activities
All outcomes
Print/download the unit

History at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 3/4)

Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Section 2: What was the Blitz?

QCA

Objectives
Children should learn:
  • the characteristic features of the Blitz and what type of area was most likely to be affected
  • to locate where bombing raids took place

Activities

Outcomes
Children:

Use selected sources, eg photographs, a gas mask, to tell the children about the mass bombing of cities. Discuss why Germany and Britain decided to bomb cities. Use maps, eg of London or Liverpool, or children's knowledge, to establish the main targets. Discuss what could be done to stop the bombers, eg anti-aircraft fire, blackout.

  • suggest reasons why some areas of a city were more likely to be bombed than others
  • suggest how the bombing could be stopped

Points to note
Explain that 'Blitz' comes from the German word 'blitzkrieg', which means 'lightning war'.

It may be possible to show children local evidence of bomb damage, eg damaged buildings, derelict land, prefab housing.

In their work on reading children could read some fictional accounts of bombing raids and compare them with eyewitness accounts. The reading of an extended text set in the period would help the class to explore the effects of war upon fictional characters.

Sections in this unit

 << previous section next section >>
This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
2. What was the Blitz?
3. Why were children evacuated?
4. What was it like to be an evacuee?
5. What did people eat during the war?
6. In what other ways might the war have affected people?
7. What were children's experiences of the war?
8. What it was like to be a child living in this area in World War II?
9. How did the Second World War affect children who lived in this locality?
10. What has been done since to prevent another world war?