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

Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Section 4: What was it like to be an evacuee?

Objectives

Children should learn:

to find out about the experiences and feelings of evacuees, from a wide range of information sources
to communicate their learning in an organised and structured way, using appropriate terminology

Activities

Outcomes

Children:

With the children's help, produce a list of questions about evacuees. Ask the children to answer the questions using selected sources, eg photographs, extracts from novels, oral accounts, letters, memoirs.

Ask the children to imagine they are evacuees and to write a letter home or diary extracts. Ask them to consider why they might want to be evacuated and why not, what is happening to them and how they feel about it. Encourage the children to use their knowledge of evacuation and appropriate terms, eg billeting officer, host family, evacuation, evacuee.

describe some likely feelings and experiences of an evacuee
use words associated with evacuation accurately and appropriately

Points to note

The Imperial War Museum has a range of information on evacuation.

Children could read/listen to extracts of novels/stories about evacuation to provide a context for this activity. They could be taught to identify key sentences and phrases which convey information as part of their research, eg by examining closely the opening sentence of each paragraph in a text. Use the experiences of the evacuees to establish a distinction between fact and opinion.

This activity provides an opportunity to liaise with a class at key stage 3 who are also studying WWII. For example, key stage 2 children could write as evacuees to key stage 3 children who respond as parents.

The task could be adapted by asking the children to write postcards or labels.

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?