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

Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Section 8: What it was like to be a child living in this area in World War II?

Objectives

Children should learn:

where and how the local area was affected by WWII
how to find out about the war in their locality from the recollections of someone who lived through it

Activities

Outcomes

Children:

Recap, through question and answer, what the children have learned so far about the war's impact on people of the time.

Help the children to devise a list of questions they would ask someone who was a child in the area during the war, eg Where did you live? What did you eat? Did you experience bombing or evacuation? How much did you know about what was happening in the war? How did you find out?

Arrange for someone who was a child during the war to visit the class. Encourage the children to ask the questions on the list. Record the interview. Replay the tape and discuss with the children what they have learned about the history of their area during the war. Help them to identify on a map, local places mentioned by the visitor. Mark the map with a description of what happened there during the war years.

suggest appropriate questions to ask about the war in the locality
record information about the war in the locality

Points to note

If there is no one with the relevant experience available to talk to the children, local history pamphlets could be used. These often contain first-hand memories of childhood in the war.

Before the visit, a display could be set up showing what the children have learnt so far about the war. This could act as a stimulus for the interview, eg Does the visitor recognise or remember some of the things?

Sections in this unit

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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?