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Teachers' notes for 'What was it like to fight a fire during WWII?'
These suggested activities were developed by Susan Billington and her pupils at Inglehurst Junior School in Leicester. They are designed to support the teaching and learning of History and Citizenship at Key Stage 2. As well as literacy skills, they are intended to develop:
- chronological understanding
- historical enquiry
- organisation and communication
- empathy
At the end of the activity most children will will be able to organise information onto the form of a newspaper report. Some children will be able to sequence the events of the fire in a story board, while others will be able to talk about the feelings of the people concerned.
Clicking on the links in each activity below will take you directly to the film clips on the MACE website.
Activity 1
Watch the clip as a class by clicking here. Pause the film at regular intervals, and ask students to create a senses mind map of the fire. Ask them to consider what they might:
- see
- smell
- hear
- touch
- taste
Students can create their own mind maps or you may wish to use the Senses mind map (82 kb) ![[doc]](http://emmlac-live.torchboxapps.com/display_images/document_icons/doc.gif){kind=icon}
provided.
Activity 2
Use the information from the senses mind map to create either a
- story board of the events of the fire, including captions describing the action
- newspaper report of the fire using the conventions of headline, orientation, main body and reorientation
A Storyboard (23 kb) template is available here. Older or more able students may wish to use the original newspaper report of the fire to help with their work.
Activity 3
Watch the film again by clicking here. As a whole class or in smaller groups, ask students to consider:
- how different people might have felt about the fire (workers, fire fighters, factory owners, families of those who died)
- what dramatic events have they witnessed in their own lives
- what people help keep them safe today (parents, carers, volunteers, teachers, fire service etc)
