1066 - A Big Story for Little Historians: Teacher's Book

Teaching the Norman Conquest through story

History grips children when it arrives as a story. Fact-minded readers enjoy the true events, and story lovers enjoy the familiar form. Both link verbal and visual imagination.

The Big Stories for Little Historians series tells history simply, with larger-than-life illustrations. One example shows William landing at Pevensey Bay, a key moment in the Norman Conquest of England.

The 1066 book: a turning-point year in English history

The 1066 book shows a different time, almost a different world, even though the story is set in England. It covers a turning-point year in English history in terms young readers can follow. Saxons, Normans and the Viking army battle for England's future: shared reading turns it into a class discussion about which side to take.

Readers meet the soldiers, the rival kings and the different ways of life. The English throne was contested after Edward the Confessor, the Anglo-Saxon king, died. The rivals were Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada and William of Normandy. William claimed Edward had promised him the crown years earlier. For more details on the picture book see here. Discounted classroom sets are available on this page and on the linked page.

The 1066 teacher book for KS1 and KS2

Tarquin also publishes a teacher book. It uses the 1066 book's narrative approach to make the topic as exciting as possible. The teacher book:

• is structured in 6 mini topics
• has worksheets and activities for KS1 and KS2
• provides extensive cross-curricular links that embed the topics in school life

The price includes the paper book and an ebook version, so printing is easy. You can print worksheets for a whole class straight from the ebook.

Contents of each mini topic

Each mini topic contains Teacher Expert Knowledge and Suggested History Activities. It also has worksheets for history, spelling and other cross-curricular links, for KS1 and KS2.

• Mini Topic 1, Living in Anglo-Saxon England: 6 worksheets plus 4 cross-curricular maths resources
• Mini Topic 2, The Contenders: 7 worksheets plus 4 cross-curricular RSE resources
• Mini Topic 3, Comet and Battle: 6 worksheets plus 4 cross-curricular science resources
• Mini Topic 4, Stamford Bridge: 6 worksheets plus 4 cross-curricular geography resources, for the battle in which Harald Hardrada fell
• Mini Topic 5, The Battle of Hastings: history activity resources for reenactment
• Mini Topic 6, After the Battle: 6 worksheets plus 2 cross-curricular creative resources for any age

The book also lists places and websites to visit, and video resources for teachers. In practice, the reenactment in Mini Topic 5 works well after reading aloud. Picture your class staging the moment William's Norman knights charge Harold's shield wall at Hastings.