Essential Primary History

This book is an essential handbook on teaching primary history, combining subject knowledge with practical teaching ideas to ensure your teaching of history is both imaginative and creative.  Emphasizing the importance of history and its wider skillset, the book explores the concepts and skills that are the fundamental building blocks of history teaching such as:

• Chronological understanding

• Concepts and skills

• Interpretation and evidence

Each chapter offers a structured approach and provides a range of activities that both address specific elements of the history curriculum and help develop this wider skillset.  It includes practical ideas for lessons through an essential toolkit of ideas, teaching strategies and activities, with each activity designed to focus on a key skill or attribute associated with teaching primary history.  The practical insights accompanied by a grounded rationale for each aspect of history will help you learn the best methods for approaching the teaching of history in the primary school, as well as plan and deliver effective history lessons.

This book is ideal if you are training to teach as it will help you with your assignments and your teaching placements.  It is also recommended if you are a more experienced practitioner or history coordinator and want to provide the very best experiences in primary history to children in your school.

“An essential and inspirational guidebook for the successful teaching of history within the primary classroom! If you are in any way involved with the teaching of history, you owe it to yourself to read this book.  A ‘must have’ for all history coordinators and teachers within the primary sector, from trainees to the experienced, who wish to raise the profile of history within their school. Closely tied to the new primary curriculum, it is enriched with excellent ideas to make history in the classroom a fun and memorable experience.”

Julia Wilson, Primary Teacher, Hensingham Primary School, UK

“This book is easy to read and will enable all teachers (whatever their stage of career development) to become even better at teaching History. The chapter about the history of the curriculum is particularly interesting because it helps us all to understand what has influenced curriculums and pedagogies over time, whereas the Planning, Assessment and Toolkit chapters are useful on a more practical level. What is particularly ideal for trainee teachers is the Theory into Practice chapter that blends the pedagogy of History with learning theory. I will certainly be recommending this text to all my student teachers.”

Maggie Webster, Senior Lecturer and RE Subject Coordinator, Edge Hill University, UK

“Chris Russell has provided a gem of a guide with lots of practical advice for the student and practising teacher of history in the primary classroom, as well as a good book to read in its own right."

Marian Hodgson, Head Teacher, St Philips CE Primary School, Litherland, UK