What are we remembering on Remembrance Day?

Download these KS1 Remembrance Day lessons to teach your class about what Remembrance Day is, why people wear poppies and who we are remembering on Remembrance Day. This thoughtful set of age-appropriate lessons will give your Year 2 class a brief overview of World War 1, the armistice and the first Remembrance Day, as well as exploring ways we remember and commemorate fallen soldiers today

Each of the five lessons in this KS1 Remembrance Day planning pack comes with an easy-to-follow lesson plan, a slideshow for the whole-class teaching input, differentiated activity ideas, and a range of printable resources, including worksheets, picture cards, information cards, and much more. It's all completely planned and ready to teach, so you can deliver these thoughtful and important lessons without having to spend hours researching and planning yourself.

A Knowledge Organiser is available to support the learning in this scheme. It is included in the Complete Series download or can be purchased individually.

Remembering Events

The first lesson in this series begins by thinking about events we remember and celebrate every year, from Christmas to Valentine's Day, and introduces Remembrance Day as an event we remember in November and commemorate with poppies.

WWI and the Armistice

This lesson teaches your class a little about World War I and how it affected people all around the world before looking at the armistice and subsequent celebrations. It also challenges your class to think about the mixed emotions people would have felt at the end of the war and learn why the poppy has become the symbol of Remembrance Day.

War Memorials

This thought-provoking lesson takes a look at war memorials and challenges your class to consider the names of those listed on such memorials. They can investigate some war memorials for themselves either through photos, the internet or visiting a local war memorial.

Services and Silences

This lesson explores what happens at the National Service of Memorial in Whitehall, London on the second Sunday of November, including laying wreaths at the cenotaph, the parades of veterans and current service men and women, and listening to the 'Last Post' before a two-minute silence. It then compares this to what happens in their local area on Remembrance Sunday. The lesson also teaches your class a little about the work of the British Legion through the poppy appeal.

Why Remember?

The final lesson in this series encourages your children to think about why it is important to remember events such as WWI and WWII, even though they happened a long time ago. It explains that Remembrance Day is something that is commemorated around the world, as well as nationally and locally.

This Year 2 History Knowledge Organiser has been created to complement our History 'Changes in Living Memory' strand. It is designed to support your children’s understanding of key vocabulary linked to this scheme of work. Enquiry questions have been included to encourage your children to think like a historian within this topic.