KS1 History Lesson Plan: Ancient Greece – Life, Achievements and Influence

1. Lesson Overview
- Year group: KS1 (Year 1/2)
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Topic: Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world
- Focus: Everyday life in Ancient Greece and simple ways it still affects us today

2. Learning Objectives
By the end of the lesson, pupils will:
- Know that Ancient Greece was a civilisation from a long time ago.
- Identify simple features of life in Ancient Greece (homes, clothes, food, stories, Olympics).
- Use simple time words (past, long ago, then, now, before, after).
- Ask and answer simple questions about the past using pictures and stories.
- Recognise one or two ways Ancient Greece still influences us today (e.g. Olympics, stories, buildings).

3. Key Vocabulary
past, long ago, Ancient Greece, Greece, city, temple, Olympics, games, myth, hero, story, theatre, columns

4. Resources Needed
- World map showing where Greece is
- Pictures of Ancient Greek life (homes, clothes, temples, theatres, Olympic games)
- Simple story or myth (e.g. a short, child-friendly Greek myth)
- Picture cards for sorting (Ancient Greece vs today)
- Large class timeline (with “long ago” and “today”)
- Paper plates or card circles for “Olympic medals”, crayons, pencils

5. Starter Activity (10 minutes)
- Show a picture of modern Greece and a picture of Ancient Greek buildings (e.g. a temple with columns).
- Ask: “What do you notice? What might be the same? What might be different?”
- Show Greece on the map and explain that we are learning about people who lived there a long time ago.

6. Main Teaching Input (10–15 minutes)
- Tell a short, simple story about life in Ancient Greece (homes, clothes, food, games).
- Share a very short, child-friendly Greek myth or hero story.
- Show pictures of the first Olympic games and explain that we still have the Olympics today.
- Place “Ancient Greece” on the class timeline as “long ago” and “today” at the other end.

7. Pupil Activities (25–30 minutes)
Activity 1: Then and Now Sorting
- In pairs, children sort picture cards into “Ancient Greece” and “Today”.
- They explain their choices using time words (e.g. “Long ago they wore…” “Now we wear…”).

Activity 2: Our Own Olympic Medal
- Children design and decorate a paper “Olympic medal” or badge.
- On the back, they draw or write one thing they learned about the Ancient Greek Olympics.

Challenge
- Higher-attaining pupils write one or two simple sentences about how Ancient Greece still affects us (e.g. “In the past the Greeks started the Olympics. Now we still have the Olympic Games.”).

8. Plenary (5–10 minutes)
- Ask a few pupils to share their favourite fact about Ancient Greece.
- Revisit the objectives: Can we say one thing about life in Ancient Greece? Can we say one way it still influences us today?
- Add new words or ideas to the class word bank.

9. Homework
- Homework sheet: pupils draw something from Ancient Greece (e.g. a temple, a hero, the Olympics) and something from today that is similar.
- They write or dictate one simple sentence: “In the past… Now…”.

10. Assessment Notes
- Look for pupils using time words correctly.
- Check if they can name at least one feature of Ancient Greek life.
- Note who can explain one simple way Ancient Greece still influences the modern world.