History Literacy Activities Activity One Being able to identify different aspects of a source is vital in history.

If you do not understand the words that a source uses then you can never understand the sources meaning. Look at the source below and then try to do some of the suggested activities underneath it:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. Winston Churchill 1940

In the back of your exercise book try to complete all of the following tasks: Write out a list of all of the verbs (doing words such as fallen and fail) Write out a list of all of the nouns (naming words such as Europe) Write out a list of all of the adjectives (describing words such as famous) List all of the words that you do not understand and try to find their meaning in the dictionary.

History Literacy Activities Activity 2 Punctuation is very important to getting the right meaning from a sentence. For example imagine you had read the words let us eat Grandma. If you placed a comma after the word eat so that it reads let us eat, Grandma it means you are going to go and eat with Grandma. If there was no comma it would mean that Grandma was what you were going to eat! The source below is a paragraph about Henry VIII. All of the punctuation has been taken out of the paragraph and it will be your job to put it back in. When you have read it through a couple of times you should copy it out into the back of your book making sure to place the correct punctuation in. You will need to add commas, apostrophes and full stops.

Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy Henry was married to six different women Henrys wives are also very significant Besides his six marriages he is more popularly known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church Henrys struggles with Rome ultimately led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority the Dissolution of the Monasteries and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England He changed religious ceremonies and rituals and suppressed the monasteries, while remaining a fervent believer in core Catholic theological teachings even after his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church

Top Tip If you are having difficulty getting the right punctuation into your work, a good tip s to have someone read your work aloud to you. They will read it as you have punctuated it and you will know how it should be punctuated.

History Literacy Activities

Activity Three Understanding how different points connect to each other is very important. If you do this correctly you will find that you have a better understanding of a topic. This will help you to write paragraphs that make a lot more sense. We use a lot of different words to connect points. There are three paragraphs in the text box below. The connectives have been taken out and it will be your job to copy out the paragraphs putting the correct connectives in them.

People thought that witches worked for the devil _______________ were evil. Some people accused witches of murdering people by witchcraft. Others were accused of turning milk sour or making crops grow badly. People often blamed their problems on witches. Historians have sometimes said that only poor people believed in witches. _______________, important people _______________ believed in witches. For example King James I of England wrote a book which described the signs to look out for to spot a witch. _______________King James told Parliament to pass laws against anybody who was thought to be a witch. Witches were put on trial and hanged if found guilty. _______________, to be called a witch in this period was very dangerous. People would be terrified of being called a witch. _______________ there were plenty of people who used these fears to settle scores and they would deliberately call other people witches just to get them into trouble. _______________

History Literacy Activities

Activity Four Spelling is important to the historian. If you spell a word incorrectly then you can sometimes change the meaning. You should always try to spell the words you are using with care. We all make mistakes and nobody expects you to be able to spell every word corectly, after all, that is why we have dictionaries! However, it is important to be able to spell key words correctly. This can be difficult but the more you practise the better you get. Below are some of the words that are most often misspelled in history lessons. Your task will be to write out the words and try to spell them correctly.

Word Biast (being one sided) Parliment (as in Houses of ...) Goverment (the people in charge of a country) Milennium (a period of 1000 years) Febuary (the second month of the year) Propoganda (things such as posters aimed at persuading you that someone is right) Discribe (telling people what something is like) Independance (being a country that runs their own affairs) Heirarchy (a structure like the feudal system) Liesure time (what people have when they are not working)