School Life Then and Next

Overview

Students explore how school life was different for children in the recent past, then use their ideas to imagine how school might change in the future. Through photographs, discussion, sorting and drawing, they practise using time words and making simple comparisons.

Learning intentions

• WALT use time words such as past, present, before, after, today and future.
• WALT identify ways school life in the past was different from school life today.
• WALT identify similarities between school life in the past and today.
• WALT imagine and explain one possible change to school life in the future.

Success criteria

• I can say whether something belongs to the past, present or future.
• I can describe one way school was different in the past.
• I can describe one thing that is the same or similar.
• I can draw or explain one idea for school in the future.

Curriculum links

• History — Past and present: life in the past was different from life today, including schools.
• History — Past and present: students explore their family’s recent past.
• History — Past and present: students use time-related words when talking about events and routines.
• Social sciences capabilities: noticing change, comparing experiences, asking questions and sharing ideas respectfully.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and wonder. Display a split image of an old-fashioned classroom and a modern classroom using the opening classroom comparison. Ask, “What do you notice? What questions do you have?” Students silently look, then share one observation with a partner. Explain that past means a time before now, present means now, and future means a time still to come.

2. 5–12 min · Teacher activity: noticing the past. Use the past-and-present classroom photographs to show carefully selected, age-appropriate images of a classroom, school bag, writing tools, playground and school rules from the past alongside present-day examples. Model a comparison: “In the past, some children wrote on slates. Today, we usually write in books or use devices.” Students use the sentence frame, “In the past…, but today…” to tell a partner one comparison.

3. 12–20 min · Whole-class sort and talk. Place picture cards or simple labelled images on the floor: old-style desk, slate, modern desk, pencil, tablet, school bell, playground equipment and school uniform. Invite students to help place each image under past, present or both. Use the sorting instructions and time-word prompts to reinforce vocabulary. Discuss why some items might belong in both, such as books, teachers or playing with friends. Clarify that not every school or whānau has the same experience.

4. 20–30 min · Partner worksheet activity. Give each pair the school life comparison sheet. Students draw or circle examples for “school in the past” and “school today”, then complete two comparison sentences with adult support. Partners take turns being the “noticer” and the “explainer”: one points to an image and the other explains what is different or the same. Circulate and ask, “What makes you think that?” and “Could this still happen today?”

5. 30–38 min · Imagine the future. Show the future school imagination prompt and ask, “What might school be like when you are older?” Explain that predictions are ideas, not facts. Students draw one future school idea on the lower part of the worksheet, such as a new way to learn, travel, play or communicate. They tell a partner, “In the future, schools might…” Encourage realistic ideas as well as imaginative ones, while reminding students that people will still need to learn and care for one another.

6. 38–45 min · Share and assess. Invite four or five students to share a past/present comparison and a future idea. Revisit the success criteria on the plenary and success-criteria slide. Each student completes an oral exit response to the teacher or a partner: “One difference is…”, “One thing that is the same is…”, and “In the future, I think…”. Record notable responses for next-step planning.

Resources

• the classroom comparison slide deck
• the school life comparison sheet
• Age-appropriate photographs of schools, toys, writing tools and playgrounds from the past and present
• Picture cards or printed images for sorting
• Floor labels: past, present, both
• Pencils, crayons and clipboards
• Whiteboard and markers
• Optional photograph of a family member’s school experience, shared with permission

Assessment

• Listen for accurate use of past, present, today and future during partner talk and sorting.
• Check whether students can identify at least one difference and one similarity between school life in the past and today.
• Use the final oral response and future drawing to assess whether students understand that the future has not happened yet and can suggest a possible change.

Differentiation

• Provide visual word cards and sentence starters: “In the past…”, “Today…”, “Both have…” and “In the future…”.
• Pair students thoughtfully, scribe ideas for children who find writing difficult, and allow drawing or oral responses instead of completed sentences.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach the time words with gestures and pictures; accept home-language discussion before sharing in English.
• Support sensory, attention or communication needs with a quieter working space, reduced worksheet choices, repeated instructions and the option to point to images.
• Extend confident students by asking them to explain why a change may have happened or how a future idea could help learners.