London's Fiery Past

Overview

Unit Title: Sensing the Great Fire
Lesson Title: Introduction to the Great Fire of London
Lesson Number: 1 of 4
Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 16 students
Key Stage: KS1
Year Group: Year 2
Subject: History
Curriculum Link: National Curriculum for History KS1 – "Pupils should be taught about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally."

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, pupils will:

• Know when and where the Great Fire of London took place.
• Understand what London might have looked and sounded like before the fire.
• Be introduced to Samuel Pepys and his role in recording the events of the fire.
• Use their senses through storytelling, visuals and sound to explore the historical setting.

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Success Criteria

Pupils will:

✔ Recall the year of the Great Fire of London
✔ Identify Samuel Pepys as an important historical figure
✔ Describe features of London in 1666 using sensory language
✔ Engage actively with storytelling and contribute thoughts or questions

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Starter – Senses and the Past (10 minutes)

Objective: Activate prior knowledge about the senses and tune in to life in the past.

• Begin with a mystery sensory box (label: “London 1666”). Inside:
  • Piece of leather (simulate shoe),
  • Small stick with cinnamon (simulate bakery smell),
  • Piece of rough wood (simulate house material),
  • Tiny bell (simulate street noise).

As each item is revealed, ask:
“What do you think people in London might have seen, heard, smelled, or touched?”

Create a quick mind map on the board, co-constructed with pupils, titled “What was London like in 1666?”

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Main Lesson

Part 1: Sensory Storytelling – The Day Before the Fire (20 minutes)

Objective: Introduce the atmosphere of London before the Great Fire using sensory-rich storytelling.

Set the classroom with simple props:

• Dimmed lights, flickering LED candles on desks
• Background sounds of horses’ hooves, market chatter, church bells

Teacher delivers a dramatic, first-person narrative as a Londoner in 1666:

"Close your eyes... Listen to the horses trotting on the cobbled streets... Smell sweet apple tarts baking at the baker’s shop... Hear the bell of St. Paul’s chiming in the distance..."

Include key details: narrow wooden houses, bustling markets, people fetching water from the river, limited fire safety, etc.

Ask questions during the story:

• “What do you think would be difficult about living here?”
• “Could fire spread easily, do you think? Why/why not?”

Active Engagement:
Pupils work in small groups of 4 to draw what they saw in their minds during the story. Each group contributes one idea to a ‘Sights and Sounds of 1666 London’ class display board.

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Part 2: Who Was Samuel Pepys? (10 minutes)

Objective: Introduce Samuel Pepys and what a diary is.

Show a large, aged-looking diary prop and say, “I found this in the attic! Let’s see who it belonged to…”

Reveal a portrait of Samuel Pepys, and read a short excerpt adapted for Year 2 level:

"This morning, I saw the sky turn orange. A fire had started near Pudding Lane..."

Explain:

• Pepys wrote about the fire while it was happening.
• He helped save important things (including cheese from his cellar!)
• He gives us clues about what life was like.

Activity:
Each child picks an ‘object’ they would save if London was burning.
Options on cards: pet dog, trunk of books, cheese, mother’s jewellery, special toy. Each pupil explains their choice to a partner or the class.

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Plenary – Reflect and Question (10 minutes)

Objective: Summarise key points and encourage pupil curiosity.

Bring class together and pose the questions:

• “What do you remember about London before the fire?”
• “Who told us about the fire, long ago?”
• “Why is it important to remember something so long ago?”

Show a large timeline on the board and add 1666 and Samuel Pepys to the class history timeline.

Give each pupil a flame-shaped sticky note. On it, they write/draw:

• One thing they learnt today
• One question they still have

These are added to a "Burning Questions Wall" — to be revisited during the unit.

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Assessment Opportunities

• Anecdotal notes during sensory box discussion and storytelling reflections
• Pupil contributions to the group drawing task
• Choices and explanations during Samuel Pepys diary activity
• Content of the “Burning Questions Wall”

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Resources Needed

• Sensory box items (leather, cinnamon stick, wood, bell)
• LED tealights or safe ambient lighting
• Background audio of 17th-century London sounds
• Samuel Pepys portrait printout
• Large diary prop with adapted text
• Drawing materials
• Timeline display
• Flame sticky notes

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Differentiation

• Support: Visual prompts and additional adult support for EAL or lower ability learners during group drawing and diary reflection.
• Challenge: Encourage higher achieving pupils to write a full sentence in character as Samuel Pepys, e.g., “Today I saw a fire start on Pudding Lane…”

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Extension (Optional/Home Learning)

Ask pupils to create a “My 1666 Senses Poster” at home, drawing and labelling sights, smells, and sounds we explored today.

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Teacher Notes

• This lesson embeds sensory engagement to create an emotional and memorable experience.
• The unit approach is layered so that historical context and empathy are developed before delving into causes and consequences in subsequent lessons.
• Encourage the use of rich vocabulary throughout. Words like flickering, bustling, narrow, smoky, etc., build cross-curricular descriptive language.

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🎓 This innovative, multisensory approach makes history truly come alive by walking in the smoky footprints of the past — engaging every sense to start an unforgettable journey into the Great Fire of London.