Tudor Lives Transformed

Overview

Subject: History
Year Group: Year 5 and 6
Duration: 45 minutes
Class Size: 32 pupils
Curriculum Link:
Key Stage 2 – History
📜 National Curriculum Objectives:

• Understand significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.
• Gain historical perspective by placing growing knowledge into different contexts: cultural, economic, military, political and social history.
• Understand the complexity of people’s lives and the diversity of societies.
• Develop the use of historical enquiry, using a range of sources to ask and answer historical questions.

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Big Enquiry Question

"How did life change for people living during the Tudor Era during the reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I?"

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, pupils will:

1. Identify key changes in religion, wealth, and gender roles between the reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I.
2. Understand how life in Tudor England was impacted by royal policy and leadership.
3. Examine historical sources critically to gather evidence.
4. Make comparisons and reflect on how rulers influence everyday lives.

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Vocabulary Focus

• Monarch
• Reformation
• Dissolution (of the Monasteries)
• Nobility
• Patriarchy
• Protestantism
• Catholicism
• Divine Right

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Resources Needed

• Printed Source Packs (4 sets of 8 sources, mixed with images, quotes, and excerpts)
• Tudor Persona Cards (8 profiles representing different people from Tudor society)
• A2 Timeline Poster (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Sticky notes and clipboards for pupil use
• 'Change or Continuity?' Sorting Boards (for plenary)

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Lesson Structure

⏱️ Starter (5 minutes) – Tudor Timewarp!

Activity: Pupils encounter a large floor timeline showing portraits of King Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) and Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603).
Teacher Talk:

• Brief, dynamic introduction to each monarch’s reign.
• Ask: “What kind of power do you think a king or queen has over people's everyday lives?”

Mini Discussion:

• Invite spontaneous guesses from pupils.
• Use probing questions to draw out existing understanding of religion, wealth, gender.

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⏱️ Main Activity (30 minutes) – Lives Through Sources

Part 1: Source Investigation (15 minutes)

Structure: Mixed-ability group work (groups of 4, each with a different Tudor "persona")

Each group receives:

• A Persona Card (e.g. a female servant, a Catholic priest, a wealthy merchant, a Protestant noblewoman)
• A Source Pack containing 4 pieces of evidence (letters, paintings, laws, artefacts – both Henry VIII and Elizabethan periods)

Instructions:

• Pupils analyse sources using guiding questions:
  • Who made this?
  • What does it tell us about religion/wealth/gender?
  • Is it more likely from Henry’s or Elizabeth's reign? How can we tell?
• Record notes in a grid labelled “What changed?” and “What stayed the same?”

🔍 Differentiation: Support less confident readers with simplified text versions and visual cues. Challenge higher ability with deeper source critique questions.

Teacher Role:

• Visit groups posing higher-order thinking questions.
• Spark inter-group insights: “Can you find another group with a similar/different experience?”

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Part 2: The Enquiry Answer (15 minutes)

Activity: Return to whole class. On the whiteboard, draw a Venn diagram split between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, with overlapping section labelled “Continuity”.

• Each group briefly presents how their individual’s life changed or stayed the same across the Tudor era.
• As they present, they place sticky notes with evidence in the correct place on the board Venn diagram.

Guided Discussion Prompt:

• “Was life better under Henry or Elizabeth – or does it depend on who you were?”

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⏱️ Plenary (5 minutes) – Change or Continuity?

Activity:

Pupils stand up and are asked to move to one side of the room or the other as teacher reads statements:

• “Catholic churches stayed the same under both monarchs.”
• “Women gained new opportunities in Elizabeth's reign.”
• “Henry changed religion to increase his own power.”

Pupils show "AGREE" or "DISAGREE" by stepping into zones.

Class Reflection Prompt:

• “What does this tell us about how much monarchs shape ordinary lives?”

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Assessment for Learning

• Teacher will assess understanding through group observations during source analysis.
• Quality and accuracy of sticky note contributions will reflect depth of source evaluation.
• Pupil contributions in the "Change or Continuity?" activity give immediate insight into historical reasoning and interpretation.

🧠 Extension/Home Challenge: Pupils can write a short diary entry in role (based on their persona) reflecting on how the monarch has affected their life.

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Cross-Curricular Links

• English: Development of formal and persuasive language in historical context writing
• RE: Discussions about religious changes and the impacts of the Reformation
• PSHE: Exploration of gender roles and how societal positions are challenged or maintained over time

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Summary

This immersive and analytical lesson gives pupils aged 9–11 the opportunity to learn how two significant monarchs led their country and how that leadership touched the real lives of people in remarkable and sometimes unexpected ways. With a full-bodied source analysis at the heart of the lesson and space for thoughtful reflection, this plan develops critical thinking, historical empathy and the use of enquiry skills vital for Key Stage 2 historians.

💬 “It wasn’t the crown that changed lives — it was the decisions behind it.”