Notes For Teachers
The main purpose of this website is to be used as stimulus for a Key Stage 2 lesson on settlements and how they change over time. Use the galleries on each of the pages to flip back and forth between the pictures of each key landmark or area of Shrewsbury in both the past and the present day, whilst asking them to think about the accompanying questions underneath. Prompt their thinking by asking smaller, related questions such as;
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- Why do you think there are no horses in the present day?
- Why do you thin the bridge has changed shape?
- What do you notice about the clothes people are wearing in the pictures from the past versus the present day?
- WHY DO YOU THINK THESE CHANGES HAPPENED?
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With the 'Town of Shrewsbury' page, be sure to point out using the additional maps how Shrewsbury has expanded and changed over time, and how more buildings, roads and bridges have been added over the years as more people have moved to the town.
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Remember to allow children to chip in their own thoughts and suggestions should they arise during teaching, and write them on board or learning wall for use in a follow-up activity.
Follow-Up Activities
Once children have got into the swing of this thought process, they should then be put into small groups of between two and four pupils (or table groups if you would prefer), and choose a different area of Shrewsbury or their own local area. They will then make use of iPads or computers in order to research that area or landmark and how it has changed throughout history, and spend between one and three lessons creating a presentation on this subject in whatever digital medium deem appropriate, for example a powerpoint, animation or short video.
During one of the lessons, teachers are also encouraged to help children make use of the digital mapping software Digimaps, which allows for maps of an area from the past to be laid over maps from the present day (this can be done to a more limited degree with Google Earth/maps if a school does not have access to Digimaps).
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These maps should then form a part of children's presentations, which should then be filmed or photographed and presented to the rest of the class as such. When this is being done, ask the other members of the class should be asked for two things they liked from the presentation, and one thing that they feel like they had learned about how settlements change over time.