The half-sisters Elizabeth and Mary
I can describe the relationship between Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary.
The half-sisters Elizabeth and Mary
I can describe the relationship between Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- At the age of 21, a young woman called Elizabeth found herself imprisoned in the Tower of London.
- She had been accused of plotting to take the throne by her older half-sister Mary, who was queen.
- It was very likely that Mary might order her to be executed, so Elizabeth wrote her a letter saying she was innocent.
- Although Mary refused to see Elizabeth, she eventually freed her and Elizabeth's life was spared.
- Soon after, Mary died and Elizabeth became Queen of England.
Keywords
Executed - executed means someone being killed as a legal punishment
Plotting - plotting means to secretly make plans to carry out an illegal or harmful action
Tower of London - the Tower of London is a building used to defend the King or Queen
Common misconception
Pupils may think Elizabeth had a right to the throne when her father Henry VIII died.
At this time, the heir to the throne was the first-born son of the King rather than the first-born child.
To help you plan your year 2 history lesson on: The half-sisters Elizabeth and Mary, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 2 history lesson on: The half-sisters Elizabeth and Mary, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 history lessons from the Ruling and religion unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
- Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
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