Opening Worlds
At Ewell Grove we use Opening Worlds for teaching history, geography and religion for Years 3 to 6. Opening Worlds is an exciting knowledge-rich humanities programme which develops speaking, listening and communication skills through the progression of rich vocabulary, questioning and storytelling.
In history, children will use the concepts of continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, in order to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses. They will practise the methods of historical enquiry, understand how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
In geography, children will think about geographical questions using concepts of place, scale, space, distance, interaction and relationships. They will collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes. A range of sources of geographical information will be interpreted, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and geographical information systems. Geographical information will be communicated in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
In religion, children will learn about and learn from the different kinds of questions human beings can ask about religious origins, beliefs and practices, namely questions that derive from philosophy, theology, social sciences and history.
Our approach to teaching Opening Worlds involves using the following techniques.
- Pre-teach core vocabulary
- Storytelling
- Model vocabulary
- Practise and apply vocabulary
- Don’t ask one, ask five questions
- Develop fluency (fluency = accuracy + speed)
- Emphasise core knowledge
- Pace and consistency
- Avoid guessing games
- Retrieval activities
To further explore the sequencing and content of our Opening Worlds programme, please explore the documents below.
