Time Team Digs: A History of Britain
Teachers' notes

Introduction

This DVD set features a selection of the 130 or so excavations that have taken place since Time Team began. The DVD format enables the series to be used as a flexible educational resource to support the history curriculum.

Since the series began in 1994, many teachers have commented on the potential for using the programmes in an educational setting. The content is well paced and engaging. Children enjoy the energy of the lively against-the-clock format. The presenter, Tony Robinson, presents the material clearly for non-historians. He does not assume that viewers have a great deal of prior historical knowledge. He often uses simple questions such as 'How do we know that?' or 'What does that tell us?' which students are able to relate to.

The curriculum

Time Team's investigative approach supports good practice in history teaching and is particularly strong on developing:

• historical enquiry skills
• the use of sources
• a sense of chronology
• interpretations of history.

This DVD set includes resources relevant to history curricula throughout the UK.

In addition it can be used to support local history studies spanning several historical periods.

Using the Time Team DVD set

The DVD format allows the extracts to be accessed quickly and in any order. The location and period guide can be used as the starting point. This lists the various locations featured by county and gives a guide as to the content of each extract. There is a wide geographical spread across the UK so, for many schools, this will mean that there is material to support local studies directly. However, it is not essential to live near and visit these specific locations. The activities and finds at the digs can be used to inspire similar enquiries in other areas of the UK. The greatest benefit will be gained from viewing short sections of the DVD at a time. Viewing should be selective and focused on a particular topic or aspect of life in the past.

Suggested activities:
There are several possibilities for viewing activities involving large and small groups or individuals.

Whole school ideas
The Time Team DVDs could be used in school assemblies to support personal and social education topics. Examples are:

• Ancient beliefs and festivals – the Bronze-Age section (9.00, 12.15) could be used to explain henges and examine ancient belief systems; the Roman temple excavation in Greenwich (42.31) could be linked with tales of the Roman gods.
• Burial rites – the excavations of graves in the Bronze Age (23.18) and Dark Ages (1.13, 12.35) sections could be linked to an assembly about death and the way in which societies remember their families and friends.
• Religious communities – the monastic way of life is featured in the Dark-Ages (20.20, 26.32) and the Norman-Conquest sections (20.55). Children could be encouraged to empathise with the experience of living for 24 hours as a nun as in the Norman excerpt.
• Health – The Norman Conquest (27.33) and Medieval England (24.00) sections look at diseases and how they were treated in the past. The extracts examine leprosy and the bubonic plague. Ancient customs often regarded illness as a sign that people had done something bad. Comparisons could be made with stigmas about modern diseases such as AIDS.

Whole class
For whole class viewing sessions, use of the interactive whiteboard will facilitate a large viewing area. This makes it possible to look closely at artefacts and study them in detail. After viewing tasks could include:

• Creative writing based on daily life in an Iron-Age village linked to the extracts from Wadden and RAF Brockmorton (1.09, 5.19)
• Writing a recipe for an Iron-Age meal (5.19) or a medieval style feast linked to the Christmas Special 1999
• Art work designing Roman jewellery based on the enamel hare brooch in the Roman Britain section (21.30)
• Designing Norman castle defences, using paper or the computer, based on the Norman extracts (1.12, 7.41, 36.23)
• A walk around the locality to look for clues to the past after viewing the Medieval England extracts (12.17, 17.03)
• Artwork based on Tudor stone friezes using the designs in the Modern Age extract (1.17)
• Researching and designing a webpage advertising Wedgwood pottery linked to the finds at Stoke on Trent in the Modern Age section (26.55)
• Research about World War II aviation linked to the Christmas Special 1999 (8.11)

Individuals and small groups
Several of the above suggestions could be set as specific viewing tasks for individuals or small groups. Groups could investigate, organise and present their findings to the rest of the class. Additional tasks could include:

• Experimenting with Roman road building materials using the resource sheet and Lambeth Palace excerpt (1.21) from the Roman invasion section
• Recreating a Viking boat in wood, card or other material using the Christmas Special 1997 as a stimulus (32.36)
• Role play re-enacting working conditions in the Industrial Revolution after viewing the Modern Age extracts (26.55, 35.40, 41.45).

Glossary
In general the level of vocabulary used on the DVDs is accessible to upper primary school students and above. Potentially difficult words and historical terms are explained in the glossary.

History careers
People with a range of artistic and technical skills are involved in finding out how events in the past have shaped the modern environment. This section gives information about the history careers of individuals seen working on the Time Team digs. It demonstrates that history is not only about the past but also about the present.

Resource sheets
The downloadable resource sheets are designed to support the use of the DVD set in the classroom. Each sheet is closely linked to the content of specific extracts as in the table.

Text only

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