UKS2 – Class 8 & 9 – History

Today, the children developed their understanding of the Early Islamic Civilisation by describing some of the main changes in this period of history.

Firstly, we explored where the Islamic empire had expanded across the globe. They developed their ideas for why this may be. Their reasons included:

• “Because they fought and were able to conquer the land.”
• “Because they had strong leaders to lead the expansion.”
• “Because they could trade and get valuable items from other countries.”
• “Because they could spread their religion.”

Following this, they investigated some different causes of the Islamic expansion. They used their skills to be a historian and summarise each cause in turn. Some of their historical analysis and reasons for the expansion included:

• “The exhaustion of their enemies due to not being ready for another war.”
• “The other empires found that the Caliphs were tolerant of their faiths.”
• “The other empires hated their rulers and they ready to accept a new system and ruler.”
• “The Muslim army had weapons like ballistae – a sling shot that can throw boulders.”

Then, they considered different ways to group their information. They did this by discussing which they felt is the most important to the least important. This meant that they had to explain, reason and work as a team to consider their different points of view as historians.

Lastly, the children looked at a chapter from a history textbook entitled “Weapons and War”. They considered the type of cause which the historian had decided to emphasis; why they had made this decision; and what they might say if they were editing this book.