Magna Carta

In this lesson, students analyse three extracts from Magna Carta-related poems by Rudyard Kipling, Hugh Chesterman and Thomas Love Peacock. Although the vocabulary will be challenging for many students, the worksheets and activities are designed to make these texts accessible.

This lesson provides some background to the Magna Carta by looking at the key characters of King Richard and King John, one loved, one hated. It gives students listening practice and develops a set of vocabulary to talk about personality.

This lesson compares two of London’s biggest parades: the Lord Mayor’s Show, which originates from the same time as the Magna Carta, in 1215, and the Notting Hill Carnival, which has been held every year since 1966 and is one of the largest street festivals in the world. The lesson incorporates speaking activities, reading and some grammar. If appropriate, Task 6 can be used as the basis for preparing and giving formal presentations in a later session.

The Magna Carta towns are places that, 800 years ago, were the most important cities in England. They have important historical connections with the Magna Carta. This lesson has a variety of texts: ‘spot the error’, a quiz, a multiple matching activity and role play information cards. It finishes with an optional writing activity, which can be set for homework. 

This lesson is to familiarise students with the development of the parliamentary system in England. It is a multi-skilled lesson and is mostly based on group work activities in order to maximise interaction and collaboration among students. Students will read the text about the Magna Carta and Simon de Montfort’s Parliament, and then take part in a group discussion about the influence of ordinary citizens on political decisions nowadays.
 

This lesson focuses on developing students’ knowledge of the UK, in particular of the British parliamentary system. It also aims to develop and practise students’ communication skills through watching a video about the British Parliament and discussing current political issues in a students’ home country.  

This lesson is about how people used to write in the Middle Ages, for example when the Magna Carta was produced. It looks at how parchment was made and then focuses on the work of scribes. Both parchment makers and scribes played a vital role in the history of the Magna Carta. The lesson looks at what the two jobs involved and then at the skills needed to do them. Students will practise their reading, writing and speaking skills.