30 May 2025 / 10 House
Article suitable for older students
Find out moreHow should I start teaching a topic on the Aztecs?
ORIGINAL QUESTION received from - and thanks to - Amy West: I’m a teacher, about to embark on a project on the Aztecs with Y5/6. What would you recommend as the best starting point to introduce the unit? Thanks! (Am SO pleased I found your brilliant site!) (Answered by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)
Thanks for your kind comments, Amy. We thought that, to answer this down-to-earth question we’d call on the expertise of one of our more experienced ‘regulars’, Michelle Cohen (herself a History graduate) and colleagues at Bovingdon Primary School in Herts., where we’ve been impressed year after year on many fronts, not least by the careful planning that goes into their Aztecs topic (for Year 6). What follows is a summary of Session One (two lessons) taken from their History Planning document that they kindly shared with us on one of our visits to them. Cheers, Michelle!
Start by posing the question ‘What is a civilisation?’ Discuss what they may already know about Aztec civilisation and what they might like to find out. Look at artefacts, pictures and postcards what they/you might hope to find out about the Aztecs. What do the sources tell us? What are the children’s first impressions of Aztec civilisation? What can we tell about how they lived?
Main Activity
1. Make a mind map using books and postcards
2. Generate questions they would like to research. Share questions as a whole class and collate for ongoing work - display questions and answer when these questions may be covered.
3. Design front cover for an Aztec (project) book based on the famous double-headed snake pectoral in the British Museum. Discuss the significance of the snake and its place in the sacred calendar. Make one picture from the sacred calendar.
Notes
DIFFERENTIATION: BA - Mind map outline to record notes. Work with a partner to scribe questions; AA - use internet to locate a range of sources
EVALUATION: ‘Traffic Light’ system: I can interpret information about the Aztec civilisation from sources
LEARNING OBJECTIVE FROM QCA: To select sources and infer information that is relevant to the topic
WILF: Facts in topic areas; relevant enquiry questions; look for clues; use what they know; pick out key information
KEY VOCABULARY: artefacts, Aztec, sacred calendar, civilisation
KEY QUESTIONS: How can we find out about the Aztec civilisation? What do you want to know about the Aztecs?
KEY RESOURCES: Postcards, pictures, artefacts, snake template, black card for front cover, sugar paper for snake, coloured pencils, black outline pens, traffic light evaluation sheet, poster paint, sacred calendar pictures, mind map for BA pupils
Or of course, kick-start your Aztec topic with a visit from the Mexicolore team...!
(All photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)
Comments (1)
Amy West
15th Apr 2009
Thank you so much for such a thorough and personal reply! I had a look at the link - that’s really helpful, many thanks both to you and to Michelle. It’s such an exciting and huge topic that I think it’s really important to get the start of it right. I am certain that I shall be visiting your site frequently over the next few months - in the planning stages, resourcing, researching, and for the actual teaching, and I know that the children in my class will use it widely too. Thanks again, Amy.
Mexicolore
Cheers, Amy! Michelle and colleagues may well have new ideas and suggestions to add to this...
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