KS3 History Levels and Historical Skills
There are five core skills that all students of history must master; sourcework, change, causation, interpretations and the Big Picture of the Past. They are broken down into levels to make each step easier.
WHAT LEVEL ARE YOU? HOW DO YOU IMPROVE?
Sourcework
This skill looks at how well you can use sources such as pictures, photos, newspapers, letters and speeches from the past.
- L1/2 Choose relevant information from a source or sources
- L3 Compare information from several sources
- L4 Compare and contrast info from several different kinds (ie pic & descriptions) sources
- L5 Use information from several sources to answer a question
- L6 Assess the reliability of a source
- L7 Assess the usefulness of sources for answering a particular question
- L8 Go beyond information and using utility and reliability appropriately pupils can infer further knowledge and conclusions from sources.
Change
This shows how well you can judge how things changed, how they were different or the same.
- L1 Can only identify aspects of life ‘before’ OR ‘after’ (i.e. before cars invented – “people walked” -or after cars invented –“people drove”)
- L2 Can identify aspects of ‘before’ and ‘after’
- L3 Compare life in ‘before’ and ‘after’
- L4 Can compare and contrast life in ‘before’ and ‘after’
- L5 Detailed explanation of changes between two periods and effects of change in other areas of life (i.e. car mobility has impact on tourist destinations / shopping habits etc)
- L6 Can tell what aspects of life stayed the same – CONTINUITY
- L7 Detailed explanation of the extent to which life changed.
- L8 Complex explanations of the extent to which lives changed for different groups
Causation
- L1 Give one relevant cause of an event
- L2 List several factors
- L3 Explain why one factor caused an event
- L4 Explain why two/three factors caused an event
- L5 EITHER explain how some of these factors are linked OR explain how some factors are more important than others
- L6 Explain how some of these factors are linked AND explain how some factors are more important than others
- L7 I can write answers that cover all the causes and begin to evaluate the significance of the different causes
- L8 can write an answer that evaluates and is critical of the different interpretations of the causes of events.
Interpretations
- L1/2 Choose words or phrases that contain an interpretation
- L3 Identify an interpretation, with words or phrases to illustrate it
- L4 Compare different interpretations, with examples, looking for similarities OR differences
- L5 Compare and contrast different interpretations, with examples, looking for similarities and differences
- L6 Explain why there are different interpretations, using the sources OR your own knowledge.
- L7 Explain why there are different interpretations, using the sources and combining it with your own knowledge.
- L8 Can produce an analytical answer exploring, challenging and offering alternatives interpretations
Big Picture of the Past
The Big Picture of the past is about how well you understand how time passes, chronology and space and time.
- L1 Can tell stories about ‘the past
- L2 Demonstrate understanding of ‘an impersonal past’ – of a past before me.
- L3 Can sequence Pre-Historic – Ancient – Medieval – Modern. PERIODISATION Progression in history: knowledge, understanding & skills
- L4 Can make effective use of dates and chronological conventions to aid description.
- L5 Chronology is used as a tool to answer questions.
- L6 Can link and find parallels between stories and topics
- L7 Can construct coherent developmental narratives over long spans of time.
- L8 Can construct developmental narratives that transcend national and cultural boundaries