Lesson plan: God save the Queen

Song bank link

God save the Queen: Traditional 

Subject links

• History QCA Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

• Music QCA Unit 15: Ongoing Skills 

Duration

45 mins – 1 hour

Learning objectives

History

• Children will learn about what the national anthem is and what it represents.

• Children will learn when and where the Second World War took place.

• Children will learn about the leaders, key events and dates of the war.

• Children will understand how national pride was key to maintaining people’s morale during the Second World War.

Singing

• Children will learn about breathing and sing songs with increasing control of breath and posture.

• Children will sing songs with pride, passion, volume and control.
  
  

Resources

• God save the Queen – all audio tracks

• A map of the world for display on an interactive whiteboard

• Posters from the Second World War
  
  

Prior learning

• Children should have some prior knowledge of what happened in the Second World War, who was involved and what the national anthem is.
  
  

Introduction

• Share the Learning objectives with the children at the start of the session.

• Explain to the children that they are going to learn a song, God save the Queen. They may already know the song and some of the words.

• Display the words to the song on the interactive whiteboard and play the song to the children. Discuss the meaning and ideas in the second verse which they may not have heard before.

• Practise singing the song with the performance track, and then with the echo track. Encourage them to stand upright and sing the song with a strong and proud voice.

• Discuss as a class what a national anthem is and what it represents.

• Where have they heard this song being performed and by whom?

• Begin to discuss the idea of the song as a platform for national pride and how the song was used during the Second World War.
  
  

Main activity

• Establish what the children already know about the Second World War.

• Use their responses to introduce key information including; when the war took place; the main countries involved; why it started (Hitler’s invasion of other countries and Britain’s response); how it was fought (mass bombings, ships, submarines etc.) and the names of leaders, eg. Hitler and Churchill etc.

• Using a map of the world on the interactive whiteboard, clearly highlight all of the countries involved to demonstrate clearly why it was a ‘world war’. A class timeline may be drawn up to support chronological understanding.
  
  

Independent activity

• Play the song again. Children discuss how this song makes them feel (proud, excited etc.).

• Show children images of propaganda posters from the time. Discuss why these were used, eg.to rally support for the war effort.

• Children design their own poster based upon the words and music in the national anthem. The poster should be persuasive in intent to rally popular support for the war. (Note this links to the ‘persuasive writing’ element of En3 of the National Curriculum for English for Key Stage 2.)
  
  

Differentiation 

Support

• Group the children in mixed-ability pairs/groups.

• Offer more prompts of support to the less able.

Extension

• Get the children to write a paragraph about who their poster is aimed at and why it would rally support and improve morale in the country.

• Discuss where it would be best placed for maximum impact. Record the findings in books.
  
  

Plenary

• Hold a class quiz based upon facts and figures about Second World War that you have discussed in this lesson.

• Sing God save the Queen to finish.
  
  

Assessment for Learning

Can the children:

• Suggest why this war was called a World War?

• Know and use the names of leaders, key events and dates?

• Understand the importance and meaning of the national anthem at this particular time?

• Sing proudly and passionately to suit the purpose of the song?
  
  

Next steps

• Look in more detail how Britain was affected by the Second World War, eg. The Blitz, evacuations and rationing.
  
  

Differentiated success criteria

All children will:

• Be able to place the Second World War on a timeline.

• Be able to share ideas with the class.

Some children will:

• Begin to understand the sequence of events that led up to the Second World War.

• Be able to understand how the anthem links to national pride and how important this was at the time.

• Be able to use specific vocabulary in class discussions.

A few children children will:

• Begin to place events within the Second World War in chronological order.

• Be able to perform the song in the style suitable to the national mood at the time of the Second World War, eg. proudly and passionately.