Enquiry Question What is the evidence that the ancient civilization of the Indus Valley was a well-developed society?

Learning Challenges

• Where and when did the ancient civilization of Indus Valley begin?

• How did the inhabitants of the Indus Valley live?

• What were some of the main achievements of the people of the Indus Valley?

. What comparisons can be made with Britain at that time?

. What happened to this ancient civilization?

Key words . civilisation

. achievements

. India

. Pakistan

. culture

. ancient

. trade

Year 4- The Indus Valley

Hook: What can evidence tell us about the past? Pupils were introduced to the learning

question and then to a game, “Archaeology

Attack”. This enquiry based start to the

new topic provided useful discussion

points where pupils had to weigh evidence

and sift arguments. The artefacts piqued

pupils’ curiosity and allowed some to

begin making predictions and links across

the topic.

Wednesday 6th September 2017 LC: Can I create a KWL grid about the Indus

Valley?

This week in Humanities the children were

given the opportunity to share any exiting

knowledge they had on the Indus valley.

They came up with some great facts and it

was clear that the working wall had sparked

their interest. The children were then given

an opportunity to discuss what they would

like find out about the Indus Valley.

I know that the Indus

Valley is near India.

- David

I want to find out what

language the people of

the Indus Valley spoke.

- Zenerah

I want to find out

whether the Indus

Valley was ruled by a

king or queen.

- Flora

I want to find if the

people of the Indus

Valley went to school.

- Shirin

I think these are

decorative tiles that

went on the floor.

- Avani

I think this is

jewellery, probably

owned by a rich

person.

- Jonathan

Wednesday 6th September 2017 LC: Can I recognise different artefacts and

objects from the Indus Valley and suggest

what they might have been used for?

This week in Humanities the children were

given images of different artefacts, objects

and building from the Indus Valley. They

were asked to discuss in groups what they

thought the items were and write their ideas

around the image.

I think these are

pots that were

made by the people

of the Indus

Valley.

- Kanyin

I think these are

pots that are used

for cooking.

- Bukunmi

I think these are

toys that children

who lived in the

Indus Valley played

with.

- Jonathan

Friday 15th September 2017

LC: Can locate the Indus Valley and identify

other land features on a map?

This week in humanities the children used a

world atlas to locate the Indus valley,

surrounding countries and other land features.

Some children even created their own key.

- The Indus Valley

borders India and

the Arabian sea.

- Joe

Mohenjo Dharo is

one of the main

cities within the

Indus Valley.

- Kanyin

The land

surrounding the

Indus Valley

was very fertile

and great for

growing crops.

- Elouise

Friday 22nd September 2017

LC: Can I research and present my findings on

the Indus Valley?

This week in humanities the children researched

various aspects of the Indus valley including

farming, trade, clothing entertainment and

cities. The children used a range of resources

to produce factual posters for their area of

research and presented their findings as a

class.

I found out that the

the people of the Indus

Vealley played chess.

- Paige W

I found out that the

people of the Indus

Valley wore robes.

- Chloe

I know that the Indus

Valley is near India.

- David

I found out that the

bricks that were used to

build houses were all

the same size.

- Tunrayo

I found out that the

Indus Valley people

had wells and a

sewerage system.

- Bukunmi

I found out that

people traded crops

and jewels.

- Favour

I found out that the

town centre had a

bath.

- Makeda

Monday 2nd October 2017

L.C Can I write my own version of a

story from ‘Tales told in Tents’?

In English, the children learnt a tale

called ‘The fountain of Life’ using actions,

drama and story text. They then

innovated the story and planned and

wrote their own version.

I wrote a tale about

friendship using openers

and conjunctions.

- David

I used different

expanded noun

phrases to make my

writing descriptive.

- Henry

I wanted my tale

to include higher

level

conjunctions.

Sekyi

Wednesday 11th October 2017 L.C Can I design my own Indus Valley

tile using sketching techniques?

In art, the children have been designing their

own tiles Inspired by the Indus Valley

Civilization, also known as the Harappan

Culture. This style incorporates stick figure

human and animal designs and the patterns

Incorporate many zig-zags similar to the

Aztecs.

My tile design was

inspired by items that

were found in the

Indus Valley.

- Paige W

My tile was

inspired by

farming in the

Indus Valley

- Jotham

I tried to use different

designs inspired by the

Aztecs.

- Samson

My tile was inspired by

jewellery that was worn

by people of the Indus

Valley.

- Shirin

Thursday 12th October 2017

L.C Can I find out why the people of the

Indus Valley were so important?

In humanities, the children were asked to

compare the Indus Valley civilisation to

that of the stone age to understand why

the people of the Indus Valley were so

important. After comparing various

aspects of both life in the Indus Valley

and the Stone Age, it became apparent to

the children that the Indus Valley

civilisation was significantly more

advanced and modernised than other

ancient civilisations at that time.

I found out that we

learnt lots about

drainage systems from

the Indus Valley.

- Chloe

The Indus Valley has

evidence of pot,

architecture and modern

town. This was far

more advanced than the

Stone Age.

- Bukunmi

We also had a class debate about

whether we would have preferred

to live in the Stone Age or as part

of the Indus Valley civilization.

Both sides had very convincing

arguments.

I’d definitely rather live

in the Indus Valley.

Look at the jewels and

clothing they wore!

- Henry

- I’d prefer to live in

the stone age. I

think hunting for

food would be great!

-

- Jotham

Thursday 2nd November

L.C Can I create an Indus Valley tile?

In art, the children designed and made

their own clay tiles Inspired by the Indus

Valley Civilization, also known as the

Harappan Culture. This style incorporates

stick figure human and animal designs

and the patterns incorporate many zig-

zags similar to the Aztecs.

I wanted to create a

tile using animals

that were important

in the Indus Valley.

- Flora

I loved designing

and creating the

tile. The clay

was quite difficult

to work with so I

found it

challenging. I

was really

pleased with my

tile.

- Eloise

I wanted to create

a detailed pattern

using a dotting

technique. I tried

to make my tile

symmetrical.

- Sekyi