Ernest Shackleton KS1 – English and history activities

What's included?

PDFs

Key Stage

KS1

Age

Years 1-2

Subjects

This sample resource pack for KS1 is designed to complement the Raintree book Ernest Shackleton and offers engaging activities to develop key literacy and cross-curricular skills for KS1 pupils.

The resource pack combines literacy, history and computing activities to help pupils understand Shackleton’s remarkable achievements.

It supports teamwork, creativity and skill-building while bringing history and non-fiction literacy to life. It’s perfect for inspiring curiosity and active learning in your KS1 classroom.

Ernest Shackleton KS1 activities

Year 1 and Year 2 literacy activities

Introduce pupils to non-fiction texts, helping them explore features like glossaries, headings, and indexes.
Activities include scanning for information, making notes and writing labels, lists, captions and extended sentences.
Pupils are encouraged to create their own captions, practise sequencing events and produce a recount of Shackleton’s life.
Year 1 focus: Writing simple sentences using capital letters, full stops, and connectives.
Year 2 focus: Writing detailed recounts with correct sequence, compound sentences and consistent tense.

One-hour critical skills literacy lesson

Pupils learn about Shackleton through non-fiction texts and create group A3 posters for a display. These activities emphasise teamwork, creativity and literacy skills.

Outcomes:

Year 1: Pupils write simple sentences with correct punctuation.
Year 2: Pupils recount events with detail, using compound sentences and accurate tense.

History topic

Activities to build historical enquiry skills, focusing on Shackleton’s life and expeditions.
Pupils learn about his significance, sequence events and explore conditions in Antarctica.
Tasks include using maps, analysing pictures and inferring information about Shackleton’s challenges.