John and the 'Lionheart'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the relationship between John and Richard I.
Key learning points
- John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the King and Queen of England.
- When Henry II died, John's older brother Richard became the King of England.
- Richard I was called the 'Lionheart' because he was a brave warrior who was often away from England fighting.
- One time, when Richard I was fighting on a crusade, John began to rule the country as if he was the king.
- This made Richard I angry, and John was exiled for two years; but returned to be named Richard's heir.
Keywords
Heir - the heir to the throne is the person who will become the next king or queen when the current one dies
Crusade - a crusade was a war fought between different religious groups
Exiled - if someone is exiled, they are forced to leave a place and cannot return
Common misconception
Some may think that John's sisters would be in line to the throne before him.
Explain that this is the case today in the UK - Princess Charlotte became the first female royal to benefit from The Succession to the Crown Act in 2013. The Act stated that girls born into the Royal Family will not be overtaken by younger brothers.
Teacher tip
You could encourage students to draw their own family trees to better understand how they work and the links between the royal family.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who did Constantine defeat?
Q2.In which modern day country was the kingdom of Alba?
Q3.Choose the correct statement about mormaers.
Q4.Constantine changed the to make it more like the one in Ireland.
Q5.Constantine battled with a king from …
Q6.Constantine won the battle against the king from England.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What was King Richard's nickname?
Q2.Match the keyword to the correct definition.
when someone is forced to leave a place and cannot return
a war fought between different religious groups
the person who will become the next king or queen
Q3.John's older sisters were in line to the throne before him.
Q4.Who became the new King of England after King Henry II died?
Q5.John tried to take over as King of England when Richard was away fighting in a …
Q6.As a punishment, John was from England.
To help you plan your 2 history lesson on: John and the 'Lionheart', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 history lesson on: John and the 'Lionheart', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 history lessons from the Conflict, conquest and empires unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.