BUILD · Week 5 of 8

Big Deal or Small Deal?

Humanities · Migration & the Making of Modern Teesside

Progress SoW · Humanities Aut 1 · 2026–27 · BUILD · Week 5

Enquiry: How can we judge significance using criteria rather than fame or personal taste?

Success looks like

I can say if an event was a big deal or a small deal
I can give ONE criterion for my choice
I can accept someone else might rank it differently

Aspire · GROW reach: re-rank the same event with a DIFFERENT criterion — does the answer change?

Teacher Print Tools — Week 5

Arrival Task

Arrival Task – What Do You Already Know?

1. People (Last week)

Complete the proof: claim → evidence → ______.

Change.

2. Big (Think)

Name something that felt like a big deal to you this year.

Any answer — the point is 'big for me'.

3. Fame (Recall)

Is famous the same as important?

No — mattering needs evidenced change.

4. Teesside (Recall)

What opened in 1825 near here?

The Stockton–Darlington Railway.

1. Retrieval (Last week)

Why avoid 'they all…' sentences?

Single-story trap — imprecise attribution.

2. Judge (Think)

Two pupils rank the same event differently. Must one be wrong?

No — different criteria give different rankings.

3. Criterion (Recall)

What is a criterion?

A rule/standard used to judge.

4. Scale (Think)

Big for the town vs big for Britain — same thing?

No — significance depends on scale.

1. Retrieval (Last week)

Agency vs context in one line.

Power to act vs circumstances shaping it.

2. Durability (Think)

An event mattered hugely for a week, then nothing. Significant?

Depends on the criterion — duration vs intensity.

3. Perspective (Think)

For whom was the ironworks' opening NOT good news?

E.g. farmers losing land, rival towns, those displaced.

4. Language (Recall)

Which word signals a qualified judgement?

'Depends', 'although', 'partly'.

Starter

Starter: Big for Who?

Key Question: The blast furnace going cold in 2015: a footnote in a London paper, front page here for weeks. Who decides what's a big deal?

🔥

Furnace Cold, 2015

Thousands of jobs, whole towns

Big HERE

📰

National News

A few paragraphs, page 8

Small THERE

👴

A Steel Family

Three generations at the works

Everything for them

📅

In 100 Years

What will the textbook say?

Time will judge

Pairs: one event that's a big deal in YOUR world that outsiders wouldn't notice. Why the gap?

I Do

I Do: Judging with Criteria

Key Idea: 'Significant' isn't a feeling — it's a judgement made with named criteria: how many, how deep, how long, how remembered.

👀 Look: turn the dials and the judgement changes. That is the argument, not a flaw in it.

📖 The Four Tests

Numbers — How many people were affected?

Depth — How deeply were lives changed?

Duration — How long did the effects last?

Memory — Is it still remembered and used?

🧠 Watch me think — a worked score

The event: ironstone found in the Eston Hills, 1850. Score each test 1–3.

🛠️ Numbers — tens of thousands migrated here → 3

🛠️ Depth — whole lives rebuilt around the works → 3

🛠️ Duration — 165 years of industry followed → 3

🛠️ Memory — it is why this town exists at all → 3

✅ Answer: 12 out of 12. Four tests passed, so 'big deal' is defensible — and I can name WHY, not just say it felt important.

We Do

We Do: Which Test Is Being Used?

How to play: Tap a judgement, then tap the criterion it's using. Score: 0/8

Step 1: Tap an item · Step 2: Tap its group

'90,000 people by 1901'

'Families rebuilt their whole lives here'

'The works ran for 165 years'

'The Transporter is on every town logo'

'Thousands lost jobs in 2015'

'The chapels still stand today'

'We still call it the Boro'

'Children's health changed when wages rose'

🔢 NUMBERS

💔 DEPTH

⏳ DURATION

🧠 MEMORY

I Do

I Do: 'It Depends' Done Properly

Key Idea: Strong judgements admit perspective and timescale: significant for whom, and over how long?

📖 Qualifying Language

For whom — Significance differs by group — workers, owners, newcomers.

Over what time — A week's crisis vs a century's change.

Although — The word that lets two truths stand together.

🧠 Watch me think

The 2015 closure: by NUMBERS nationally, modest; by DEPTH here, enormous. Watch me hold both: 'Nationally it was one closure among many, ALTHOUGH for Teesside it ended 165 years of iron-making.' Both true. Criteria named.

We Do

We Do: Match the Event → Its Strongest Claim to Significance

How to play: Tap a card, then tap its correct partner. Score: 0/6

🚂 Railway opens, 1825

⛏️ Ironstone found, 1850

🌉 Transporter opens, 1911

✈️ Wartime shipyards

🏭 ICI boom, 1950s

🔥 Furnace cold, 2015

NUMBERS · a town of thousands from 40

NUMBERS · tens of thousands employed

DURATION · began the railway age itself

DEPTH · a way of life ended here

DEPTH · every family touched by the war effort

MEMORY · the symbol on every badge

Independent Work

Independent Work — Show What You Know

Instructions: Work at your level on the printed sheet. Move up a level when you are ready — this is your call to make.

Supported

Task: Rank 4 event cards big→small using ONE test card, then say your test out loud.

Steps: Choose a test card · rank the events · 'My test was ___, so ___ came first.'

Standard

Task: Rank 6 events with a named criterion, then re-rank with a DIFFERENT criterion and note what moved.

Steps: Rank 1 + criterion · rank 2 + criterion · one sentence: 'What moved and why.'

Stretch

Task: Full significance case for one event using all four tests, including one 'although' for perspective.

Steps: Four tests applied · 'for whom / over what time' addressed · verdict with criteria named.

Lundy Loop

Lundy Loop — Your Voice in This Enquiry

Why: Article 12 — your view on this history counts, and it changes what we do next week.

🚪 SPACE

The Big Deal Board takes YOUR rankings all week — move the cards whenever your criterion changes.

📣 VOICE

Say the word 'depends' out loud with a reason — every qualified judgement goes on the board.

👥 AUDIENCE

Your rankings and criteria are presented to the other class, who must guess your criterion.

⭐ INFLUENCE

The class's chosen 'most significant event' becomes the spine of Week 6's account plan.

Exit Ticket

Instructions: Answer independently. No notes.

1.

Name two of the four significance tests.

Numbers, depth, duration, memory.

2.

Can two people rank the same event differently and both be right?

Yes — different criteria.

3.

Which event made Middlesbrough grow from 40 people?

Ironstone found, 1850.

1.

Apply the NUMBERS test to the 1850 ironstone find.

Tens of thousands migrated; town hit 90,000+ by 1901.

2.

Why does 'for whom' change a significance judgement?

Groups experience the same event differently.

3.

Use 'although' to hold two truths about the 2015 closure.

Nationally modest, although locally it ended 165 years of iron.

1.

Which test is hardest to apply to recent events? Why?

Duration/memory — effects haven't finished happening.

2.

Defend: 'the railway beats the bridge for significance.'

E.g. duration/numbers — began an age vs a symbol; criteria named.

3.

What's wrong with ranking by fame?

Fame measures attention, not evidenced change.

Knowledge Organiser (BUILD W5): Big Deal or Small Deal?

Humanities Aut 1 · 2026–27 · Enquiry: How can we judge significance using criteria rather than fame or personal taste?

Key Word	Definition
Significance	How much an event matters, judged by criteria
Criterion	A named standard used to judge
Numbers test	How many affected
Depth test	How deeply lives changed
Duration test	How long effects lasted
Memory test	How it is remembered and used

Key Facts

Historians judge significance with criteria, not fame.
The 1850 ironstone find passes all four tests for Teesside.
The same event can be a big deal locally and a footnote nationally.
'Although' is the historian's favourite word.

Arrival Task

1) Complete the proof: claim → evidence → ______.

2) Name something that felt like a big deal to you this year.

3) Is famous the same as important?

4) What opened in 1825 near here?

1) Why avoid 'they all…' sentences?

2) Two pupils rank the same event differently. Must one be wrong?

3) What is a criterion?

4) Big for the town vs big for Britain — same thing?

1) Agency vs context in one line.

2) An event mattered hugely for a week, then nothing. Significant?

3) For whom was the ironworks' opening NOT good news?

4) Which word signals a qualified judgement?

Starter: Big for Who?

Key Question: The blast furnace going cold in 2015: a footnote in a London paper, front page here for weeks. Who decides what's a big deal?

We Do 1: We Do: Which Test Is Being Used?

Groups: 🔢 NUMBERS, 💔 DEPTH, ⏳ DURATION, 🧠 MEMORY. Sort: '90,000 people by 1901', 'Families rebuilt their whole lives here', 'The works ran for 165 years', 'The Transporter is on every town logo', 'Thousands lost jobs in 2015', 'The chapels still stand today', 'We still call it the Boro', 'Children's health changed when wages rose'

We Do 2: We Do: Match the Event → Its Strongest Claim to Significance

Draw lines to match:

🚂 Railway opens, 1825 · ⛏️ Ironstone found, 1850 · 🌉 Transporter opens, 1911 · ✈️ Wartime shipyards · 🏭 ICI boom, 1950s · 🔥 Furnace cold, 2015

NUMBERS · a town of thousands from 40 · NUMBERS · tens of thousands employed · DURATION · began the railway age itself · DEPTH · a way of life ended here · DEPTH · every family touched by the war effort · MEMORY · the symbol on every badge

Scaffolding – Supported

Word Bank

big deal, test, numbers, remember, lasted, because

Sentence Starters

"My test is…" | "___ comes first because…" | "It was a big deal for ___"

Scaffolding – Standard

Judgement Structure

Criterion: name your test. Apply: evidence for each event. Verdict: ranking. Re-test: new criterion, what moved?

Scaffolding – Stretch

Qualified verdict frames

"By ___ it ranks high, although by ___…" | "For ___ it was decisive, whereas for ___…" | "Over a decade ___; over a century ___"

📘 Reference Zone — keep this beside your work

The four tests — score each 1 (low) to 3 (high)

Test	Ask yourself	Local example
🔢 NUMBERS	How many people were affected?	90,000 people by 1901
🌊 DEPTH	How deeply were lives changed?	Families rebuilt their whole lives here
⏳ DURATION	How long did the effects last?	The works ran for 165 years
🏛️ MEMORY	Is it still remembered and used?	The Transporter is on the town logo

Total out of 12. Score all four — a judgement that skips a test is not finished.

Saying “it depends” properly

For whom? workers, owners, newcomers — significance differs by group.
Over what time? a week’s crisis or a century’s change.
Although — the word that lets two truths stand together.

Model: “Nationally it was one closure among many, although here the depth was enormous.”

🛑 STUCK ON “WAS IT A BIG DEAL?”

Do not ask “is it interesting?” Ask these two:

1. If this had never happened, would life here be different today?

2. Did it change things for a few weeks, or for decades?

Both point at a test: question 1 is DEPTH and MEMORY, question 2 is DURATION.

❓ SOMEONE RANKED IT DIFFERENTLY. WHO IS RIGHT?

Possibly both. If you used different tests, you will get different answers — and that is how historians actually argue.

Say which test you used. A named test beats a strong opinion every time.

🔤 Words I might need: significance · criterion · numbers · depth · duration · memory · although · rank

🔢 Independent Work – Supported (RANK WITH A TEST)

Rank with a Test — then score your top event on all four, out of 12.

1) My test card: ______________

2) My ranking (1 = biggest deal):

3) "___ came first because…"

⚖️ Independent Work – Standard (RANK & RE-RANK)

Rank, Re-rank

1) Ranking with criterion A (named):

2) Ranking with criterion B (named):

3) What moved between rankings, and why?

🧮 Independent Work – Stretch (SCORE, WEIGH & QUALIFY)

The Significance Case

1) My event: ______________

2) All four tests applied with evidence:

3) 'Although…' — perspective or timescale qualification:

4) Verdict with criteria named:

Exit Ticket – Supported

1) Name two of the four significance tests.

2) Can two people rank the same event differently and both be right?

3) Which event made Middlesbrough grow from 40 people?

Lundy Loop — this lesson

Space → Voice → Audience → Influence. The adult’s first job is Space: regulate before you educate.

Space	The Big Deal Board takes YOUR rankings all week — move the cards whenever your criterion changes.
Voice	Say the word 'depends' out loud with a reason — every qualified judgement goes on the board.
Audience	Your rankings and criteria are presented to the other class, who must guess your criterion.
Influence	The class's chosen 'most significant event' becomes the spine of Week 6's account plan.

Closing the loop: out loud, as a class, is enough here. Any inclusion counts — a nod, a word, a pointed finger. If a pupil wants theirs written down, an adult scribes it in their words. Pass is always allowed.