Humanities Aut 1 · 2026–27 · Enquiry: How can sequence, evidence and explanation turn facts into a coherent historical story?
| Key Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Plan | The ordered skeleton of an account |
| Selection | Choosing which facts serve the enquiry |
| Point | A claim that answers part of the question |
| Evidence | The source detail backing a point |
| Explanation | The bridge showing how evidence proves the point |
| Close | The ending that answers the enquiry |
1) Name one significance test.
2) What do all good stories have?
3) Name one fact about Teesside from this term.
4) Why does order matter when telling what happened?
1) What makes a judgement 'qualified'?
2) Why plan before writing?
3) What must every claim in history carry?
4) Give one linking phrase from Week 3.
1) Why is fame a poor criterion?
2) You have 20 facts and room for 8. What guides the cut?
3) Point, evidence, explanation — what's the third part for?
4) How does audience change a plan?
Key Question: Railway. Ironstone. Migrants. Bridge. Boom. Closure. Same six facts — one storyteller makes a triumph, another a tragedy. What decides?
Groups: ✅ KEEP (serves the enquiry), ✂️ CUT (different story). Sort: ⛏️ Ironstone found 1850, 🚂 Railway link 1825, 👪 Migrant families arrive, 🔥 Furnace closes 2015, 🏠 Terraces built at speed, ⚽ Boro's cup run 2004, 🌉 Bridge opens 1911, 💷 Iron wages beat farm pay
Draw lines to match:
🎬 Opening · 📌 Point · 🔍 Evidence · 🌉 Explanation · 🔗 Link · 🏁 Close
The source detail that backs the claim · Answers the enquiry directly · Carries cause from one part to the next · Shows HOW the evidence proves it · One claim that answers part of it · Scene + the enquiry question
first, next, because, evidence, shows, finally
"My story starts when…" | "Next… because…" | "In the end…"
Point (my claim) | Evidence (my source detail) | Explanation (how it proves it) | Link (back to the question)
because · which meant · as a result · combined with
Selection note: "I cut ___ because the enquiry asks ___" | Close frame: "So the answer to ___ is ___, driven above all by ___"
🎬 OPENING — the scene and the question → 🟢 SET-UP (what it was like before) → 🟡 TURNING POINT (what changed it) → 🔴 LEGACY (what it left behind) → 🏁 CLOSE — answer the enquiry.
| Letter | Its job | Worked example |
|---|---|---|
| 📌 POINT | One claim answering part of the enquiry | “Migration made the growth possible.” |
| 🔍 EVIDENCE | The source detail that backs it | “The census lists Irish, Welsh and Scottish households in their thousands.” |
| 🌉 EXPLANATION | HOW the evidence proves the point | “Without those hands, ironstone stays in the hills.” |
| 🔗 LINK | Carries cause into the next part | “which meant the town had to build houses fast…” |
⚠️ The explanation is NOT a repeat of the evidence. It is the bridge between evidence and point. That bridge is where the marks live.
⏱️ Order: first · next · later · eventually
🔍 Evidence: for example · the census shows · a photo from ___ shows
💥 Cause: because · which meant · combined with · as a result
🛑 WHERE DOES THIS FACT GO? USE THE TRAFFIC LIGHT.
🟢 GREEN — SET-UP: did it happen BEFORE the main change?
🟡 YELLOW — TURNING POINT: is it the thing that actually changed it?
🔴 RED — LEGACY: did it happen AFTERWARDS, as a result?
❓ IT IS A GOOD FACT. WHY WOULD I CUT IT?
Because a plan is not everything you know — it is everything that answers THIS enquiry.
Test it: does this fact help answer the question at the top? No → cut it. A cut fact is not a wasted fact; it is waiting for its own story.
🔤 Words I might need: spine · opening · sequence · close · point · evidence · explanation · link · enquiry
My Story Strip
1) Order the 5 picture cards (1–5):
2) Match each card to an evidence strip.
3) Practise telling it once to a partner. Partner initials: ____
Plan Grid
Enquiry: How did Middlesbrough grow so fast?
Opening:
Unit 1 — P / E / E:
Unit 2 — P / E / E:
Unit 3 — P / E / E:
Close:
Linked Plan
Full grid (opening, 3 linked PEEL units, close):
Selection note — one fact I cut and why:
My close answers the enquiry in ONE line:
1) What are the three parts of a story spine?
2) Why did we CUT the 2015 closure from today's plan?
3) What does PEEL stand for? What job does the L do?
Space → Voice → Audience → Influence. The adult’s first job is Space: regulate before you educate.
| Space | Planning Corner is open — plan on paper, cards, voice-note or drawing; the format is your choice. |
| Voice | Tell us your opening line — the class echoes back what question they think your story answers. |
| Audience | Next week these stories are TOLD — to the class, on tape, or one-to-one. You choose the audience now. |
| Influence | Class vote: should Week 7's telling allow props and pictures? Your ruling stands. |
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.
Keep with your book / folder.
| Pupil name: | Date: |
| WWW (What Went Well): | |
| EBI (Even Better If): | |
| Level worked at: Supported / Standard / Stretch | Evidence filed: Yes / Not yet |
| Authorship — what I chose or decided myself: | |
| Support given — prepared / scribed / modelled / hand-over-hand: | |
| Pupil response — my next step: | |
1) What decides which facts you keep?
2) What is the explanation's job in a PEEL unit?
3) Write one link phrase you'll use next week.
1) Why is selection 'power'?
2) How should a close differ from a summary?
3) Your strongest unit is missing evidence. Keep or cut? Defend.
BUILD Humanities · Week 6 · Plan the Story
Add your class once — names stay on this device only, and every Made by Matt lesson on it shares the list. Band each pupil so questions are tier-matched.
Pass is always allowed — passing still counts as taking part.