Introduction to Lesson Note – Primary 1 3rd Term History Week 2
This Lesson Note – Primary 1 First Term History Week 2 is the most comprehensive lesson guide for schools, teachers and parents in Nigeria. Nigerians in the diaspora may also use this lesson note guide to teach their children Nigerian History according to the national curriculum.
History Schemes of Work for Nigerian Schools
I wrote this lesson note based on the new History Scheme for Work for Nigerian Schools by the NERDC. In July 2017; the National Council on Education ratified the return of History into the national curriculum – for primary and junior secondary schools. Consequently, NERDC developed a History curriculum for Grades 1 through 9.
The implementation of the History curriculum commenced in September 2019. Hence it is mandated for all schools to acquire and begin the implementation of the curriculum thence.
The History Scheme I used for this lesson note is the exact breakdown of the curriculum.
If you wish to acquire this scheme, click here to download it from our store. Alternatively, click here to download it from paystack or click here to chat with us on WhatsApp.
Note to the Teacher that will deliver this Lesson Note – Primary 1 3rd Term History Week 2
Learning History is Complex
The teaching and learning of history are complex tasks, the latter being more so than the former. Researchers have discovered that simple and gradual narration of historical events does not necessarily translate to a well-made understanding of history. Rather, researchers have suggested that history teachers adopt a domain-specific approach to teaching history. A major challenge that comes with this approach, however, is that teachers must understand the nature of the domain that learners are attempting to understand. In this light, historians – or history teachers – are divided along two paths of historical significance: those who considered the political, economic and military achievements; and those who are advocating for social inclusions.
Teaching Nigerian History is Tricky
Elsewhere, there is somewhat less rife between the duo in that the formal took root before the emergence of the latter. Nevertheless, this is not so in Nigeria. The rife has begun even before we started teaching history in our schools – at the junior level. This is even more so in view of the current shaky national unity. How then do we proceed? Should we teach the glories of Nigeria from the economic, political and military achievements to impress national unity at the cost of social inclusion? How do we teach the Nigerian civil war without offending the victims?
Nigerian History teachers must understand the magnitude and yet a delicate task that lies before them. More importantly, they must seek to teach balanced history that is fair to all yet promote patriotism and national unity.
As you teach, always remember that any knowledge that spurs anger and hatred is knowledge taken from the wrong perspective. Innumerable writers including Emmerson and Hill have proven that there is an equal, if not more, positive ending to all mishaps. Your ingenuity lies in your ability to fish out the positive lessons and impress them on the minds of the learners so much so that they view mishaps in history for their true value – blessings in disguise. See the burning fire of patriotism in the eyes of Americans when they talk of the Vietnam War (which cost lots of American lives), the American Civil War or the War of 1812.
End Objective
When your students sit in the class feeling twice a Nigerian even after the lesson, then you have done your job; and very well. LeadinGuides History Lesson Notes for Nigerian schools help Nigerian teachers, schools and even parents to teach their students Nigerian history; the right way and to attain the objectives.
Lesson Note – Primary 1 3rd Term History
Topic: Meaning of Hero and Heroine
Objective:
At the end of the lesson, the pupils should be able to:
- state the meaning of both hero and Heroine.
- Differentiate between a hero and a Heroine.
- State 5 characteristics of a hero.
Presentation
The teacher presents the lesson in order of steps as follows:
Step 1: Introduction
To introduce the lesson, the teacher asks the pupils to either name or tell a short story of a great person they know in their family or village. They should state the name of the person, and what he or she did or does.
Note that the pupils may tell the story in vernacular provided someone (preferably the teacher) understands and can interpret the story in a language that other pupils will understand.
Following this exercise, you should show a picture of a relatable legendary hero to the pupils. Then, ask the pupils to identify the person in the picture. I recommend the following legendary figures for people/schools located in various regions.
Legendary Heroes/Heroines from North Central Nigeria
- Princess Inikpi – a virgin princess from the Igala tribe who let herself be buried alive in sacrifice to save her people in the Igala-Benin war of 1515-1516.
- Mallam Dendo – a 19th-century Islamic scholar who is celebrated for his contributions to Islamic scholarship and education in the region.
- Ladi Kwali – Ladi Kwali was a Nigerian potter who is widely recognized for her role in popularizing the traditional pottery of the Gwari people of Northern Nigeria.
Legendary Heroes/Heroines from North Western Nigeria
- Queen Amina of Zazzau – a warrior queen who ruled the city-state of Zazzau (Zaria) in the late sixteenth century. She is remembered for her military prowess, and for expanding the territory of Zazzau through conquest.
- Bayajidda – Bayajidda is a legendary hero of the Hausa people and is said to have founded the city of Daura. According to legend, he defeated a giant snake that had been terrorizing the people of the region and then went on to marry the local princess.
- Magajiya Daurama – a legendary queen of the Hausa people and the last Kabara of Daura who ruled around the 9th Century. She presided over the upheaval that saw a transference of power from the matriarchal royal system of the Hausa people.
- Usman Dan Fodio – an Islamic reformer and leader who founded the Sokoto Caliphate in what is now northern Nigeria. He is remembered for his scholarship, his religious teachings, and his leadership of the Fulani Jihad.
North Eastern Nigeria
- Mai Idris Alooma – a 16th-century king of the Kanem-Bornu Empire who is celebrated for his military prowess and administrative reforms.
- Modibbo Adama – a 19th-century Fulani leader who led the Adamawa Emirate and was known for his military and diplomatic skills.
- Sa’adu Zungur – a poet and writer who is celebrated for his contributions to the development of Hausa literature and his efforts to promote education in Northern Nigeria.
South Eastern Nigeria
- Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa) – a former slave from the Igbo tribe who became a prominent writer and abolitionist in the 18th century.
- King Ahebi Ugbabe – The only female King in colonial Nigeria who overcame many obstacles to become king (queen).
Legendary Heroes/Heroines from South Southern Nigeria
- King Jaja of Opobo – A prominent trader and leader who founded the city-state of Opobo in the Niger Delta region in the late 19th century. King Jaja is celebrated for his entrepreneurial spirit and his efforts to promote economic and political autonomy for his people.
- Queen Idia – A legendary warrior queen from the ancient Benin Kingdom. Queen Idia is celebrated for her military prowess and strategic thinking and is often cited as a symbol of African female empowerment.
Legendary Heroes/Heroines from South Western Nigeria
- Ogedengbe of Ilesa – A Yoruba warrior who fought against British colonialism in the 19th century. He is remembered for his bravery and strategic military tactics.
- Moremi Ajasoro – A legendary heroine who sacrificed herself to save her people from enslavement by a neighbouring tribe. She is celebrated as a symbol of bravery and selflessness.
Introduction Continues
After receiving guesses from the pupils as to who is in the picture, tell them the name of the legendary figure. After that, narrate the story of the legendary hero with an intriguing storytelling skill.
Click here to see the short stories of each of the legendary heroes. The stories are history re-written in a child-friendly tone.
Succeeding the storytelling, remind the pupils of the hero whose story you just told them lived a long time ago. Emphasize this to help the pupils visualize how long time ago it was, probably long before the time of their grandparents.
Follow this by informing them that during the time that the hero lived and died, a lot of other people lived and died too. However, people today do not remember nor talk about the other people that lived and died during the time of the hero. With this understanding, ask the pupils why are many people forgotten after their death while others like the heroes are remembered for many years.
Take as many attempts as you can while appreciating those that have attempted. In the end, summarize that the reason we remember and forget people is because of the type of life they lived and the things they did. We remember people that live a good life and do great things. But we forget people that did not do any “extraordinary” thing in the life of others.
Finally, tell the pupils that during the week, they shall learn about some people that did many “extraordinary” things in the lives of many people and the whole country of Nigeria.
From there, display/project/write the topic on the screen/board and explain the lesson objectives to the pupils.
Step 2: Meaning of Hero & Heroines
To continue the lesson, tell the pupils that before they learn the names and stories of the people that did many good things in the lives of others and the country, they have to first all learn the special for those kinds of people – Hero and Heroine.
Following this, ask the people what they think is the meaning of the words, “hero” and “heroine”. Take a few attempts. Afterwards, display/project/write the definition of hero on the screen/board and thoroughly explain it to the pupils:
Meaning of a Hero & Heroine
A hero is a male that other people love because he has good character and does extraordinary things to help other people and his community in times of problem.
A heroine is a female that other people love because she has good character and does extraordinary things to help other people and her community in times of problem.
After displaying or writing the meaning of hero/heroine on the screen/board for the pupils, lead them to read it aloud many times for rote memorization. Pay close attention to ensure that every pupil is pronouncing the words the right way.
Randomly delegate a pupil to lead the reading while the rest of the class read after him/her. After a couple of readings, you MAY ask each of the pupils to read it individually – either aloud or by calling them to your desk to read to you.
You may adopt other rote memorization devices such as asking them to say the meaning offhand.
Explanation of the meaning of Hero & Heroine
After you ascertain that the pupils have reasonably committed the definition to memory, explain the words thoroughly. Below are the words and meanings you should emphasize:
Male/Female
A male is a man or a boy. A female is a woman or a girl.
Good Character
Character means the things that someone has that make him or her behave in a different way from other people. Behave is doing something or interacting (playing, talking, working, etc.) with other people. We can do something or interact with others in either a good way or a bad way. That means we have both good and bad behaviours (ways of behaving).
Similarly, we have good character and bad character. If we have good character, we will behave in a good way. And if we have bad character, we will behave in a bad way. Heroes and heroines have many good characters. So, they behave in a good way that makes many people love them. Tell them you (and them) will discuss the character later.
Extra-ordinary things
Extraordinary means more than ordinary good. The things and the way that everybody does things is the ordinary thing or ordinary way. For example, if you write a test and everybody scores 50, that is ordinary. But if one or two pupils score 100, that is extraordinary because it is more than ordinary.
Heroes and heroines, do extraordinarily “good” things to help other people. For example, refer to the extraordinarily good thing that the legendary hero in your introductory story did.
In the story of Queen Amina of Zaria, during the war, many kings and queens will not go to war. Instead, they send their warriors to go and fight to defend their land while they look after the kingdom. That is the ordinary thing to do – many kings and queens do that and it is not bad. But Queen Amina did not only send her warriors to go and defend their kingdom but she, the queen went out to fight with them! Not many kings and queens do that and that is why it is more than good. It is extraordinary!
Community
A community is many people with different characters who live together as one. For example, a family is a community; a peer group is a community; a study group is a community; a school is a community; people in a church/mosque are a community; a market is a community; a street is a community; a village is a community; a town is a community; a state is a community and a country is a community.
Heroes and heroines do not only do extraordinary things to help just one or two people. Rather, they do extraordinary things to help as many people as possible. They help anybody they can help whether it is their family, peer group, study group, school, people in the church, people in the mosque, market, street, village, town, state or country. They love all people that is why many people love them too.
One of the most special time people know heroes and heroines is whenever there are any problems. Heroes and heroines do not cause problems. But whenever there is any problem, they always look for a way to solve it to help other people.
Summary
Before the final evaluation and conclusion, summarize the entire lesson in a concise note. Then, duplicate/write it on the board for the pupils to copy into their notes.
Meaning of Hero and Heroine
A hero is a male that other people love because he has good character and does extraordinary things to help other people and his community in times of problem. A heroine is a female hero.
Keywords:
- Character – Character means the things that someone has that make him or her behave in a different way from other people.
- Community – A community is many people with different characters who live together as one. Examples of communities are family, school, village, town and country.
- Extraordinary – Extraordinary means more than ordinary good.
Evaluation
Prior to concluding the lesson, evaluate the pupils’ understanding of the entire lesson by giving them the following Question and Answer.
Stage Evaluation Questions
After you have thoroughly explained the definition of hero and heroine, recite the following Q&A with the pupils many times to help them internalize your explanations:
Question 1: Who is a hero?
Answer: A hero is a male that other people love because he has good character and does extraordinary things to help other people and his community in times of problem.
Question 2: What is male?
Answer: A male is a man or a boy.
Question 3: Who is a heroine?
Answer: A heroine is a female that other people love because she has good character and does extraordinary things to help other people and her community in times of problem.
Question 4: What is a female?
Answer: A female is a woman or a girl.
Question 5: What is character?
Answer: Character means the things that someone has that make him or her behave in a different way from other people.
Question 6: What are the kinds of characters?
Answer: Good character and bad character.
Question 7: What is good and bad character?
Answer: Good character makes us do good things. Bad character makes us do bad things.
Question 8: What does extraordinary mean?
Answer: Extraordinary means more than ordinary good.
Question 9: What is a community?
Answer: A community is many people with different characters who live together as one.
Question 10: Mention some examples of community.
Answer: Examples of a community are a family, a school, people in a church, people in a mosque, a market, a street, a town, a state and a country.
You may ask individual pupils these questions randomly.
Question 11: Give the pupils a pencil art of the legendary hero whose story you told them at the introductory stage. Then, let them colour it.
Conclusion
Conclude the lesson by marking the notes and recording the performance of the pupils. Give them appropriate feedback. Remember that good feedback starts by commending what the pupils got right, letting them know where they did not do well and encouraging/guiding them on what and how to improve.
Give extra work to individual pupils where necessary.
In the end, revise the entire lesson once more with the pupils and link the week’s topic to next week’s topic – names of heroes in our community.
Tell them that they have learned the meaning of hero and heroine this week. So, by next week, they will learn the names of some heroes in our community.