What's included in the Roman Britain History Stem Sentences resource and why is it useful?

LKS2 Roman Britain History Stem Sentences is a set of sentence stems that give children a clear starting point for discussion and written answers about the topic. The content includes 24 stem sentences across 6 pages, covering how the Roman Empire expanded, the invasion of Britain, Boudica, how life changed when the Romans arrived, Roman and Celtic beliefs and the Roman legacy today.

Each stem gives children the first part of a sentence, so they can focus on the history rather than how to begin. Children practise using topic vocabulary, explaining causes and consequences, and giving reasons with "because". This builds the oracy and extended writing skills they need to show what they know.

Empire and Invasion

Stems that help children explain how the Roman Empire grew and why the Romans invaded Britain, such as "The Romans wanted to invade Britain because…"

Boudica and Resistance

Stems about Boudica and how different groups saw her, such as "Boudica was a significant person because…"

Beliefs and Legacy

Stems about Roman and Celtic beliefs and the Roman influence we still see today, such as "One impact of the Romans in Britain we see today is..."

How do our history stem sentences work?

Our stem sentences sit alongside our history scheme. Display a stem on the board or print the pages for tables, and children finish the sentence aloud or in writing. You can also use them:

• as a lesson starter to recap learning from the previous lesson
• with talk partners, who finish a stem together and then share their answer
• as a writing frame for extended answers in books
• on a working wall, so children can refer back to them across the topic
• at the end of the unit, to see what children can explain on their own

Stretch confident learners by asking them to add a second reason or a piece of evidence. Support others by modelling a complete sentence first.

Teach the full unit with our six Roman Britain lessons.

Supporting Children with EAL and SEND

Stem sentences reduce the language load of a task, so every child can take part in the discussion. Read stems aloud together, point to the photo on each strip and give a word bank of key vocabulary from the topic. Children can answer with a single word or a drawing before building to a full sentence.