2: Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London - Part 2

During the programme the children will:

  • Check their chronometers are set to 1666 at the City of London to travel back in time once again.
  • Repeat the baking actions from ‘Loaves of bread and puddings and pies’ (sifting, stirring and clapping with a neighbour).
  • Hear about the start of The Great Fire of London in Thomas Farrynor’s bakery.
  • Listen to snippets from Samuel Pepys’ diary.
  • Join in with a sound-picture about the start of The Great Fire of London using body-percussion and mouth sounds.
  • Sing the famous tune ‘London’s burning!’ with adapted words about ‘buckets’ and ‘fire-hooks’, focusing on gradually rising then falling.
  • With the class split into two groups, sing the 'London's burning!' song as a round in two parts (in canon), cued by blowing instruments (Group 1) and bell sounds (Group 2, starting a few moments afterwards).
  • Listen to more extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary.
  • Join in in with another sound-picture about fire-fighting The Great Fire (using varied clapping and voice sounds) as it reaches its peak, then begins to die down.
  • Tap a repeating drum-rhythm and hum sad notes with the sad ‘Funeral music’ from last time (based on music by Purcell).
  • Think about health and safety at home and at school and how to avoid accidents.
  • Sing the whole of ‘London’s burning!’, once through the tune together, then dividing into two groups to sing the tune twice as a round (as above); then repeating ‘Pour on water…’ at the end, getting quieter and quieter.
  • Use the additional music files on the website to practise the song and appraise the music.

Song: 'London's burning'

Sing along to the full vocal version of ‘London's burning!’ from Music: Key Stage 1

Sing along to the backing track of ‘London's burning!’ from Music: Key Stage 1

Downloads

Download full programme

For the downloads below right click on the link and select either 'Save Target As' (PC) or 'Download Linked File' (Mac).

Download (mp3) 'London's burning!' - full vocal
Download (mp3) 'London's burning!' - backing track
Download (pdf) 'London's burning!' - music

Play next

Exploring The Great Fire of London through simple songs and music activities

1. Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London - Part 1

Exploring the rebuilding of London following the Fire through songs and music activities.

3: Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London - Part 3

Exploring The Great Fire of London through dance and movement activities.

4. The Fire begins in Pudding Lane