How to Drive a Roman Chariot

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Albie is outside feeding the horses when it starts to rain, and he finds himself whisked off to Ancient Rome!
There, he meets a young girl, Julia, and before they know it, they are at the helm of a runaway chariot. Can they stop the chariot before it’s too late?
Ancient History has never been so much fun!

English:

• Read some of the other books in this series*. Which is your favourite?
• Could you write a new adventure for Albie, where he travels to a new place or period of time?
• The story is written in the present tense. Can you rewrite some of it in the past tense?
• Rewrite the story in the form of Albie’s diary entry for the day.
• Think of some questions that you would like to ask Albie. How might he respond to them?
• Write a Roman newspaper article about the appearance of a boy from the future.
• Write definitions for some of the historical words in the book, e.g. chariot, hippodrome, aqueduct, Britannia.
• Write a new ending for the story, in which Albie has another day in Rome.

Computing:

• Make a game in which Albie has to race a Roman chariot.
• Record a video version of this story. Here is one example:

Design Technology:

• Could you make a model of a Roman chariot?

Art:

• The illustrations on the inside cover challenge the reader to find different objects in the book. Could you create a detailed picture with lots of hidden objects and challenge somebody to find them all?
• Create your own illustration of a Roman chariot.

History:

• Look through the book and record all of the information that it teaches you about Ancient Rome.
• This video has more information about chariot racing. Make notes while you watch it:

• Find out more about the Romans and create a report or a timeline to show what you have discovered.
• The first page shows a number of Roman inventions. What other things did the Romans invent? How do their achievements continue to influence life today?
• Imagine you could visit any period of history like Albie. Where would you go? What might you discover?