The Homeschool Almanac

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Story · for reading together

The Battle of Trafalgar, 1805

It was the 21st of October, 1805. The sea near a Spanish cape called Trafalgar was full of ships. On one side, 27 British ships. On the other, 33 French and Spanish ships. Six more than us.

The British admiral was called Horatio Nelson. His huge ship was called HMS Victory. Everyone thought he would line up his ships next to the enemy, the way sea battles were always fought. Nelson did not do that.

Instead he split his fleet into two long lines and drove them STRAIGHT INTO the middle of the enemy, like two knives cutting a loaf of bread. It worked. The British won.

But high up on the deck of Victory, a musket ball hit Nelson. He lived just long enough to hear that he had won, and then he died. That is why we have Trafalgar Square in London, with a very tall column and a little Nelson on top.

Retell the story

In three pictures

Tell the battle in THREE pictures: the two fleets meeting, Nelson's line cutting through, and Nelson falling on the deck of Victory.

1.The two fleets
2.The line cuts through
3.Nelson falls

Answer key: The ship: HMS Victory

Number & measure

Counting the hours

HMS Victory had three decks of guns. Let's count them.

  1. a)If Victory has 5 guns on one side of the top deck and 5 on the other side, how many guns is that? 5 + 5 = ?
  2. b)If the ship had 10 sails up, and the wind blew 3 away, how many sails are left? 10 − 3 = ?
  3. c)HMS Victory had THREE decks of guns. If you draw 3 guns on each deck, how many guns is that altogether? 3 + 3 + 3 = ?
  4. d)Draw 4 ships in a row. Then draw 2 more. How many ships now?

Answer key: a) 10 b) 7 c) 9 d) 6

Map task

Find it on the World map

Map task · World map

Find the UK, then Cape Trafalgar on the south-west coast of Spain. Lay a short route from Portsmouth towards the cape.

Mark

  • · Portsmouth
  • · Cape Trafalgar
  • · Atlantic Ocean

mark on your world map

Not recorded yet

Timeline card

Cut out and add to your timeline

Cut on the dashed line. Place the card near 1805 on your wall timeline.

✂ Cut out · add to timeline
1805⚓

The Battle of Trafalgar

Cape Trafalgar, Spain

Nelson's two lines cut through the larger fleet.

Not recorded yet

Word treasury

Today's treasure word

Cut on the dashed line and place in your word treasury.

✂ Word treasury card

Signal

A sign, sound or movement that carries a message.

"Nelson's signal flags carried a message from ship to ship."

Draw two bright signal flags on a mast.

write or decorate the word

Not recorded yet

Draw the inside

Your drawing

Draw HMS Victory as if you had sliced it in half from top to bottom. Three decks of guns stacked up like a cake. The great cabin at the back where Nelson wrote his letters. The powder magazine deep down where they kept the gunpowder safe. And a lookout right at the top of the mast.

drawn by me

Labels

  • · top deck
  • · middle deck
  • · gun deck
  • · great cabin
  • · magazine
  • · lookout
  • · wheel