HTML and CSS lesson 3: Headings and paragraphs

UK version. UK school years and UK spelling. · US version of this lesson

Headings <h1>–<h6> give a page an outline; paragraphs <p> hold the text. <strong> marks important words and <br> is a line break. A complete 40-minute HTML and CSS lesson for beginners (Year 7, KS3), from Unit 1: Web pages and HTML. You build real web pages right here in your browser – nothing to install.

Time: 40 minutes + 20 min homework
Year: Year 7, KS3 (ages 11–12)
You need: A computer or tablet, paper and a pencil
Marked: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know HTML yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Babbage, our Head of Computing, likes it: a worked example first, then a go for your child. When your child builds a page, the browser draws it straight away and Classfern marks it with a checklist.

Read what your child will learn together.
Press Start the lesson below. Sit with your child for the teaching and the worked example (about 15 minutes): ask them to point at each tag and say what it does.
Let them do the practice on their own. If a page doesn't look right, the checklist says what is missing – let them find the mistake before you help.
Finish with the exit questions and the talk question: “How would you explain to a friend why a page should have only one `<h1>`?”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Use <h3> because it is the size I want. Pick the level for the outline; change the size with CSS.
<br> starts a new paragraph. It breaks a line inside the same paragraph.

Miss Lovelace's tip for home: ask your child to change one thing on their page – a word, a colour, a size – and predict what will happen before they look. Predicting first is how programmers learn fastest.

What your child will learn

We are learning to use one <h1> and then <h2> headings in order.

Success looks like

I can use one <h1> and then <h2> headings in order.
I can split text into paragraphs.
I can mark important words with <strong>.

Key words

heading · h1 to h6 · paragraph · line break · strong · outline

What to have ready

A device with a web browser (pages are built and checked right in the browser – nothing to install)
Paper for planning and sketching
A keyboard helps for typing code (a tablet works too)

The big ideas (for the adult)

Headings work like the headings in a book. There is one main heading, <h1>, then <h2> for each section and <h3> inside those. Browsers show <h1> at 32px – twice the normal 16px text – and each level after it smaller.

Choose a heading for its PLACE in the outline, not its size. People using screen readers often jump from heading to heading to find their way, so skipping from <h1> to <h3> is like a book with a missing chapter. (You can change sizes later with CSS.)

Each <p> is one paragraph; the browser adds space between paragraphs. <br> breaks a line inside a paragraph, for things like addresses. <strong> says "this is important" and browsers show it in bold. Remember to close </strong> – a forgotten closing tag makes the bold run on.

Worked example: an outline

<h1>Our school garden</h1>
<p>We grow <strong>vegetables</strong> and flowers.</p>
<h2>What we grow</h2>
<p>Beans, peas and sunflowers.</p>

The lesson, step by step

40 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter	5 min	Marked by Classfern
Learn	8 min	Read, watch and talk
See it	7 min	Marked by Classfern
Practise	15 min	Marked by Classfern
Check and reflect	5 min	Marked by Classfern + self-check

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – nothing you type is sent anywhere. Each visit picks a new mix of questions.

Homework

20 minutes: predict what the browser will do, build or fix a short page, and check the key ideas – then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.

Practice tests

All KS3 computing practice tests · All 20 HTML and CSS lessons

Curriculum

National curriculum in England, computing, key stage 3: pupils should be taught to use 2 or more programming languages, at least one of which is textual, to solve a variety of computational problems; make appropriate use of data structures [for example, lists, tables or arrays]; design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions; and to create, reuse, revise and repurpose digital artefacts for a given audience, with attention to trustworthiness, design and usability.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board. HTML and CSS are open web standards; Classfern is not affiliated with the organisations that publish them.