Beccarob

Year Group:

Term:

Teacher:

Subject:

Topic:

Wk

Objectives

Outline ofActivities

KeyResources

1

To identify QueenVictoria and place the Victorian period in relation to otherperiods of British history. To infer information from a portrait.To consider what life was like for children in the past.

Who were theVictorians and when did they live?

Show the children apicture of Queen Victoria and her family. Discuss what they thinkthey can tell from the picture, eg status of the family,lifestyle, when the person was alive. Ask the children to placethe Victorian period on a time line. Discuss with the children whatlife may have been like for Victorias children, and whether allchildren would have had similar experiences. Ask the children towork in groups and share what they already know about the periodand then feed back to the rest of the class what they think lifemight have been like for children.

2

To collect informationfrom a range of sources and draw conclusions about the Victorianperiod. To understand that ways of life differed greatly acrossVictorian society. To write a narrative using historical detail. Tounderstand that there are many representations of the Victorianperiod.

What was life like for apoor child in the 1840s?

Show the children an extract froma video about life for the poor in the nineteenth century. Discussthe extract and what sources of information the film-maker mighthave used and what other sources might be used to find out more.Provide a range of sources,eg extracts from contemporary authors (Kingsley, Dickens),reports on factories or mines, engravings. Ask the children to makea list of what they can infer about the life of poor children fromthe sources and present it to class. Provide some information onthe numbers of working children, their hours of work, the types ofjobs they did and their lack of education. Discuss why childrenworked in Victorian times. Ask the children to imagine they are aVictorian child working in a factory and write an extract from afactory report describing the work a child of their age wasdoing.

3

To understand that thework of individuals can change aspects of society. To find outabout important figures in Victorian times. To present theirfindings in different ways.

Who helped toimprove the lives of Victorian children?

Ask the children what they thinkneeded to be done for Victorian children. Talk about LordShaftesbury and Dr Barnardo and how they helped children, placingkey events on the time line. Ask the children to find out about thework of these men, and the way that they changed some childrenslives using a variety of written sources and pictures. Ask thechildren to present their work using freeze-frames, briefrole-plays, cartoons, extended writing or oral and visualpresentations.

4

To compare modern andVictorian schooling. To communicate through drama theirunderstanding of the nature of school life in Victoriantimes.

What was it likegoing to school at the end of the nineteenth century?

Show the children pictures ofschool life at the end of the nineteenth century and discuss howschool appears different from today, eg uniforms, architectureand interiors of classrooms. Referring to the time line, talkbriefly about the 1870 Education Act, and how schooling was notfree until 1891. Use sources to illustrate aspects of school lifeat this time, eg extracts from stories, school logbooks,inspection reports. Ask the children to produce a conversationbetween two children, one established in school and the other a newarrival who had been working in a factory, mill or mine for years.Select children to present their work to the class. Lead adiscussion on the differences in the views of school and work andwhy the children in the nineteenth century would have interpretedschool life differently.

5

Toconsider how attitudes to children and childhood changed overtime.

How diddifferent Victorian children use their spare time?

Discuss ways of spending spare time,and ask the children to list their interests and those of others intheir families. Ask them to consider which would have been possiblein 1890 and which not, giving reasons. Discuss with the childrenwhat leisure interests may have been available.

Give the children a range of sourceson Victorian leisure pursuits, eg artefacts, textbooks,contemporary paintings, pictures. Ask the children to complete atable listing each leisure pursuit and describing it.

Tell the children aboutlate-Victorian attitudes, eg that childhood was a time forprotection from immoral aspects of adult life and for learningfamily values and moral principles. Ask the children to compareVictorian attitudes with those of today.

Ask the children touse the sources of information to help them produce advertisementsor a poster advertising the benefits of a new toy or pursuit, andhighlighting what they have been told about Victorianattitudes.

6

To recall information about thelife of children in Victorian times. To select appropriate materialand present it in a way that shows their understanding of theVictorian period.

How did lifechange for children living in Victorian Britain?

Refer to the time line to recapthe main events, dates and figures to help the children recall someof the main changes to the lives of children during the Victorianperiod. Discuss with the children why the changes took place andwho benefited from them. Tell the children that a large number ofchildren were still working in 1901. Provide the children with arange of sources and ask them to summarise what they have found outin ways that provide a sense of the Victorian period.

7

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