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Year Group Year 5
Curriculum Area: Unit 11 - What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Victorian Toys

Overview

Introduction
Preparatory work
The Lesson
Introduction

This lesson plan contributes to QCA History Study Unit 11 - What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain? It provides some ready-made ICT resources to enable teachers to introduce children's life in Victorian times, as well as providing an ICT-based resource for pupils to use to create an advertising poster for a Victorian toy. The activity described in this lesson plan could easily be adapted to the study of any other historical artefact.

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ICT competences required by

Teacher

  • Use of data projector and PowerPoint
  • Familiarity with word processing or Desk Top Publishing
  • Knowledge of text wrapping (use online help if required)
  • Ability to copy an image from the Internet

Child

  • Use of word processing or Desk Top Publishing
  • Ability to copy an image from the Internet
The Learning Objectives

Pupils should learn:
  • To consider how attitudes to children and childhood changed over time

Resources

  • Computer with large screen or data projector for whole class teaching
  • ICT Suite/set of laptop computers
  • Internet connection
  • Ready made PowerPoint presentation Victorians.ppt
  • Word processing or Desk Top Publishing software

Vocabulary

leisure pursuits, advertisements, Victorian, attitudes, optical

Preparatory work

Download the PowerPoint presentation from the website: Victorians.ppt to the demonstration machine. To download the file right click on the link and select Save As. Save the presentation in a folder or location where it will be easily accessible when it is needed. Teacher may wish to bookmark the optical toy website http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/opticaltoys.htm

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The Lesson

Whole Class Teaching

Draw from the children what they have learned about what it was like for a child living in Victorian Britain.

Children should be seen and not heard, childhood was a time for protection from "immoral" aspects of adult life and for learning family values and moral principles.
Open the PowerPoint toys.ppt and show slide 1. Explain to pupils that they will be designing and creating a poster advertising the benefits of a Victorian toy.

Show slides 2- 4. It is important that they look carefully at the layout and design features of the Victorian advertisements. The teacher needs to record the pupils' comments for reference when evaluating the posters in the plenary.

Q What words would you use to describe these advertisements?

Q How do they differ from advertisements that you see nowadays?
No photos or computer enhanced images, images are all drawn, in some there was more text than we might be used to seeing in advertisements, prices in old money, people are dressed in "old" clothes, one of the advertisements was very flowery and fancy.

Q Do you think that people nowadays would be persuaded to buy these items having looked at these advertisements?

Q How would carpets or glue be advertised today?

Show the pupils slides 5 - 7 which illustrate a range of Victorian leisure pursuits. (On each of theses slides the graphic appears without the text. Click to reveal the text after pupils have had an opportunity to comment.)

Q What are the children doing?
Slide 5 shows a girl with a hoop and stick, slide 6 shows a girl with a skipping rope, slide 7 shows pupils playing marbles. Pupils might be interested to know this is where the expression to "knuckle down" originates - when playing marbles one had to keep one's knuckle on the ground.

Show the pupils slides 8 - 10 which illustrate a number of Victorian toys.
Q If you wanted to advertise the Jack in the Box, bearing in mind Victorian attitudes, what facts would you include on your poster?
Suitable to amuse a child on his or her own, not too noisy, no adult supervision required
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Main Activity

Teacher explains that the pupils task is to visit the website http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/opticaltoys.htm, and look at two or three of the toys shown. They should then choose one toy on which to concentrate, look at the additional information available and use it to produce their Victorian poster. They should include an image of their toy in their poster. Pupils may need to be reminded how to do this - right click on the desired image and select either copy or save picture as. Pupils may also need to be reminded about text wrapping.

During this activity the teacher may wish to focus the pupils' attention on the following questions.

Q Why have you chosen this font for your poster?

Q How has the colour scheme on your poster been influenced by the posters we looked at earlier?

Q What facts have you included that will appeal to the Victorian parents?

Q Have you checked your poster against the criteria that we created at the beginning of the lesson?
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Plenary

Remind the pupils of the criteria by which their poster will be judged. Ask pupils to move two computers to their left and evaluate the poster, noting at least one positive plus one developmental comment.
Teacher draws from the pupils common strengths and weaknesses of the posters?

Finally:

Q Would all Victorian children have had these kinds of toys?

Q What would children from poor families have used for entertainment?

Show slide 10 which illustrates a shoe doll and draw from the pupils how it was made.


Why use ICT

The PowerPoint presentation provides the teacher with an easy to manage resource. The Internet enables independent research and provides access to resources that would not otherwise be available. The poster can be modified in the light of comments made by their peers. Graphics don't have to be drawn by hand they can be acquired in a variety of ways.


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