Learning activities

Starter activities

Starter activity Sa (Links to any main activity)

• Give each child a post-it note. Ask them to write their initials on this and then get them to find something in the classroom that they think would not have been in a Victorian classroom. Stick their post-it note on their chosen item.
• Watch some or all of the video clips of the Victorian lesson in West Wittering School at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. (Note: These videos are contained in Schooling: Activity 3, Videos. To save time in the classroom, it is recommended to save video files to your computer for faster playback during the lesson.)
• Children to make a record of what they see or notice that is different to today. Use the headings Teacher, Classroom environment, Lesson, Equipment, and Discipline for this.
• Write a timetable of the school week and the lessons children learn today. What is considered most important, for example literacy, numeracy, ICT?

Main activities

Main activity Ma (Links to starter activity Sa)

Discuss the findings and what was on the Victorian Lesson video that surprised the children, for example the left-handed child being made to write with their right hand. Look at Source 5 of the Victorian timetable. What do the children notice that is different? Tick off/colour in on their modern timetable the lessons that would have been covered in the Victorian era.

Main activity Mb (Links to starter activity Sa)

Make a video/PowerPoint presentation with photographs that demonstrate what modern learning and classrooms are like and how this is different from Victorian schooling. Children to comment and annotate their video presentation to show what was missing or different in Victorian times. Children could also use frames from the sources/video to add to their PowerPoint presentation.

Main activity Mc (Links to starter activity Sa)

Using the sources, children complete the activity sheets.

Plenary activities

Plenary activity Pa (Links to main activity Mb)

Share the children's video/PowerPoint presentations. Discuss successes and any need for improvement. Children's work could also be shared in assembly with whole school.

Plenary activity Pb (Links to any main activity)

Children are given 5 minutes to rearrange the classroom to imitate a Victorian classroom. Is there anything from which the post-it notes need to be removed? Children to sit and imitate the Victorian school children. If possible, the teacher continues teaching the following lessons using this arrangement and in the style of a Victorian teacher. How do the children feel?

Note
This activity includes an additional theme that could be used as homework or a short classroom task: 2a - School Treats. Children look at the sources and answer the questions on the Extension: School Treats - Children's Activity Sheet.