Food Glorious Food
Suitable for: Key stage 2
Time period: Victorians 1850-1901
Curriculum topics: Childhood through time, Victorians
Download: Lesson pack
This lesson will explore the topic of food, placing it within the wider context of the enquiry question of ‘What was life like for a child in the Victorian Workhouse?’. This lesson will allow the children an opportunity to explore a range of primary sources, also to draw comparisons towards Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’. This will support the children’s’ understanding of historical interpretation.
The key historical aim for this lesson will be to use primary sources to support the understanding of a period in time. They will also be able to draw comparisons between their lives today and understand what life would have been like in the past.
This lesson will support an exploration of the Victorians where it is either your post 1066 unit or linked to local history, for example if you have a local workhouse that is now a hospital or converted for other uses. It could also be used if you were exploring children’s experiences through history.
Tasks
1. Children to have the letters on tables, or use one depending on cohort, read through the letters and ask the children to underline any words they do not understand. Give the children time to talk on tables and see if they can place the words in context to understand what they might mean. Teacher to make a note of the words and record them on the board or somewhere visual for the children to write down the definitions when they are able to.
2. A letter in the middle, or a range of letters spread across tables. Complete the zones of inference task, available to download and edit. In the middle will be the letter, the statements for the children to complete will be: What I can see; What I can work out; What I don’t understand/Would like to know.
3. Children to use the letters to make a food diary of they know the children will eat. They will also use the image of the diet allowance from Mitford and Launditch Workhouse – ensure the children are aware each workhouse would differ.
4. Draw comparisons between the letters and the extract from Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ ensure links between the letters and the extract. Is there any truth in the fiction?
Background
From 1834, the workhouses fell under the Poor Law Commission, the expectation from each workhouse and what they provided was more in line. However, there were still differences between what each workhouse provided. Some might have gone over and above what needed to be provided, while others provided the bare minimum.
There is a video on the BBC, that provides an example of a diet for a boy over a week and shows how much food they would have. This is a interesting hook for the children, ensure that this has been made for entertainment as well as information. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011spj3
External links
www.workhouses.org.uk – A useful resource which explores all aspects of workhouses and gives information about many surviving examples.
https://www.history.org.uk/primary/categories/7/resource/7482/victorians – This resource examines the Victorians in general and will help to improve your subject knowledge.
Back to topSuitable for: Key stage 2
Time period: Victorians 1850-1901
Curriculum topics: Childhood through time, Victorians
Download: Lesson pack
Children’s Clothing in the Workhouse
What do the letters tell us about pauper children's clothing in the workhouse?
Going to School in the Workhouse
How was school for pauper children different, and what was the same?