To reflect upon the story and Victoria society

Key Stage 2

English

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

﻿Hello, it's Ms. Henman. And today, we've got our fifth and final lesson. We are going to be looking at a different part of the book today, and then we're going to reflect on how Victorian society is different to today's society. Let's get reading. Let's go through our agenda for this lesson. First, we're just going to look at the historical period and remind ourselves of what era we're talking about and that this book is set in. Then we're going to have a quick vocabulary check. After that, we're going to read some of the story and answer some questions. And finally, we're going to reflect on the story and compare our society today to Victorian society. You will need something to write on, such as an exercise book or a piece of paper, something to write with, such as a pencil. And you're also going to need to bring your best learning brain, so make sure that your phone or anything is turned off so there's no background noise and that you've got a quiet space to learn in. You can pause the video now if you need to set anything up or go and collect anything. Otherwise, let's get going. Okay, so we've got a little bit of a timeline from the 1800s to 2020. I've put in World War I and World War II. The last time we looked at this, we had my birthday, and we also looked at when Boris Johnson was elected as our prime minister. I would like you to point to the screen, where is Queen Victoria's reign? So it's a long period of time, so it's not just going to be one place, it's going to be stretched out across that timeline. Where do you think it would go on the timeline? Okay, let's have a look. So she reigned from 1837 to 1901, which is a really, really long time to be King or Queen. A new thing I would like to place on our timeline is when the National Health Service, the NHS, was founded, so when it started. It was started in 1948, that's three years after the end of World War II. So, was there a National Health Service when Queen Victoria was in power? Thumbs up or thumbs down. Ah ah, there was no National Health Service at this time. This meant it was really difficult for people to get to see a doctor or to go to the hospital, as they would have had to pay. What is great about our National Health Service now is that we pay for it with our taxes. And so when you go to the doctor, you don't get a bill at the end of it. Back in Queen Victoria's time, that wasn't the case. Okay, we've got two new words. Costermonger, I didn't hear you, costermonger. Is a person who sells fruit or vegetables from a stall or from a market stall. Pauper. A pauper is a very poor person who may also be homeless. So we're going to see these words in our reading today. So now you know what they mean. So we're skipping forward to chapter 24. So what's happened in between? After sharing the shrimps with the boy called Shrimps, Jim returned to the shed that Rosie had let him stay in. And he planned to invite Shrimps to share the shed with him. In the middle of the night, however, he was roughly awoken. Rosie's grandfather had sold Jim to the cruel Grimy Nick. Nick made Jim his slave, hauling coal on and off a boat all day, tied up or under the guard of his ferocious dog. After the dog bit and injured Jim's leg, he managed to escape. So poor Jim was taken away and he was enslaved, and what that means is that he was forced to work and not paid. Jim walked back to London, looking for Rosie, but she was nowhere to be found. However, he found Shrimps, who was living in a wooden crate and was not very well, after being attacked by a strange man who robbed him. Shrimps was in a really bad state. So Jim has had a terrible time where he's been enslaved, and he's been working and he hasn't had his freedom. But Shrimps has also had a terrible time. What's happened to Shrimps? He's living in a wooden crate, so he still doesn't have a home. And he's been attacked, he's in a really bad state. So I think he's got lots of physical injuries after being robbed. I'm going to read this to you. Can you follow with your eyes, please? Shrimps was afraid their hiding place would be found by the police. He made Jim pile up more and more boxes around them. The nights were bitterly cold, and the sun was so weak that the day time was hardly warmer. Winter was upon them. It sounds very bleak and desperate, this situation. Jim asked all the costermongers at the market for help. Now I'd like you to read to me. Pause the video as you do so. Fantastic reading, well done. Now I'm going to read to you. "Needs a doctor, he does," one of the women said. "He can't go to the hospital, I promised him," Jim said. He was desperate for help. Did anyone care? "He's scared of being taken into the workhouse." The woman nodded. "Nowhere else for him," she said, turning her back on the crate, rubbing her arms for warmth. "'Cept a pauper's grave, and that will be a blessing." She was already walking away as she said it. So a grave is where people are buried. So she thinks that Shrimps is in such a bad state, that he might die. It's your turn to read to me. Please can you pause the video and read the words on the screen out loud. Brilliant reading, well done. Now we're going to reflect from the story and compare society then to society now. Society, your turn, society is a word that describes the people in it, so we are all citizens in a society, and the system and the government that runs those people and the institutions. The question is, why are they hiding from the police? Pause the video and say your answer out loud. So I'm a bit confused here, because Shrimps and Jim need help. Now, if I needed help, one of the people I might ask for help today are the police. But they don't want the police to find them. Why are they worried about the police? Hmm, this makes me think two things. First, it makes me think that maybe the police, in Victorian society, were inefficient, and wouldn't care about a young street child being robbed, and they wouldn't help them. The second thing it makes me think is that they're worried the police are going to say they can't live on the street anymore and they need to go back to a workhouse. Jim has asked all the costermongers at the market for help. Some of the women came to peer at Shrimps in his crate, but they'd seen many a child in that state before, and they just shrugged. The street boys bought him things to eat, but he was too ill to touch it. It says, they just shrugged. Who was it who shrugged? Have a look at the text, ah, some of the women. They just shrugged. What does this suggest about what the women are thinking or feeling? So here I'm asking you to make some inferences. What can you infer about the women who are shrugging? Can you show me a shrug? Hmm, what can you infer? Pause the video and have a think. So I think there are lots of inferences that we could make. The women might be indifferent, my turn. Your turn, indifferent. That means they just don't care. So sometimes people shrug when they don't care. Or it might be that they're shrugging because they're unable to help, or they're not able to do anything. If these women are also poor, they can't really help. They don't want to use their little money to spend on this child going to the doctor. Also, a shrug can just show that you're not interested, which is a little bit like indifferent. My question is, how did the street boys try to help? This is a retrieval question. So the answer is in the text. Can you pause the video and point to the answer? Yeah, the street boys bought him things to eat. Now, when I read this, I was quite surprised by the boys' charitable act, this act of charity of giving food to Shrimps. Why did I find this surprising? Hmm, have a think. Yeah, I found it surprising because the street boys have as little as Jim and Shrimps do. They also are living quite a bleak and desperate life. But, even though they have very little, they're still being very charitable by giving the small amount that they have to this boy who's very unwell. I suppose the street boys really are Jim and Shrimp's family and their friends. And we could refer to them as their community. Someone who's in my community is my family. Another person who's in my community are the other teachers that I work with. Can you pause the video and say out loud who is in your community? Fantastic. Why can't Shrimps go to the hospital? You're going to need to reread the text. You're going to scan for the word hospital, and then read the sentence before or after it. Ah, he can't get to the hospital because he's feeling scared, what's he scared of? Yeah, he's scared of being taken to the workhouse. So that's one reason he can't go to the hospital. And if you think back to earlier in our lesson, I told you about the NHS. Would they be able to go to hospital or go to a doctor for free? No, so that would be another reason. They'd need to have some money in order to pay for a doctor. How is this different to today? Pause the video and say your answer out loud. Well, for starters, if I was unwell, I wouldn't be scared to go and get help from a medical professional. That would be the first thing I would do. And secondly, like I said, under NHS, I wouldn't have to pay for that help, either. I'm going to read this section to you. Jim tried begging for money. He waited outside the theatres where Shrimps used to sell his laces to the rich people. "Please," he would say to the ladies and gentlemen stepping out of their carriages, "my brother's ever so ill. "Please can I have some money for a doctor?" But they would turn away as if they hadn't really seen him. Why did Jim refer to Shrimps as his brother? Pause the video and have some thinking time. So I thought that maybe Jim thought it might encourage the rich people to feel sorry for him and give money. So they might feel more sorry for him if he says the word brother rather than friend. If it's his only family on the street, then maybe the rich people who are going to the theatre might be more sympathetic and therefore more likely to give Jim money. I also thought it shows how Jim feels about Shrimps. He's calling him a brother, and maybe for him, Shrimps does feel like family. Remember he doesn't have anyone left or near him in his family. So it's the closest thing to family he has. Based on what we've read so far, and what you know about Victorian society, what do you think might happen next? Here's an example of a prediction. I predict that Shrimps will make a miraculous recovery. I predict a doctor will come and help the boys and Shrimps will recover. I predict Jim will get help, but it will be too late and Shrimps will die. I predict Jim won't be able to get help, and Shrimps will die. What do you think is going to happen? Pause the video and say your prediction out loud. Okay, which words describe Victorian society? We've got four words on the screen. My turn, your turn. Harsh, selfish, charitable, unequal. If you're not sure of the meaning of any of those words, you might want to pause the video and clap them out, or look for words within words. For example, unequal, I can hear the word equal, and then I can see that a prefix has been added to it. That might help you with the meaning. So which words do you think accurately describe Victorian society? Pause the video and write down the words that you think are adjectives that describe this time. So I think harsh and unequal. Harsh and unequal are actually synonyms for each other. The street children aren't treated equally. There seems to be a big difference between people who are wealthy and people who are not wealthy. Now, you may have thought charitable, because we just read that some of the street boys showed charity. And I agree with you, it seems like some individuals during this time were charitable. But the society, the whole was not charitable. Individuals in it were, but the society wasn't. Again, you may have thought selfish because the wealthy theatregoers could have easily given Jim some money. So they were being selfish. But I don't think we can say the whole of society was selfish, because we just read about the boys being charitable. So we have to think about the whole. And I think the two words are harsh and unequal. Can you read the question on the screen, please? Vulnerable, vulnerable means to need help. So in this story, Jim and Shrimps are vulnerable. But anyone can be vulnerable. I can be vulnerable if I've hurt my foot, and I need to get help from a doctor. I can be vulnerable if I've got a problem and I need talk to someone about it. If you were feeling vulnerable today, where could you seek help or who could you talk to? Can you pause the video and have a little think? I wonder what you came up with. Here are some of my ideas. You could use ChildLine, so there's a free number on the screen, and you can phone ChildLine about any worries that you have. And then, if they think you need more help, they can direct you on who to speak to or where to get that help from. It's a really useful number. You might decide to speak to a trusted adult. That's an adult who you trust. And here are some of the people who I thought you might trust. An adult in school, a family member, a social worker, a school nurse, a doctor. You might have other trusted adults in your life, but these are some of the ones I thought of. And if you were in immediate danger, then you can call the police on 999. We know that today, the police are efficient, and they will help us. Can you read the question on the screen, please? If you were feeling vulnerable today, what words could you use to ask for help? Here's an example. I need to talk to you about something important. Can you pause the video and think about other words you could use to ask for help? Here are some more of my ideas. I need help with something. I need to talk to you about something in private. There is something worrying me. All of these sentences will let the adult who you're choosing to talk to know that they need to take time to listen to you. If you use these sentences with an adult and they don't have time, then you can try again, or you could try a different adult. Today, we have lots of systems in place and people to talk to. And I think our society is a little bit more equal and a little bit more helpful to people who are vulnerable. I don't think that children would be in such difficult situations as they were in the Victorian times. I always think it's really interesting to read books which are set in a different historical period, because they show us how society has changed. But they can also be a little bit shocking. For example, I was shocked that children didn't learn to read and write at school. Congratulations, you have finished this lesson, which means you've finished this unit. We have read little parts of the book Street Child. However, you might now decide to read the whole book. It doesn't matter that we read little parts of it. You could now read more of it if you choose to, remembering, though, that there does seem to be a little bit of sadness in this book. Okay, well done for your lesson today, and I wish you a very, very happy day, bye.

To reflect upon the story and Victoria society

To reflect upon the story and Victoria society

No lesson available

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / Street Child by Berlie Doherty

English