Victorian child labour: slate mining

Slate mining teachers notes (26 KB)
Slate mining Resources 1 (47 KB)
Slate mining Resources 2 (28 KB)
More information on download times and Resource Viewers

Download Resources 1 and 2 as well as the teachers' notes.
• Resources 1 gives you the paragraphs for the children to cut up.
• Resources 2 has the frame which children stick the paragraphs on (enlarge this to A3), plus a sample to show you what the end result should be.

bits of slate The children examined the concept of work, what it involves and how it has changed, and worked co-operatively together. This child labourer is proud of his work.

History: the children learned about a miner’s work in a slate mine in Victorian Britain.

Literacy: the children read challenging texts, working on two different genre types - autobiography and non-chronological reports.

by Paul Brown, Shropshire

Editor's note: The teaching described could be adapted and used with a range of texts, with or without a site visit looming!