A family portrait from 140 years ago
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe some of the things that we can learn from a family portrait photograph from 140 years ago.
Key learning points
- Looking at a family portrait from 140 years ago can tell us a lot about that time.
- The number of children can tell us about the size of families.
- The clothes they are wearing can tell us about what was fashionable at the time.
- The objects in the photograph can tell us about their interests and pastimes.
Keywords
Portrait - a portrait is a painting or photograph of a person or people
Wealthy - people with lots of money or land are described as wealthy
Fashionable - something that is popular to wear can be described as fashionable
Pastimes - a pastime is a hobby that people enjoy doing outside of work or school
Common misconception
That all families were the same 140 years ago and life was the same for everyone.
Explain that while the photograph gives us some clues to life in the past, just like now, all families were different.
Teacher tip
Invite pupils to bring in a portrait, class portrait or family portrait photograph to share with the class.
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In the past photography was ...
Q2.In the past photography was ...
Q3.Match the description of photography to the correct time.
photography is cheaper and quicker
photography was slow and expensive
Q4.The photograph was taken 200 years ago.
Q5.In the past, photographs had to be developed before you could see them.
Q6.A roll of plastic coated with chemicals that is used to develop photos is called ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.An historian is someone who learns about ...
Q2.Historians use photographs to learn about ...
Q3.In the past only wealthy people could afford photographs.
Q4.A portrait is ...
Q5.By looking at family portraits from 140 years ago we can learn ...
Q6.Match the word to its meaning.
a painting or photograph of someone
something people like to do when not at work or school
something that is popular to wear
someone with lots of money
To help you plan your 1 history lesson on: A family portrait from 140 years ago, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 1 history lesson on: A family portrait from 140 years ago, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 history lessons from the Photographs from history: what can they tell us about Britain's recent past? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.