Woven in Ulster: Ulster-Scots and the Story of Linen
Lesson 2: The Half-Timers
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This lesson will look at the half-timers’ working days, many of whom would have been of Ulster-Scots heritage. Pupils will have an opportunity to compare their day with that of the half-timers. They will also draw a bar chart to show the ages of children who worked in a mill and have an opportunity to comment on the data.
Lesson Plan
National School half-timer full-timer Education Act poverty
Learning Intentions
Pupils will:
- understand the working day of a half-timer;
- show an awareness of how the half-timers were treated by other pupils; and
- use mathematical skills to interpret a table.
Starter
Explain that working children was a common practice in Victorian times. Even before the arrival of the mills in the cities, children were likely to work on farms or in ‘the big house’ to help with family finances. See Resource 4.4: Teacher Information Card 1.
Now discuss with pupils some typical Victorian jobs which children carried out. Ask pupils to guess what the following jobs entailed:
- Street sellers – children who were used to sell food on streets; and
- Entertainers – children who were used in circuses or as street performers.
Explain that children who worked in mills started as ‘half-timers’. Ask the pupils what they think this meant.
Main Lesson
Now discuss with pupils why so many children had to work in the mills. You may wish to discuss the poverty that people endured at that time. Explain what living conditions were like for those living in the cities and in the country. Display Resource 4.5: Half-Timers (IWB).
Some children at the National Schools did not work in the mills. They attended school every day. Half-timers often attended the same schools as these children.
Display Resource 4.6: 1870 Report on Half-Timers in School (IWB).
You may wish to have a whole class discussion about this report to encourage empathy with the half-timers. Ask the pupils to carry out a role play activity in groups of six, with two pupils as half-timers and the others as pupils who attend school full-time. How do the full-timers react to the half-timers? How do the half-timers feel? Pupils may also carry out a Freeze Frame Activity in which pupils are required to pose as a still image.
Pupil Activity
Display Resource 4.7: Children Employed in Green Way Mill (IWB).
Now look at some statistics from the mills. Ask the pupils to work in pairs to answer the questions in Resource 4.8: Children Employed in Green Way Mill (Worksheet). Resource 4.9: Squared Paper (Template) has been included to assist pupils with question 3.
Plenary
Think, pair and then share one thing with a partner that you have learned about the lives of the half-timers.
Think, Pair and Share, page 70
Assessment Opportunity
If you wish to assess pupils’ responses to this lesson, see the suggestion below.
Pupils may identify one thing they have learned about half-timers when compared with their own lives.
You may also wish to assess pupils carrying out their maths activities. Refer to the Levels of Progression when doing so.
Additional Pupil Activities
1. The Working Day of a Half-Timer
Distribute Resource 4.10: The Working Day (Worksheet).
Pupils will use 24-hour clock time to record the working day of a half-timer and will compare this with their own.
2. Children’s Diets
Pupils will have an opportunity to explore how their food differs from that of a child mill worker and can make some Victorian food using simple recipes.
- You may wish to share Resource 4.11: Teacher Information Card 2 with pupils or ask them to research the diet of Victorian mill children with a partner.
- Complete the table in Resource 4.12: How my Food Differs from that of a Child Mill Worker (Worksheet).
Links to Curriculum
Cross-Curricular Skills
Cross-Curricular Skills: Communication
Children should be given opportunities to engage with and demonstrate the skill of communication and to transfer their knowledge about communication concepts and skills to real-life meaningful contexts across the curriculum. (Language and Literacy)
Talking and Listening
- Participate in a range of drama activities across the curriculum, for example role play about half-timers
Cross-Curricular Skills: Mathematics and Numeracy
Children should be given opportunities to develop the skills of applying mathematical concepts, processes and understanding appropriately in a variety of concepts including real life situations. (Mathematics and Numeracy)
Measures
- Understand the relationship between the 12 and 24-hour clock in the context of a child’s working day in the mill.
Handling Data
- Interpret information from a table, create a bar graph and draw conclusions from their graph.
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities
Managing Information
- Comparing and evaluating information.
The World Around Us: History
Change Over Time
- How the world has changed over time, for example the working day of children and their diets.
Personal Development & Mutual Understanding
Strand 1 (Personal Understanding and Health)
- Healthy and unhealthy lifestyles.
Active Learning and Teaching Methods for Key Stages 1 & 2
These active teaching and learning approaches encourage active participation from pupils, making the learning a more relevant and enjoyable experience.
Pupils carry out a Freeze Frame Activity (role play) which requires them to form a still image of how full-time pupils reacted to half-timers.
Suggested Websites & Resources
