Pupils create a fortunes graph showing the highs and lows of Mary’s life after the Crimea, identify a key turning point in her fortunes, and then consider ways in which Mary was helped when she fell on hard times.
Learning objectives
- Pupils are able to sequence events of Mary’s life immediately following the end of the Crimean war
- They can make judgements about the times when she was happy and when she was sad and can identify turning points in her fortunes
- They can suggest ways in which Mary was helped in times of hardship
- Pupils understand that on her return to England Mary fell on hard times and had a lot of unpaid bills
- They can explain was destitute under William Russell of the Times newspaper stepped in to help.
Step 1 – Activity 1: Sequencing
Before attempting the fortunes graph, the main activity, it is important that pupils first get the events in the right order. There are 8 provided as cut-up cards on RS1, but you may prefer to use fewer with some pupils. Whatever you decide, all pupils would benefit from first watching the last of the three 5 minute films in the BBC series