Year 2 Queen Victoria: how did Britain change during her lifetime? worksheet

“Victoria's lonely childhood” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 history unit “Queen Victoria: how did Britain change during her lifetime?”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 24 of the year, 12 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Victoria's lonely childhood

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · History · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain how we know what Victoria's childhood was like.

A Look back3 min

1.
Was the Moon landing before or after the Great Fire of London? Circle your answer.
beforeafter
2.
Number these in time order, oldest first. Write 1, 2 or 3 in each box. Moon landing Great Fire of London First aeroplane flight
1. Moon landing
2. Great Fire of London
3. First aeroplane flight
3.
Sort these cards. Write each one in the right column: We know, Good guess or No way to know.
The Great Fire of London was in 1666A child in 1666 had a favourite toyWhat one child ate on 2 May 1666
We know Good guess No way to know

B Watch me, then you4 min

Victoria was a little girl about 200 years ago. Here is when two things happened in her life.

A large old house with tall windows and a long green lawn

Watch me

Victoria was born in 1819.

Her father died in 1820, when she was a baby.

So Victoria was born before her father died.

Now you

1.
Victoria's father died in 1820. Victoria became queen in 1837. Did her father die before or after she became queen? Circle your answer.
beforeafter

C Your turn6 min

Victoria wrote letters to her family from when she was small. At 13 she began a diary, and she had a dog called Dash. Think about which clue helps you.

An open wooden toy box with a doll's pram and a dog's bowl beside it

1.
Circle the word that means feeling very sad for a long time.
melancholydelightedcurious
2.
Circle the clue that helps historians learn about Victoria's childhood.
her letters and diariesa film of her at schoola computer game she played
3.
Sort these cards. Write each one in the right column: We know, Good guess or No way to know.
Victoria wrote letters to her familyHer dog Dash liked to run on the lawnWhat Victoria said to Dash on Tuesday
We know Good guess No way to know
4.
Circle the word for a king or queen who rules a country.
monarchevidencediary

Say it out loud: Each question asked for something different. Which clue from the past helped you answer each time?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Kit says: “Nobody knows anything about Queen Victoria before she became queen.”

1.
What would you tell Kit? Write one or two sentences.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Historians use letters, diaries and paintings as evidence. Which one tells us most about how Victoria felt as a child? Explain why.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Victoria's lonely childhood · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. after your child may think the Moon landing is older. Point to 1666 and 1969 on the line. The later year is further right.

2. 1 Great Fire of London · 2 First aeroplane flight · 3 Moon landing If your child puts the Moon landing first, they may think the newest event is the oldest. Ask: which event is the oldest, and which happened on the Moon?

3. We know: The Great Fire of London was in 1666 · Good guess: A child in 1666 had a favourite toy · No way to know: What one child ate on 2 May 1666 If your child puts the 2 May card under We know, ask what could tell us. Did anyone write down what that child ate?

B

1. before If your child says after, find 1820 and 1837 on the line. Ask which year comes first when we count up.

C

1. melancholy

2. her letters and diaries

3. We know: Victoria wrote letters to her family · Good guess: Her dog Dash liked to run on the lawn · No way to know: What Victoria said to Dash on Tuesday If your child puts the Tuesday card under We know, ask: which book, letter or diary could tell us that? If none, it is No way to know.

4. monarch

D

1. Look for: Says Kit is wrong and gives a reason such as Victoria's letters or diaries from her childhood. If your child agrees with Kit, ask: what did Victoria write as a girl? Letters and diaries tell us how she felt.

E

1. Look for: Names a letter or diary and says it shows the writer's own feelings in her own words.

Words to use

Say“What clue told you that? Could we know this from a painting, or only from something Victoria wrote?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer about Victoria.”

After the sheet

Find three things on the kitchen table. Put them in order from oldest to newest, then ask which clue tells you how old each one is.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

11 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Queen first, crown later(with a plan)
Victoria and Albert's story(with a plan)
Victoria's Children(with a plan)
A window into Victorian life(with a plan)
Factories in Victorian Britain(with a plan)
The Great Exhibition(with a plan)
Victoria's Scotland years(with a plan)
Children who had to work(with a plan)
Alice Kinloch's long journey(with a plan)
Victoria's New Title(with a plan)
Britain when Victoria died(with a plan)

Every Year 2 history worksheet

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