Year 4 'A Christmas Carol': narrative writing and reading worksheet

“Victorian London and Dickens” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “'A Christmas Carol': narrative writing and reading”, for children aged 8 to 9, 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 17 to 19 of the year, 15 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Victorian London and Dickens

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain when Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol' and why its setting matters.

A Look back3 min

1.
Which feeling is the strongest?
grumpyfuriouspleased
2.
Which part of a story goes in the blank box?
SettingProblemEnding
3.
In 'The big dog barked', how many nouns are there?

B Watch me, then you4 min

The Victorian years ran from 1837 to 1901. Dickens's book appeared in 1843. Was it written during those years?

Two tall brick houses side by side, one with lit windows and one dark and bare

Watch me

The Victorian era runs from 1837 to 1901.

The book came out in 1843, which is between those years.

So yes, it was written in the Victorian era.

Now you

1.
A play came out in 1915. Was it in the Victorian era? Circle Yes or No.
YesNo

C Your turn7 min

Each row checks one new idea about Victorian London and Dickens.

1.
Which word means the background of the time and place a story is set in?
contextpovertycontrast
2.
Write each detail in the right column.
warm fire in every roomcold floorplenty of foodone thin blanket
Rich home Poor home
3.
Which year is in the Victorian era?
182018501920
4.
Join each word to its meaning with a line.
Victorian erapovertycontrast
being very poor with not enough to live ona big difference between two thingsthe time Queen Victoria ruled Britain

Say it out loud: Which clue in each row told you the answer? Say it out loud.

D Spot the mistake3 min

Factory chimneys over London rooftops, with thick grey smoke rising into the sky

Kit says: “Victorian London was quiet and clean, so there was no smoke in the air.”

1.
What is wrong with Kit's idea? Write the correct version.

E Think deeper3 min

A smoky Victorian street with tall brick houses and no people in view

1.
Dickens saw rich and poor people living side by side in London. Why might this make his story feel real to readers? Write 2 or 3 sentences.

How did it feel?

Point to the feeling that matches how you feel about today's work.

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Victorian London and Dickens · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. furious your child picked a mild feeling. Ask which word sits at the stormy end of the scale.

2. Problem your child picked the ending. Ask what goes wrong in the story before it is put right.

3. 1 your child may have counted 'big' as a thing. Ask what kind of word 'big' is, and whether it names something.

B

1. No your child said yes. Ask whether 1915 comes before or after the year the era ended.

C

1. context

2. Poor home: cold floor, one thin blanket · Rich home: warm fire in every room, plenty of food

3. 1850 your child picked a year outside the two marks. Ask which year sits between the start and the end on the timeline.

4. Victorian era → the time Queen Victoria ruled Britain; poverty → being very poor with not enough to live on; contrast → a big difference between two things

D

1. Look for: Says Victorian London was noisy and smoky, with factory smoke and coal fires, not quiet and clean. your child may have pictured a calm, clean town. Ask what the factories and coal fires did to the air in the picture.

E

1. Look for: Says the story was based on real problems Dickens saw in London, where rich and poor lived side by side.

Words to use

Say“Where and when is the story set? Which year was the book written, and how do you know?”

Instead of“Tell them the dates and the answers straight away.”

After the sheet

Look at a picture book together and talk about what each home shows about money: warmth, food, space. Then ask your child to describe one rich-looking and one poor-looking home in their own words.

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

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

Says or suggests?(with a plan)
Actions and treatment show character(with a plan)
Scrooge's big change(with a plan)
Themes that overlap(with a plan)
Planning a winter setting(with a plan)
Words that place things(with a plan)
Planning a Story Opening(with a plan)
Opening with contrast(with a plan)
Planning the build-up(with a plan)
Building up the mood(with a plan)
Building suspense with starters(with a plan)
Editing like a writer(with a plan)
Planning the ghost's visit(with a plan)
Building Scrooge's panic(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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