How are you feeling?

Teachers notes for Children's Zone

This activity is designed for students to work out the stages of Cholera. It uses a variety of historical sources to guide the students into discovering how to prevent Cholera, what the symptoms are and how it was treated during the Victorian period.

The children will scroll over each person in the picture and read how the characters are feeling, then they will look at the adverts and health warnings for Cholera by clicking on the button. They will be required to write a health warning that contains information on how to prevent Cholera and how to treat it. Their warning will surround the image so that it looks like a poster.

There is an option to print the end result so that it become a heath warning poster that can be displayed in the classroom. Click on the picture on the right to see an example of an expected outcome to this activity. This was completed by year five children from Higher Brixham Primary School in Torbay.

The children will need support with this activity. It is advisable to talk them through what is expected of them and provide them with paper to jot down any information they need. In their groups of two or three encourage them to discuss how the people became ill so that they know what advice to write in the warning. It may be beneficial before and after the computer activity to focus the children on different styles of writing so that they understand that this activity is not a narrative and requires a different technique.

Using an original source to gain information and then using that information in their own writing is a difficult skill to master. This activity helps to develop such a skill and refines a student's communication skill in both written and oral means. They will write for a specific purpose and produce a poster. They will have gained the information for that poster through using the interactive activity and through discussing it with their friends.

Click on the image to go to the activity in the Children's Zone