The Five Senses

Overview

This is the third lesson in the unit "Exploring Workhouses in Oliver Twist." It focuses on developing students’ understanding of the five senses through sensory exploration specifically linked to the workhouse setting. The lesson encourages descriptive language use, empathy, and historical context awareness by immersing students in sensory experiences reflective of the 19th-century workhouse environment.

National Curriculum Links

English - Key Stage 2 (Year 4)

• Reading (Comprehension):
• Understand vocabulary and explain the meaning of new words in context.
• Retrieve and record information from non-fiction texts.
• Writing:
• Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated ideas and information clearly.
• Plan writing by discussing similar texts and exploring ideas through talk.
• Spoken Language:
• Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations, and debates.
• Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will:

• Identify and describe the five senses and how they help us understand an environment.
• Use sensory vocabulary to describe what children in the Oliver Twist workhouse might have seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched.
• Develop empathy and deeper understanding of historical settings through sensory exploration.
• Participate in group discussions and contribute ideas using clear spoken language.

Resources

• Sensory object box with items such as rough fabric (old sackcloth), dried herbs or spices (to simulate smells), small objects with different textures (e.g., wooden spoon, metal chains, straw), recordings of ambient sounds like creaking wood or murmuring voices, pictures illustrating the workhouse environment.
• Whiteboard and markers
• Paper and pencils for drawing or note-taking
• “Oliver Twist” excerpts or age-appropriate text describing the workhouse.

Timing and Lesson Structure

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Briefly recap previous lessons about the workhouse and Oliver Twist’s setting to anchor this lesson in context.
• Introduce lesson focus: “Today, we will explore the five senses and use them to imagine what life was like in the workhouse.”
• Engage the class by asking: “Can anyone name the five senses?” Write these on the board: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch.
• Explain how understanding the senses helps writers create vivid descriptions and helps us understand characters’ experiences.

2. Sensory Exploration Stations (20 minutes)

• Set up five small stations, each focusing on one of the senses with related items or stimuli linked to the workhouse.
• Divide students into small groups (3 groups of 3).
• Each group spends 3-4 minutes at each station, observing, touching, smelling, listening, or tasting (using safe edible items such as a piece of stale bread or vinegar simulating poor workhouse food).
• Ask prompting questions at each station, e.g., “What does this texture feel like? How might a child living here feel touching this every day?”
• Encourage students to quietly note down words or phrases that come to mind.

3. Whole Class Discussion and Vocabulary Building (10 minutes)

• Regroup and invite each team to share some of their words or ideas from the stations.
• Together, create a sensory words mind map on the whiteboard organised by sense.
• Highlight powerful adjectives, similes, and phrases to enrich vocabulary (e.g., scratchy, musty, deafening, sour, cold and damp).
• Discuss how these sensory details help us imagine the environment and feel empathy for Oliver Twist.

4. Guided Writing Activity – Sensory Descriptions (15 minutes)

• Provide a short, simple descriptive prompt: “Imagine you are a child in the workhouse. Using the five senses, describe what you can experience.”
• Model using a few sentences that incorporate sensory details.
• Pupils write their own short sensory-rich descriptions. Encourage them to use expanded noun phrases and varied adjectives.
• Teacher circulates to support, extending vocabulary and helping students structure sentences.

5. Plenary and Assessment (5 minutes)

• Invite a few volunteers to read their sensory descriptions aloud.
• Peer and teacher feedback focusing on use of senses vocabulary, creativity, and empathy.
• Quick oral quiz: “Name all five senses and say one word you used to describe the workhouse.”
• Explain how next lesson will build on these ideas by exploring how sensory details can bring stories to life.

Differentiation

• Provide word banks and sentence starters for students who need extra support.
• Challenge more able students to use similes or metaphors in their writing.
• Provide visual and tactile stimuli for students with additional learning needs to access sensory experiences.

Assessment Criteria

• Ability to correctly identify and name the five senses.
• Use of descriptive language linked to sensory experiences.
• Participation in discussion, showing understanding of how senses relate to setting and character feelings.
• Creation of a short written piece incorporating sensory vocabulary appropriate for Year 4.

Cross-Curricular Links

• History: Understanding Victorian workhouses and children’s lives.
• PSHE: Developing empathy and perspective-taking skills.
• Speaking and Listening: Collaborative group work and oral presentations.

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This engaging, sensory-rich lesson helps children not only meet the English curriculum objectives but also deepens their historical empathy and descriptive writing skills—key competencies that connect literacy and humanities learning.