Charles Dickens · Fairness, kindness and protection
B1 · Charles Dickens · Classic Literature
I will be able to:
Remember and Use — 3 minutes
Recall three words from last time. Use one in a sentence. Ask a partner a question. Check and improve.
First lesson? Predict from the picture.
Oliver Twist is a boy without parents who grows up in a workhouse. In nineteenth-century England, workhouses provide basic food and shelter for poor people, but conditions can be harsh. Oliver and the other children are hungry. When he asks for more food, the adults punish him instead of helping.
After another unhappy placement, Oliver runs away to London. There he meets the Artful Dodger, a boy who takes him to Fagin. Oliver thinks he has found people who will care for him. However, Fagin trains children to steal, and Oliver is placed in danger.
One day, Oliver goes out with two boys who steal from Mr Brownlow. Oliver does not steal, but he is blamed and taken before a magistrate. A witness explains what happened. Mr Brownlow then takes Oliver home and cares for him.
Oliver is later forced back among the criminals. Nancy, a young woman in the group, decides to help him despite the danger to herself. Other people, including Rose Maylie, also try to protect him. Secrets about Oliver’s family gradually become clear.
At the end, Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver, giving him a safe home. The novel criticises cruelty towards poor children. It also shows that kindness requires action: people must notice unfair treatment and do something about it.
Original simplified overview; not a quotation. Read the original novel. AI illustration.
Read the additional reading sheet.
The complete text appears after the two activity pages. Read it before answering the reading questions.
As you read, underline details that support your answers. Use the vocabulary panel to help with unfamiliar words.
Match 1–6 with A–F.
A. a person who sees an event
B. to keep someone safe
C. a place that gives protection
D. not treating people reasonably or equally
E. to become a child’s legal parent
F. severe or unkind
Use two words in your own sentences.
Answer in sentences. Find evidence in the reading.
Past simple and past continuous: use was/were + -ing for an action in progress; use the past simple for a completed event.
Complete this imagined scene with the verbs.
Write your own sentence with when.
Discuss in pairs:
Useful language: I think… because… / The reading says… / For example… / I agree, but…
Ask your partner a follow-up question.
Write 80–100 words. Write a letter from Oliver thanking Mr Brownlow. Describe an imagined moment using past simple and past continuous. Use two lesson words.
Check meaning, sentence structure and punctuation.
Put these events in story order. Write the letters.
A. A witness explains the theft.
B. Oliver asks for more food.
C. Oliver meets the Artful Dodger.
D. Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver.
E. Oliver runs away to London.
Retell with first, next, later and finally.
Exit reflection: One idea I understand better…
One thing to practise…
Check: Use three lesson words. Check the language focus, capital letters and full stops.
Improve: Choose your response from panel 7. Check it and write an improved version here. For a longer response, use the space below or another sheet.
Share: Tell a partner one thing you can now say. Reflect: What did you improve?
Oliver Twist is a boy without parents who grows up in a workhouse. In nineteenth-century England, workhouses provide basic food and shelter for poor people, but conditions can be harsh. Oliver and the other children are hungry. When he asks for more food, the adults punish him instead of helping.
After another unhappy placement, Oliver runs away to London. There he meets the Artful Dodger, a boy who takes him to Fagin. Oliver thinks he has found people who will care for him. However, Fagin trains children to steal, and Oliver is placed in danger.
One day, Oliver goes out with two boys who steal from Mr Brownlow. Oliver does not steal, but he is blamed and taken before a magistrate. A witness explains what happened. Mr Brownlow then takes Oliver home and cares for him.
Oliver is later forced back among the criminals. Nancy, a young woman in the group, decides to help him despite the danger to herself. Other people, including Rose Maylie, also try to protect him. Secrets about Oliver’s family gradually become clear.
At the end, Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver, giving him a safe home. The novel criticises cruelty towards poor children. It also shows that kindness requires action: people must notice unfair treatment and do something about it.
Original simplified overview; not a quotation. Read the original novel. AI illustration.