Building the Past - Lesson Plan Part 1

Building the Past – Part One
Tanya White
4th Grade
Day 8

1. Brief Description:
Students will learn about the lack of available education to many settlers. They will see pictures of schoolhouses and discuss the differences between pioneer schools and schools today.

2. Materials/Resources Needed:
¨ Chalkboard/dry erase board
¨ Chalk/dry erase markers
¨ Student journals
¨ Student pencils
¨ Several Pictures of one-room schoolhouses (from the Winona County Historical Society)
¨ Overhead reproductions of the pictures mentioned above
¨ Selection of Children of the Wild West by Russell Freedman
¨ Shoe boxes (one per group)
¨ Cardboard, Styrofoam, and other “building” supplies
¨ Decorative craft supplies
¨ Handout containing directions for diorama project

3. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
¨ Students will understand how agricultural obligations affected the school year for many pioneer students.
¨ Students will gain an understanding of the economic choices that led to the building of one-room pioneer schools.
¨ Students will understand the characteristics of a typical pioneer school and learning that took place there.

4. Objectives for today’s lesson:
¨ Given the text selection from Children of the Wild West students will write a journal entry at least three paragraphs in length discussing how they would feel if they attended a pioneer school. Specifically, how they would feel sharing a classroom with all the other grades, if they would like having only one teacher for as many as seventy students of varying grade and ability level, and if they find it appropriate that they would be responsible for helping teach younger students in the school.
¨ Given pictures of schoolhouses and the text mentioned above, students will begin to conceptualize the layout of their very own one-room schoolhouse. The layout of the school will be entirely the choosing of the students with the stipulation that the school must have a heater (wood burning furnace).

5. Procedures
a. Introductory Experiences: (5 minutes)
¨ Teacher will talk briefly about the importance of school. Students will be asked to think of things that are representative of schools and learning. This should include length of time attended (hours per day and months per year), subjects taught, books used, responsibilities of students, and so on. These will be written on the board by either the teacher or the students.
¨ Students will be told that all schools do not necessarily follow those same guidelines. Pioneer schools were, in fact, very different from present day schools.

b. Developmental Experiences:
1. Students will be shown overheads of several pictures of one-room pioneer schoolhouses from the Winona County. Some of these are present day while others are from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The pictures will be of both the interior and exterior of the schoolhouses. The printed pictures are reproductions so they can be passed around for students to look at as they are shown on the overhead. (5 minutes)
2. Students will independently read the selection from Children of the Wild West. They do not have to read the “About the Author” section. Briefly discuss the reading with students. Some questions to ask include: What did a pioneer school look like?, How many students were there?, Where they all one grade level?, Did each grade level have its own teacher?, Since there was only one teacher for all the grades, who was responsible for helping the younger students learn?, etc. (20 minutes or until all students are clearly finished reading)
3. Students will be told about the diorama that they are going to work on the next day. They will receive an instruction sheet with the directions for the project clearly defined. Students will be broken up into groups of three. They should start drawing out the basic layout that they will use when they design their school diorama (They can do this until it is time to write in their journals, knowing that they will have class time the next day to work on this.). They should be reminded to bring any extra supplies they need. (10 – 15 minutes)

c. Culminating Experiences:
¨ Each student will write a journal entry at least three paragraphs long. They will explain how they would feel if they attended a pioneer school. Things they should discuss in their journal include: how they would feel sharing a classroom with all the other grades, if they would like having only one teacher for as many as seventy students of varying grade and ability level, and if they find it appropriate that they would be responsible for helping teach younger students in the school. The whole class will discuss this briefly and any student’s questions will be answered if possible. (10 – 15 minutes)

6. Assessments used during lesson:
Journal entries will be used to check for understanding. Discussion and questions will also ensure that students are grasping the material. The more formal assessment will be the diorama that they turn in after the second class period of this lesson.