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Summary and Objective
Students will understand the ways in which 19th century students spent their after-school hours by comparing and contrasting after-school activities of the past with their own modern after-school activities.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Have students work in small groups to brainstorm lists of the after-school activities that they participate in.
Step 2.
As a large group, start a chart of after-school activities from THEN and NOW. Have the small groups report on modern after-school activities and place them on the NOW side of the chart.
Step 3.
Read aloud excerpts from a book that portrays a child's life in the past. One possibility is "Little House on the Prairie".
Step 4.
Read excerpt from the Diary of Ellen Louisa Arms - Page 2, Thursday, November 10. Ellen's comment, "I have been to school all day and this afternoon the teacher said that if our class would be good that we might go home so she let us go at four o'clock", should catch their attention!
Step 5.
Have students use computers to explore the rest of Ellen Louisa Arms' diary on the American Centuries website. Students should be shown how to use the "Show Text" function so that they can successfully read the diary. Have students list activities that Ellen Louisa Arms participated in after school.
Step 6.
Have students work in pairs or small groups to explore the digital collection looking for additional activities and toys that might have occupied the after-school hours of a child in the 19th century.
Step 7.
Bring the group back together. Have small groups share their findings and place them on the THEN side of the chart started in Step 2.
Step 8.
Discuss their findings. Were there any activities that are still done today? Were there activities that are no longer done? Did they find any activities that surprised them?
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