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Summary and Objective
Students will study several selections of prose and poetry used for education in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They will then compare the texts with prose and poetry selections in current use. Students will understand that historically, such works were designed to contribute to the moral and religious development of children. They will understand that memorization and recitation comprised important components of such education, and will have an opportunity to experience these activities themselves.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Show students how to access the New England Primer (c. 1800 and c. 1905/1785-1790) found on the American Centuries website and how to use the features of the website to study them. Give them time to explore the documents.
Step 2.
Read selections from the above documents (in the 1905 primer, see pages 11-14 and 33) off of large charts, as a whole class. Familiarize children with selections. Reprint selections for children to read individually.
Step 3.
Discuss the children's observations about the pieces. Compare these pieces with modern ones which children have previously explored. Elicit the fact that the selections contain a heavy moral tone not apparent in most currently published literature for children. Do the children have hypotheses about why this might be so?
Step 4.
Direct students' attention to page 33 of the New England Primer (c. 1905/1785-1790), specifically to the section headed "Learn these four lines by Heart". Explain to children that memorization and recitation were historically very important components of education. Discuss examples of pieces which are still routinely memorized and recited in our own time.
Step 5.
Optional Follow Up Activity I : Direct children to choose a piece which they enjoy (from either primer or a modern piece) for memorization. Discuss strategies for memorization (eg. repeated rereading, working with one small section at a time, etc.). Further facilitate memorization by providing children with independent access to the piece which they have chosen (eg. individual book box, or poem folder).
Step 6.
Optional Follow Up Activity II : Allow children who wish to do so to sign up to recite their memorized piece. Children who have recited pieces might then be allowed to write their name, the date, and the title of their piece on a posted chart to commemorate their accomplishment.
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