Schoolbook Worksheet

Preview

1. Name some reasons that you are in school today.

Schoolbook Page 1

1. In 1640 there was a law that children needed to be taught to read. It was called the "OLD SATAN DELUDER ACT." What does the word "deluder" mean?

2. This is a page from a primer. Look up the word primer to find a meaning connected with schoolbooks.

3. Notice that some of the spelling looks strange. Notice that the letter "s," is often made like an "f." Copy a few examples of these below.

4. Two lines of poetry are called couplets. Read through some of these couplets, and explain what you can about their content.

Schoolbook Page 2

1. This is a continuation of couplets from the primer. Notice that Queen Esther is mentioned. She was an important person in the Bible. Many of the other couplets refer to the Bible as well. If you recognize any, write about them below.

2. Why do you think the people in the seventeenth century used the Bible so much in their reading books for children?

3. What do you think people were trying to teach children through this book?

Schoolbook Page 3

1. Where and when was this primer printed?

2. What does that tell you about transportation and communication in 1777?

3. What do you think people were trying to teach children through this book?

Schoolbook Page 4

1. Who published Rudiments of Reading? Where? When?

2. What might this reveal about the availability of books?

3. What was the title of the person who wrote the book? What does this tell you about what could be inside?

4. What do you think people were trying to teach children through this book?

Schoolbook Page 5

1. Write down the meaning of "miscellany." Who is this book for? What is its purpose?

2. Look at the picture closely. What do you see?

3. Read the quote by Daniel Webster. What does it mean?

4. In what ways do you think the purposes of this book might be different from the first primer you looked at?

Schoolbook Pages 6 and 7

1. Read the fable about the boys and the frogs. Read the moral at the end. What is this fable trying to teach?

2. Jot down any mention of religion you find.

3. Look at the excerpt from The North American Arithmetic. What subject is this teaching? Solve the problem.

4. What is the moral to this problem?

5. What do you think people were trying to teach children with these examples?

Schoolbook Pages 8 and 9

1. Where and how do you learn about what's happening in the world?

2. In the early nineteenth century, children learned about the world through their schoolbooks. Look at the pictures on these two pages. What are the characteristics of a civilized place according to these pictures? What about a half-civilized place? A barbarous place? A savage place?

3. What does "enlightened" mean? For people in the early nineteenth century, an enlightened place was the highest achievement. What is included in the picture of an enlightened place?

4. What do you think people were trying to teach children with these pictures?