ALEX Lesson Plan

Students will explore an article about education in the early nineteenth century and a newspaper article from 1818 to determine what education was like in the early nineteenth century. Students will investigate the documents and find text evidence to find out what schools were like in the early nineteenth century. Students will use their findings to write a story.

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

• Pencils
• Sticky notes
• Highlighters
• Computers
• Internet
• Screen/white board

Attached materials:

• Photograph of a nineteenth century school
• Text Evidence Data Sheet
• Alabama Schools in the Nineteenth Century handout
• 1818 Newspaper Article
• Education in the 19th Century Checklist
• Education in the 19th Century Adapted Checklist
• Education Venn Diagram

• Computers
• Internet
• Screen/white board (paper and pencil option in the event these resources are not available)

Students should have a basic knowledge of the time period and have basic collaboration, reading, writing, and technology skills. 

The teacher should download the attached photograph of the nineteenth century school onto a computer to project during the exploration's engagement.  The teacher should create a large Venn diagram graphic organizer or display one on the whiteboard for use in the exploration phase (an appropriate Venn diagram handout is attached that can be used to project upon the screen).  The teacher should download the 1818 newspaper article (see attachment) to a computer to project on the screen during the lesson development (the 1818 newspaper article can also be downloaded on student computers if so desired). The teacher should bookmark the Storybird site https://storybird.com/educators/ on student computers to use for the expansion phase. The teacher will need to print copies of the Alabama Schools in the Nineteenth Century article, the Text Evidence Data Sheet, and the Education Venn Diagram for student use. 

Background information for teachers: Information concerning schooling in Alabama during the early nineteenth century can be found in the Encyclopedia of Alabama: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2599

Exploration: The teacher will engage the students by showing the photograph of the nineteenth century school and asking the students what they think is in the picture of and when the picture was taken. The teacher will clarify it is a picture of a school taken between 1830-1859.  The teacher will then state the day's social studies objective.

The teacher will refer to the Venn diagram graphic organizer and ask the students to think about what school is like now and what school may have been like in the early nineteenth century (1800s). The teacher will explain this assessment will tell what they think they already know about the day's objective, describing education of the early nineteenth century. 

While the students are thinking, the teacher will pair the students and pass out two sticky notes to the student partners. After the students have had time to think independently, they will share their ideas with their partners.  The teacher will have one partner from each partner group write one idea what school was like in the early nineteenth century and the other partner to write one idea what school is like today.  Students will post their completed sticky notes on either the Early Nineteenth Century side of the Venn diagram or the Today side of the Venn diagram. (The middle section of the Venn diagram will be completed together during the Lesson Development's closure). 

Lesson Development: The teacher will state the day's reading objectives and then tell the students they will be looking for text evidence of what schools were like in the early nineteenth century using two sources.  The teacher should pull up the 1818 newspaper article (previously downloaded onto the computer) to project on the screen/white board. The teacher will use this to model how to locate and highlight text evidence. Since the newspaper article has some unusual vocabulary, the teacher will read and discuss the 1818 newspaper article with the students and explain any unusual terms. The teacher will remind the students there is text evidence in the newspaper article and will model how to find and highlight text evidence and use it to answer what schools were like in the early nineteenth century.

After the teacher has modeled finding text evidence using the 1818 newspaper article, the teacher will pass out the Alabama Schools in the Nineteenth Century article, highlighters, and the Text Evidence Data Sheet to the peer partners. The teacher will demonstrate using the highlighter to highlight text evidence that supports an answer to what schools were like in the early nineteenth century and transferring a response to the Text Evidence Data Sheet based on what was highlighted.

Once the students understand what to do, the students will work with their partners to highlight on the article and list their answers on the Text Evidence handout. The teacher will explain this will serve as an assessment and tell what they already know about the day's objective, describing education of the early nineteenth century. The students will work with their partners while the teacher walks around and assists.  The teacher will discuss the students' findings after they have completed the Text Evidence Data Sheet.

Closure: The teacher and students will revisit the Exploration's Venn diagram to see what needs to be added or changed.  The teacher and students will complete the middle section of the Venn diagram as they discuss what similarities exist between education in the early nineteenth century and education today.  The teacher will briefly review education of the early nineteenth century townspeople and how finding text evidence is important when learning new information. 

Expansion: The teacher will explain to the students they are going to write a story pretending to be a fourth grade student in the early nineteenth century.  They need to include three facts about what education was like in that time period in their stories, which will meet the day's objective: describing education of the early nineteenth century. They should use their Text Evidence Data Sheets to help them write their stories and help them include details they learned.  

They can use the Storybird site, https://storybird.com/educators/, or pencil and paper to write their stories. Students can share their stories as time permits.  Early finishers can illustrate their stories. (Although a checklist is provided, the requirements for the story should be determined by the teacher taking into account the abilities of the individual students. A paragraph instead of a story can be substituted as an assessment.)

All assessments listed below are directly tied to the learning objective: describing the education of the early nineteenth century as specifically outlined in the procedures and attached checklists. 

Exploration: Venn diagram sticky notes

Lesson Development: Text Evidence Data Sheet, Venn diagram

Expansion: Stories

Suggested reading: 

• Life for Children in the 19th Century: http://www.localhistories.org/19thcenturychildren.html
• Toys in the 19th Century: http://www.localhistories.org/toys.html
• Your School Compared to the Nineteenth Century: https://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/06/28/19th-century-school/

Students can create a story having a student from the early nineteenth century meet a student from today, explaining what education is like in both time periods.  

Students can measure the cost of an education in the early nineteenth century using the prices provided in the 1818 newspaper article and the online measuring worth calculator: https://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/

Students can find text evidence as they explore the online article, Life in the Early Nineteenth Century, http://www.localhistories.org/19thcenturychildren.html (The teacher should print the article and provide highlighters for students.)

Students will be placed within small groups and assisted by the teacher throughout the lesson as needed.  An adapted checklist for the story is provided. Students can complete the Education Venn Diagram (attached) instead of the story in the expansion phase.