American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > A Child’s Daily Routine – Then and Now

A Child’s Daily Routine – Then and Now

Details

Author	`Linda Richards`
Topic/Subject Area	`Home Life, Household Items, Furniture; Gender, Gender Roles, Women; Family, Children, Marriage, Courtship; Education, Literacy`
Historical Era	`Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860`
Grade Level	`Elementary (K–5)`
Creation Date	`2010`
Last Revision Date	`2024`

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About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

This lesson will be introduced and taught in February along with a study of Abraham Lincoln. The students will have some insight into what a little girl’s life was like at that time in history. Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, one year after Ella wrote these pages in her diary. Students will understand after reading the diary excerpts from Ellen Louisa Arms (1859-1860) and through discussion, that the routine of a child’s life in the middle 1800s was very different and also, in some ways, similar to a student’s daily routine today. Students today attend school and study arithmetic (mathematics), grammar(language), and reading just like Ella did. Ella ate the same kind of Thanksgiving Day dinner that children eat today. Ella went to church and spent some of her free time reading just as many students do today. However, Ella also spent her free time involved in different activities from today’s students, such as shelling nuts, sewing, picking berries in the woods, ironing, and writing letters. In the classroom, students will try some of the activities mentioned in the diary and will compare them to what we have or do today that has replaced these activities. Students will learn to crack walnuts and to prepare and drink tea. Students will understand that making a quilt takes planning as they create a hexagon design on a square which will be used to make a classroom quilt to resemble the Mosaic or Honeycomb Quilt of Kate Melvina Newton.

Materials & Resources

From the Collection:

Excerpts from the Diary of Ellen Louisa Arms (Sheldon)

Mosaic or Honeycomb Quilt

Teaching Plan

The teacher reads excerpts from Ella’s diary (pages 1-9 and 41, 42 and 43) and asks the children to think of some routines or activities in Ella’s life that are the same as theirs. Students will notice that Ella went to school just like they do and that she studied some of the same subjects that they do.
The teacher rereads some of these excerpts and asks the children to think of some routines or activities in Ella’s life that are different from theirs. Students will notice that Ella’s chores and the way she spent her free time was different from their chores and the way they spend their free time.
The class, under the direction of the teacher, makes a Venn Diagram of two intersecting circles. The inside of one circle is labeled “A Child’s Daily Routine Then”, the inside of the other circle is labeled “A Child’s Daily Routine Now” and the intersecting part of the circles which will show the similarities of the daily routines is labeled “Then and Now”. Then, Ella’s chores were different from the chores of today’s children. Ella had to shell walnuts, iron, and sew. Then, Ella’s free time was spent differently also. She visited relatives, wrote letters, took walks and picked wild strawberries in the woods. Now, children spend their free time watching television, playing sports and video games, and riding their bikes. Now, children empty the dishwasher, and take out the trash for chores.
The teacher shows the children walnut meats already packaged that we can purchase today and unshelled walnuts that Ella spoke about in her diary. The children try their hand at cracking the walnuts and discuss what kinds of snacks they eat today.
Students discuss what beverages they drink today and under what circumstances and compare that to Ella’s having tea with family and visitors. The teacher prepares herbal mint tea and the students pour it into teacups and sample it.
Students recall the many references to sewing in Ella’s diary. Students are shown a picture of Kate Melvina’s Mosaic Quilt made from hexagons. Each student is given an 8″x8″ square of black construction paper and an assortment of precut paper and wallpaper hexagon shapes. Each student creates his/her own design. When completed the teacher puts the squares together to create a classroom quilt.
As an extension of this lesson, each student will make a dairy and write his/her day to day activities in it for a week. At the end of that time students will share their entries with each other.