American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > All Work and No Play

All Work and No Play

Details

Author
Patricia Colson-Montgomery
Topic/Subject Area
Gender, Gender Roles, Women; Social Activities, Entertainment, Recreation; Family, Children, Marriage, Courtship
Historical Era
National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, New Millennium, 1990–Present
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5), Middle School (6–8)
Creation Date
2010
Last Revision Date
2024

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About This Lesson

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.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items:

Teaching Plan

  1. Have students work in small groups to brainstorm lists of the after-school activities that they participate in.
  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.
  3. Read aloud excerpts from a book that portrays a child’s life in the past. One possibility is “Little House on the Prairie”.
  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!
  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.
  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.
  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.
  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?