H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN by Stephanie Cohen PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover ©1995-2007 Denver Public Library, Colorado Historical Society, and Denver Art Museum © Artville #S372-67 Nebraska State Historical Society (frame) C Squared Studios (bkdg) © Shutterstock Nebraska State Historical Society ©1995-2007 Denver Public Library, Colorado Historical Society, and Denver Art Museum (frame) C Squared Studios (b) Fred Hulstrand History In Pictures Collection, NDIRS-NDSU, Fargo, North Dakota (parchment) © Shutterstock © Artville ©1995-2007 Denver Public Library, Colorado Historical Society, and Denver Art Museum (frame) C Squared Studios (bkgd) © Shutterstock The Granger Collection, New York Fred Hulstrand History In Pictures Collection, NDIRS-NDSU, Fargo, North Dakota (parchment) © Shutterstock 10 Joseph Sohm/Visions of America/Corbis Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777 Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02123-2 ISBN-10: 0-547-02123-2 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format Going to School in the 1800s Imagine what school was like for children in the 1800s School was just one room There was only one teacher Children of all ages learned together Your school probably has many classrooms and teachers All of the children in your class are probably about the same age And you certainly don’t have to walk more than three miles to get to school today But pioneer children often did The one-room schoolhouse was often also used as a church and a place for town meetings Welcome to the Schoolhouse American pioneers began to move west during the 1800s The first schools were built out of blocks of grass stacked like bricks Some schools were built from logs Some were built into the side of a hill, like a dugout Children shared benches and desks Usually, there was a large chalkboard at the front of the room The teacher wrote out the lessons Teachers were often teenagers Where’s the Bathroom? In the winter, a stove heated the schoolhouse When temperatures soared, there was no air conditioner The schoolhouse had no water fountains or bathrooms There was just one bucket of water for drinking and another for washing The outhouse, or bathroom, was in a little hut outside the school In the 1800s, children had to get wood for the stove The Road to School Many pioneer children walked to and from school, even if they lived miles away and even when the weather was bad Some lucky children rode a horse to school If you live more than a mile from your school, you probably take a car or a bus If you live closer, maybe you’ve strolled to school a few times But only if it’s a nice day! Children rode horses and traveled in buggies to get to school Meet the Teacher Pioneer teachers worked very hard, even before they announced the start of school each morning They filled the stove with coal, cleaned the chimney, and filled the water buckets Students ranged from to 18 years old Many fine teachers were just teenagers themselves If you finished eighth grade and behaved properly, you could become a pioneer teacher Some teachers rang a bell in a bell tower to begin the day Others rang a hand bell Children often read aloud from the same story Time to Learn Pioneer children went to school to learn the three R’s: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic Students practiced spelling and math problems using slates and chalk They didn’t use paper, pencils, or computers, like you Students spent a lot of their time reading a book called McGuffey’s Reader It was usually one of the only books a student had There was no library in a one-room schoolhouse McGuffeys’s was filled with facts, speeches, poems, and essays Students were proud to learn pages from McGuffey’s and recite them to the class Students didn’t move up to a new grade every year When they were ready, children just moved up to the next McGuffey’s Reader Time to Play Pioneer children had one thing in common with you They had recess They played games like marbles, hide and seek, hopscotch, and jump rope In winter, they built snowmen and threw snowballs, just like some of you Children enjoyed recess more than 150 years ago One-room schoolhouses are often called little red schoolhouses Times Have Changed A one-room schoolhouse was very different from your school Can you imagine school with no computers? No cafeteria? No school bus? Well, at least no one worried about missing the bus There wasn’t even a principal Students just had their teacher, one room, and a bunch of desks But they learned something new every day 10 Responding Word Builder Make a word web around the word “fine.’’ Which words mean the same thing as fine? Copy this word web and add more words TARGET VOCABULARY good fine Write About It Text to Self Write a short paragraph about something that’s fine about your school Tell why you feel this way Use some of the words from the web in your writing 11 TARGET VOCABULARY announced fine proud strolled certainly principal soared worried Summarize Tell the important parts of the text in your own words TARGET STRATEGY I sound like something a knight uses in a fight 12 Level: N DRA: 30 Social Studies Strategy: Summarize Word Count: 622 3.1.1 Build Vocabulary HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02123-2 ISBN-10: 0-547-02123-2 1031998 ... you They had recess They played games like marbles, hide and seek, hopscotch, and jump rope In winter, they built snowmen and threw snowballs, just like some of you Children enjoyed recess more... a hand bell Children often read aloud from the same story Time to Learn Pioneer children went to school to learn the three R’s: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic Students practiced spelling and. .. church and a place for town meetings Welcome to the Schoolhouse American pioneers began to move west during the 1800s The first schools were built out of blocks of grass stacked like bricks Some schools