School Then and Now
Background for Students
What is a one-room school?
Early Johnson County settlers built schools shortly after their arrival. In the 1800s and early 1900s, most of Johnson County was farmland and people did not live close together. There were no cars or buses, so travel to and from school had to be done on foot, horseback or by buggy. For this reason, small one-room schools were built in these rural areas. The schools taught grades 1st through 8th in one room with one teacher. Schools were built every four miles. Students attended the school that was closest to them and usually had to walk about one to two miles to school each way.
How did one teacher teach eight grades at one time?
Teachers worked with one grade at a time. Students from each grade would come to the front of the room for lessons at a special seat called the recitation bench or with chalk at the blackboard. While one grade was with the teacher, the other students worked at their desks on assignments. Older children helped younger children with their lessons, and the younger children learned from hearing the older children recite. Since recitations took about ten to fifteen minutes each, students had plenty of time to complete their lessons. Homework was not assigned; the children were expected to finish their work in class.
There was one thing that all did together and that was penmanship. Young children were taught cursive from their first day, and they could participate with the older children. The younger students practiced on their slates, while the older children used a pen that they dipped in a pot of ink to write with. The students had copy books, which were like today’s notebooks, in which they practiced their writing.
What are recitations?
Early 1900s one-room school teachers used recitations to teach students. During a recitation, teachers would ask students questions about their lessons and they were to give the correct answer out loud. This is how the teacher would know that the students had done their schoolwork. Memorizing and reciting a poem out loud was another form of recitation.
What games did they play at one-room schools?
At Lanesfield, one game was played by many generations – Ante Over. The class divided into two teams. One team stood on one side of the school, while the other stood on the opposite side. Then one team threw a ball over the roof of the school and the other team tried to catch it. If the team did catch it, the person with the ball ran around the school and tried to tag as many of the opposing team as was possible. To confuse the other team, all the members of the team ran around the school with the student who had the ball. Often this lead to collisions with other students, and it was common for children to be knocked down or even knocked unconscious.
Other popular games from this time included Pom, Pom, Pull Away; Drop the Handkerchief; Flying Dutchman; Dare Base; and Red Rover, Red Rover.
A favorite winter pastime was sliding on Dille pond. The Dille family owned the farm directly across the street from the school and at one end of their property was a pond. Before school and during the “noon hour,” children from Lanesfield would spend their time sliding on the ice.
Background for Teachers
How Did One-Room Schools Work?
One-room schools were built approximately every four miles in Johnson County. Each was run by a three-man school board elected by the community. Once a year, the entire community would meet to decide how long the school year would be, how much to pay the teacher, and what supplies to buy for the school. Even though the school board reported to the County Superintendent, each school was independent to run its own affairs.
Recitations
Recitations were the primary teaching method of the early 1900s. Teachers emphasized correct answers rather than the method students used to solve problems. Memorization was considered to be important, and mental exercises in which students analyzed sentences or worked complicated arithmetic problems in their head were stressed.
Recitations took many forms:
- The teacher asked a student a question about the assignment, and the student answered. The student answering the most questions correctly received a mark.
- The students stood in line, and as a student answered a question correctly, he moved in front of those students who had not answered correctly. The student at the head of the line at the end of the lesson received a mark for that day’s lesson. This was known as “head marks.”
- Students were often asked to memorize a poem, a famous speech, or a quotation and they were called to the recitation bench to recite that.
- Students were called to the board and the teacher read the students’ arithmetic problems. The student who worked the problem the fastest and correctly received a mark. Primary students worked simple problems on their slates, which they held up for the teacher to see.
- Mental arithmetic was considered an all important skill. Often a class was asked to do long multiplication and division in their heads. Then the teacher asked for the answer. The student with a correct answer for the day received a mark.
- For geography lessons, students were called to the board and asked to draw detailed maps of the countries or continents they were studying.
- Students were also expected to memorize the names of states, countries, and continents, as well as oceans, rivers and capitals. Geography bees were held to quiz the students on this information.
At the end of each recitation, the teacher gave the students a new lesson to study for the next recitation.
While one group of students was with the teacher, the other children worked at their desks on assignments. Older children helped younger children with their lessons, and the younger children learned from hearing the older children recite. Since recitations took about ten to fifteen minutes each, students had plenty of time to complete their lessons. Homework was not assigned; the children were expected to finish their work in class.
There was one thing that all did together and that was penmanship. Young children were taught cursive writing from their first day, and they could participate with the older children. The primary grades practiced on their slates, while the older children used pens, nibs, and ink. The children had copy books in which they practiced their writing.
Discipline in a One-Room School
In the early 1900s, Americans lived by the rule “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Teachers kept leather straps, paddles, or switches with which to spank children. Often, if a child received a spanking in school, he would receive another when he got home. Being kept in, either during the noon hour or after school, was the punishment most hated by children. Being kept after school could result in a spanking at home because a child would be late for his chores.
Although children spent more time with adults than children do today, they were always expected to be quiet and respectful. A slap across the face often corrected a sassy child.
Activity #1: Photo Analysis
Materials
- Access to the computer or internet OR
- Print out of all primary documents of one-room school photographs
- Worksheet
- Pencils
Curriculum Objectives
KH1B4I4: The student identifies and compares information from primary and secondary sources (e.g. photographs, diaries/journals, newspapers, historical maps)
KW1B1I1: The student chooses and writes about a narrowed focused idea and occasionally writes about a given prompt
KW1B1I2: The student writes using personal experience, observations and prior knowledge.
Note: For an introduction to one-room schools, have the children read the background information or read it to the class.
Instructions:
- Have the students click on the pre-selected one-room school photos on www.jocohistory.net or have them do a search for one-room school photographs. Click here for instructions on searches. If the students do not have computer access, print out the photos for them and let them choose a photograph to use.
- Once a photograph has been selected, give the students a few minutes to look at their photographs and ask questions.
- Assign the worksheet to your students. Go over the worksheet with them before giving them the assignment.
- After completion of the assignment, go over the students’ discoveries as a class. Use the background information to confirm or correct their assumptions about one-room schools.
Activity #2: A Day in a One-Room School
Materials
- Access to the computer or internet OR
- Print out of all primary documents of one-room school photographs
- Pencils
- Paper
Instructions:
- Have the children click on the pre-selected one-room school photos on www.jocohistory.net or have them do a search for one-room school photographs. Click here for instructions on searches. If the students do not have computer access, print out the photos for them and let them choose a photograph to use.
- Once a photograph has been selected, give the students a few minutes to look at their photographs and ask questions.
- Instruct the students to write a paragraph about what a day of school was like at the time their photograph was taken. Have them write in first-person, as if they were attending that one-room school.
Activity #3: Primary Sources
Materials:
- Access to computer or internet OR
- Print out of oral histories
- Worksheet
- Pencil
Instructions:
- Have the students select one of the Lanesfield primary resources. If the students do not have computer access, print out the primary resources for them and have them choose, or choose one for them.
- Explain what a primary resource is to the class.
- Provide a few minutes for the students to read their primary resource.
- Have them fill out the worksheet to answer questions about their primary resource.
resource 1: PDF DOC
resource 2: PDF DOC
worksheet 1: Looking at Primary Resources: PDF DOC
To Learn More
For additional information on one-room schools, look at the following resources:
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Links on this website:
- Interpreting Lanesfield School. ALBUM Winter 1992.
- Lanesfield School Historic Site. ALBUM Fall 1988.
- Lanesfield School: Readin’, Writin’ & Restoration. ALBUM Spring 2002.
- Road to Consolidation. ALBUM Winter 1996.
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Other Websites:
- http://www.jocomuseum.org/lanesfield.htm Visit here for additional information on the Lanesfield School Historic Site.
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Books:
- One-Room Schools of the Middle West: An Illustrated History by Wayne E. Fuller. University of Kansas Press, 1994.
