Long Ago and Today

Social Studies Unit

Part 1: School

By: Mrs. Patton

 I use the following pictures to introduce the unit. I give
a pair of students a set of the pictures and ask them
to sort the pictures from what they think is the oldest
to the newest.

It is not so important that they know or learn the

correct order as much as the understand that they have
changed over time. Here is the correct order in case you
are curious:
 I use the picture below to talk about a time capsule. I
explain what it means and we actually use the picture
as a label to put on a shoe box. The shoebox then
represents a time capsule. Inside of the shoebox, we
store the pictures or “artifacts” that we examine later
in the week.

Time Capsule
I use the following set of 6 pictures to play Scoot.
Students will go around the room in partners or
groups of 3 and talk about what they think is in
the picture. When I say, “Scoot”, they move on to the
next picture.

I like to let them guess what they are before I tell

them about the different “artifacts”.
Artifact #1

Artifact #2
Artifact #3

Artifact #4
Artifact #5

Artifact #6
After we do Scoot with the pictures, I tell them a little history
about each item.
-The coal stove is something schools had to use long ago for
heat. To keep the fire going, someone had to continue to put coal
or firewood into the stove. Sometimes an older boy student was
paid to do this.
-The desks used to look something like this picture. Sometimes
they were even bolted to the floor and could not be moved out of
the rows they were set in.
-The 3rd picture is a lantern. Long ago, this is what
classrooms had to use for light. Sometimes the lanterns burned
oil and some burned what is called kerosene.
-The 4th picture is 2 pages from a primer (it’s pronounced like
primmer) It was used to teach the alphabet and simple words like
dog or fox. The primer was in black and white. It was
sometimes a child’s only book.
-The 5th picture is a slate. It was made of a thin, dark stone.
They used chalk to write on it and then it could be wiped off
with cloth. It was used to practice math and spelling.
-The 6th picture is a hornbook. One sheet of paper was nailed to
wood shaped like a paddle. It often had the alphabet and a few
short sentences printed on it. Because the paper was covered by a
think layer of a cow’s horn, they called it a horn book.
Coal Stove Desk

Lantern Page From a Primer

 Slate Hornbook

I Use the previous 6 pictures for the tables to play Kagan’s Fan-N-
Pick. With 4 people, the 1st person fans the cards, the 2nd person
chooses a card, the 3rd person tells what the object is like in our
classroom/how it has changed, and the 4th persons checks and praises.

After they have played, I give each child the following t-chart to
complete as an assessment.
Name___________________
Write the name of 3 items from long ago. Then,
write how they are different today.

Long Ago Today