Activities at the One-Room School

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The Spelling Bee or Spell Down

 The spelldown’, or ‘spelling bee’ was held at the end of a week.   Two of the older students picked teams.  The children took turns spelling words that were read aloud by the teacher.  If someone misspelled a word, he or she was out of the game and had to sit down.   The bee ended when only one person was left standing.  The winner was a school celebrity until the next spelling bee.  Everyone admired the person who could ‘spell down’ the entire school.

Directions:

 Divide the class into two segments. Read a word to the first person on Team 1.  If the spell it correctly, they remain standing and the next word is given to the second person in line on that team.  If they miss the word, they sit down and the word goes to the opposing team.  Continue until only one person is left standing.

Suggested words for a Spelling Bee

Truth	Nation	Attract	Fairy	Ship	Farmer
Cow	Goose	Dance	Poultry	Royal	Candles
Bowl	Rings	Village	Flag	Silver	Pump
Corn	Sea	Marble	Dare	Leaf	Cheese
Forest	Stars	Whirl	Shell	Read	Write
Ladies	Books	Slate	Word	Date	Month

Penmanship

Penmanship was emphasized in the one-room schoolhouse. People believed it was very important for children to have good penmanship skills because poor handwriting made a bad impression on those who read what the children had written. Many times, children used pen and ink from an inkwell to learn proper handwriting before moving on to handwriting with a fountain pen (patented in 1884 and available in the 1900s). Pen and ink, however, set the foundation for good penmanship.

Directions: Put one sentence on the blackboard for the students to copy in cursive, if possible.  Sample:  The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

 

 

Reading

A typical school day in a one-room school began with the first of the three R’s, reading.  Most schools used McGuffey Readers for this activity.
Directions: Choose a selection of material that students can read chorally. Have them stand and read it aloud.

Arithmetic

One math problem for each age group might be written on the blackboard for each child to copy on his/her slate board. By 1900, chalk had mostly replaced slate pencils. However, the chemical company Binney & Smith was still producing slate pencils in 1900. They were also manufacturing chalk, and since chalk was easier to write with than slate pencils, chalk became more common. Students were called up to the recitation bench to show the teacher their work. The problems would most likely be a story problem related to the farm. Many textbooks included arithmetic lessons that involved farm problems because the children would most likely come across them at some point in their lives and would need to know how to do them. Also, children understood farm life, so it was easier for them to understand a problem if it applied to farm life.

Directions:  Place a selection of math problems on the blackboard for students to copy and answer. Have the students, one- at -a -time, come up to the blackboard and write the problem plus the correct answer for the rest of the class to see.