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1. Background information for teachers:
Shared experience, such as reminiscences of school and school friendships, allow children and adults to compare and contrast the past with the present. This document provides an opportunity for students to examine and compare the academic skills that were considered to be important in the early twentieth century.
In 1910, the United States was still primarily agricultural, but manufacturing and commercial agriculture were beginning to move the country into a new era of production and self-sufficiency. President William Howard Taft worked to increase the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission and spent the greater portion of his administration attempting to break up the huge trusts (large business entities that had largely succeeded in controlling a market and becoming a monopoly). Educational and labor issues, as well as suffrage for women, were social and political topics of discussion across the United States.
Alabama remained an agricultural state during this time period, but the promise of a more predictable income from mining and textile mill work was exerting a great deal of pressure upon the labor force to move away from the farm. Despite the fact that Alabama’s population topped two million for the first time in 1910, school attendance was poor across the state and low wages and low skill levels remained the standards of the time period. Yet, people were leaving the farms in search of better opportunities, which included education in public schools for their children.
2. Document connections to the Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies:
(Bulletin 2004, No. 18)
Kindergarten: Standard 2, p. 13
First Grade: Standard 2, p. 16
Second Grade: Standard 1, p. 19
Fourth Grade: Standard 10, p. 32
Sixth Grade: Standard 4, p. 43
Standard 6, p. 44
Eleventh Grade: Standard 2, p. 75
Twelfth Grade: Standard 4, p. 89
3. Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of the selected activities, students should be able to:
A. Grades 4 and 6:
1. Conduct a “document interview;”
2. Design a graphic organizer in order to compare similarities and differences;
3. Answer an open-ended question based upon the document.
B. Grades 11 and 12:
1. Conduct an oral history interview;
2. Answer a discussion question based upon the document.
4. Suggested Activities:
A. Grades 4 and 6
1. Ask students to use the General Suggestions for Analyzing a Written Document found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History web site http://www.archives.alabama.gov/teacher/written.html to “interview” this document.
2. Select a grade from the document for the students to read. Allow students to create a graphic organizer that will show the similarities and differences in the class requirements of 1910-1911 and those required today.
3. Using the open-ended response form found in the Item Specifications for the Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT) on the Alabama State Department of Education’s web site, have students answer the following question or questions:
A. Compare the courses taken in your grade in 1910-1911 to those taken today. Discuss at least two similarities and two differences.
B. List two classes that were taught in 1910-1911 that are not taught today. Why do you believe that these are not taught today?
B. Grades 11 and 12
1. Ask students to use the General Suggestions for Analyzing a Written Document found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History web site to evaluate this document.
2. Ask students to read and compare their student handbooks with the document from 1910-1911, listing similarities and differences.
3. Ask students the following questions:
a. What does the faculty list reveal about women in education in Alabama in 1910- 1911? What does the list of students reveal about education for males and females in 1910-1911? What do you think contributes to the decline in the number of students in the ninth grade?
b. What two universities are named in the “Character and Purpose” portion of the document? What does this tell you about the student body?
c. Why is there a tuition required for this public school in 1910-1911? What does this tell you about education in Alabama in 1910-1911? What does this requirement tell you about the student body? What impact do you believe the tuition requirement would have upon literacy rates?
d. What is the required passing grade in all subjects? How does this compare with the grading scale used by your school today?
e. What grades are categorized as being in the High School Department? At what age would a student complete his or her education?
f. Using the document, write a description of what you believe would identify a “well-educated” person in 1910-1911. Consider what students had been taught and the possible occupations that might best use their educational
experiences.
4. Ask the students to write a series of questions concerning school and education that could be used in an oral history interview with a parent or older adult. Some questions could relate to the types of courses taken, the length of the school year or school day, or styles of clothing or types of popular music from the time period. Upon completion of the interview, students will share their findings with the class. Students may be asked to relate their most unexpected discovery or the greatest similarity or difference between the school experiences of the older adult and their school experiences that was revealed during the interview.
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