Penmanship in Colonial Schools

Lesson Plan #: AELP-USH0219

An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan

Submitted by: Laura Wolfram
Email: lauraw97@yahoo.com

Date: October 19, 2003

Grade Level: 2, 3, 4

Subject(s):

Social Studies/US History
Language Arts/Handwriting
Arts

Duration: One or two 45-minute sessions

Description: Students will discover how children in colonial America learned penmanship with feather quills and ink.

Goals: Students will learn about education in colonial America.

Objectives:

Students will be able to define penmanship .
Students will understand how a feather pen works.
Students will be able to explain some of the reasons why children in colonial schools normally used slates rather than paper for writing.

Materials:

one feather for each student in class (purchasable in bulk at art supply stores)
dark blue or black washable paint
10-12 plastic cups
newspaper to cover desks
several sheets of white or off-white construction paper per student

Procedure:

Preparation:
Before the children arrive, fill 10-12 paper cups with a diluted mixture of paint and water. The mixture should be thick enough to paint with. Take the feathers and make a diagonal cut across the bottom of each "stalk" to form the nib. This lesson works best if your students are already familiar with life in colonial America, in particular the life of children. (I very highly recommend Ann McGovern's book, If You Lived in Colonial Times .)

Write the words "penmanship" and "quill" on the blackboard, and ask the students if they know what either word means. If they do not, give them some hints. Tell them that penmanship is another word for something they practice every day in school, and that the quill is the thing that they use to practice their penmanship. Keep giving hints until the students are able to tell you what the words mean. Then explain that these words are the words that children in colonial America would have used when talking about their schooldays. Explain that in this lesson, the class will have an opportunity to practice penmanship just like colonial children did.

Line all the desks with newspaper to protect them from spilled paint. Pass out a couple sheets of construction paper to each child. Give them one feather each. (If you bought colored feathers, remind the children that feathers in colonial times would have not been so brightly colored.) Pass out the cups of ink; make sure the class understands that they are expected to share these "inkpots." Write several sentences about colonial America on the blackboard, and tell the students that they must use their quills and ink to copy these sentences. When they have finished copying, they may use their quills to write anything that they want. Allow at least 10 minutes for cleanup. Remind the students to write their names in pencil on their penmanship sheets and to put them somewhere safe to dry.

Finish up the lesson with a brief discussion. What did students enjoy about this project? What did they find challenging? Would they like to practice handwriting with quills every day? Or do they prefer pencils? Why do they think that children in colonial schools might have used slates instead of quills for most of their lessons?

Assessment: Assessment is not really necessary for this project; however, if you *must* assign some kind of mark, then you could grade the students on effort and cooperation.

Special Comments: The feather pens are very easy to use, though most of the students find that it takes a bit of practice to write neatly with them.