Teacher's Guide
Welcome Prepare for Visit Daily Schedule Curriculum Skits & Stories Extra Activities State Standards
Daily Schedule Examples for 3rd - 4th - 5th Grades
Many of our volunteer teachers and schoolmarms have requested examples of how to structure their classroom visits to Cornell School. Below is how long-time volunteer schoolmarms Mary Thomas and Hazel Almendinger create a special field trip for 3rd, 4th or 5th graders.
9:30 AM Opening Exercises
10:55 AM Math
12:45 PM to 1:15 PM Spelling Bee or History Lesson
9:30 AM Opening Exercises
- Flag Salute - The Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance
- Tell about the stove
- History of Cornell School (Including the move, date, number of students, all grades, subjects, transportation to school, teachers and memories.)
- Begin the skit: "The Past Revisited" (Former student Charlotte Smoots (1909 - 2001) visits Cornell School)
- The reading books used at Cornell School were written by William McGuffey, a man from Ohio.
- Explain Eclectic: This means a collection of stories, most stories were about nature, religion or being a good person. Children progressed through the books and were not particularly in that grade. Some children may have missed school to help at home.
- Explain Writing: The tool, position, exercises and cursive writing was taught exclusively until the early part of the 1900"s. Tell about the hornbook.
- Explain Elocution: This term means learning to speak and read so that others could hear and understand. Oral exercises were used. Example: practice saying "oooooooo's" softly, building louder with each "o". Tongue twisters were used and choral speaking.
- Pass out hornbooks, pencils and copy books.
- Divide into 3 groups - one group doing writing, one doing elocution and the group doing reading. The groups rotate every 10-15 minutes.
10:55 AM Math
- Have children help pass out slates, chalk and wiping cloth. Have each student write 1 to 50 on the chalkboard. Do some simple adding and subtracting and then some math story problems.11:25 AM Go to the middle school building for a restroom break.
- Children get their lunches from the cloak rooms. They can eat downstairs or on the front lawn. They should take care of their trash.
- Play tag, Drop the Hanky and other old time games.
12:45 PM to 1:15 PM Spelling Bee or History Lesson
- A Spelling Bee is more of a time filler. When the child misses and sits down, have them write in the journal provided. The students can write about the day and draw pictures. Sometimes the teacher talks about their visit before beginning the spelling bee.
