Objective: by studying photographs and pictures, and by interviewing grandparents, explore what did school bags and writing in old print look like in the 20th century

Tasks:

  • study about antique school bags from photos and pictures
  • listen to grandparents’ memory stories about their school bags
  • Practice writing in old print
  • Present what was done and achieved
  • Improve the skills working in pairs and groups.

Workflow:

  1. Pupils listened to grandparents’ memories about their school bags
  2. Explored pictures and photographs of school bags and antique stationary
  3. Drew accurate copies of school bags
  4. Fromcolour paper designed their own dream bag
  5. Wrote texts in old print with various stationery following the requirements of that time

Conclusions:

  1. Antique school bags were solid, uncomfortable, bad quality, made of wood, cardboard and leather, with several compartments, expressionless colours, but you could put your books neatly together and not make such mess as pupils do today.
  2. Antique bags were less coloured than modern bags, but the pictures on them were more childish, better-natured, more instructive.
  3. Ever it was harder for schoolkids to write because it was done with ink and a feather, or with an ink pen, chalk, chemical pencil etc. There were often stains that you could not delete. Height of the letters, inclination, shape and distance between the letters was precisely determined and all those rules had to be strictly followed.

Pupils liked:

  • studying old photos
  • listening to grandparents’ memories,
  • an informal atmosphere in the classroom,
  • writing exercises based on ancient samples,
  • writing on a blackboard,
  • work in the group and individually,
  • help and friendliness when working on a team.