Objective: learn how 19th / 20th century school life differs from nowadays.

Tasks:

1.By reading J.Poruks story “Kauja pie Knipskas”/ “The Battle at Knipska”, about everyday life of pupils, and looking at the photographs, get acquainted with school life at the turn of 19th / 20thcentury.
2. To find out the meaning of the following archaisms: skolēna lādīte, maizes kulīte, zīdenis, piskars, pīpot, etc.;
3. Practice writing with a feather, in the old print on a sample;
4. Make the “spinner” wooden toy.

Workflow:
Pupils were offered the old print text and were encouraged to read using cheat sheet –  “Letters, earlier and today”. Pupils tried to write words in the old print with feather and ink.

Reading the story “The Battle at Knipska” together with the teacher, students learned the meaning of the archaisms mentioned. They were encouraged to imagine classroom arrangements and how classroom looked like back then. Drawings from the book were used for better visualization. Pupils were looking for images and photographs of archaisms on the Internet.

Pupils practiced writing with chalk on the blackboard (estimated how many years ago the author of the story was born, how many years ago he wrote a story, how many years ago these events happened, how long the new letters were written at school). Solved mathematical tasks using old units of measurement. Practiced calligraphy with a feather and ink on paper.

Tried to sketch and model story characters Cibins and Bungis clothes according to the story, and then compare with drawings in the book.

Every pupil made a wooden spinner toy for himself.

Pupils feedback

Linda: I was happy to learn how different school life have been many years ago. For example, they were writing on a little chalkboard and there were different letters used in books. I learned that back then students had to take their lunch from home. I liked to sew a button on clothe and to writhe with a feather.

Davis: School was hard back then. Some mothers could give their children more food than others, for the lunch. There was a small room in school were lunch was stored. I liked to write on chalkboard. I learned old units of measurement. We made toys from wood ourselves.

Ralfs: I learned how to write with a feather. I tried out how it was when you were punished for bad behavior by kneeling on peas and standing in classroom corner. I think that we could learn to speak only after raising hand and getting permission to speak.

Nauris: We read the story about Cibins. We also learned old letters. I liked a lot to writhe those words with ink. I also liked to imagine and draw how classrooms looked like then.

Pupils learned archaisms and compared them to words that are used these days. Photographs were very useful for archaism translation. Conclusion was that it used to be a lot harder to study: the rules in school were stricter, books were without pictures, and you had to write a lot.