Jameka K. Sayles
Objectives:
-
- Describe the purpose of a hornbook
-
-
- Construct a replica of a hornbook
-
-
- Observe and analyze samples of hornbooks
In this lesson students will make a hornbook. In the one-room schoolhouses, there were no blackboards, maps, or globes. Lead pencils were not introduced until 1761 but were still uncommon in schools. Paper was so scarce that students learned the fundamentals by using a hornbook. The hornbook was not real a book. It was a wooden paddle that has a piece of paper tacked to it. The paper contained the alphabet, simple combinations of vowels and consonants, and a prayer. A thin layer of cow horn covered and protected the paper. Students traced over the letters with a sharp stick until they memorized it.
-
To make the hornbook you will need: cardboard or oak tag, wax paper, and regular paper. Students can cut the oak tag into the shape of the hornbook. Then they will write information that is important to know in Social Studies class, such as, continents, oceans, presidents, etc. They may include a prayer or proverb (wise saying). Then they cover the paper with the wax paper to protect it. They also staple or glue the wax paper to it. Then they can punch a hole in the handle and put a string through it to tie it around their necks.
