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Jessica Travaline Teacher Lesson Page
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3.6 Identify the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights as key American documents.
 * Standard**:

How was education for Russian Jewish children different than American Jewish children in the late 1800's?
 * Guiding Question**:

But in America, We **C//an//** Go to School!
 * Title:**


 * Introduction:**

Take a look at this picture of a typical elementary school in 1890. Where do you think the picture was taken? Who is in this picture? What else do you see in this picture?

In America, all children are entitled to a free education regardless of their sex, race or religion. Children begin kindergarten when they are five years old and continue going to school until they complete high school when they are eighteen years old. The question is, was this free education available for all children 100 years ago? Did immigrant children 100 years ago receive an education in their home countries? In this lesson, we will try to answer these questions by looking at a Jewish, Russian immigrant named Mary Antin, who came to live in Chelsea in 1892.

Your task is to learn about Mary Antin, a Russian immigrant who came to Chelsea with her family and entered the Chelsea Public Schools when she was twelve years old. Mary spoke no English when she came to America and was placed in a second grade classroom with children who were 6 and 7 years old.
 * Task:**

As part of this lesson, you will read from Mary Antin's book, "The Promised Land" and create a list of adjectives that describe education in Russia during the late 1800's for a Russian Jewish child. You will also look at maps of Chelsea to identify and count the number of schools in Chelsea that students were able to attend. Also, you will look at Mary Antin's class pictures and create a list of adjectives to describe her class and look at some of her homework and create a list of adjectives describing the work that she completed after being in an American school for only a few months.

Now, imagine that you too were an immigrant who came to America from Russia with Mary. Using the information that you assembled you will compose a letter to a family member or friend back in Russia and tell them what education is like for you now that you are living in America and compare it with how education was for you back in Russia.

Lesson Process:

 * 1) You will be split into groups.
 * 2) Your teacher will provide you with a picture from Mary Antin's book, The Promised Land. This is a picture of a group of schoolchildren from Mary's hometown in Russia. Create a list of adjectives that describe the children in the class.
 * 3) You will the be asked to review sections of Mary's book that talk about education in Russia. On the piece of chart paper given to you, you will create a list of adjectives to describe life as a Jewish child living in Russia who attends school. When all groups have created their list, you will present your list to class and explain why you chose your adjectives.
 * **Page 26** -- //There was no free school for girls, and even if your parents were rich enough to send you to a private school, you could not go very far. At the high school, which was under government control, Jewish children were admitted in limited numbers, – only ten to every hundred – and even if you were among the lucky ones, you had your troubles. The tutor who prepared you talked all the time about the examinations you would have to pass, till you were scared. You heard on all sides that the brightest Jewish children were turned down if the examining officers did not like the turn of their noses. You went up to be examined with the other Jewish children, your heart heavy about that matter of your nose. There was a special examination for the Jewish candidates, of course; a nine-year-old Jewish child had to answer questions that a thirteen-year-old Gentile was hardly expected to understand. But that did not matter so much. You had been prepared for the thirteen-year-old test; you found the questions quite easy. You wrote your answers triumphantly – and you received a low rating, and there was no appeal.//
 * //**Page 32-33** -- Not every man could hope to be a rav but no Jewish boy was allowed to grow up without at least a rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew. The scantiest income had to be divided so as to provide for the boys tuition To leave a boy without a teacher was a disgrace upon the whole family to the remotest relative For the children of the destitute there was a free school supported by the charity of the pious And so every boy was sent to heder Hebrew school almost as soon as he could speak and usually he continued to study until his confirmation at thirteen years of age or as much longer as his talent and ambition carried him My brother was five years old when he entered on his studies He was carried to the heder on the first day covered over with a praying shawl so that nothing unholy should look on him and he was presented with a bun on which were traced in honey these words The Torah left by Moses is the heritage of the children of Jacob After a boy entered heder he was the hero of the family He was served before the other children at table and nothing was too good for him If the family were very poor all the girls might go barefoot but the heder boy must have shoes he must have a plate of hot soup,though the others ate dry bread. When the rebbe teacher came on Sabbath afternoon to examine the boy in the hearing of the family everybody sat around the table and nodded with satisfaction if he read his portion well and he was given a great saucerful of preserves and was praised and blessed and made much of No wonder he said in his morning prayer I thank Thee Lord for not having created me a female. It was not much to be a girl you see Girls could not be scholars and rabbonim.//
 * //**Page 34** -- There was nothing in what the boys did in heder that I could not have done if I had not been a girl. For a girl it was enough if she could read her prayers in Hebrew and follow the meaning by the Yiddish translation at the bottom of the page It did not take long to learn this much a couple of terms with a rebbetzin female teacher and after that she was done with books A girl's real schoolroom was her mother's kitchen There she learned to bake and cook and manage to knit sew and embroider ulso to spin and weave in country places And while her hands were busy her mother instructed her in the laws regulating a pious Jewish household and in the conduct proper for a Jewish wife for of course every girl hoped to be a wife A girl was born for no other purpose.//
 * //**Page 50** -- Among the interesting things belonging to my grandmother besides her dowry at the time of the marriage was her family .Her father was so original that he kept a tutor for his daughters sons he had none and allowed them to be instructed in the rudiments of three or four languages and the elements of arithmetic.//
 * 1) Your next task will be to look at the different maps of Chelsea from when Mary Antin was living here as a young girl. Your job is to locate each school in Chelsea and take a count of how many schools were in Chelsea during that time. You will also look at Mary Antin's class photos. On a piece of chart paper, you will create a list of words that describe the schools in Chelsea and also a list of adjectives that describe Mary Antin's class photos. Do these look different from what the photo of the classroom in Russia? How so?
 * 2) You will then look at the homework in Mary Antin's homework folder. These pieces of homework include a poem that Mary wrote after only being in school in America for 5 months. Mary spoke no English when she came to America and within 5 months was able to write poetry that her teacher thought was good enough to send to the local paper. Your group will create a list of adjectives to describe the school work that Mary Antin did while in elementary school in Chelsea.
 * 3) Next, your group will use poster board to create a collage using the maps of Chelsea schools, photos from Mary Antin's class and her school work. This collage will showcase what school was like for Mary Antin in America and include adjectives that you came up with from your second task. When making your collage, think of this as a poster that might be seen hanging up back in Russia. This poster might inspire another Russian Jewish family to come to America so that their children may attend school.
 * 1) Next, your group will use poster board to create a collage using the maps of Chelsea schools, photos from Mary Antin's class and her school work. This collage will showcase what school was like for Mary Antin in America and include adjectives that you came up with from your second task. When making your collage, think of this as a poster that might be seen hanging up back in Russia. This poster might inspire another Russian Jewish family to come to America so that their children may attend school.

Conclusion:
As a concluding activity, you will write a letter to a family member/friend back in Russia. Your letter will tell your family member/friend what it is like going to school in America, using the adjectives from the chart paper. Your letter will also tell your friend how school is different from Russia and include adjectives from your first task. You will use this letter to compare education for an American Jewish immigrant to a Russian Jewish child. Your letter will answer our guiding question and compare education for a Russian Jewish child with education for an American Jewish child.

Assessment:**.**
Students will be assessed on their letter that they write back to a family member/friend who is their age in Russia. The letter will tell what school is like for them in America and how it is different from what they left in Russia.

Resources:**
 * ** STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO… ** || ** STRONG ** || ** GOOD ** || ** ADEQUATE ** || ** INADEQUATE ** ||
 * Write a letter to a family member/friend in Russia comparing education for a Russian Jewish child with an American Jewish immigrant. || Letter is organized. Includes information from primary sources. Letter answers guiding question to the family member/friend and includes higher level thinking. Letter has no grammatical errors. || Letter is organized. Letter includes information from primary sources. Letter answers guiding question to the family member/friend and includes higher level thinking. Letter has few grammatical errors. || Letter is organized. Letter includes some information from primary sources. Letter answers guiding questions and includes some higher level thinking. Letter has few grammatical errors. || Letter is unorganized. Letter includes few information from primary sources. Letter does not answer guiding question and does not include higher level thinking. Letter has many grammatical errors. ||