1869: A report on schools in North Carolina

In this lesson, students use a guided reading to look at a report on the status of education in North Carolina in 1869, and discuss the reasons given then for why the Governor and Legislature should support educating North Carolina's children. They are provided an opportunity to compare and contrast the 1869 document against their own ideas about the civic duty to attend school through age sixteen, and its relative value to the state and the country.

A lesson plan for grade 10 Social Studies

By Victoria Schaefer

Learn more

• Report of 1869 Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina

Related pages

• A visit to colonial North Carolina: This lesson plan extends student learning about the colonial period in North Carolina history by incorporating primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection. After reading first-hand accounts of travelers to colonial America, students will create their own travel brochure advertising North Carolina.
• Early North Carolina exploration (warm-up activity): This lesson is intended to be used at the beginning of a unit that examines the early exploration of the North Carolina coast and its inhabitants.
  Through drawings published in Thomas Hariot's "A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia" teachers can raise student's interest in this unit.
• Exploring the 1835 NC Constitutional Convention: This Internet Scavenger Hunt allows students to read the actual proceedings of the 1835 Constitutional Convention while they discover for themselves some of the significant amendments that were made. The activity also sets the foundation for class discussions about why the state Constitution was amended in 1835 and what impact the amendments had on religious groups, free blacks, and American Indians.

Related topics

• Learn more about American history, North Carolina, civics, education, government, history, oral histories, schools, and social studies.

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

Learning outcomes

The teacher can use this lesson as a reinforcement tool for students learning their legal duties as citizens versus their civic responsibilities. One of the five legal duties is to attend public school, in most states, until age 16. This lesson serves as an activity to reflect on the historical development of public education in North Carolina by using a primary source from 1869. The selections from the primary source serve as good prompts for questions, essays, and class discussions about the listed objectives. Finally, the discussions regarding public education issues in 1869 can be linked to current events in public education locally, statewide, or nationally, such as local efforts to pass bonds to support the building of new facilities.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30-45 minutes

Materials/resources

Teacher should either use internet connection/projector to display primary source material, or an overhead projector with transparencies.

Students should either have computers with internet access or a copy of the selected pages from the primary source. In addition, students should have a copy of the guided reading.

Pre-activities

Teacher should have taught the lessons on legal duties versus civic responsibilities. Students must know that attending school until age sixteen, in most states, is a legal duty.

Activities

1. Teacher should first introduce concept of “Superintendent of Public Instruction.” Ask if anyone knows who the local Superintendent is? Ask if anyone can explain his job? Ask if anyone can name the State Superintendent.
2. Remind students of their legal duty to attend school.
3. Next, teacher should project the cover of the primary source onto screen, introducing the report. The purpose of examining this document is to obtain a glimpse into schools of the past.
4. Discuss the following, as seems appropriate.
   • Date of document.
   • Who is it written to?
   • Who is it from?
   • What is it?
5. Assignment: First, provide students with access to the document — either hard copy or electronically. Next, do one of the following:
   • Provide students with guided reading and collect answers. This can be either a class work or homework assignment, individually or in teams.
   • Use the guided reading as a tool to facilitate class discussion as you review the document with the class.

Assessment

Teacher may grade guided reading responses.

Supplemental information

Attachments:

• Guided Reading
• Selected Pages

Comments

Inspiration for this lesson comes from the numerous complaints students make about the duty to attend school. Hopefully, this will help them to value their opportunity.