Student work

What does student work of the past tell us?

Learning intention – We are learning from objects of the past.

Success criteria – We can draw a fancy heading similar to students' work of the past.

Students did their school work in an exercise book.

They had one book for all their lessons.

The main lessons were reading, writing and arithmetic.

This was called the 3Rs.

Harold Henderson was in 2nd Class in 1890. That is the same as Year 1 and Year 2 today.

Harold went to Annandale Public School. He did his spelling and tables tests in a work book.

Harold's 2nd Class exercise book is in the museum's collection.

1890s exercise booksYouTube | NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education (1:51min) | Transcript

In the past, students learnt how to draw maps.

They drew the outline first then the details.

Students drew maps using pen and ink.

They used a very fine mapping pen.

Vera Jones was in 3rd Class in 1896. She went to St Peter's Public School.

Vera used her mapping book in 3rd to 5th Class.

Her beautiful mapping book is in the museum's collection.

Arthur attended Chatswood Superior Public School.

He was 12 years old when he created a large map of Australia.

Arthur used black ink for the outlines and labels.

He used watercolour paint for the land and water.

Thin watercolour painting is called a 'wash'.

Hand-drawn mapsYouTube | NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education (1:52min) | Transcript

The activity sheets open as a Preview. Select Template to save a copy onto your Google Drive.

The aim is for students to step back in time so it is suggested the sheets be printed to be completed by hand.

Go to Lessons >

Go to Objects >