The second article in a series of three written about teaching strategies in primary schools in England and America, this article reviews strategies used in American one-room rural schoolhouses from the late 1800s to the 1940s. Examines historical perspective, curriculum, school life, punishment, special events, and games. (SD)

This booklet contains a pictorial history of one-room schoolhouses in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Following a brief description of the typical one-room schoolhouse, the history of Hopkinton's one-room schoolhouses is traced from 1768, when a town meeting voted to construct two schoolhouses, to 1936, when the last one-room schoolhouses were closed.…

The author reminisces about her early schooling experiences in rural Limestone, Maine, and the experiences of family members in local one-room schools back to the 1870s. Reveals her enthusiasm for education in spite of obstacles such as wading through snow to get to school. (LP)

This book compiles black and white photographs of 49 one-room (and occasionally two-room) schoolhouses in Arkansas. The book aims to share the vision of these special buildings that were so important in shaping the educational system, communities, and lives. An introduction describes the pinhole cameras that were used and how the different effects…

This essay discusses singing as a method of learning cultural values and the types of songs sung in a midwestern one-room country school in the 1930s. Singing and memorized poetry were major mediums for education in values. School children learned many songs with themes of patriotism and citizenship, such as "The Star Spangled Banner,""America the…

Traces decline of one-room schools from 24,000 in 1959 to about 840 today. Reports findings from 1984 survey of 643 surviving one-room schools in Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota, California, and Wyoming. Includes data on enrollments, teacher qualifications and responsibilities, student achievement, and school facilities/equipment. (NEC)

The Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University has a rich collection of textbooks that would have been used in one-room schools. The bibliography of this collection contains approximately 700 entries, divided into the following subject areas: language arts; social sciences; sciences; health; art; music; and historical books about…

This report documents the archaeological investigations conducted at the former site of the Altaville Schoolhouse in Calaveras County, California. These investigations were carried out through the cooperative efforts of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Calaveras County Historical Society, and the local community. The…

It is in the classroom of the graded school that the underlying mismatch between functions and forms occurs in American public education. (Author)

This presentation examines the history of women teachers in the rural United States. The earliest classrooms in America were a male environment modeled after European schools. But in the mid-19th century, the Civil War and westward expansion depleted the number of male teachers and brought rural women teachers to the helm of American education.…

Briefly describes the experiences of three persons who attended and taught in one-room schools primarily in Ashland County (Ohio) from approximately 1900 to the 1920s. Discusses the close interrelationships among home, school, and community, and the rural protests against consolidation of one-room schools in 1939. (SV)

A former teacher reminisces about her teaching experiences during the 1920s in a rural school along the Aroostook River in Wade, Maine. Each year, when the boat carrying the cook for loggers upriver arrived, she and her students went aboard and received a special treat of warm molasses cake. (LP)

A former student at a one-room school in rural Monongalia County, West Virginia, in the 1920s describes educational practices, social life, discipline, extracurricular activities, subject matter, teacher responsibilities, and the importance of the school to the community. (TD)

This history of the one-room school examines reasons for its demise (perceived inferior status, efficiency, modernization) and presents advantages of multiaged grouping in schools. (SK)

The experiences of two schoolmasters in the small Western Port Bay fishing community of Hastings (Australia) in the last century are presented to provide insights to present-day teachers about the nature of living and teaching in a rural community. The second schoolmaster did a much better job than the first in involving parents in school…