An Autograph Book from Yesteryear
Students Create a Book of Memories in the Style of Nineteenth-Century Autograph Books
from Education World ®
Subjects: Language Arts, Visual Arts, Educational Technology, Social Studies
Grade Levels; 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Objectives
Students will:
- study the pages of a historic autograph book;
- talk about how the autograph book differs from present-day autograph books and discuss any clues about the time in which the book was written;
- imitate the style of the autograph book entries as they write thoughtful text and rhymes; and,
- compile individual entries into a class autograph book written in a 19th-century style.
Keywords
autograph, history, 19th century, end-of-year, friend
Materials Needed
- Internet access (or printed pages from an online autograph book from the 1880s)
- paper cut to 5 inches by 9 inches
- writing materials
Procedure
Share with students an antique autograph book dating to the 1880s. As you leaf through the pages of the book, share information about its history, some of the entries, and the penmanship the signers used. The typed text of each page is provided beneath the image of the page.
Online Examples of Nineteenth-Century Autograph Books
- Forget Me Not Friendship/Autograph Book
- McCahan Family 19th Century Autograph Book
- Ames Historical Society 19th Century Autograph Books
- Princeton University Library Autograph Book Collection
If you are unable to share the book online with students, you can print specific pages to share. If you print the pages, you might copy them onto overhead transparencies and share them with the entire class.
As you share the autograph book's pages, solicit students' reactions to its contents. How is this book different from autograph books that students might have seen before? What stands out among the entries in the book? What does this autograph book say about the time in which it was created?
After sharing a few entries and discussing the autograph book, introduce to students the idea of creating a 21st-century version. Provide each student with a sheet roughly the same size as the ones in the 1880s autograph book (about 5 inches by 9 inches). Challenge students to create an autograph book entry or rhyme in the style of the entries in the antique autograph book. Entries should be congratulatory, thoughtful, kind, and respectful and written in the students' best handwriting! Students with artistic talents might imitate some of the artwork seen on the pages of the 1880s autograph book.
Photocopy each completed autograph page, and bind the pages together to form a class autograph book.
Extension Activity
If possible, arrange for a local antique dealer to visit the class to display other written historical documents and/or to share writing implements that might have been used at different times in history.
Assessment
Share the way(s) in which students applied what they learned from the antique autograph book to this activity.
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