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Lesson 2 - School
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This page: Read a list of rules of conduct for teachers from the year 1872 and answer the questions.

Schoolhouse

"1872 Rules for Teachers"
Reading Lesson

Key Words

Below you will find a list of key vocabulary you need to know to understand the lesson. Click on each word to hear it and practice its pronunciation.

chimney
a structure that lets smoke go out of a building
bucket
a container used to carry liquids or other materials
coal
a black rock used as fuel for heat
whittle
to cut or shape wood with a knife
pupil
a student
court
to try to start a romantic relationship
dismiss
to officially remove someone from a job
unseemly
not proper or acceptable
engage
to take part in or become involved
sum
an amount of money
earnings
money that a person makes from working
declining
becoming weaker or older
burden
something that is hard to carry or deal with
pool
a game played on a table with balls and sticks
hall
a large room or building for public use
shave
to cut hair off the face or body
barber shop
a place where people get haircuts or shaves
worth
value or importance
fault
a mistake or problem
approve
to say yes or agree to something

 

Exercise - Key Words

Read the definition and select the word that was defined.

1. to cut or shape wood with a knife
   

2. a container used to carry liquids or other materials
   

3. a structure that lets smoke go out of a building
   

4. to try to start a romantic relationship
   

5. a black rock used as fuel for heat
   

6. a student
   

7. to take part in or become involved
   

8. money that a person makes from working
   

9. to officially remove someone from a job
   

10. becoming weaker or older
   

11. not proper or acceptable
   

12. an amount of money
   

13. to cut hair off the face or body
   

14. a game played on a table with balls and sticks
   

15. a place where people get haircuts or shaves
   

16. something that is hard to carry or deal with
   

17. a large room or building for public use
   

18. value or importance
   

19. to say yes or agree to something
   

20. a mistake or problem
   

 

Reading

1872 Rules for Teachers

The following is a real list of rules that teachers were expected to follow in 1872.

  1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
  2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session.
  3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
  4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
  5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
  6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
  7. Every teacher should lay aside from each day's pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
  8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.
  9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

► Listen to the reading

 

Questions

1. What happens if a woman teacher gets married?
     

2. What can teachers do in their free time?
     

3. How much of a raise (increase in salary) can a good teacher expect after five years of service?
     

4. What do you think "scuttle" means in the following sentence?

"Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session."

 

5. What do you think "nibs" means in the following rule?

"Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils."

 

6. What do you think "goodly" means in the following rule?

"Every teacher should lay aside from each day's pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society."

 

 

Writing

Do you think today's teachers should have rules of conduct? What rules should they follow? Make a list in English of modern rules for teachers.

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