Actual Lesson Plan for the Printing Press and Quill Writing
Blog #8 - Quill Writing/Printing Press - Crystale M. Straub-Moyer
Objectives - The children will be writing with a quill and
then using stamps. This will help the
children understand why a printing press was needed and what the advantages to
creating a printing press. The students
will identify Benjamin Franklin as a person who showed patriotism and as an
American Hero. The students will
recognize American’s basic freedoms and understand what freedom means to a
citizen of the United States. (content)
Materials needed: Hang posters of Ben Franklin and pictures
of printing presses on the wall behind this center. I made the posters on a poster machine prior
to these centers being done. Quills (
pheasant feathers, ink –preferably black, small containers to hold the ink for
dipping, upper and lowercase letters, ink tablets, tables, bulletin board paper
or newspapers to cover the tables.
Activity- The children will be working in small groups (4 or
less children) to write their names and a sentence with a quill pen and then
use the stamps to create a sentence and stamp out his or her first name.
(creative activity)
Preparation – Creative the posters for this center and setting
up the tables with newspaper. Prior to
these centers I do several lessons on Ben Franklin that illustrates him as an
American Leader and Patriot who was also a scientist, a printer, an inventor,
and a writer. He was known for his sense
of humor and wisdom. We did a word web
on the chalkboard that told about Benjamin Franklin in these roles. We also learned the word and the meaning “Patriot”.
Questions to ask:
What would our town be like without a Library? What would our town be like without a Fire
House? How did Benjamin Franklin show
patriotism? Can you tell me of a time
you heard the word patriotism used? What
is a hero? What do heroes do? What is freedom? Why was freedom so important to Americans?
1.
The children
will write with a quill or pheasant feather by dipping into watered down black
tempera paint in small containers. The
children will discover how hard it was to write before pens and pencils were
used. The children will discuss the
difference of writing with a pen and a feather.
Mistakes can’t be erased. There is
only the color black, not a lot of colors like we have during our kid
writing. The children enjoyed the novelty but admitted it took
longer and was not as colorful as our markers and pens today. (DOK-1)
2.
The children will complete one sentence with a
quill or feather then use stamps to make a sentence and compare. What are the advantages of the stamps? What were the advantages of using a printing
press? Why was it so important? (Comparing
– DOK-2)
3.
Show the children a copy of the Declaration of
Independence which was given to me in Philadelphia. Also show the children pictures of the
printing press and the role of each person working in a printing press. It was very hard and tedious work. We will
compare and relate cause and effect of each role. (DOK-3)
4.
Computers and Technology make it easy for us to
get our mass mailings and information quickly.
The printing press was the first way to get the same information out to
everyone in a quicker more accurate manner.
Discuss and compare today vs. past with letters vs. e-mail. (DOK-3)
Follow Up Activities: Since Benjamin Franklin was very
curious we will do an experiment with butterflies watching, observing,
recording, and writing about the four stages of the butterfly to connect
Science in our lessons with Benjamin Franklin.
Each child will write 1-3 sentences about what they learned about
Benjamin Franklin in Kid Writing the following day. (DOK-4)
Standards: 25.3,
25.4, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 3.1a, 3.4c, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 1.9, 10.1-3,
10.4, 10.5, 5.1, 5.2, 7.4, 20.3, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7