February 10th, 2017

Wow! We (Room 24) sure had an exciting day on January 25th at the Victorian Classroom!

We started off the day by coming into the classroom, wearing our best Victorian Era clothes. We also brought our Victorian lunches in different parcels, such as baskets, buckets, cloths and cloth bags, paper bags and home made lunch bins made of wood. Once we were seated, our teachers for the day (Miss. Snider and Mr. Cornwall), gave the girls pinafores and the boys a vest, to get more into our roles.

In the classroom, every desk was connected to the chair in front of it. Some desks were see through, and some were closed off. On the walls there was ‘God Save the Queen’ and the Lord’s Prayer. The windows were very high, as to give the most light as possible without any electric lights. But just in case it was really dark, they had lanterns as a last resort.

First, we had Arithmetic, and we started off by doing the multiplication clock. We did our three, five, seven and nine times tables, and some students stood up and recited them alone. We then began to write the answers to some equations on our slates. To write on the slates we used pieces of graphite, and cloth to wipe away the answers. But if there were not enough cloths for everyone, the girls would wipe the graphite off with their pinafores.

Next, we learned a memory gem; “Politeness is to do and say the kindest thing in the kindest way.” We had to learn it very quickly, so a few of our students stumbled over the words at first, but soon we were all reciting it with our eyes closed! Every hour or so, Mr. Cornwall would tell us to turn around and recite the memory gem, and we almost did it perfect every time!

After Mr. Cornwall finished teaching us the memory gem, Miss. Snider taught us a bit of spelling and handwriting. Some of the words we learned to spell were furrow, Victorian and pantry. Some of the letters we learned to write were cursive k’s, capital s’s, and capital o’s.

Miss Snider also taught us reading. We learned and then recited a poem entitled ‘The Corn Song’. It was exactly as it sounds- all about corn and the corn harvest.

At last we had our lunch time! Almost all of our students brought authentic Victorian lunches! Mr. Cornwall was very impressed, and said that he had never had a class bring in so many authentic lunches! Many people brought water in jars, and brought home made bread, cookies and muffins. Other things that were brought were sandwiches, apples, carrots, potatoes and hard boiled eggs. Before and after we ate, we washed our hands with soap bars in a bowl of water that Ms. Snider had collected earlier in the morning. After the eating period of lunch was over, we were taught how to play some games they would’ve played back in the Victorian times. Mr. Cornwall gave us one game as a challenge, and we had to balance six nails on one nail, and guess what? Some boys in our class figured it out, and both Mr. Cornwall and Ms. Snider were VERY impressed!

After lunch, we had geography, and we learned about the townships in Waterloo county. There is Waterloo Township, Wesley Township, Woolwich Township, Wilmot Township and North Dumpfries Township. We had to put them in the correct locations in our work books.

Next, we had art. We had to draw a vase, and show all the light on it. We all showed it in different ways, and it was very interesting seeing different people’s perspective from different areas of the classroom.

And lastly, we had a spelling bee! It was a lot of fun, and everybody did really well. It came down to the last two girls, and after they went back and forth for almost ten minutes, Mr. Cornwall declared them dual winners!

Soon after the spelling bee ended, we had to get back to school. Everybody had such a great time, and it was a great learning experience too! Overall, it was EVERYONE’s favourite field trip so far this year!

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