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hepople' Lesson Plans



School Rules, Old and New
Prepared by Elaine G. Gromak, Derek Wingate, and Verna Moheler

Intended Grade: 2nd expandable to any grade

Subject Areas: Language Arts and Social Studies

Correlation to National or Florida Sunshine State Standards:
Language Arts for Pre-K to 2 LA.B. 1.1, LA.B. 1.2, LA.C. 1.1.
Social Studies for Pre-K to 2 SS.A.1.1.

Objectives:
Students will be able to explain the need for school rules.
Students will listen to school rules for 1786 Spanish St. Augustine.
Students will use productive thinking to decide why these rules are different.
Students will use productive thinking to decide what rules we need in our
school.

Materials Required:
Copy of "Regulations and Instructions for the Schools of St. Augustine (1786)."
Simplified rules provided.
Instructions:
1. Teacher initiates discussion of why rules are necessary.
2. Teacher and students discuss what constitutes good and bad rules and
establish criteria.
3. Teacher reads and explains St. Augustine rules.
4. Students discuss why these are good or bad rules. Why might the rules be
different from what we expect?
5. Students get together in cooperative groups to discuss what rules we need for
our school.
6. Each group should produce four written rules and should be able to explain why
these rules are necessary.
7. Each group will read their rules to the class.
8. The class will vote to decide which of the groups' rules they would like to adopt
for our classroom.
9. The rules will be written up and decorated on a poster by the students and
posted in the classroom.









Lesson Closinq:
Each student will receive a set of our class rules and the St. Augustine rules to share
with their parents.

Reference Materials:
Graham, Thomas. The Awakening of St. Augustine. (St. Augustine, Fla: St.
Augustine Historical Society, 1978).
Griffin, Patricia C. Mullet on the Beach, The Minorcans of Florida (1768-1788).
(Gainesville, Fla.: University Presses of Florida, 1991).










ST. AUGUSTINE SCHOOL RULES (1786)

1. The school shall be open from 7AM to sunset with a two hour break at noon for

lunch and siesta.

2. Each student shall greet with proper courtesy first his teacher and then his

classmates.

3. The students shall come to school with all possible cleanliness, hair combed and

faces, hands, and feet washed.

4. The teacher shall take roll each morning and afternoon. If a student fails to

answer, the teacher shall send one or two boys to see why he is absent or bring

him back to school.

5. The school room is to be swept at least weekly by the students.

6. No student may leave the classroom without the teacher's permission. When

excused, the student shall take a ruler from the teacher's desk and return it to the

desk when he returns. A pendulum will be started when the student leaves and he

must return before it stops swinging.

7. Every month, each student will take a general test administered by the priest to

check their progress in writing, reading, math, and Christian doctrine.

8. The students must memorize the math tables at night and recite them in the

morning to the teacher. They must also read a portion of the historical catechism.

This is to prevent them from being idle at home.

9. The students are to go directly home from school and avoid shouting, loitering, or

pranks.


(Rules for older students available on the Spanish Colonial St. Augustine Primary Sources page at
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/digital/collections/Teachers/primary.htm)