Article
Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (Boar Bristles); Vintage Images/Alamy Stock Photo (Nightgowns); iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Candle); Stefan Simonovski/Alamy Stock Photo (Lamp); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Past to Present,

Bedtime Long Ago

Imagine it is 200 years ago. It is time to get ready for bed. What do you do?

From the October/November 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will discover what children's bedtime routines were like long ago by following an infographic.

Featured Skill: Text Features, Key Details,
Topic: Social Studies,
Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.1 Features of print RF.1.3 Decoding RI.1.3 Connecting information RI.1.5 Text features RI.1.7 Use illustrations to describe key ideas SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative discussions with peers and adults
TEKS Standards
  • Social Studies
    (15) Science, technology, and society. The student identifies individuals who created or invented new technology and understands how technology affects daily life, past and present. The student is expected to: (A) describe how technology has affected the ways families live.

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1. Time to brush your teeth. Your toothbrush is made from animal hair. Yuck!

2. Get dressed for bed. You wear a long dress called a nightgown. You wear a little hat too.

3. Hop into your bed. It is filled with horsehair and feathers. So comfy?

4. Lights out! You blow out the candle. There are no light bulbs yet. Goodnight!

Bedtime Today

How has bedtime changed?

Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Activities (2) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus

Sequencing

Nonfiction text features

Social Studies Focus

History

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group
  • Small group

Pairings and Text Connections

  • From the Storyworks 1 archive: “Background Builder: If You Lived 150 Years Ago . . .” (February 2024)

Suggested Reading Focus

Change over time (20 minutes)

  • Preview the article with students. Point out that it is an infographic, which arranges pictures and text in a way that gives you information. Ask them what they notice about the nonfiction features.
  • Ask children to think about what they do before they go to bed. What steps do they have to take? Tell them that you will be reading about what bedtime would have been like 200 years ago.
  • Read the article. After each section, pause and check comprehension by asking students if that part of a bedtime routine resembles their own.
  • After reading, use the last section of the infographic to prompt children to discuss how bedtime has changed. Summarize their learning through discussion or on chart paper.

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Skills: Main idea/writing (15 minutes)

Text-to-Speech