Textiles & Clothing

Introduction: This is one program in a series of activities designed to familiarize students with the life of a child in the eighteenth century. Students learn about the life of their 18^th century counterparts by attempting some typical children’s activities of the time period.

The activities in this program conform to Pennsylvania Department of Education Proposed Academic Standards for Elementary Schools:

- Reading, Writing, Speaking, & Listening Standard 1.6.3.A (Listen to others, ask questions as an aid to understanding)

- Environment and Ecology Standard 4.2.4.B (Identify products derived from natural resources.

- Environment and Ecology Standard 4.8.4.D (Identify items used in daily life that come from natural resources).

- History Standard 8.2.6.B (Items from everyday life)

- History Standard 8.2.6.B (Spinning & weaving, flax)

- Arts & Humanities Standard 9.1.3.J (know and use traditional technologies, looms, drop spindles).

Objectives: Instruct students about the amount of work involved in producing clothing in the 18^th century, providing an appreciation for the simplicity of obtaining clothing today. Provide and understanding of the processes that were necessary, creating an understanding of the limited number of clothes that people owned 300 years ago. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities, the students will understand the entire process of creating clothing in the 18^th century.

Directed Teaching Activities:

Step 1 Discuss how 18^th century clothing was made by hand. Discuss equipment used to make clothes. Instruct students about what types materials were used to make clothes and the processes involved. Discuss how natural materials were essential to early clothing. Discuss outfit and materials it is made from.

Step 2 Instruct students on how the colonists made colored cloth through a discussion and display of dye plants and materials.

Step 3 Interpret children’s roles in making clothing. Compare and contrast children’s roles in acquiring clothes in the past with their roles today. Instruct how to use wool cards and drop spindles. Assist students who have trouble getting started.

Student Assessment:

Step 1 Students will be able to correctly answer questions about clothing production in the 18^th century. Students will be able to answer questions about which materials used during clothing manufacturing came from natural resources.

Step 2 Students will be able to correctly answer questions about the dyeing of clothing in the 18^th century. The students will be able to explain dye plants and their uses.

Step 3 Students will be able to describe what types of tools and material types were used in clothing production and for which purposes. Students will demonstrate the wool card and drop spindle.