Additional Twentieth Century Activities

Supplies

Cardstock paper
“Go House Hunting” cards to be printed out from this website

Time

30 minutes

Directions

1. Print out one deck (52 cards made by copying one Bungalow page, one Colonial Revival page, one Spanish Colonial Revival page, and one Tudor Revival page) per group of four students.

2. Cut out each individual card.

3. Hand out one deck to each group of four students.

4. Instruct students to choose a dealer to shuffle the cards, to deal five cards to each student in the group, and place the remaining cards in the deck on the table or in the center of the playing area.

5. Instruct the students that the objective of the game is to obtain the most cards from one house style.

6. The first player asks the player to his/her left , “ Do you have a ___ style?” Fill in the blank with Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, or Tudor Revival . If the player on the left has the style, the card is passed to the first player. If not, he/she tells the first player, “ Go House Hunting “ which means pull a card from the deck. Then it is the player on the left’s turn, and the game continues around the circle.

7. As soon as a player gets a group of four cards of any one style in his/her hand, the player should place the cards in a stack on the table or playing area in front of him/herself. Then play continues until all cards are played.

8. After all the cards are drawn, the player with the most cards of one particular house style wins.

Why Buy a Twentieth Century Style Home?

Students will be able to compare and contrast features found in Victorian and new twentieth century style homes and argue for or against one style or the other by writing a one paragraph persuasive argument.

Supplies

Paper
Pencil
Twentieth Century EZ Content Blueprint section of this unit
Chalkboard
Chalk

Time

30 minutes

Directions

1. Pass out paper and pencils.

2. Read aloud the “The Victorian House Loses its Favor,” the “Introduction to the Early Twentieth Century Home,” and the “Technology and the Early Twentieth Century House” sections of the EZ Content Blueprint.

3. Lead the class in a short discussion reviewing this information by making a list on the chalkboard of the pros of having an early twentieth century home and the cons of having a Victorian home.

4. Tell students to imagine that they are journalists for a popular magazine such as Craftsman or House Beautiful. Their assignment for the next issue will be to persuade loyal magazine readers of the wonders of the new twentieth century home and the horrors of the Victorian or vice versa in one paragraph with use of the information from the chalkboard list. For example, a student may want to start out by saying “Why give up ornate Victorian opulence for the small quarters of a new house?” or “Modern homes offer crisp, clean lines and streamlined spaces over the dusty and wasted space of Victorian Homes.”.

Stenciling

Students will make simple wall decorations like those used in craftsman homes by painting with stencil designs.

Supplies

Stencils with simple nature or geometric designs purchased at craft supply stores
Masking tape
Paint brushes
Tempra or Acrylic paint (earthy or muddy colors like mossy green or eggplant)
Old newspaper
Roll of white butcher or bulletin board paper
Large sheets of white construction paper
Twentieth Century EZ Content Blueprint section of this unit

Time

30 minutes

Directions

1. Explain to students that inhabitants of early twentieth century style homes strove for simplicity and cleanliness. They stayed away from the cluttered look of Victorian style. They preferred white walls and easy to clean wall decorations. Some Craftsman style homes, which included the bungalow, used the stenciling method to paint simple designs on their walls with subdued tones of color.



2. Set up a work station where each student can practice the art of stenciling and paint his/her own design to keep. The station’s surface should be protected by covering it with old newspaper, and it should be stocked with large sheets of construction paper, a stencil design, masking tape, paint, and brushes.



3. Demonstrate the steps of stenciling so that students will understand what to do when they visit the station on their own:
   • Place the stencil on top of the construction paper evenly with the edges of the paper so the design will appear straight.
   • Tape the stencil in place.
   • Choose a paint color, and dip brush into paint. Don’t put too much paint on the brush. Too much paint will make the finished design appear sloppy. It is important to achieve neat and crisp edges. Remember, cleanliness and simplicity were a key to early twentieth century homes.
   • Brush paint over the cutout areas of the stencil.
   • Carefully remove the stencil, and let paint dry.


4. Once everyone has had a turn stenciling, have the class make a wall decoration for the classroom. They should follow the same steps as above, placing their designs on a long piece of butcher paper or bulletin board paper. Each student should carefully place his/her stencil design next to the place where the last student’s design ended. In a sense, the students will be working together to paint a border design for the room.

Things You Might Find in an Early Twentieth Century Home

Students will distinguish features likely to be found or not found in an early twentieth century home by participating in the following simple exercise.

Supplies

Chalk
Chalkboard
Twentieth Century EZ Content Blueprint section of this unit

Time

10 minutes

Directions

1. List the following words on the board:
   
   

   Built-in Bathtubs	White Walls	Wood-burning Stoves
   Wood Pipes	Screens	Refrigerators
   Breakfast Nooks	Electricity	Ornate Woodwork
   Living Rooms	Parlors	Simple Exteriors and Floor Plans



2. Use these words to start a conversation with the class to determine which of these items might be found in an early twentieth century home. Have students guide you in circling words that would likely be found and striking words that would not be found.



3. Ask the students which features they find more charming, livable, etc.

Further your Enrichment

Shop for appliances and accessories for the early twentieth century home by conducting an online search for arts and crafts and mission style furnishings and by visiting the library to look for reproductions of early 1900's store catalogs such as Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward.

Early twentieth century homes were largely influenced by new improvements and inventions in technology. Choose one new innovation that has happened in your lifetime to research and describe how it came about and how it has changed or improved life today. Then ask an elderly relative or neighbor about all of the technologies he/she has seen introduced in his/her lifetime and how they changed or improved people’s lives.

Take a driving tour of an older neighborhood in the town in which or near which you live. Look for examples of Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Bungalow style homes.

Bibliography

http://thehouseofcards.com/kids/gofish.html

http://www.diynet.com. Search for "Stenciling;" any of the articles on this subject should give instructions on how to make a stencil.