THE FRENCH LEGATION MUSEUM
802 SAN MARCOS STREET
AUSTIN, TEXAS
EDUCATION
Lesson Plans and Activities
"House on a Hill" Lesson Plan (Grades 1 – 6)
1. Tour of the French Legation Museum
2. Move to the Carriage House Meeting Room
Supplies Needed:
Slates
Slate Pencils
Paper Towels
Carpenter Pencils
Quill Pens
India Ink
Paper
Ink
Wipes
Goal:
To provide interactive experiences for elementary students based on activities in 1840s schools.
Activity:
Writing exercises with slate and slate pencils, carpenter pencils, and quills.
3. Short lessons on early schools, including what and how students learned
4. Writing with slate and slate pencils.
5. Ask students to write name, ABCs, numbers, simple sentences.
Ask students to compare and contrast questions--"How is this different from what you experience today?"
Point out the squeaky sound when writing, softness of the slate (see scratches from earlier students work). Use paper towels as erasers.
6. Put aside slates. Turn to carpenter pencils and paper.
7. Repeat #5, varying sentences. Include math problems. Repeat #5a. Point out that these pencils are still in use on construction sites by today's carpenters.
8. Put aside pencils. Turn to quills and ink. Explain two quills and one ink vial for every two students.
9. Repeat #5, varying sentences. Point out that quills were used to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence.
10. Wrap up with some questions, i.e. "How have things changed in school for children in the last 150 years?"
"House on a Hill"
How Well Do You Remember the French Legation?
Quiz
1. Between the years of 1836 and 1846, Texas was a _____. What happened in 1846 to change this?
2. The French Legation was built in _____. How many other buildings like it remain in Austin?
3. _____ was the first country to recognize Texas as an _____.
4. Alphonse Dubois was:
The French Foreign Minister
A charge d’affaires
The mayor of New Orleans
An Ambassador.
5. Dubois started the _____ War with Richard Bullock, an _____.
6. As a result of this episode, Dubois had to:
Have dinner with Sam Houston
Return to France
Depart Austin
Fight a duel
7. The breezeway in the house is called a _____. Why were houses built like this?
8. Dr. Joseph Robertson bought the French Legation in 1848 to start a _____. Why do you think he wanted to do that?
9. Dr. Robertson and his wife, Lydia, had _____ children.
10. How many of the Robertson daughters shared a bedroom? How many beds did they have?
11. How did the Robertsons take a bath?
12. How many years did the Robertsons live in the house? Name two other major historical events that took place during this time.
13. Why was the kitchen built separately from the house?
14. What kind of floor did the original kitchen have? Who worked in the kitchen?
15. Name three artifacts that you remember from the kitchen. How were those artifacts used?
"House on a Hill"
How Well Do You Remember the French Legation?
Teacher's Key
1. Between the years of 1836 and 1846, Texas was a republic. What happened in 1846 to change this?
Texas became part of the United States.
2. The French Legation was built in 1841. How many other buildings like it remain in Austin?
No other buildings like it remain in Austin.
3. France was the first country to recognize Texas as an independent nation.
4. Alphonse Dubois was:
A charge d’affaires
5. Dubois started the Pig War with Richard Bullock, an innkeeper.
6. As a result of this episode, Dubois had to:
Return to France
7. The breezeway in the house is called a dogtrot. Why were houses built like this?
To allow the air to circulate through the house and keep it cool.
8. Dr. Joseph Robertson bought the French Legation in 1848 to start a school for girls. Why do you think he wanted to do that?
In the mid-nineteenth century, daughters from affluent families studied at girls’ schools or female seminaries, where they learned to speak French, play a musical instrument, paint, and to improve their penmanship and reading. Today, an institution such as this is called a finishing school.
9. Dr. Robertson and his wife, Lydia, had 11 children.
10. How many of the Robertson daughters shared a bedroom? How many beds did they have?
Six. Robertson daughters shared a bedroom and only one bed.
11. How did the Robertsons take a bath?
Children and adults had a hipbath or small tub in which the bather sat upright. Water warmed, usually at the kitchen fire, was poured into the tub. People at this time usually bathed one a week – some even less.
12. How many years did the Robertsons live in the house? Name two other major historical events that took place during this time.
The Robertsons lived in the house ninety years [1848 to 1940]. The Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and the Great Depression all took place while the Robertsons lived at the French Legation. Railroads, the telephone, the automobile, electricity, and the radio all came to Texas in those ninety years.
13. Why was the kitchen built separately from the house?
In the Southern United States, most kitchens were separate from the house to reduce the danger of a fire spreading to the main house. It also kept cooking odors and heat away from the house as well. It is believed that the Legation’s kitchen burned several times before 1880.
14. What kind of floor did the original kitchen have? Who worked in the kitchen?
The kitchen had a dirt floor because it reduced the cost of construction and helped to prevent fires. Servants and slaves worked in the kitchen.
15. Name three artifacts that you remember from the kitchen. How were those artifacts used?
Memorable artifacts from the kitchen include the glass flycatcher [lures and traps flies so they cannot escape], panetiere [bread cooler or baker’s safe], chauffe bain [used to heat hot water for one’s bath], and lavabo [used for running water].
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