Turn of the Century: A Dear America Activity

In Scholastic’s “Dear America: Turn of the Century” learning activity, students find out what life was like in America during the early 1900s, a particularly tumultuous time in our history.

• About the Era shares how this era began with the assassination of President McKinley, then faced World War I, the women’s suffrage movement, a flu epidemic, and the Progressives, a group of people who actively fought against big corporations for the common people.
• The Downloadables section includes dozens of links to articles from the Library of Congress, including material on the Titanic, World War I, the Shaker community, and more.
• Whiteboard-Ready Slides share images from the early 1900s, including many of the Titanic, the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-1920, the Shaker Community of Sabbath Day Lake, and more.
• Students can read books from the Dear America series, including fictional diaries “written” by Margaret Ann Brady, a survivor of the Titanic, and Lydia Amelia Pierce, survivor of the flu epidemic.
• Students can get to know the authors of the Dear America series.

Various online students activities include:

• 30 easy, delicious recipes for students to try, including Margaret Ann Brady’s Toffee and Hot Chocolate.
• 22 arts and crafts, including Margaret’s Cameo Necklace and Pressed Flowers.
• An article on the opulent clothes from the Edwardian Period (around 1912), from high-heeled shoes to wide-brimmed hats. Also included are paper dolls, which students can print, cut out, and mix and match!
• An interactive Room in Time lets students decorate a room with common Turn-of-the-Century objects, from wallpaper to tables.
• Student can explore the interactive fictional Scrapbooks of Margaret and Lydia, which offer a very personal view of what life was like for young people during this era.