5 1 1 this is the way we go to school

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA,™
Lexile,® and Reading Recovery™ are provided
in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

This Is the Way
We Go to School
by Colin Kong
illustrated by Burgandy Beam

Genre

Realistic
fiction

Comprehension
Skills and Strategy

• Character and Plot
• Graphic Sources
• Prior Knowledge

Scott Foresman Reading Street 5.1.1

ISBN 0-328-13504-6

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Reader Response

This Is the Way

We Go to School

1. What did you think of Miss Jacobson? Did you think
she was successful at getting her students interested
in history? Why?

2. What did you know about segregation before you
read this book? What do you know now? What other
things about it would you like to know? Use a chart
by your
Colin
Kong
like this to record
answers.

illustrated
by Burgandy
Beam
What We Know
What We Want to Know

3. Look up the word segregation. What verb is the word
segregation related to? What does it mean?
4. If you were Jeffrey, what do you think you could have
done to get a better education?

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Miss Jacobson sat at her desk and looked around
at her students. “Class,” she said, “I’ve decided to
stop being the teacher for a few days.”
“What?” Ben said, from the first row.
“Ben!” said Miss Jacobson. “Please raise your
hand before speaking.”
Ben raised his hand. “Yes, Ben?” said Miss Jacobson.
“Miss Jacobson,” Ben said, “if you’re not going to
be our teacher, who is?”
“You are,” Miss Jacobson said. “Six of you. Next
week, there will be three presentations, each given
by two students. The presentations will be about
the history of education in America. The first will be
about a child going to school in 1725. The second
will be about a child going to school in 1830. And
the third will be about a child in 1925. Now, I need
six students. Do I have any volunteers?”

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correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman,
a division of Pearson Education.
Illustrations by Burgandy Beam
Photograph 24 Corbis
ISBN: 0-328-13504-6
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
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3


On Monday morning of the next week, Miss
Jacobson smiled at her sleepy students. “Don’t you
all look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” she said.
“Come on up, Lizzie and Haley, and tell us about
American education in 1725!”
Lizzie and Haley came to the front of the room.
“Okay, everyone,” Lizzie said. “Imagine the year is
1725, and we’re in a little town in Connecticut. Now,
imagine a girl named Katie who is eleven years old,
and her family—”
“What does she look like?” Ben asked, from the
front row.
“I have no idea,” Lizzie said. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Is she tall or is she short?” Ben asked.
“Ben,” Miss Jacobson said sternly. “You can
imagine Katie to look however you want her to.”
Lizzie cleared her throat. “Anyway,” she said,
“Katie’s eleven years old, and her family lives on a small
farm. Life on the farm is hard for Katie and her family
because, most of the time, they’re working. Katie has
so many chores that it feels as if they never end. And

here to tell you about Katie’s chores is Haley!”

4

“If you think Katie has a lot of outside chores,”
Haley said, “just wait until you hear about her inside
chores. Along with her mother, Katie has to do all
the cooking and cleaning. Cooking in 1725 is a lot
more complicated than it is today. They don’t have
refrigerators or freezers, so they have to add salt
to the meats to make them last longer. They make
their own bread and jam, and then when they’re
finished cooking, they move on to the sewing,
knitting, and mending.”

5


“But I thought—” Ben started.
“Ben,” said Miss Jacobson. “Aren’t you forgetting
something?”
Ben raised his hand.
“Yes, Ben?” said Miss Jacobson.
“But I thought this report was supposed to be
about Katie’s education,” Ben said.
“We’re getting to that,” Haley said. “We’re trying
to make the point that Katie was so busy that she
didn’t have a lot of time for her education.”
“Oh!” Ben said. “That’s smart of you.”
“Thank you,” Haley said. “When Katie was

younger, she was educated at home by her mother.
Her mother taught her lessons in etiquette, behavior,
and manners. She also taught Katie to knit, sew, and
how to manage household expenses. But most of all,
she taught Katie about religion. Lizzie, will you tell
us why Katie’s mother taught her about religion?”

6

“Sure thing,” Lizzie said. “In colonial New
England, parents strongly believed in teaching their
children religion. They wanted their children to be
educated so that they could understand religious
texts on their own. In fact, the first books Katie
learns to read are religious books. Later, she is
allowed to read books that aren’t about religion. But
first, Haley, why don’t you explain how Katie learns
to read?”
Haley nodded. “Once she’s old enough,” Haley
said, “Katie goes to a kind of school called a dame
school, which is for girls only. Dame schools get their
name because they’re run by respected women of
the town who are called ‘dames.’ Katie pays a penny
a day to attend. The school meets in the teacher’s
home, so the students don’t have desks or chairs like
we do. They don’t have maps or chalkboards either,”
Haley said, looking around the classroom.

7

“Thank you, Haley,” said Lizzie. “At the dame
school, Katie learns more of the same type of things
she’s been taught by her mother. She doesn’t really
get the formal education her brothers will get.”
“What do her brothers get?” Ben started, and
then stopped. “Oops,” he said, and raised his hand.
“We’ll tell you in a minute,” Lizzie said, “after
we tell you more about the dame school. Katie’s
teacher focuses on knitting, sewing, and etiquette.
She teaches the girls basic math and reading. By the
way,” Lizzie added, “in 1725, not all girls went to
dame schools. Girls from the wealthiest families were
taught by governesses. And now, we have something
that will make Ben very happy. Haley, will you tell us
what Katie’s brothers are doing in their school?”
“In colonial New England,” Haley said, “boys
receive a better education than girls. They also
stay in school a few years longer. The boys go to a
primary school that’s run by the town.”

8

“In the town’s primary school,” Haley continued,
“Katie’s brothers learn to read, spell, write, and do
simple arithmetic. Most of their learning comes from
something called the hornbook. The hornbook is a
paper sheet with lessons written on it, attached to a
board. Some schools also use something called the
New England Primer, which is a book that combines

the lessons of the hornbook with religious teachings.”
“Of course, life is different for the wealthy
boys in Connecticut,” said Lizzie. “These boys can
afford quills, paper, and books, which are extremely
expensive in 1725. Their parents pay private tutors to
teach them Greek, Latin, science, algebra, geometry,
geography, and history. These boys have a lot
of opportunity and many of them go on to take
entrance tests for college. They receive the fanciest
educations of anyone at the time.”
“And that’s our presentation!” said Haley.
“Superb!” said Miss Jacobson. “Thank you, Lizzie
and Haley!”
The class clapped wildly. “Bravo!” yelled Ben.

9


Education in the New England Colonies
The New England colonies of Massachusetts and
Connecticut developed town schools and grammar
schools that emphasized New England’s Puritan
background. Education was very important to the
Puritans. School was usually held for only four
months of the year. Reading and writing were
taught so children could learn to read religious texts.

Education in the Middle Colonies
The middle colonies of New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Delaware developed different

kinds of schools, based on the different cultures,
languages, and beliefs in each colony. Schools run
by people of Irish, Dutch, and German backgrounds
were established in the middle colonies. The
Quakers, who settled in the Philadelphia area,
strongly believed in education and were the first to
start public schools in the middle colonies.

Education in the Southern Colonies
The Southern colonies of Virginia, Maryland,
Georgia, and North and South Carolina did not
provide much formal schooling. Wealthy plantation
owners would pay to have private tutors or a local
minister teach their sons. Some plantation owners
sent their sons to England for schooling. Children of
poor families and the children of enslaved people
did not get much education.

10

11


The next morning, Miss Jacobson stood behind
her podium. “Class,” she said, “today Greg and
Jamie are going to take us back to the year 1830,
and teach us about education in nineteenth century
Massachusetts. Greg and Jamie, are you ready?”
Greg and Jamie came to the front of the room.
“Okay,” Greg said. “I’ll start. It is now the year

1830. Our hero is named Tim. Like Katie from
yesterday, Tim is eleven years old. He and his family
live in a large town in Massachusetts. Tim’s family
runs a small general store, and they make a good
living as a middle class family. Tim is still too young
to help out with the family business, so instead, his
job is to go to school and get a good education. His
family wants him to learn how to read well, so he
can study religious texts.”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “Like Katie in 1725, religious
texts are important to Tim in 1830. Now, because
Tim is growing up in a large town, it’s pretty easy for
him and his siblings to go to school. Massachusetts
was the first state to pass a law requiring public
education. The law said that towns with fifty families
or more had to provide a school for the education of
the children.

12

“By the time Tim is ready to go to school, there are
lots of schools to choose from in Massachusetts. There
are expensive private schools. There are less expensive
schools for the middle class. There are free charity
schools for the poor. And there’s a new type of school
called ‘public school,’ which the government pays
for. That’s the school Tim goes to. He’s been going
to public school since he turned eight. Now that he’s
eleven, he’s one of the oldest students in the school.
Greg, want to describe the school?”

13


“Sure, Jamie,” Greg said. “Tim goes to school in a
one-room schoolhouse. There are twelve students in
the school, both boys and girls. They sit at wooden
desks, on wooden chairs. The teacher’s desk is at
the front. The classroom is small, but there’s enough
room for the desks, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and a
closet at the back for hanging coats. The younger
students sit at the front because they need more
help and attention from the teacher. The older
students sit at the back. There’s only one teacher,
but sometimes she picks one of the older kids to
help teach the younger kids. Sometimes she calls on
Tim to help. Tim likes school, and he does well at his
lessons. Jamie, what does Tim learn in school?”
“Well, Greg,” said Jamie, “I’m glad you asked. Tim
learns how to read, write, and spell. He also learns
arithmetic, history, geography, and science. Every day
he’s supposed to memorize a lesson for homework.”

14

Jamie continued, “Tim’s public school is only open
for six months at a time. During the rest of the year,
Tim’s father teaches him the family business. Tim’s
family hopes he’ll be able to help run the store when
he’s older.”

“What about—” Ben said.
“Ben!” called Miss Jacobson. Ben raised his hand.
“Yes, Ben?” Miss Jacobson said.
“What about Tim’s sisters?” Ben asked. “Do they
go to dame school?”
“No,” said Greg, “they go to public school just like
Tim. Girls were better educated in the 1830s than
they were in the 1720s. Some of them went to high
school, and some of them even studied to become
teachers. However, there were still kids who couldn’t
afford the lunches, clothes, and school supplies they
needed to go to public school. African American
children weren’t even allowed to go to school.”
“So,” said Jamie, “education in New England
improved a lot from 1725 to 1830, but there were
still a lot of changes that needed to be made.”
Greg and Jamie bowed grandly, and the class
cheered. “Thank you, boys!” Miss Jacobson said.

15


The next morning, Miss Jacobson called Ben and
Sofia to the front of the room. “Are you ready to tell
us about education in the 1920s?” she asked.
“We’re ready,” Ben said. “And don’t worry, no
one will interrupt this presentation so it’s going to
be great!”
“Okay,” Miss Jacobson chuckled. “Go ahead.”
Ben paused dramatically. When he spoke, he

spoke in a whisper. “The year, 1925. The place,
Mississippi. The boy, Jeffrey.”
“For goodness sake, Ben,” Sofia said. “No one can
even hear you.”
“Okay, okay,” Ben said in a normal voice. “We’re
here to tell you about a boy named Jeffrey who’s
eleven years old. It is 1925, and Jeffrey lives in
Mississippi.”
“Now,” said Sofia, “this story we’re going to
tell you today will be very different from Katie’s or
Tim’s. While New England was an industrial society,
the South was a farming society, which meant that
the houses were farther apart, separated by fields.
Southern towns were much more spread out than
towns in New England.”

16

17


“Thank you, Sofia,” Ben said. “I couldn’t have
said it better myself. Now, class, because the towns
in the South were so spread out, it was hard for
people to create schools. People lived too far apart
to use the New England method of having one
school for every fifty families. Also, for a long time,
the Southern states had much less money to spend
on schools, and families had less money to spend on
their children’s education.”

“In 1925,” Sofia said, “Jeffrey’s school is far away
from his house. He has to ride a bus for an hour to
get to school.”

18

“However,” Ben said, “school is a special thing
for Jeffrey, and he’s happy to be going, even though
it’s far away. That’s because Jeffrey is the first person
in his family to be going to school at all. And now,
here’s Sofia to tell you why.”
“Why, thank you, Ben,” Sofia said. “You see,
Jeffrey is African American. His grandparents were
slaves, and states like Mississippi had laws that said
it was illegal to give enslaved people an education.
Slave owners were afraid that if their slaves learned
to read, they would want to be free. Refusing
education to enslaved people was one of the terrible
ways the slave owners kept the
slaves as servants.”
“Actually,” Ben said, “a lot of
enslaved people didn’t care about
those rules. They were determined
to get an education, so they
created schools for themselves.
They would meet late at night in a
secret place, and teach each other
to read and write.”
“But,” Sofia said, “Jeffrey’s
grandparents didn’t have that

opportunity. And then, when
Jeffrey’s parents were young, they
had to stay home and help with
chores so the family could make
enough money. There weren’t any
free public schools near where
they lived.”

19


“In Jeffrey’s time,” Ben said, “education is still
really difficult for African Americans in the South.
There aren’t a lot of schools in Mississippi that Jeffrey
is allowed to attend. According to segregation laws,
black people and white people are not supposed
to mix in public. Therefore, black people and white
people aren’t allowed to go to the same school.”
“Segregation didn’t just apply to schools,” Sofia
said. “In the South, segregation laws also said that
every restaurant, hotel, elevator, and drinking fountain
had to be either for white people or for black people,
never for both. The schools for white people were in
much better shape than the schools for black people.
There were still a lot of people who didn’t want African
Americans to have a good education.”
“I’ll tell you what Jeffrey’s school is like, and you’ll
see what Sofia means,” Ben said. “There are forty
students in his class, which makes it hard for the
teacher to give every student enough attention. It is

hard for Jeffrey’s teacher to buy the supplies that he
needs for the classroom, and the textbooks are really
old and worn out. There aren’t enough textbooks for
everyone, so the students have to share.”

20

21


“Jeffrey sees that the schools for white kids are in
better shape than his school,” says Sofia. “This makes
him really angry. His teacher tells him that things will
be better for African American people someday. That
makes Jeffrey want to get as good an education as
he can, and work to make things better.”
Ben looked slyly at Sofia. “The best thing about
our story is that we can tell you what happened to
Jeffrey when he grew up.”
Miss Jacobson’s eyes popped open in surprise.
“You can?” she said. “And how is that?”
Sofia smiled. “Jeffrey was my great-grandfather,”
she said. “He was eleven in 1925, and he lived in
Mississippi. We based our story on him.”
“Wonderful!” Miss Jacobson said.
“My great-grandfather worked really hard in
school,” Sofia said. “His parents saved all their
money so that he could go to college.”

22

Sofia continued, “He went to college, and
eventually he became a college professor! During the
Civil Rights movement, he worked to win equality for
African Americans. He lived to be ninety years old!”
The class clapped for Sofia and Ben, and Miss
Jacobson took her place at the podium again. “Let’s
take a look around at what education is like for
us here, today. Look at your classmates and your
classroom. What do you see?”
Greg raised his hand. “I see computers,” he said.
“And enough books for everyone.”
“I see students of all different races,” Sofia said.
“And both boys and girls,” Haley said.
“Not everyone has as nice a school as we do,
though,” said Lizzie. “My cousins go to a school
where the classes are really big. They don’t have a lot
of computers like we do, or new books.”
“So maybe some things have gotten better in
education,” Ben said, “and some things still need
to change.”
“Well, class,” Miss Jacobson said, “your
presentations were wonderful. And now, I need six
more volunteers to talk about scientific discoveries of
the last three hundred years, next week.”

23


Laws for Public

Schooling
In 1647, the colony of Massachusetts passed a
law that required towns of fifty families or more
to create a common school. The law also said that
towns with one hundred families or more had to
open grammar schools to prepare young men for
college. With this law, the Massachusetts lawmakers
had created a school system for the entire colony. It
was the first law in America requiring some form of
public school education.
The Massachusetts colony passed this law because
its residents believed strongly in the value of
education. Most of all, they wanted their children to
read so that they could study and interpret religious
texts. With education, the settlers hoped that their
children would lead good lives.

Reader Response
1. What did you think of Miss Jacobson? Did you think
she was successful at getting her students interested
in history? Why?
2. What did you know about segregation before you
read this book? What do you know now? What other
things about it would you like to know? Use a chart
like this to record your answers.
What We Know

What We Want to Know

3. Look up the word segregation. What verb is the word

segregation related to? What does it mean?
4. If you were Jeffrey, what do you think you could have
done to get a better education?

24