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FLOORTJE/GETTY IMAGES (SOAP); ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES (BACKGROUND); SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Paired Texts,

The Dirty History of Soap/Lending a Clean Hand

Life wasn’t always as clean as it is today.

By Allison Friedman
From the March/April 2021 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will compare and contrast information from two nonfiction articles, one about the history of soap and the other about the history of hand sanitizer and how one boy used it to spread kindness in his community. 

Lexiles: 500L-600L, 600L-700L, 800L-900L
Guided Reading Level: Q
DRA Level: 40
Featured Skill: Compare and Contrast,
Common Core Standards
  • R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.6, R.9, W.2, SL.1, L.1, L.2
TEKS Standards
  • TEKS Grade 3:
    1a, 1c, 3a, 3b, 6a, 6e, 6g, 6h, 6i, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7f, 7g, 9d, 12b

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Think and Read: Compare and Contrast

As you read, think about how soap and hand sanitizer are similar and how they are different. 

The Dirty History of Soap 

Life wasn’t always as clean as it is today.

By Allison Friedman

It was 1775 in Connecticut. For months, Abigail’s family had saved globs of fat from their meat. Now, Abigail mixed the fat with ashes. Then She boiled it over a fire. Thick smoke hurt her eyes. Sweat ran down her neck.

Eight hours later, Abigail scooped up a wobbly brown jelly. It wasn’t stew. It wasn’t medicine. It was soap.

It was 1775 in Connecticut. For months, Abigail’s family had saved globs of fat from their food. Abigail mixed the fat with ashes. Then she boiled it over a fire. Smoke hurt her eyes. Sweat ran down her neck.

Abigail boiled the fat and ash for eight hours. Then she scooped up a wobbly brown jelly. It wasn’t stew. It wasn’t medicine. It was soap.

Fifteen-year-old Abigail Foote stirred a giant pot of stinky, bubbling brown goo.

It was 1775 in Colchester, Connecticut. For months, Abigail’s family had saved globs of fat from their meat in big barrels. They had collected ashes from the fireplace.

Now, Abigail boiled the fat and ashes together over a fire outside. Thick smoke stung her eyes. Sweat trickled down her neck.

At last, eight hours later, Abigail’s creation was finished. After it cooled, she reached into the pot and scooped out a lump of wobbly brown jelly.

It wasn’t stew, or medicine, or a magic potion.

It was soap.

Greasy, Itchy, Lumpy

Greasy, Itchy, Lumpy

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A mixture of fat and ashes doesn’t sound clean. But boiling the two ingredients together creates a slippery soap. Humans began making soap this way nearly 5,000 years ago. This early soap was greasy and lumpy and made skin itchy. Most ancient peoples didn’t even use it to wash their bodies.

By the 1100s, soap makers had figured out how to make sweet-smelling soap bars. But they cost a lot of money. This was still true in 1775, when Abigail was cooking her soap.

Abigail would have used the soap to clean her home. To clean her body, she might have just wiped herself off with a damp rag. Or she wouldn’t have washed at all.

At the time, many people didn’t think bathing was needed. Some even thought it was dangerous. They believed that dirt helped block diseases from entering the body. They thought scrubbing clean could actually make you sick. 

A mixture of fat and ashes doesn’t sound clean. But when you boil the two things together, you make soap. Humans began making soap this way about 5,000 years ago. This early soap was greasy and lumpy. It made skin itchy. Most ancient peoples didn’t use it to wash their bodies.

By the 1100s, soap makers had learned how to make soap bars that smelled good. But they cost a lot of money. This was still true in 1775, during Abigail’s time.

Abigail would have used the soap to clean her home. To clean her body, she might have just wiped herself off with a damp rag. Or she wouldn’t have washed at all.

At the time, many people didn’t think bathing was needed. Some even believed it was dangerous. They thought that dirt helped stop diseases from getting into the body. They thought washing could actually make you sick.

Greasy, Itchy, and Stinky

You’re probably thinking: A mixture of fat and ashes? That doesn’t sound very clean. (Actually, it sounds pretty gross.) But when the two ingredients are boiled together, they create a slippery new material that can help pick up dirt and wash it away. Humans began making soap this way nearly 5,000 years ago.

This early soap was greasy and lumpy. It made skin itchy. It often smelled like burned bacon. Not surprisingly, most ancient peoples didn’t bathe with it. They used it for pretty much everything except washing their bodies: scrubbing floors, doing laundry, cleaning tools, treating wounds, and even styling their hair.

So how did people keep clean in ancient times if they didn’t use soap? Bathers in Japan soaked in rice water. Many Native Americans made cleansers out of crushed-up plants. The Greeks and Romans coated their sweaty bodies with oil and sand, then scraped everything off with a curved metal tool. (Famous athletes sometimes put this goopy mixture in jars and sold it to their fans.)

A Powerful Weapon 

A Powerful Weapon 

In the late 1800s, scientists made a big discovery: Diseases are caused by tiny living things called germs. Germs are too small to
see, but they are everywhere. Most germs are harmless—but some can be deadly.

Back then, there were no medicines to fight these germs. But there was soap. It lifted germs off the skin and allowed them to be rinsed away with water. People realized that keeping clean could also keep them healthy. 

In the late 1800s, scientists made a big discovery: Diseases are caused by tiny living things called germs. Germs are too small to see, but they are everywhere. Most germs are harmless. But some can be deadly.

Back then, there were no medicines to fight these germs. But there was soap. Soap lifted germs off the skin. Then water could rinse the germs away. People realized that keeping clean also kept them healthy.

Smelly = Safe

Washing with soap became more common around the 1100s, during the time of the knights. Soap makers in Europe had figured out how to create gentle, sweet-smelling bar soaps. They used olive oil instead of animal fats. But these new soaps were very expensive. Rich ladies dabbed them on their face and hands, more to make themselves smell nice than to get clean. Most people couldn’t afford such a luxury.

This was still true by the time Abigail Foote was cooking up her pot of soap in Connecticut in 1775. Abigail and her family would have used the harsh homemade soap to clean around the house. But when it came to their bodies, they might have just wiped down with a damp rag . . . if they even washed at all.

In fact, many people considered bathing unhealthy back then—even dangerous. They believed that dirt helped block diseases from entering the body. Scrubbing clean, they thought, could actually make you sick. Smelling like armpits was a way to stay safe.

Battling Germs 

Battling Germs 

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Today, soap is sold as bars, liquids, gels, and foams. Most soaps are now made with chemicals instead of fat and ashes. But they basically work the same way as soaps from long ago. 

And they’re still important for battling germs. Handwashing is key to stopping the spread of diseases. This includes Covid-19. As we face this health challenge, one of our best weapons is from thousands of years ago: soap. 

Today, soap is sold as bars, liquids, gels, and foams. Most soaps are now made with chemicals instead of fat and ashes. But they basically work the same way as soaps from long ago.

And they’re still important for battling germs. Handwashing is key to stopping the spread of diseases. This includes Covid-19. As we face this health problem, one of our best weapons is from thousands of years ago: soap.

Invisible Enemies

It wasn’t until nearly 100 years later, in the 1860s, that America started to get less grimy. By then, bath soap had become a lot cheaper. A French scientist had come up with a way to make it more easily, with salt instead of ashes. Still, it wasn’t very popular.

Then came the Civil War—a long, brutal struggle between the Northern and Southern parts of the U.S. Soldiers fought in muddy ditches and slept in filthy, garbage-filled camps. They were more than twice as likely to die of disease than in battle. These soldiers learned that bathing regularly with soap and water could help them stay healthy. When the war ended, they took this lesson home to their families.

People were beginning to understand that keeping clean didn’t make you sick. As it turned out, the opposite was true. Scientists discovered that diseases were caused by teeny-tiny living things called germs. Although these germs were too small to see, they were everywhere—on the streets, in people’s homes, even crawling all over their bodies. Most germs were completely harmless. But some could be dangerous.

And there weren’t yet any medicines to fight these invisible enemies. The only defense people had against them was soap. Just like with dirt, soap lifted germs off skin and allowed them to be rinsed away with water.


A Powerful Weapon

Soon, soap had taken over America. Factories churned out bars in big stacks. Movie stars appeared in ads for different brands. Kids learned about the importance of regular washing in school. By the 1930s, a survey showed that Americans saw soap as one of the top three things they couldn’t live without (along with bread and butter).

Today, we spend more than $300 million on soap products every year. If Abigail Foote were still alive, she would be dazzled by all the different kinds for sale—liquids, gels, foams. Most are now made with chemicals instead of fat and ashes. But they still work basically the same way as those long-ago soaps.

And they are just as important for battling germs. Health experts say that handwashing is key to stopping the spread of diseases, including Covid-19. As we face this new health challenge, one of our best weapons is from ancient times: a little soap and water.

Lending a Clean Hand  

How hand sanitizer helped one kid spread kindness in New Jersey

COURTESY OF FAMILY

Jayden Perez with cartons of hand sanitizer

Last spring, Covid-19 began to spread across America. One item soon became almost impossible to find: hand sanitizer.

Jayden Perez stepped up to help. The 11-year-old and his mom bought 1,500 sanitizer sprays online. Then Jayden gave them to emergency workers, his neighbors, and schools. 

Last spring, Covid-19 began to spread across America. One item became hard to find in stores: hand sanitizer.

Jayden Perez decided to help. The 11-year-old and his mom bought 1,500 bottles of sanitizer online. Then Jayden gave them to emergency workers, his neighbors, and schools.

Last February, the coronavirus began spreading across America. Health experts stressed that keeping your hands clean was key to staying healthy. And soon, one item became almost impossible to find: hand sanitizer.

Small bottles that usually cost $2 were being sold online for nearly $100. Hospitals had to lock up their sanitizer so no one would steal it. Once you might have tossed a bottle of Purell in your backpack without thinking about it. Now it was being treated almost like liquid diamonds.

In New Jersey, 11-year-old Jayden Perez saw that many kids in his class didn’t have hand sanitizer. With his mom’s help, he managed to find 1,500 sanitizer sprays for sale online. But instead of keeping the sprays, Jayden donated them—to emergency workers, his neighbors, the library, and every school in his district.

 “I just wanted to do what I could to help my community,” Jayden said.

Clean and Convenient 

Clean and Convenient 


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Soap is thousands of years old. But hand sanitizer is a recent invention. In 1988, a soap company in Ohio created a hand cleaner called Purell. Its main ingredient is alcohol. At first, it was sold to doctors and nurses. But over time, Americans came to love the convenience of hand sanitizer. Unlike soap, hand sanitizer doesn’t require water. So it can be used anywhere—in the car, on the soccer field, at the beach. 

Soap is thousands of years old. But hand sanitizer was invented recently. A hand cleaner called Purell was invented in 1988. Its main ingredient is alcohol. It was first sold to doctors and nurses.

But over time, Americans came to love the convenience of hand sanitizer. Unlike soap, hand sanitizer doesn’t need water. It can be used anywhere.

Clean and Convenient 

Although soap is thousands of years old, hand sanitizer is a relatively recent invention. In 1988, a soap company in Ohio created a no-rinse hand cleaner called Purell. At first, it was sold mainly to doctors and nurses as a way to disinfect their hands when they weren’t near a sink. But over time, people across America came to love the convenience of Purell. You could wash up wherever you were—in the car, on the soccer field, at the beach.

Hand sanitizer breaks down the germs on your hands so they can’t make you sick. Unlike soap and water, however, it doesn’t remove them from your skin. For this reason, experts say washing with soap is more effective at preventing diseases like Covid-19. But if you’re on the go, sanitizer can keep your hands clean until you get home.

Spreading Kindness 

Spreading Kindness 

Hand sanitizer works by breaking down the germs on your hands. But it doesn’t remove the germs from your skin. You need soap and water for that.

So soap is still better for preventing diseases. But if you’re on the go, sanitizer can keep your hands clean until you get a chance to wash up.

For Jayden, giving away hand sanitizer not only helped people stay healthy. It also spread kindness.

“I wanted to do what I could to help my community,” Jayden says. 

Hand sanitizer breaks down the germs on your hands. But it doesn’t get rid of the germs on your skin. You need soap and water to do that.

Soap is better for stopping diseases. But sanitizer can keep your hands clean while you’re on the go. Then you can wash up with soap and water as soon as you get the chance.

For Jayden, giving away hand sanitizer helped people stay healthy. It also spread kindness.

“I wanted to do what I could to help my community,” Jayden says.

For Jayden, donating hand sanitizer was about more than just keeping his community clean. It was a way to spread a bit of kindness during a difficult time. On each bottle, he pasted a special message: “From the bottom of my heart.”

“It’s times like this with the virus going around that we have to come together,” Jayden said.

THINK AND WRITE

Imagine you are Jayden. Write a short note to go with each hand sanitizer you give away. In your note, use information from both articles to explain the history and importance of cleaning our hands. 

THINK AND WRITE

Imagine you are Jayden. Write a short note to go with each hand sanitizer you give away. In your note, use information from both articles to explain the history and importance of cleaning our hands. 

THINK AND WRITE

Imagine you are Jayden. Write a short note to go with each hand sanitizer you give away. In your note, use information from both articles to explain the history and importance of cleaning our hands. 

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Can't Miss Teaching Extras
Watch a Video

This video from SciShow Kids explains the science behind how soap works to wash away dirt, oil, and germs.

Meet Jayden Perez

Your students can watch as Jayden Perez explains his generous project of donating hand sanitizer and the many other ways Jayden enjoys helping other people, in this video.

More About the Article

Content-Area Connections

Social Studies: social history

Science: health, germs

Social-Emotional Learning: self-management (planning and organizing, taking initiative); social awareness (concern for others, noting situational demands); relationship skills (offering support); responsible decision-making (identifying solutions, promoting well-being)

Key Skills

compare and contrast, text features, vocabulary, text evidence, supporting details, key idea, problem and solution, interpreting text, applying ideas, explanatory writing 

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. PREPARING TO READ

Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

  • Look at page 10 with the class. Point out the labels “Paired Texts” and “One topic, two stories.” Have a volunteer read aloud the title and subtitle on page 10 and on page 12. Point out the images that accompany the texts. Then ask students to identify the topic of both stories. (The first explains the evolution of how people made and used soap, and the second highlights one young person’s efforts to distribute hand sanitizer during a time of need.)

  • Call on volunteers to read aloud the Think and Read box and the Think and Write box. As students read both articles, remind them to look for details that show how soap and hand sanitizer are alike and how they are different.

Introduce Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • We have highlighted in bold five words that may be challenging and defined them on the page: globs, wobbly, damp, key, and convenience. 

  • Preview these terms by projecting or distributing our Vocabulary Skill Builder (available in the Resources tab) and completing it as a class. You may also play our Vocabulary Slideshow, in which audio and images help students with pronunciation and comprehension.

2. CLOSE READING

Reading and Unpacking the Text

  •  First read: Students should read the articles one time for general comprehension. 
  • Second read: Project, distribute, or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (available in the Resources tab) to the class. Preview them together. Ask students to read the articles again and answer the questions as a class or in pairs. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the stories.)

    •  

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)

  1. Read the first section of “The Dirty History of Soap.” Which details show that making soap during Abigail’s time was hard work? (text evidence) Details that show making soap was hard work include: Abigail had to boil fat and ash together for eight hours; she sweated a lot; and she got smoke in her eyes from the fire.
  2. Based on the section “Greasy, Itchy, Lumpy,” what are two reasons that many people in the past didn’t wash their bodies with soap? (supporting details) Answers may vary but should include two of the following: People didn’t wash with soap in ancient times because the soap “was greasy and lumpy and made skin itchy.” By the 1100s, bar soap that smelled good was being sold, but it cost a lot. In the past, many people thought bathing with soap was dangerous. They believed that “dirt helped block diseases.”
  3. Read “A Powerful Weapon.” What big discovery did scientists make in the late 1800s? (key idea) Scientists discovered that diseases are actually caused by tiny living things called germs. They are too small to see, but germs are everywhere and some can be deadly. 
  4. How does soap help fight germs? (problem and solution) Soap fights germs by lifting the germs off the skin. Then water can be used to wash the germs away. 
  5. Read “Battling Germs.” How is the soap we have now different from soap of the past? How is it similar? (compare and contrast) Soap today is made with chemicals instead of fat mixed with ashes. It also comes in different forms, like bars, liquids, gels, and foams. Both today’s soap and soap from the past work basically the same way. They both help fight germs.
  6. Read the first section of “Lending a Clean Hand.” What did Jayden Perez realize was a problem for people in his community? How did he help solve this problem? (problem and solution) Jayden realized that many people couldn’t find hand sanitizer to help protect themselves from Covid-19. Jayden bought 1,500 bottles of hand sanitizer and donated them to emergency workers, neighbors, and schools.
  7. Read “Clean and Convenient” and “Spreading Kindness.” Explain why “Americans came to love the convenience of hand sanitizer.” (interpreting text/vocabulary) Americans ended up loving how easy hand sanitizer is to use. It’s very useful when soap and water aren’t available but people still want to clean their hands. It doesn’t require water, so it can be used anywhere.  

Critical-Thinking Question (10 minutes)

  1. How are soap and hand sanitizer alike? How are they different? Use information from both articles in your answer. (compare and contrast) Both products help protect you from germs. Soap lifts germs off the skin, then water rinses the germs away. Hand sanitizer breaks down germs but doesn’t remove them from your skin. Soap is more effective for battling germs, but hand sanitizer is useful when you’re not able to wash with soap and water. 
  2. Jayden Perez’s donation of hand sanitizers helped people in his community stay healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. In what other way did Jayden’s actions support people in his community? What can we learn from his actions? (key idea/applying ideas) Jayden’s actions “spread kindness.” Jayden showed people in his community that he cared about them and that they weren’t facing a big problem alone. Answers to the second question will vary but should be similar to: We can learn that by being thoughtful and generous, like Jayden, one person can help many others. Also, we can spread kindness in our community and help people feel better in a crisis..

3. SEL FOCUS

Helping Your Community

Jayden is a great example of how kids of all ages can help their communities. Ask students to think of one or two ideas that might help solve a problem in their school or community. It might involve cleaning up a mess or distributing supplies, like Jayden did. Perhaps there is a problem that the entire class can work on together to help solve.

4. SKILL BUILDING AND WRITING

Featured Skill: Compare and Contrast

  • Distribute our Compare and Contrast Skill Builder (available in the Resources tab) and have students complete it in class or for homework.  

  • Discuss the writing assignment in the Think and Write box. Remind students to include details from both articles in their notes.

GREAT IDEAS FOR REMOTE LEARNING

  • Our new Learning Journey Slide Deck (available in the Resources tab) is designed to make your life easier. Have students move through at their own pace, or assign smaller chunks for different days. You can also customize the Slide Deck to your liking.

  • Hold a whole-class or small-group discussion of the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (available in the Resources tab). As in your physical classroom, establish rules for discussion and appropriate ways to respond to one another. You might have students use a “raise hand” emoji in your virtual classroom or ask students to respond to questions in the chat feature.

Differentiate and Customize
For Struggling Readers

Have students read the lower-Lexile version of the articles. As they read, students should highlight the years when key events in the history of soap-making took place. Work with students to create a timeline of these events. They should include the invention of hand sanitizer on their timeline as well. Students can refer to their timelines to help them compare today’s soap with soap from 1775. Remote-learning tip: When students read the articles online in Presentation View, they can use the highlighter tool to mark the text. 

For ELL Students

The first article of the paired texts contains descriptive words that might be unfamiliar to your ELL students. Before having students read the articles, go over the following words: wobbly, slippery, greasy, lumpy, and itchy. With your students, think of objects other than soap that can be described using each of these words. For instance, you might describe pudding as “wobbly” or old couch cushions as “lumpy.”

For Advanced Readers

Instruct students to read the higher-level Storyworks version of the Paired Texts articles. Afterward, have them complete the Thinking About the Paired Texts Skill Builder (available in the Resources tab) based on their reading of these texts.

For School or at Home

Ask students to imagine that they are one of the people who received a hand sanitizer spray from Jayden. Then have students write a thank-you letter to Jayden describing how they felt when they received his gift and how useful the hand sanitizer has been.

Text-to-Speech