The picture would be the hook for the students.  I would ask why they built this monument.  What the significance of the different parts of the monument and possible what each section represent.  I would start to lecture about the Battle of Princeton with the following key points:

• On January 3, 1777 the Battle of Princeton begins.
• Several days later, the Continental Congress delegates left Philadelphia to a safer place.
• British presence in New Jersey was limited to a small area.
• The victory of the Battle of Trenton increased American morale.
• The victory in Trenton helped Washington to understand how to fight the war most effectively by avoiding the main body of the British army
• France was watching the progress of the war and determining if they would side with the rebels
• Patriot General Hugh Mercers dies after the Battle of Princeton and significance of his death.

 

I will show the picture of General Mercers and explanation. 

 

                                                                                                        

The end project, the students will get in groups of four and debate why the battle was a success for the Patriots and a failure for the British. 

The highlight of Valley Forge was the image we have of the cold, staving, ragtag army stationed at Valley Forge.  I will ask the students if they have ever heard of Valley Forge and what they know about the winter of Valley Forge.  I will proceed in showing a picture of General Washington at Valley Forge.  Then, I will ask the students what they can interrupt from the painting.  I will explain how we have romanticized this version of the story.  Then I will show the pictures of the shelter that the soldier built in approximately six to eight days.

I will show the picture of the soldiers and his full gear.  I will discuss the musket and have a guessing game of the weight of the musket (approximately 9 ½ pounds) and then the weight of the pack (approximately 50-60 pounds).    Then, I will ask the average age of the American soldier.  I will use the picture of the park rangers and poll the student (17 years).  I will find eyewitness accounts of the soldiers at Valley Forge and have the students write a reaction paper.   

                                      

The highlight for me was the courtrooms.   I have my students do a mock trial from this time period and showing the actually picture of Independence Hall courtroom would be the hook I need to introduce this section.  The next picture would be the first Supreme Court room. I will ask what the differences and the silimarities of the two court rooms; why each courtroom concept would be important to our history; and why this concept is important to each of the students.  I would discuss due process and why this came about.  I would have the students scan the Bill of Rights and find the amendment with due process.

      

     Pauline Maier account of the Declaration of Independence was a worth lecture.  After reading the book and actually meeting her, was exciting.  She is very passionate about her findings.  I found this interesting.  She brought up that each person who signed the Declaration received two copies of it and anyone could sign it.  What a declaration to the British government.  The different copies of document to me were like a step into time.  Each printing had a little something from the printer.  I learned that Thomas Jefferson was a fast writer and he got the task to write the document. 

    

    

      

    The presentation of primary documents was very helpful.  I learned the Massachusetts Historical Society is on line and it has so much to offer.  I am glad to know this so I can use this resource.  I have been searching for new resources and this will help.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

     After reading the book about Paul Revere, I was excited to go to this site.  The house was not what I had imagined of the Revere’s.  He was not a rich man but a man with many enterprises.  I only thought of him as a silversmith.  When I learned he changed occupations was a surprise.  After listening to Gretchen Adams about Paul, it suddenly occurred to me Paul most have been ADHD.  Most of my students are ADD, SID, and ADHD and if Paul was my class, I would be looking at testing him.

     Paul’s writing was a glimpse of who he was.  He was a man who loved his family dearly and loved his wives.  He must have been a good businessman (from his inventories and house).  He seemed to have a good portion of charisma to be able to know so many people in different towns.  I believe he was an important man of the revolution.  He may not have been famous during his lifetime but he accomplished so much. 

          

 

      Bunker Hill was great.  It seemed so peaceful when we were there, but I could imagine the conflict.  I did wonder if the battle only took a short amount of time or if it lasted long.  I sometimes wonder what future generations will think about us.

     

 

      

 

 

 

 The Old North Church was very breathtaking.  The pews were amazing.  I did not realize the order a member would sit until this was explained.  If you donated a large quantity of money to the church and payed for the pew, the family would sit up front.  This seemed to be purely an economic means of getting funds for the church. 

 

 

     The Lowell Textile Mill was the best last activity of the trip.  The idea of women coming to a big city and getting a job and working twelve to fourteen hour days remarkable.  I have worked a twelve hour day and found the next day hard to get motivated and work.  I can not image the amount of time the women would spend working.  After being in the mill with only six machine working, most of the women must have gone deaf.  The noise level was loud!!  The Park Ranger kept stressing the woman was able to tolerate this condition because coming from a farm they would work longer hours and meet other people.  I kept thinking about the working conditions and lack of benefits they had to endure. 

get very concern when I had to pay more for my health insurance.  I learned I have it better than women from this time period. 

    

               

     I enjoyed going on the Trolley and learning more about it.  The boat tour was great.   I teach about the locks on the St. Lawrence and the Panama Canal.  I have not seen a real lock until today.  Now, it makes more sense, therefore I can explain the process thoroughly.  I found the use of waterpower to be interesting and watching it actually working was a learning experience. 

     The hands on is my favorite part of the day.  I especially enjoyed the weaving.  I was in the process of getting a pattern before we switched.  I probable would have done well with weaving.  I would like to learn more about this process and possible teach this to my students.

     The Boston Massacre is another important section I teach.  I enjoyed listening to Dr. Robert Ellison.  His presentation will be very helpful when I teach this part.  I have not used the painting by Paul Revere.  I will start using this and show the students how this painting can be used as propaganda.  I will ask the students for their interpretation of the painting.  I will get the students to start thinking about current times and ask if we still use this type of propaganda. 

     I did not realize there were two early events that lead to the Boston Massacre.  It surprised me that the Sons of Liberty used the young boys to start trouble with the British soldiers and the law to not fire in a despite with a mob until an hour after the conflict. .

     The mock trial of the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre was a great activity.  I did not realize the soldiers had to stand in the back of the courtroom and the soldiers could not testify in their defense.  This would be a good exercise for the students.   I am surprised that the majority of the soldiers were not found guilt and those who were found guilt only got branded. 

     The Old South Meeting House felt like a church.  The exercise the Park Ranger had us do is another activity I will incorporate into my curriculum.  The different viewpoints of a Patriot and a Loyalist will help the students see why each side was so divided and why some of the events leading to the Revolution will make sense to the students.

 

 

Bill Fowler was the guest speaker on the French and Indian War.  The importance of the war was world domination of trade and economics.  For England, this was the start of the Industrial Revolution.  For France, it was to become a stronger empire through land ownership.  When Dr. Fowler started to talk about the meaning of Canada, I suddenly realize that I did not know the meaning of Canada (village from a local Native American tribe).  I have taught a section in World Geography on Canada and in the Middle School I taught Canadian history and this was the first time I learned the meaning of the name.

     France and England had been fighting over lands in the New World from Nova Scotia to the interior of the New World.   Whoever owned this land would be the most powerful nation of the time.  After Dr. Fowlers lecture, I did not realize that most of the battles were won or lost within twenty minutes.  I have taught the students that this war was a world war and the connections of each nation had on each other.  This lecture will be very useful in teaching this section in U.S. History.  I can add more specie to this part of history.

     I was not similar with broadsides.  The MHS staff did a wonderful job in get us acquaint of a broadside.  I will start to use this form in my classes.  What a wonderful tool.

     I enjoyed the presentation of protest and propaganda.  I teach the student about the importance of propaganda and a nation can use propaganda to cause a war or peace.   I also teach about protest and how this can change a course of a nation (I use the following nations as examples French, English, Spain, Mexico, etc.)

      

 

 

 

 

     The museum at Concord was the house of the relative of John Hancock.  The story of John Hancock and Samuel Adams sharing a bed seemed odd but I had to remember the time period where sleeping in close quarters was expected because of the weather and lack of room.  The idea that John Haddock having many trunks of clothing seemed strange while Samuel Adams only having one set of clothes.  I thought Samuel Adams had more resources than what he had.

    

           

     The different Taverns were not what I had imagined.  I thought the taverns would be bigger and containing more liquor.  The news advertisement being posted in the taverns was new to me.   The two different taverns were similar.  The patriots must have spent many hours at a tavern especially during the start of the revolution to get news and to strategies besides drinking. 

     I have heard stories that the statute of the patriot at Concord is the likeness of Captain Parker.  The statute makes the patriots look strong and ready to fight.  What a great symbol!!  The men must have been very brave or just stupid.  Since the colonist won, they must have been brave.  The battlefield now seems so calm but at the time of the battle, it must have been confusing and disorganized.  The park ranger kept saying Concord was a tragic event. 

    

             

     The next site was the battlefield in Lexington.  The area seemed so quiet.  The park rangers were dressed as a patriot and a British soldier.  What a difference in uniform.  The patriot had no uniform while the British soldiers look like a professional soldier.  I understand why the British thought they would win this conflict.  The patriots were so disorganized at first but later became a force that the British could not defeat.

    

               

     The next stop was the North Bridge area.    The park ranger explained why the bridge had been reconstructed but just walking across the bridge was very moving to me.  I kept wondering about the men who lost their lives on both sides.  When I asked about the bodies of the British soldiers on the other side of the bridge, I was surprised to hear the bodies were still at the site but the marker is on the wrong location.  In fact their graves are in the pathway.

                                                                            

     Old Sturbridge Village was a living history village.  The use of a saw mill using water was the highlight of the village for me.  The man doing the cutting of the tree was very enlightening.  I will be able to explain to my students the whole process.  The other part of the village was the piggy jail.  I thought that was so funny but a necessary part.  This reminded me of the lecture by the professor from CU and how animals caused so much conflict in the colonies.  The pottery maker was engrossing because I have done pottery.  I especially enjoyed looking at the kiln he used.  It reminded me of a giant beehive.

     The next activity was making cloth.  I especially enjoyed watching her weave.  This reminded me of my grandmother who used to do weaving.  The next activity was printing.  This was so important for the colonies to get news out to the people.  Also, we learned about book making.  What a fantastic activity!!  The next activity was a thaumatrope.  I could see how children of that age would enjoy this optic illusion.  In fact children of today still enjoy optic illusions.  When I teach Psychology, I do a chapter on optic illusion and the students enjoy this so much.

     The next activity was preparing a 19^th century meal over a hearth fire.  This was the most enjoyable activity of the whole trip.  As a group, we learned our strengths and weakness with this activity.  I love cooking in a hearth.  I volunteer for El Pueblo museum.  I love making tortillas in the hearth!!  I have made over 300 tortillas in the two days of the Mercado.  I have made bread, pies, and chili during the Mercado.  I sometimes think I was born too late.  I should have been born in the nineteenth century.