Studying the past
After studying a 25-year span of American history, Laurie Crawford’s fifth-grade social studies students at Fort Cherry Elementary Center completed various projects to further their understanding of the Revolutionary period of colonial America. Their studies of 1750 to 1775 encompassed the French and Indian War, British Road to Victory, Colonists speaking out, the road to war, and the Second Continental Congress.
From left, students Shane Carnali, Dylan Herbst, Shawn Robertson, Jakson Shiel and Andrew Moss participate in the history exhibit.
Activities included constructing a diorama, researching and compiling a report on a famous American Revolutionist, integrating a monologue into green-screen animation, a slide presentation incorporating a video link, a webquest of a historical artifact, posters of colonial shops and trades, and painting a colonial farm character with dialogue.
John Bigi, dressed in period costume, presented aspects of colonial muskets.
On Dec. 20, town crier Kresson Shepard welcomed more than 150 guests to view the student displays at the school. Guests had the opportunity to speak with students who dressed in period costumes as a historical figure they studied. Colonial snacks of muffins, Pine Shilling cookies, tea biscuits and cider were served. Two teas that were thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party, Young Hyson and Bohea, were available to sample. The teas were obtained through the Bigi family as a donation from the Oliver Pluff Company of Boston, Mass.