Saratoga News
Education
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga Elementary School fifth-grader Sierra Smith practices her calligraphy during Colonial Days held at the school April 3-5. Students have been studying the events that led to the Revolutionary War.
Students take a step back into colonial times
Fifth-graders join the American Revolution
By Michele Leung
There was George Washington with blue shoelaces and a white wig that was a bit askew, Abigail Adams with a pink shawl and John Hancock in gray baseball pants. All of the notables of the American Revolution converged and freely roamed the halls of Saratoga Elementary School.
For three days, ending on April 5, the fifth-graders at the school lived and breathed history as they re-created various colonial experiences. They have spent the past month studying what led up to the American Revolutionary War, and the Colonial Days at Saratoga were to mark the end of the unit. Everybody, including the teachers, donned costumes--long aprons, three-cornered hats, baseball pants for knickers and plenty of dads' sport coats and moms' ruffled shirts.
"We all have to look ridiculous together," said Robbin Cohn, one of the fifth-grade teachers.
The students put on a simulation of the American Revolutionary War in the school library, each taking on a character and memorizing lines. They staged battle scenes and sang "Yankee Doodle." They became experts on militiamen, British troops and Congress. They had been waiting for Colonial Days all year, and some even longer.
"I love performing," said Sanjana Shukla, who played Abigail Adams. "I learned she was a strong supporter of freedom, and during the war she wrote letters expressing her political views."
Sanjana wore a pink dress and a pair of pink pants she wrapped around her shoulders, like a shawl. Her feet still had a considerable way to go to fill out her mother's high heeled shoes.
"This is my first time in heels," she said.
Teachers at Saratoga have been organizing the colonial experience for eight years. They say it requires a lot of preparation on their part, but if that's what it takes to have the students learn better, then so be it.
"They remember this unit more than other units," said fifth-grade teacher Debbie Tanguay. "It's very hands-on. They played such a crucial part in memorizing their lines that it makes a lasting impact."
To fully embrace the flavor of the early days of American history, the students spent the last day of their colonial exposure churning butter, quilting, weaving and practicing calligraphy with quills. They had their pictures taken with their hands and heads in the stocks and made small balls of perfume with oranges and cloves.
But as much as the teachers would like the students to reflect on the ideals of liberty and individual rights, it was the colonial games that were by far the most popular activities.
"There was tug-o-war, sack racing, a three-legged race and apple bobbing," said Courtney Ruppel, who lived as John Adams.
Hansa Srinivasan called her General Cornwallis costume itchy, and Elizabeth McAfee, a self-proclaimed tomboy, didn't care for wearing a long dress for three days as Molly Pitcher. But for Sarah Menard, it was putting on a costume for school that was the highlight of her experience. As Martha Washington, she wore a long brown dress she bought from a costume shop and gathered all her hair under a mobcap, a type of cloth cap.
"I love dressing up," she said. "I like this era and pouffy dresses."
On command, students spit out facts about their characters. Crispus Attucks was one of the first people killed in the Revolutionary War, Sarah Eppard said. General Rochambeau was a French official who was on the colonists' side, Aly Nilan-Axline said.
If wearing ruffles and holding fake muskets can be teachable moments, then the teachers have succeeded. Emily Chae said she isn't a big of fan of history, but she could be convinced to like it some more.
"I like learning history this way," she said.
