Hello again, families!  This week flew by. I have said this every day to multiple people—this is the BEST class I’ve ever had the privilege of teaching. I do not say this lightly. All students were eager to learn, curious, and extraordinarily kind. They have exceptional senses of humor, too! I do love teaching American History, and it was such a pleasure to teach students who love the subject as much as I do.

Our last day started with a promised “Tournament of the Most Interesting Founding Fathers & First Ladies”. The tournaments themselves are actually teaching quite a few things simultaneously:  1) Content about the Founding Fathers; 2) Using an ambiguous concept (like “interesting” or “weird”; 3) Stating an opinion and justifying reasoning; and 4) Written expression. The kids are having so much fun that they don’t realize they are actually engaged in multiple tasks that will support and strengthen their skills.

After lunch, we took a Brain Break and analyzed the painting Washington Crossing The Delaware, Emanuel Leutz, 1851, using See/Think/Wonder, where students looked closely at the painting, described what they noticed, and generated questions about the painting and event itself. I also use it for the students to develop a curiosity for the U.S. Civil War and ask them, “Why do you think this painting was painted in 1851, a little over a decade before the start of the Civil War?”.  They should be able to identify the need to show that the U.S. is strong and unified (when, actually, there were many problems and divisions). I want the students to notice that wars just don’t “happen” but there is a long period of problem or discontent before the actual event.

We then had time to return to a few topics the kids had questions about, and play a few games that quizzed them about what they recalled from the week. Then the kids organized the TONS of things from the week—folders, journals, and two new books!  Some have posters from the group projects.

For extended learning, the Ken Burns documentary on The American Revolution will be released in November 2025 on PBS. While I encourage watching all content in advance, much of this should be family appropriate (most Ken Burns documentaries are!). These students have advanced reasoning skills and would certainly appreciate the extensive content, photos, primary source documents, and dialogue.

Again, this has been an absolutely amazing week. Please thank your children for being incredible and inspiring me daily!  I will miss them!