GH FOURTH GRADERS STUDY THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

GH Fourth Graders Take a Virtual Field Trip and Learn About the American Revolution and Historic Spies

During the month of February 2021, fourth graders at Glen Head Elementary School studied the American Revolution through the lenses of historians, readers, and writers. They learned all about the causes of the Revolution and why the colonists would want to fight for their freedom. Teacher Ms. Theresa Derasmo said, “Our students looked at this period through many different perspectives to understand why someone might choose to be a Loyalist, a Patriot, or remain neutral. We held debates in our classrooms where children selected a stance and then used factual evidence to support their thinking.”

“After working as researchers to learn about this time in history, the students each selected an important event from this period and wrote an informational piece about it, continued Ms. Derasmo. “In Library, the children were involved in a video conference in which they participated in a reader's theater production that took place during the American Revolution.  Additionally, the Glen Head fourth graders participated in a virtual field trip with the Raynham Hall Museum in Oyster Bay. This field trip built upon their learning by teaching the children all about Long Island's involvement in the American Revolution.”

Through this virtual learning program, the students eagerly learned about some of the spies that operated during the American Revolution such as Nathan Hale, Robert Townsend and the Culper Spy Ring, and Benedict Arnold. They also learned about several different spy codes that were used by the Culper Spy Ring, including the Vigenère Cipher, Pigpen Cipher, Caesar Cipher and the Culper Code Book In addition, they even had a chance to crack some codes and even write their own messages using our own form of invisible ink!

Thank you to the Raynham Hall Museum for providing this exciting and virtual Field Trip that added a different dimension to the curriculum and allowed them to be engaged in history in their home learning environment. We hope our students will be able to visit Raynham Hall one day but we are thrilled that they had the opportunity to experience these lessons virtually from the museum.

Article provided by the fourth grade teachers of Glen Head School