In Ms. Gamble’s class, students studied famous US colonists and learned a lot about what life was like for men and also for women in those early years of American history.
Her students created posters about early American colonists and were asked to present them to the class. Fourth-grader Alexander chose Roger Williams, an English colonist who moved first to Massachusetts for religious freedom, but didn’t find quite as much as he’d hoped. He left to found Rhode Island and the city of Providence, renowned in those early days for its tolerance and openness.
Fourth-grade students practice a few dance steps from the time of the American Revolution during their visit to the National Society of Colonial Dames.
Student Léa reported on Margaret Brent, one of the earliest women in the colonies to ask for the right to vote. The answer was a firm “no,” from Massachusetts, so she, too fled for Providence, following Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from Massachusetts for her work on religious freedom. Wrote Olivia in her report, “I thought Anne Hutchinson was important, because she stayed strong, spoke up about what was on her mind, and she was different.”
Students of Judy Morris followed a similar course of study, though her students were each asked to pick a colony and in a persuasive presentation, “pitch” their fellow colonists on the colony.
Begrudging descendant
Her students then went on a special field trip to the headquarters of the National Society of Colonial Dames, on East 71st Street, which is housed in a replica of a home in the colony of New Amsterdam. They learned about life for the governing classes in New Amsterdam, and also explored a unique aspect of New Amsterdam, the prominent role of women in this colony.
Fourth-grade students put on period costumes at the end of their visit at the National Society of Colonial Dames.
Their tour guide, a begrudging descendant of Cotton Mather, the firebrand puritan who led the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, had this to say of life in New Amsterdam. “You were the brains of the operation,” she said to the girls.” You owned property, your own clothes. You owned your stuff. Life was ten times better here than it was in Massachusetts…“
At the end of the visit, students put on period costumes and had an opportunity to practice a few favorite dance steps from the time, including the Minuet and the Gavottes.
Interested in learning more? Judy Morris and her students have assembled a wonderful guide of places to visit in and around New York City this summer. Click here to enjoy!
About the Author :
Elisabeth King joined the Lycée team in November 2011 as the school’s first director of communications. A francophile at heart, Elisabeth spent her junior year of college in Paris, and held her first job at the French Trade Office here in New York. She brings to the Lycée over 15 years of experience in media and communications in non-profits, government, news and business. She was previously executive vice president and director of strategy at ABI, Inc., a boutique public relations agency, and she worked as associate editor on two books co-authored by Todd Brewster and the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.