This past week was the first Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip of the season, "Emissaries of Peace."  The award winning EFTs are made affordable for homeschoolers through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. For this EFT, my kids were offered a wonderful opportunity to use Skype to be on the air with the live broadcast.

     Monday we read the background history for "Emissaries of Peace."  Set during the French and Indian War, we learned about the British emissary, Lt. Henry Timberlake to the Cherokee Indians.  Timberlake wrote memoirs of his work as an emissary. Today this primary source document is a window to the past of Cherokee life.  After reading and discussing the history,  we watched the video segments, bringing the pages of history to life. 

     Tuesday we went over the activities together, comparing various aspects of Cherokee life and British colonial life in the 18th century. Then the kids played the two activities on their computers. One was about the peace treaty process.  First there was a cool interactive map which showed how Cherokee land dwindled over the years with each successive treaty. Then they went through a sort of timeline of peace treaties, where they got to see Cherokee opinions of the peace treaty.  Next they got to select the terms they would offer for the peace treaty, which would be presented to the King.  If the wrong choices were made, as in not enough concessions, the kids had to renogotiate the treaty. The second activity was an interactive timeline.  The kids got to choose events that they thought caused the Trail of Tears to take place. That was a great higher level thinking activity.

     During these lessons, I told the kids to think of the question they'd like to e-mail to Henry Timberlake. They also did the on-line vote, the results of which are discussed during the live broadcast on Thursdays.  During the live broadcasts, students get to call in questions to ask the actor/interpreters and historians.  Video questions can also be sent ahead of time. Additionally, e-mail questions are sometimes selected. Several of my kids' e-mail questions made the live broadcast last year.

     Late Tuesday afternoon, I received a surprise e-mail from one of the producers of Colonial Williamsburg's EFTs!  She had read my blog entries about how my kids have enjoyed and done activities using the EFTs. Along with the various types of questions answered during the live broadcast, CW wanted to add a new dimension to the program. They wanted to allow schools to do a sort of visual show and tell over the internet for the live broadcast, using Skype.  They had two schools lined up for each broadcast, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. The school for the morning broadcast had canceled. Would we be interested in filling in? The kids could read a poem, share one of the graphic organizers or share anything related to the EFT.  To participate, we would need to download Skype (which is free) and have a webcam and microphone.

     Wow! What an opportunity! I ran out to tell my husband who was planting my mums.  He was talking to our next door neighbors and they could tell I was about to burst with news! I finally exploded with the news as I told my husband we needed a webcam and microphone. He said he'd go out and buy it after dinner as long as I came with him.  So I ran back inside to tell the kids.  

     I called the kids' to hear the e-mail.  They were dubious. "Mom, we don't have time to put something together!  We have less than two days! We haven't even started any activities." I explained that unlike the unit celebrations we usually do for history, they don't have to carry the entire program.  In fact, they probably had only about a two minute slot for their presentation. The producers know this is short notice and would not expect a masterpiece, although we do want to present a good project. They were increasingly nervous. "But Mom, everyone will see us. The EFT airs on PBS. Everyone will see us."  I laughed and said, "Who reads my blog?  I've gotten e-mails from homeschoolers around the world, right?" They admitted I had a good point.

     Then they said they had no idea what to do. No problem. We looked through my binder of the EFT teacher packet. Flipping through the pages, we looked for inspiration. They wanted to do something interesting. After flipping through the packet, I asked them, "What inspired you or interested you the most about this EFT?" My daughter said she thought it interesting that the Cherokee women in the 18th century had political power, when British women did not. Perfect! Then my son said he wanted to do a skit and open it by mentioning that he had seen Cherokee Indians walking down the street.  During the EFT, we learned that some of the Cherokee came to Williamsburg. When we were at Colonial Williamsburg last weekend, for the first time ever we saw Shawnee Indians walking down the street so my son could relate to that part of the EFT.     

     Now we had a plan!  I had to get dinner and then run out to the store to get the webcam with my husband. I told the kids to write up the skit, starting with a key word outline of the main points, while I prepared dinner. At the dinner table, I asked them to bring what they had written. Hmmmm, not much.  "But Mom, we did it exactly how you taught us."  Last year one of the EFTs was "Making History Live," where the kids learned how to put together a first person interpretation, using a worksheet to write down notes from research. They had been using that worksheet and so far had only established their setting and characters for the skit.  I got a pen and told them I'd be their secretary.  Since my son had previously mentioned opening the skit with the Cherokee who were in town, I asked him what he would specifically say for that.  He was stuck for ideas. I had interrupted his sequential flow of thoughts in character development.  My husband suggested, "Did you see the Cherokee Indians walking through town?" That got the ball rolling. I had the kids suggest lines for their parts, I jotted them down and we were done in about five minutes.  My son replied, "Mom, the language is all wrong. You wrote everything in 21st century language when it needs to be in 18th century language." I explained that this is a rough draft.  While Dad and I were at the store shopping for the webcam, he and his sister could edit the skit and put in the 18th century language. Again they used a sheet that came from the EFT "Making History Live" that lists common phrases in the 18th century.

        My husband and I found a webcam with a microphone built in.  Then we went back home, downloaded Skype, and installed the software for the webcam. After everyone went to bed, I typed out the skit, which now had proper 18th century language. The next morning I printed out 3 copies for each of us and highlighted the parts. Then I had the kids practice their parts, while I suggested ideas for voice inflection. I told the kids not to develop any movements, because they would need to sit down for the skit.  After analyzing all the possible locations to set up the Skype, I decided to set the kids at the  dining room table. That was the only table long enough to give them room to sit side by side and for all of our notes to be spread out.

    At 8:30am, the producer called and we traded usernames for Skype.  We set 2pm for rehearsal.  Also she e-mailed release forms for the kids, which I printed and filled out. Then I drove it to a nearby shop who handle faxes. By the time I had returned, CW had listed me as a contact in Skype, which I approved in Skype. (I think, this was all new! My son says I'm not a gadget girl.  I trusted I would figure things out with help during the rehearsal.) 

     At 2pm, CW EFT called us on Skype. I clicked "Answer with video."  We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They could not hear us! Oh no!  They assured me that is what rehearsal is for. They tried to talk me through what to do and told me to use the chat.  I saw the chat feature before the video phone call, but now that the video of the student hosts was working, I couldn't see the chat.   The crew was extremely nice and patient. They seem to do a good job reading lips, as I talked out the problems that they couldn't hear.  My son started writing notes to show the camera which made them laugh. I clicked all the little tabs at the top but couldn't find chat. Finally I noticed some icons underneath the video in the same color as the background.  I clicked on the one my son thought was a chat, and there was the chat. I typed, "Help!" and they laughed!  Now we could communicate. They had been telling me that our microphone must be set to mute. I typed in that we had a microphone built into the camera and in the settings, it was not set to mute. They told me to open "Preferences." I could not find that anywhere.  I clicked on everything but it was not to be found. I did find "Options" so I clicked on that.  All of the audio settings looked good so I typed that to them. Then I noticed a device that looked unfamiliar. I clicked the little arrow to the right and underneath was listed the device (webcam) my husband and I had purchased the night before.  I selected the one we had purchased and I lost the video and audio of CW. I typed that into the chat, so they called us back.  I answered the call with the video. We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They heard us!  "Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," my daughter and I cheered. (We should have yelled "Huzzah!")  Everyone laughed. My son told me to calm down.  Oh, it was such a relief to conquer the audio!

     I got up so the kids to take their places.  They were told to wave after their skit. Then they were asked what inspired them to do this topic. That took them by surprise, but my daughter gave an excellent answer. The director told the kids to add that in before the skit. That sort of confused them, so the director suggested that the student hosts could ask after the skit. That became the plan.  The live broadcast would be the next morning at 10am Eastern time.  CW EFT would call us on Skype ten minutes before.  Here they are acting like they did during the rehearsal after CW EFT hung up...

     Later I got an e-mail, suggesting we trim the skit to allot for the question on how the kids were inspired and keep everything to two minutes. We were asked to trim the part my son had wanted to do about Cherokee justice, and keep the focus on Cherokee women's involvement in government. Although I had tried to talk my son into doing this very thing the night before, he insisted on keeping it. When he heard what the producer and director had asked, he was in complete agreement. He had to admit it was difficult to cram so much information into a few sentences. Now the skit flowed much better!

     The next morning the kids put on their costumes. My daughter had been getting increasingly nervous about answering the question about what inspired her, so her answer got more dragged out and confused. I told her to write down her answer and that took care of the nervousness. She kept her answer next to the script to refer to when needed.  

     At ten minutes to ten, CW EFT called us on Skype.  This time all was good except we couldn't see the student hosts.  They hung up and called us again. Now we could see them. Then they put the kids on pause during the beginning of the program. 

     Meanwhile, I had the television on, yet on mute, so it wouldn't interfere with anything.  I stood between the family room and dining room and told the kids what part of the broadcast was playing.  I knew they were going nuts not knowing what was going on.  

      A few minutes before they went on, the crew activated things, except now we couldn't see the hosts anymore.  So they hung up again and called us back. Everything was good now.       

      During the question and answer segment, the new Skype feature was announced and my kids were introduced. They waved as they had been directed. Then the camera went back to the hosts and the actor/interpreters and historian answering a few questions from students phone called, e-mailed or sent via video tape from across the country. Then my kids were introduced to present their skit. After they read their skit about Cherokee women's involvement in government within their tribes in the 18th century, they waved, as they had been directed. Then one of the hosts asked them what inspired them to present this topic.  My kids gave their answer and they were done! As the show moved on to other questions, the crew told my kids good job and reminded us that they were the first ever CW EFT Skypers! That didn't really sink in until he told us.  That was truely an honor!

     After CW EFT hung up, I took their picture...

     Then they watched the rest of the program on television. At the end of the broadcast, the hosts explained that information at the EFT website is available for other EFT subscribers to be future Skypers.  It's a great experience! 

     After the show, I asked the kids if they had any questions to e-mail Henry Timberlake. We had forgotten all about this in all the excitement! They sent the e-mails and got some terrific answers. 

     My kids had an incredible experience being the first ever CW EFT Skypers. They learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes, working with time constraints and being part of a team. On top of that, it was a thrill to have this opportunity with Colonial Williamsburg, of which we are huge fans! This will be a memory my kids will always carry with them! Thank you for asking us to do this CW EFT!        

     The EFTs are coming! The EFTs are coming! The EFTs are coming! Once again Homeschool Buyer's Co-op is making this incredible Emmy award winning series available to homeschoolers! Last weekend I got to meet one of the men who works behind the scenes for the EFTs and it was a thrill to be able to thank him for the incredible job everyone does and for giving homeschoolers the opportunity to see these! 

      There is one EFT a month and just like a live field trip, these have been a wonderful break to our usual homeschool day. Furthermore the EFTs have incredibly deepened our understanding of history. Field trips like "Yorktown" and "Soldier of Liberty" that take us to the 18th or 19th centuries actually do help us to understand everything from the Middle Ages to modern history. Many battlefield techniques originated in the Middle Ages and some elements are still in use today.  Whereas we had fun studying 18th century science in "In Pursuit of Science," we were forced to face the struggles of slaves as they sought freedom in "Freedom Bound."   Contemporary ideas like disputed elections are not unique to our era, as we learned in last year's "The Will of the People". As we viewed "Remember the Ladies", many of the concepts carried over into our 19th century studies of women's suffrage. "Making History Live" taught us how the CWF uses primary source documents to retell the story of history. Thus, my kids learned how to use primary source documents so they can bring their own history studies to life!  

     What is slated this season? 

October 15, 2009-"Emmisaries of Peace" is set during the French and Indian War with the timeless struggle of the American Indian seeking peace.

November 19, 2009-"A More Perfect Union" is about the ratification of the US Constitution and the conflicts that were involved.  

December 10, 2009-"Jamestown Unearthed" is about how archaeology uncovers clues to our past.

January 14, 2010-"Westward!" is about Western expansion as told by Daniel Boone!

February 11, 2010-"The Slave Trade" is about those who were affected by the 1807 law that abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

March 11, 2010-"The Rights of Youth" explores the harsh 18th century punishment system. I'm sure our kids will appreciate the freedoms they have today!

April 22, 2010-"Treasure Keepers" explores the work of conservators who preserve historical artifacts for us to enjoy. 

     Each field trip comes with lesson plans, activities, fun computer programs, opportunities to ask historians questions on the air and even e-mail historical figures! My kids and I have enjoyed these immensely. I tell you, what bigger education thrill can there be but to receive a reply back in the e-mail from General George Washington, himself!  Be sure to sign up and enjoy!       

     Colonial Williamsburg's Electronic Field Trip, Soldier of Liberty, gave us an unexpected surprise today. Scheduled to air at 10am, the kids were anxious for it to start. In preparation I went to the web site shortly before 9am.  Oh no! It was already on the air! There were the actor interpreters and the historian, the teenage announcers, the live call in questions, everything! How did that happen? I knew I checked my e-mail announcement and it said there'd be a 10am start. Did I miss something? This is entirely possible because we are in the middle of a move from Texas to Virginia and are currently in a hotel. We were watching the EFT on the laptop as we have with every other EFT.  Strangely, things seemed rather different during the Q&A. Nothing major, just a lot of little things seemed off. Then when they went to the 7 minute movie segment, it fast forwarded right before our eyes. Then there was another Q&A, shorter than usual, and another fast forwarded 7 minute movie.  Back to the Q&A, but this time we were excited to see my daughter's e-mail question featured!  It seemed to take them all by surprise and I guess the Loyalist and Sgt didn't want to touch that one. The historian gave us the answer we were looking for.  More on that later. Anyway it was all over and done within thirty minutes instead of the usual hour.  How did they do that? We were extremely disappointed. Here we are in the same state and I thought I'd have an easier time getting the time of the broadcast right, without factoring in CST vs EST.

     Greatly disappointed, I made a phone call to EFT support. After explaining the situation I wailed, "What happened? Did I have the wrong time? Are things done differently now? Was the live-stream merely going beserk?"  She was confused; so was I!  After a few questions she finally realized what happened. She assured me that the real broadcast would be at 10am and informed me that we saw the dress rehearsal!  W-o-w!  Incredulously I asked, "We got to see behind the scenes?"  She laughed and said yes. I laughed too and said we are big fans of Colonial Williamsburg (major understatement), so this was neat!  I got off the phone and told the kids and their disappointment quickly turned to enthusiasm!  We had the best time telling my husband all about the behind the scenes footage we got to see when he got back to the hotel from work!

     Sure enough, at 10am, the real broadcast began! As usual, it was terrific! Soldier of Liberty is about the day in the life of a soldier. We learned answers to all the questions we've been asking ourselves when we've gone to Colonial Williamsburg.  What is the difference between the militia and the army?

Why do they wear purple shirts? 

Why are their hats shaped that way?  We also learned why there was no standing army after the American Revolution. We learned about the most important weapon. We learned why the soldiers position themselves the way they do during battle.

We also learned what most of their days looked like. 

We even learned about some of the diseases in the camp, their treatments and prognosis. Everything really seemed to fall into place with this field trip. We had heard some of these things before at Colonial Williamsburg.  We even covered some of the same information during the Yorktown EFT. However those times we were experiencing information overload. =)  At last, it all made sense!

     The story revolved around Nathaniel Hutcheson, a teenage boy who is in love with his childhood sweetheart, Penny. The plot intertwines around three different perceptions of freedom. Nathaniel and his friends sought freedom from England.  Parliament, in England, was taxing the colonies to pay off England's debts from the French and Indian War.  However, the burgesses, the representative body in Virginia, were not allowed to have any representation in the taxation.  The Loyalists, on the other hand, did not have issues with Parliament levying taxes.  They felt they had plenty of freedoms from King George III, despite the taxation without representation. Penny's father was a Loyalist. He had always felt that Nathaniel would make a good husband for Penny, until their political differences caused them to choose sides in the war. When the war began, Virginia's Royal Governor Dunmore allowed slaves of patriots to be free if they joined the army of the British. The Hutcheson family slave, Maddy, ran away to join the Ethiopian Regiment and serve under the king, in return for freedom.

     Last night, the kids e-mailed questions to Nathaniel.  My daughter asked, "In order to be an officer, what kind of education was needed?" I didn't think to have her clarify what she meant, but she was basically asking how one got to be a commissioned officer vs noncommissioned. She knows that today that is primarily due to education. During the dress rehearsal, the historian addressed the question in that way, and explained that it was due to social position at that time.  Her question was featured again during the second broadcast and that time the historian did address it from an educational viewpoint, basically extending the question to add that educational pamphlets were written on drill instructions, etc. 

     My son e-mailed Nathaniel: "We learned that doctors give the patient opium as a pain reliever after amputating a limb. Why didn't the doctors use the opium before amputating a limb, so it wouldn't hurt quite as much during the amputation?"  He got an e-mail back with definite 18th century flavor!  Those are always the most fun.   

"Master ______________, Yours is a most worthy query. I have had an opportunity to talk to the Camp Surgeon who Informs me that this is the way they were trained. At the heart of the practice is the fact that there is usually a very limited supply of Laudanum and coupled with the fact that a number of wounded do not live through the surgery, the Surgeons felt that by giving the relief prior to knowing the outcome of the amputation that they were in fact using it needlessly.

I trust that this answers your query adequately and that I do not have to undergo such a procedure.

Your most humble and obedient,

Nathaniel Hutcheson"

      When we get these e-mails back, I am teaching my kids to notice the style of writing and compare their responses. Whereas my son got an 18th century styled answer, my daughter received a 21st century styled answer from Nathaniel, including a reference to modern day West Point.  We had to laugh about Nathaniel stepping out of character to make a modern reference!  We think my son's was answered by an actor interpretor and that my daughter's was answered by a historian. =)  

     Our favorite web activity took us to the Magazine where armament and ammunition were stored. First, Patrick Henry explained to the kids that they were to be Quartermasters and were given a budget and a limit of 8 items to purchase to supply the troops.  Then they got to learn about the different items in the Magazine before making their purchases.  When they were done, a video of a soldier told them whether the troops won or lost the battle as a result of the purchases. 

     This is the final EFT for this season. Made affordable through an arrangement between Colonial Williamsburg and Homeschool Buyer's Co-op, this was the first year homeschoolers were able to participate. Personally, I was elated to discover the affordability last summer, since I have been desperately wanting my kids to be able to  participate in these field trips for a few years.  Worth every penny, they have been fun breaks in the regular school year. Additionally, they have richly supplemented our studies.  For example, Freedom Bound co-incided with our pre-Civil War studies. Making History Live has enhanced our unit celebrations.  The Will of the People was well timed, being presented before the 2008 Presidential election.  In Pursuit of Science was an impressive look at the advance of science in the 18th century. Remember the Ladies gave us a surprising view of precisely how the ladies of the 18th century stayed "Within the Compass".   Yorktown and Soldier of Liberty have enhanced not only our understanding of the American Revolution battles, but have also broadened our understanding of battles throughout all of history. 

     By the way, last autumn, when I first started reviewing the EFTs on my blog, I found a comment from Homeschool Buyer's Co-op asking me to send them the links to my reviews. I have never been paid to do this. I had planned all along to review each of the EFTs simply because I enjoy Colonial Williamsburg so much that I want everyone else to see how wonderful they are.  Each of my reviews are in my category list in the right column. If you'd like another viewpoint, there are more reviews here, underneath the ones listed for my blog. Incidentally, I've just discovered this. I knew that Homeschool Buyer's Co-op sometimes linked to my blog in their weekly newsletter, but I had no idea I was linked at their site as well. I'd like to thank Homeschool Buyer's Co-op for the lovely little description of my reviews.  It makes me feel very special. =) 

     On that note, Homeschool Buyer's Co-op recently received the good news that we can participate again next season! We can't wait!!!! You can see the preview for next season here. It looks like it will be a great season! Stay tuned... 

     The award winning Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip recently featured "Remember the Ladies."  Made affordable by Homeschool Buyer's Co-op, the EFT focused on the roles of women across various levels of society in 1774.  Additionally, the EFT web activities taught how those roles changed through the course of time.

    Because the kids and I enjoy dressing up in historical costumes and "re-enacting" historical events (for family), we usually do a presentation in colonial costume of lessons learned in the EFT.   However, we are currently in the middle of a move.  To top it off, the kids were further dismayed to miss the live broadcast on Thursday, since paperwork caught us between closing on the sale of our house in Texas and the purchase of a house in Virginia.  On the bright side, this review will show that the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips are a worthy educational investment, that can be used with great flexibility according to time and interest for each student!

    Earlier in the week, we read the historical background in the lesson plans provided by the EFT. Then we looked at primary source pictures of the era and discussed their meanings, according to a lady's role in society and men's opinions (sometimes expressed through art work) when they felt women overstepped their traditional bounds.  We also read excerpts from gazettes (18th century newspapers) that "told a story" of either a woman's role or status in society.  We learned not only what was expected of a woman in a traditional role, but when they were permitted in the eyes of society to step out of traditional bounds.   

    Much to my kids' chagrin, they did not get an opportunity to e-mail a historical person. I could not figure out how to reset my internet e-mail from my now defunct Outlook Express account from Texas to my current on-line gmail account. When it was too late, it finally occured to me that all I had to do was cut and paste the e-mail address into my gmail. sigh  Also we forgot to do the on-line vote. We could have posted on the forum to have a CW historian answer a question. Actually this option is open the entire year.  Alas I keep forgetting about this. (Perhaps I can claim that my brain is on real estate overload.)

    As I previously mentioned, we missed the live broadcast on Thursday because of housing paperwork. For those who have a house...and a television...and a VCR...the live broadcasts are also shown on PBS stations and therefore can be taped.  My kids enjoy the live Q&A so much that they can never get enough of it. Neither can I.  =) Fortunately the broadcast and previously taped 2005 Q&A can be seen on-line any time throughout the year.  We got to view it the next day. My favorite question from the "Remember the Ladies" 2005 taped broadcast was, "Why do women do all the work and the men don't?" =) Additionally, one can always order a DVD from CW which includes the broadcast and the best of the Q&A. We have most of the DVDs from this year (we are merely waiting for a permament address to order the rest). The questions are called in, sent in via videotape, and e-mailed by the students. One of my son's questions made the cut on the "Make History Live" DVD and was answered by Gowan Pamphlet.  

     The on-line computer activities are also available anytime throughout the year.   One was a game show with Abigail Adams (who, in 1776, wrote to her husband to "remember the ladies.") where the kids placed milestone moments for women on a timeline. My kids did a terrific job!  They played as a team since we have access to the one laptop.  They scored nearly $600 (points)! Then Abigail Adams asked if the player was a boy or girl. Hmmm, my kids are one of each and played together. We thought there was one bonus question to come so my son said he'd answer it. We clicked on "boy."  Abigail Adams said that he got all the points, but if a girl had played, she'd only have "earned" a fraction of that amount, because that's how wages were tallied in the 18th century. My son did the math and figured that for the same game, his sister would only have earned $400.

     Another activity was to create a movie timeline of the changing roles of women throughout history. We watched each of the clips and we laughed the hardest at an old commercial from the fifties where a man and woman did ballroom dancing around appliances.  I told the kids when we get our own house and they get their computers back, they can each create their own movie timelines.  Ah, a house of our own. I am looking forward to that! In fact, when that moment comes, I may feel like ballroom dancing around my appliances. ;)Thankfully the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips are fun, educational and flexible enough to fit any schedule...even a house hunter's schedule! 

     The latest award winning Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip  fit in perfectly with our current history studies of the events leading up to the Civil War.  Freedom Bound focused on the various attempts African American slaves made to gain their freedom.  Undeniably, this was a heavy topic.  Nevertheless, Colonial Williamsburg captured our heartstrings with true stories, allowing us to feel the pain while sensitively presenting the harsh realities of this terrible time in America's history.

     We began our preparation for this EFT by listening to this week's podcast, "Freedom Bound," in which the writer was interviewed.  She researched actual documents to find a variety of interesting vignettes to share the story that deep within every human heart is the yearning cry for freedom.  One interesting story shared how a slave woman in the 17th century gained her freedom through the legal system.  Another fascinating story was based on historical evidence of a slave that ran away, and an indentured servant that ran away, headed in the same direction.  The writer imagined what would happen if they met up.  Surprisingly to us, being from Texas, was that slaves in Texas often escaped to Mexico!  

     After the podcast, I read the Teacher Notes to the kids and then we did the first activity.  That required the kids to do some mental role playing.  I gave them scenarios where they were the slave.  I told them about their circumstances. Then they had to decide if they would stay with the master or run away.  After they deliberated over their choices, I read the corresponding primary source document that gave them "the rest of the story."  One of the most interesting we did was about a slave that had a good life with her mistress.  Because her master and mistress were well known, she had certain privileges in her life as a slave.  After the kids made their choices, we were surprised to find out who the master and mistress were, as well as the choice of the slave!

     Next we watched the videos.  They were a bit intense, without showing too much, and leaving most of the horror to the imagination.  My son was obviously engaged with the boy who was running away from a dog and ran up a tree.  He had merely been chased by the master so that the dog could learn his scent in case he ever did run away.  Another story took us to Louisiana in the 1800's where a slave was whipped in front of his family for running away.  You saw the overseer doing the whipping, you saw the family watching in horror, but you never saw the actual whipping.  The sound of the whip and the look on the family's faces were enough to put a pit in our stomach.  From there the young man who was whipped was treated for his wounds by one of the slaves while he planned his next attempt to escape.  The emotions between him and the one he loved was especially poignant.  Then the kids were really caught up in the story of the Texas overseer who was horribly cruel to the slaves and ended up in a fight with one of them.  The slave beat up the overseer and had to flee to Mexico.  The kids were upset by that, because the overseer was portrayed by one of their favorite actor/interpreters they met last August.  My son could not understand how he could play a bad guy.  My daughter was worried that the actor/interpreter was really dead. Wow, this was tough.  I told them this actor/interpreter did not really believe the same things as the overseer, whom he portrayed, did.  In real life all of the actors, representing slaves, masters and overseers are most likely friends.  Those were not real blows that were struck. That was not real blood. No one really got hurt.  Afterwards the actor/interpreter protraying the overseer got up and was friendly to those portraying the slaves.  Why do they do this?  To teach us history.  History has a way of repeating itself.  Understanding why things happened in the past can help us to make informed choices in the future.  We had quite a discussion about this, and I think it was good.  It's unfortunate that we ever have to look at the bad side of life.  I don't think it should be glamorized.  However it should be informative in a sensitive way, and Colonial Williamsburg does precisely that.  My kids learned a lot and they were able to watch the video again with better understanding of the purposes behind the stories, while realizing it was a representation of the past.

     During the week the kids read some books we had on the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman.  They also did the activities on the EFT web site.  One was a wheel that spun a random scenario for your life.  This time you might be a male slave on a sugar cane plantation with a family.  The master might sell you. Do you escape at all, by yourself, or with your wife and children?  Another spin might say you are a house servant in Virginia...well the scenarios go on and on.  Then whichever scenario you choose, you get to ask people in your life for advice on whether to run away or not.  Different ones will have different opinions until you finally make your choice.  I think the kids even got to attempt to escape and run away from the slave catcher.  Another activity was an interactive timeline of slavery in America.

     The day of the live broadcast was on Thursday.  There was a slave and abolitionist  (both from the 1800's) and the manager of the African American interpretive program to answer questions.  The slave, who was a woman on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana spoke mostly with her eyes...her halting words expressed hardship, grief, sorrow...her eyes spoke of pain.  

     Afterwards my daughter e-mailed one of the slaves in the video.  He was the one who was approached by the abolitionist to help a slave escape.  He did not want to get into trouble, but the Quaker finally convinced him, and historically we now know that he took many slaves across the river to freedom. 

     We have not had the opportunity to do all of the activities we would have liked to do with this EFT.  My husband has retired from the USAF and he got a job in Virginia!  We'll be closer to Colonial Williamsburg!  Despite the busy-ness of selling a house and preparing to pack, we could not forego a CW EFT.  These are too wonderful to pass up.  Instead we picked and chose from the wealth of activities and learned a lot.  We greatly appreciate Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for making these Electronic Field Trips, and also Homeschool Buyer's Co-op for making them affordable to homeschoolers!

     Our historical adventures with the award winning Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip took us down a scientific path this month.  My kids enjoyed it immensely.  The presentation of material built on the very things they have been learning in their daily science studies. 

     Monday we went over the historical background of the Age of Enlightenment.  Then the kids played the interactive games at the EFT website.  After each game, they watched the video, then the question and answer session with CW historians from a few years ago when this premiered. 

     The story line is reminiscent of my own son.  Whenever I send him to complete a task, I may not see him for hours because he had to investigate something.  When he is not examining something, he is asking questions.  Scores of questions, tons of questions, millions of questions!  Daniel, the colonial boy in the movie, is no different.

     In the story, it is 1769 in Williamsburg, and 11 year old Daniel is sent on errands to the shoemaker and the printer and must return in time to join his family on the last ferry across the river to home.  Well this is an inquisitive boy.  On the way to the cobbler, Daniel helps to put out a fire by filling buckets of water for the fire truck.  Now covered from head to toe with soot, he hurries on to the shoemaker to fulfill the first errand when he hears the bells strike in the distance. 

     At the shoemaker Daniel asks tons of questions about the water glass magnifier.  Eventually, he collects the shoes and runs to the print shop.  On the way he sees the fire engine getting cleaned and stops to ask a ton of questions about how it works.  After a demonstration there Daniel hears the bells strike and hurries on to the printer.  At the printer, he asks tons more questions about how the printing press works. 

     In the second part of the movie, Daniel helps a gentleman, John Page, calculate the transit of Venus. John Page really did live in the area.  Because he had wealth, he was able to indulge his interests in astronomy. To explain the transit of Venus, he used an orrery.  It was interesting to see how the sextant and special lenses in the gorgeous telescope were used to obtain necessary information to track the transit of Venus. 

     In the third part of the movie, Daniel is five years older, attending the College of William and Mary.  The teacher is Professor James Madison, cousin to the future President James Madison.  Historically, Professor Madison had attended the college and later taught Natural Philosophy there. In fact, he eventually became president of the college. Professor Madison conducted several experiments, many of which explained some of the principles that were learned in the earlier part of the movie.  On each day of class, Daniel arrived late because he had had yet another inquisitive adventure.  

     The three on-line activities were great.  In the first one, we were given different scenarios and we had to choose the most Enlightened, scientific choice for each.  In the second one, Benjamin Franklin explained how he conducted some experiments regarding electricity, which we could duplicate on the screen.  Then we had to record our results.  The third one was my favorite.  John Page explained that we could help select the four best papers for publication, which would be sent to the scientific society in England. He explained the types of things to look for to choose truely beneficial research that would advance science. We got to listen to several different men explain their theories and research (if they actually did any).  We rated each one.  At the end, we chose the four best.   For each of those, we wrote an introduction into the book on the computer.  After the publication arrived in England, an 18th century Englishman appeared on the screen and thanked us for our valuable contribution for the cause of science.  We each did these activities separately, at our computers.  Afterwards, we had a Socratic Discussion on the last activity.  We discussed which papers we selected to send to England.  It was helpful to hear why the kids chose the ones they did, yet not others. Two were obviously the best and some were obviously poor choices.  But they got stuck on the other ones.  I helped them to see why some choices were better than others.  It was fun to hear the "Ohhhhhhs."  Yes, they were enlightened by these activities!

     Then we read short biographies of several 18th century scientists.  I had the kids each select one for their project this week. The project was completely different from anything they had ever done before.  It was a display board.  It required light writing, which was great due to our having been busy with life on top of having recently completed a research paper.  Surprisingly, my daughter did not choose the lady scientist from Italy.  Instead, she was inspired by Carolus Linnaeus, due to her interest in plants. 

My son decided to further research Edmund Halley. 

     They worked on these display boards primarily on Thursday, in between the live broadcasts.  On Electronic Field Trip days we spend the day working on the projects, as if we were on a real field trip.  This has turned out to be a wonderful break from the regular schedule while reviewing basic skills and learning new things.  The kids always anticipate these days with enthusiasm.

     We watched the morning live broadcast on our local public television station.  I only recently discovered this option.  If you check your local listings, perhaps you can view one of these field trips and see how wonderful they are for yourself!  Then you can enroll with Homeschool Buyers Co-op at an affordable price for all of the wonderful activities that go with the program!  Because our local station only aired the morning broadcast, we watched the afternoon's live broadcast on-line. 

     For the question and answer session, we got to hear from historical interpreters portraying Professor James Madison and John Page, and 2 modern scientists/historians from the College of William and Mary.  One child asked if Ben Franklin knew he could be electrocuted if he wasn't careful.  Before John Page could answer, my son exclaimed "the turkey!"  Yes, John Page told the infamous story of how Ben Franklin electrified a turkey to cook it for tender meat, only to get electrocuted himself.   Another great question was how these experiments were funded.  The general answer was that experiments back then had to be funded from one's own wealth.  In the morning, John Page added his own personal experience, of having purchased his special telescope which he highly prized.  That same question was asked in the afternoon and again John Page answered, this time saying that he purchased his expensive telescope "much to his wife's chagrin."  I had a feeling there was a bit of 21st century experience to that answer!   Another child brought up a question about man landing on the moon, something that John Page could not imagine!  The kids loved it all! 

     My kids each thought of great questions to e-mail to Daniel.  We've been wondering who would actually answer the questions for Daniel.  Surely, an adult would be fielding the historically scientific questions.  My daughter e-mailed this: "If someone were to go to college in the eighteenth century to be trained as a scientist, what kind of classes would he have to take?"   The reply was extremely informative and interesting and full of fun 18th century language!  A few hours later my son e-mailed his question.  "Somewhere I read that a bolt of lightening is seven times hotter than the sun's surface.  Even if a bolt of lightening is not that hot, what prevents a lightning rod from melting in the extreme heat of a lightening bolt?  The rod is after all only copper." The answer he received was also extremely interesting and informative, and using much of the same style as my daughter had received.  We had a lot of fun reading this answer!  As I read it out loud, I got this feeling that I knew who wrote it.  As I was considering this, my daughter exclaimed my very thoughts, "I think I know who Daniel is!  It's Professor James Madison!"   The e-mails sounded so much like him!  Well, there is no way to test the evidence. But the data we collected was that he began her e-mail, "Mistress _____________, A very interesting query," whereas he began my son's, "Master ____________, a very worthy query..."  Also words that ended the e-mail like, "I trust..." were in both.  Although the words in between varied, we can just hear Professor James Madison saying the words.  Alas, we'll never be able to prove our theory. However like a good puzzle, it was fun to try to figure out!

     Over the weekend, the kids completed their projects and rehearsed their presentations.  They asked if they could wear their costumes when they gave their presentations to their dad!  I got my son's everyday Colonial costume out of one closet, then from the other closet I got his Lafayette costume where I keep his Renaissance/Colonial shirt. While I was taking his shirt off the hangar that holds his Lafayette costume, he got a big grin and thanked me for being a great seamstress.  Awwwwww...... (I'm really not a great seamstress.  I have so much to learn.  But I am touched that the kids enjoy doing the costumes.  Someone once asked me if the kids appreciate all the sewing of costumes that I do for them.  Yes, they do!  And  I think the Lafayette costume is my son's favorite.)

     I had an easel for them to prop their boards on, but they actually felt more comfortable with holding the display boards themselves.  We have had extremely busy lives the last few weeks so they did not have this information memorized, even though they had learned it well.  My intent was not to push for perfection, but instead to give them practice in public speaking.  Doing these field trips once a month is giving us seven more opportunities for them to practice public speaking in a fun way.  It is definitely paying off.  My daughter has had some learning delays while growing up, and this afternoon I marveled at how well composed her presentation was!

     I did very little to help them with the display boards.  Instead I encouraged them to consider the audience. They've been in the audience for Revolutionary City at Colonial Williamsburg. What did they enjoy about that?  I challenged them to transfer that to their presentations.  What type of information would the audience want to hear?  How would the audience like to have it presented to them?   Although dubious at first, they rose to the challenge and did an excellent job!  My husband was impressed!

Here is my son talking about Edmund Halley...

Here is my daughter presenting information on Carolus Linnaeus...

Then there was time for questions and answers...

     My kids had a blast stepping into the 18th century to learn a little Natural Philosophy! In fact, as I type this, it is twilight.  My son is taking out the recycling and has called us out to see the flash of light across the sky.  Ohhhhhh that's right!  A few nights ago he asked me if I had ever seen a comet, a shooting star, and the International Space Station.  Yes to all three!  Then he wanted to know the difference in how they looked.  Well tonight he had the moving light pegged as the ISS.  We all ran out front but sadly we weren't quite quick enough to see it.  However we did see Venus, the steady bright light in the sky.  Hopeful, we went to the backyard where the ISS crossed over.  We still couldn't see it, but my daughter saw a twinkling light in the sky.  Testing my son, I asked him what that was...a star! Good for him!   He knows the difference from the stars and planets when looking at the night sky! Now he wants me to look up the path of the ISS to confirm his sighting.  Excuse me while I work with Daniel, I mean my 21st century son!  International Space Station Sightings (He was right!  That was the ISS we had just missed!)    

     Colonial Williamsburg's newest field trip, "Making History Live" has been a wonderful experience!  (Thanks to Homeschool Buyer's Co-op, these are now made available to homeschoolers at a reasonable price!) While we were in Colonial Williamsburg experiencing Revolutionary City last summer, we spent a lot of time asking questions amongst ourselves, wishing we could ask the actor/interpreters:  What is their background?  Actor...historian..both?  How many parts DO they portray?  How do they remember all of their lines for multiple character portrayals?  How long have they been doing this?  "Making History Live" allowed us at a peak behind the scenes! 

     "Making History Live" teaches first person interpretation through the African American history program at Colonial Williamsburg.  We began the week by listening to this week's podcast about the African American evening music program.  This was extremely interesting, learning about the importance of music to the enslaved, and how they used it to communicate messages secretly to one another.  Because we are currently studying an era of history that includes American slavery, this information has been timely to our studies.  

     After listening to the podcast, we previewed the movie, "Making History Live."  This was almost like a stroll down memory lane, since we got to meet some of these people during Revolutionary City last summer. 

     We learned not only about the music of the slaves, but also how the actor/interpreters prepare for a performance.  We got to go behind the scenes and see the development of the scripts for Revolutionary City!  We got to see various types of rehearsals.  Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse was the message that we got.  That was great because I am often reminding my kids of the actor/interpreters when they have to study, study, study!  Now they know I'm not making this up!  ;) We also got a peek into the costume department, which helps to bring a character to life.  We were taken into the library, where actor/interpreters choose specific books to help them further their research into their character.  Obviously, this accounts for why the characters are able to answer the vast variety of questions we ask as visitors!  It also reflects how they can portray their characters with great depth.  Previewing the movie was a terrific opportunity, because I was able to pause the video when needed, to help the kids capture details that they were missing.  This was great preparation for the live broadcast that would be aired on Thursday.  

     Then the kids did a terrific on-line activity.  There were three puzzles, one for Thomas Jefferson and two for two different slaves.  Each puzzle piece was a either a primary source or a secondary source relevant to that person. 

The kids had to read that portion of the document and answer the question related to it. In essence, they were learning how clues can be gleaned for the actor/interpreters from these documents.

If they answered the question correctly, the puzzle piece went to the correct place in the puzzle.  After the puzzle was complete, the puzzle came to life! My husband was really intrigued by this when the kids told him and he had to check it out for himself!    

      The next day we compared third person interpretation with first person interpretation.  My kids thought they understood the difference, until I asked them to give me an example of each from our recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  My son thought that when Lafayette talked about George Washington, that was third person.  I can see how he would think that, but no.  Lafayette was still in first person when he talked about George Washington, because the actor was talking about George Washington as if he was Lafayette. 

Third person interpretation is typically what happens in the trades, when the tradespeople, though dressed in 18th century costume, talk to us in knowledge of the 21st century. 

     Next, the kids took the interactive tour of Colonial Williamsburg.  Even though they've been there before, I knew they would learn a few new things by researching the town.  After all, actor/interpreters need to know the setting for their characterization.  After spending some time at the site, each of the kids gave a tour of their favorite location.  My dd chose the beautiful Governor's Palace

 whereas my son chose the noisy Magazine.  And of course, the web site had a noisy cannon there, which he loved!

     At this point, I pulled up a podcast from July 7, 2005, "Instructor of Interpreters."  I thought it would be helpful, even inspiring to the kids, to hear how the actor/interpreters go to a 10 day school at CW to learn to engage with the audience and do first person interpretation.  I really wanted the kids to understand that the actor/interpreters put a lot of time into preparation before they go on stage.  

     Next, the kids began their task of creating their own first person interpretation, using some of the same methods used by the actor/interpreters of Colonial Williamsburg!  There were several pairs of biography cards to choose from.  My daughter decided to be Ann Wager and my son decided to portray Robert Carter Nicholas.  The first step was to study their own card, and then to introduce themselves, as their characters, to each other. This sort of confused my kids at first, since they expected to jump right in to the first person interpretation immediately.  I like the fact that this complex process was broken down into manageable steps.  This gave them an opportunity to learn the basic facts of their character and practice verbalizing that on a small scale.  

     The next step was to study the two pages provided in the teacher's packet on the King's English. 

 Some of these we were familiar with, from our previous visit. The kids thought it funny that they would be expected to incorporate some of this into their presentation.  However, this is culturally relevant to their character portrayals.  After reviewing and studying the page, they once again role played their characters.  This time, however, they greeted each other using the King's English, then explained who they were.

     After lunch, we listened to a great podcast from November 26, 2007, "Playing the Part." This got very specific about how the actor/interpreters portraying Benjamin Franklin and John Adams for a previous Electronic Field Trip research and develop their characters.  It is so much fun to go behind the scenes.  Every time we hear about research, research, research!  My kids' *love* that!  LOL At least they know they are not alone in the research department! 

     After the podcast, I gave each of the kids worksheets from the teacher packet to develop a dialogue between their characters.  It was wonderful how the steps were broken down. First, they jotted down notes about the facts for their characters. By now, they had gotten quite familiar with the facts. 

Then they answered questions where they got to create a setting for their dialogue. This took a bit of time, as they had to create information, based on what would be historically accurate.  Then of course they had to work as a team and agree on the final decision.  We contrasted "historical context" with "historical perspective" and looked for opportunities to create perspective for their dialogue.

Then it was time for them to write the script. I had them study, once again, the King's English, to decide how to incorporate some of the phrases into their dialogue.

Finally it was time to actually write the script. They were greatly relieved when I told them I'd be their secretary.  I guided them through the dialogue, as I typed their ideas into the computer.  They basically came up with their own dialogue.  I merely asked questions to prompt and guide them through the process. We also did a little extra research on-line to develop their characters.  Then I printed out the dialogue and highlighted their parts.  Mine is on top and color coded to help me cue them as needed.   

     That evening, we read  some of the comments at the blog for the week at the EFT web site.  Some of the actor/interpreters, writers, and historians posted comments there and that was neat.  There was a great one posted by the actor/interpreter who portrays Patrick Henry, about his perspective of history as a kid!  It was a lot of fun for my kids to hear his perspectives. Like Patrick Henry, the actor/interpreter was quite inspiring! 

     Then my son left a question at the blog.  He asked what they do when the CW library gets too full from all of their resources.  He got a great answer!  Apart from the expected, "build a bigger library," he was also told how many of the primary and secondary source documents are going digital.  This is not only to make room for resources, but also to protect fragile documents from continued handling.  

     That night they e-mailed a Colonial Williamsburg perfomer.  We had no idea which one would answer, so we kept the questions generic.  My daugher asked, "For this Electronic Field Trip, I am working on a first-person interpretation for Ann Wager and my brother and I are having fun making a script for a play. This play went through many changes and rough drafts. How many rough drafts do you usually go through before saying that it's ready to go?" 

     My son asked, "Where do you get the inspiration for your first person interpretations?  I understand you put a lot of time into your research collecting facts, but what sort of ideas spark your interest, narrowing down your thesis?"      

     Before the live broadcast Thursday morning, my son got a wonderfully detailed reply from a man who portrays a British military engineer.  He is a 21st century engineer and explained how he got involved in interpretation.  It was fascinating.  He explained inspriration thoroughly from the perspective of working for a living history museum vs personal interest.  

     My son had been excitedly looking forward to the live broadcast all week! While we waited for the live broadcast to begin, my kids practiced their dialogue to memorize their lines.  Meanwhile I hooked up to the live feed and colonial Christmas music was playing.  How delightful! When the Christmas music finished, the kids excitedly took their seats to watch the live broadcast.

     There were three people available for the live Question and Answer, an actor/interpreter and two of the managers.  Each of them were featured in the "Making History Live" EFT and they performed a couple of the songs from the African American program, which was a lot of fun.The actor/interpreter answered questions as the actor and not the character, which was great!  This was a unique opportunity, because at Colonial Williamsburg, the actor/interpreters always stay in character.  Those who ask questions outside of that character usually get quite a bit of teasing!   To our surprise, my son's e-mail question was featured at the end of the morning broadcast and the actor who portrays Gowan Pamphlet answered that! 

     After the morning broadcast, we staged the dialogue in the living room.  I had them practice the courtesies that they learned when they were in CW.  

Since the kids had forgotten some of the technique, we looked up some vacation pictures to see how one of the actor/interpreters did it!

     Then the kids practiced with props.  They had memorized their lines well by that time, but the props threw them off.  That's the importance of dress rehearsal! I had them keep rehearsing with the props while I made lunch and they improved greatly in that short time!  Just like they saw in the EFT, "Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!" 

     After the afternoon live broadcast, they took their interpretations to the next level.  I gave each of them a "Character Score" sheet, which apparently the actor/interpreters at CW use to fully develop their character.  They did further research to understand and more fully develop their characters.  

     Then they wrote out an outline for a narrative, which they then wrote out as an essay.  An outline should be sufficient, but it seems to help my kids to write out their speeches, then make notecards.  The product is usually more well rounded and interesting. 

     Saturday they tied up loose ends and then rehearsed, rehearsed, and rehearsed while I ran errands.  Sunday afternoon we staged their narratives and skits in the living room and they rehearsed, rehearsed, and rehearsed some more.  They were getting better!  At one point they asked, "Can I just rehearse this one little bit, instead of all of it?"  I reminded them of how wonderful the actor/interpreters are at CW.  Do they just rehearse one portion?  No.  The kids rehearsed one more time!

     Finally, they put on their costumes from previous opportunities.  Then they called Dad in to see their interpretations and ask questions.  Now I have a disclaimer.  My kids have put this together in 7 days, from research to presentation.  We learned that the actor/interpreters at CW can have 6 months to prepare their characters, if not more.  Of course the CW actor/interpreters are incredible, whereas my kids are learning!  But isn't that fun?  Wouldn't an opportunity to interpret characters in our history classes growing up have made school more fun? I encourage everyone to try this at home. Start small.  Take it step by step.  Each time they will get better.  And I can guarantee that the entire time they will have a blast! Now let the cameras roll!   

Here is my son's narrative of Robert Carter Nicholas.

Here is my daughter's narrative of Ann Wager.

 Here is their skit.

I enjoyed listening to my husband's reaction to the presentation.  It sounded as though he was being affected by some of the things he learned!

     Although my kids have represented historical characters many times for school, they learned lots of new things.  Even professionals research and rehearse daily!  They learned to develop a thesis for their character, in order to help the audience focus.  In addition, they learned to use hidden clues from the research to find a goal or problem for the character, to help the audience ask questions or be inspired to do more research on their own.  These are only a few elements that help to make for a more interesting presentation. Hopefully the audience will be on the edge of their seats, while my kids enhance their own skills in "Making History Live!"

     This week we took a time off from our usual history studies to focus on "Yorktown" through Colonial Williamsburg's award winning Electronic Field Trip series.  I have been yearning to have my kids partake in these for years, but the expense made them cost prohibitive.  They are now made affordable to homeschoolers by homeschool buyer's co-op. 

     Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution.  Numerous events miraculously fell into place for the badly beleaguered Continental Army to finally become victorious.  Over the course of six years, this was only the second major defeat of the British (the first being Saratoga), but it was enough to cause England to withdraw from efforts to dominate America.  Within the next two years, King George III finally recognized America as being "...free, sovereign and indepedent states."

     One of the story lines was about Lt. Col. John Laurens who not only helped to capture Redoubt 10 at Yorktown, but also negotiated the terms of surrender with the British.  Laurens' story on the screen piqued our curiousity, so we dug deeper to discover more about this fascinating indivudual who fought for liberty for all, even slaves. His personal story came to the surrender table and, following General Washington's orders, he firmly resisted British pleas to lighten the terms of surrender.  Washington strictly ordered that as the British dishonored General Lincoln in Charleston in 1780, so would the British be treated the same at this surrender ceremony.  Denied the honors of war, they could neither fly their flags nor play a song of the victor. The kids and I agreed this was contrary to our way of thinking.  We cannot imagine a conquered group wanting to play a song of the victor.  As I told the kids, we have to put ourselves into their shoes.  For the conquered, to play the music of the victor is a sign that they fought honorably.    

     Col. Laurens spoke some French in the movie and that intrigued us.  Why would an American officer speak French?  Further research answered this question and helped us to more fully understand his story.  Since we don't speak French, we felt we were missing out on that part of the story. Therefore we went through the script and found the French parts.  I had the kids look for words they recognized that relate to English, like "courage".  Other words are similar to the Latin we are now studying. My son recognized one word immediately, "hommes" which was also part of the name of John Paul Jones' ship, he reminded us.  My daughter knew the actual meaning from her Latin. The rest we put through a French/English translator.  This was not easy but it was fun. We were surprised by the translations!  It definitely brought more meaning to our understanding of the story.     

     The on-line activities provided at the EFT website were enjoyed by my kids.  One, in particular, assigned them the duty to become an amabassador and tour Europe seeking aid for the American cause.  That was not as easy as it sounded.  They were sent back a few times to seek more aid. They were quickly feeling the fatigue of the real life ambassadors they had studied.

 There was also an interactive timeline of events leading up to Yorktown.  

     The Teacher Resources included informative diagrams on how earthworks were built, by means of gabions and fascines.  There were also diagrams of the inside of a cannon and how it was loaded to fire.  We have been to numerous cannon loading and firing demonstrations on our trips to Virginia.  The diagrams clarified, for me anyway, the precise process. 

     Additionally, there were diagrams of the 4 types of artillery used and their differences in trajectory, mobility and type of shot.  This has prompted much discussion around here.  In fact, my husband shakes his head in disbelief at what we have learned about artillery!

     Of course artillery is right up my son's alley, a real guy's topic.  My daughter and I, who are girlie-girls, were surprisingly able to get into this topic as well, because of the positively engaging field trip!  While evaluating the different types of artillery, many questions arose.  We did some extra digging for details at some extra websites.  Since my kids had the opportunity to e-mail General George Washington this week, they decided to ask him for burning details!

     My son was insistent that bombs could be shot from a field cannon which has a straight trajectory.  I figured they could, but I didn't think it was practical.  Not satisfied with my explanation, he e-mailed General Washington about it that night. In the morning my son asked if I had checked the e-mail yet and had General Washington replied?  Well, no.  I told him that the general was an hour ahead of us and probably was thinking about bed the night before.  My son piped up and said the general might have e-mailed early this morning.  I suggested he let the general eat his breakfast first!  It wasn't even 7am our time!  Shortly before the morning's live broadcast of "Yorktown", the e-mail to my son arrived!  General Washington seemed a bit surprised at the idea of using a bomb in a field cannon.  The trajectory is all wrong to use it effectively.  Of course he was extremely patient and polite in his explanation, which he signed, "Your most obedient servant, G. Washington."  Thank you General Washington for answering my son's imaginative question!

     Wed night my daughter e-mailed General Washington "What were the advantages you had with the field and garrison cannons, as opposed to the howitzer and the mortar?  Which ones were often preferred for use in battle?"  After the morning's EFT live broadcast, we found the reply in the e-mail and we were pleasingly surprised!  General Washington wrote an entire page to answer her questions in fascinating detail.  Thank you General Washington for taking the time to answer her questions so completely!  I gave each of my kids printed copies of their e-mails for souvenirs. My kids were elated to have had this exchange from the busy general, whom they got to meet a few months ago!  

     Over lunch, we started talking about artillery.  (Doesn't everyone?)  My son was still asking questions about all the various possibilities of how bombs could be used in the 18th century, none of which were practically done. It finally dawned on me that my son is approaching this like a 21st century boy who has lots of time and imagination to fiddle with all of the possibilities of an item, because he lives in a free society and doesn't have to worry about an enemy marching down our street and pillaging our home.  I told him that warfare is life or death.  The soldiers use proven methods. They look at their objectives and use the means that will attain the best possibility of arriving at their goals with the least amount of work in the shortest amount of time.  (This sort of made sense to him, due to all of the GA Henty books we read.)  We went through what seemed a million scenarios for him to figure this out. Through this discourse, I also realized he kept thinking of a bomb as a missile.  Once I mentioned that, everything seemed to fall into place for him. Whew!  By George, I think he's got it now! 

     This week, we've listened to Colonial Williamsburg podcasts from different people involved in the Battle of Yorktown: General Washington, General Lafayette, James Armistead, and the Rhode Island Regiment. There is also one about when "Yorktown" premiered in October 2006. The podcasts for this week and the next are about how the Colonial Williamsburg blacksmiths are recreating an 18th century 3# cannon.  They even have a special blog about the ongoing process, which my son is avidly reading! 

     The day before the live broadcast, we previewed the "Yorktown" video and watched the Q&As from the 2006 broadcast.  One of our favorite questions answered then was "Why did the British wear red uniforms?"  Col. Laurens gave a fantastic answer that we understood completely.  It goes all the way back to the fierce Spartan soldiers whom the British wanted to emulate.  Even my son  wanted to recreate their fierceness when we studied them a few years ago!

     Before the live presentation of the field trip started, I ran the live stream which had period music from a harpsichord in the background. I played that softly, while I shared some interesting tidbits of information from a recent book I had read, Victory at Yorktown: The Campgaign that Won the Revolution.  The various scenarios prompted lots of discussion and we started digging into other sources until the music ended and the field trip began. 

     This year's Q&A featured Colonel Laurens, a loyalist, a historian from the Yorktown National Park Service, and a historian from Colonial Williamsburg in charge of the African American program.  As in the 2006 program Q&A on the Yorktown website, we not only learned from the excellent answers given, but also thoroughly enjoyed Col. Laurens and the loyalist being respectfully rude to each other!  lol We could easily imagine how they would act if they were real people instead of actors.  Representing different viewpoints of the war, neither one of them liked the other's answers! My kids greatly enjoyed the field trip and I've already called in an order for a DVD.

     My kids each chose a different activity from the Teacher's Guide to work on. There are many from which to choose for various ages and from writing to art.  I wanted my 13yos and 15yod to do a three page writing assignment from the CW EFT.  They each chose the one they liked the best, then worked diligently on it to present to their dad on the weekend.

     We had read 4 different accounts of the Battle of Yorktown, from different points of view.  Using the perspective of one of these accounts, my daughter decided to write a letter to a friend about the seige on Yorktown.  She chose the perspective of a German soldier, who was in the French army, fighting for America.  (Isn't that an interesting combination?!)   Since my daughter already had a colonial dress that she wore for our "American Revolution Celebration" and to Colonial Williamsburg last summer, I suggested that she dress up for the part.  Here she is reenacting the letter writing.  She typed her paper into her computer, changed the font to a fancy script, then we printed it out on parchment.  She began her little skit by finishing the letter with her quill.  Then she read the entire letter aloud to us.  This writing assignment was an excellent challenge for her, since she needed to stay within the parameters of the viewpoint of the Continental Army instead of telling the British viewpoint of being stuck in that defenseless position.  It was also a challenge for her to stay within the 1781 mindset in predicting the impact of Yorktown.  She had some excellent ideas and had fun with the assignment.   She also used some information we learned from Col. Laurens during the Q&A.  She represented "baggage" (what a term) or non-combatants who followed the army to do laundry and cooking.

     My son chose one of the historical figures we had studied during Yorktown.  He had to write a speech about the seige of Yorktown from the perspective of this person and tell what happened to them after Yorktown.  Then he was to dress up and play the part!  Hmmmm, we do this type of thing all the time, so I wasn't surprised that he picked this activity.  He decided to be the Marquis de Lafayette.  He met Lafayette last summer in Williamsburg. (Lafayette happens to be played by the same actor who played Lt. Col. Laurens.)

     While in Williamsburg, we only got to hear the events of the Marquis' life up to Yorktown.  Now my son had to include perspective during Yorktown.  During our research, we learned that Col. Laurens was under Lafayette's command.  Also we learned that Lafayette made the decision for the method of attack made on redoubt ten. 

     Here is Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. (My son and I both had fun learning how to pronounce that in French.  And yes, we do have it memorized! Can you imagine his mother calling him that when he was in trouble as a little boy? lol)  My son was ecstatic to finally have a General Lafayette costume! He already had parts of the costume from other occasions. While I sewed the vest and coat in the last couple of days, he worked industriously on his speech. He described Lafayette's involvement and impressions at Yorktown.  Then he told about his life afterwards during the French Revolution, the era of Napoleon and his Grand Tour of America. Then he finished with what America and independence meant to him.

     They finished their presentation with a joint Q&A session where they went into more detail about artillery, fortifications and anything else enquiring minds might want to know. Actually, one question my husband asked we could have never answered had it not been for Col. Laurens answering the very same question during the live broadcast's Q&A.  How high can earthworks be?  During the course of explaining the method and importance of cleaning out a cannon before loading, we got a new question.  How does one safely load hot shot into a cannon?  We can't e-mail General Washington, as he is no longer available.  But my son can load that question onto the Yorktown message board where it will be answered by a CW historian. 

     While answering questions, they used illustrations from some of their sources.  The binder in the top left of the photo has all of the CW EFT resources provided for "Yorktown."

     Because of this electronic field trip, I think our Yorktown experience has almost come full circle. Four years ago we had been to the Yorktown Victory Center, which is a hands-on area for kids (young and old) next door to the actual battlefield. 

     When we were in Williamsburg last summer, I had suggested that we see the actual battlefield. Two weeks go quickly when a wish list is long, and my children simply could not imagine a day at a battlefield where nothing was happening. They thought it would be boring, so we did not go.  Since then, I have been looking for something to give us enough background information to make a future trip to Yorktown interesting for them.  Well, this EFT on Yorktown was the ticket!  Hopefully we can make a future trip back to Yorktown (and Colonial Williamsburg).  While walking the quiet fields of Yorktown, I trust that we will be able to look upon the cannons, seige lines and earthworks that are still in place (albeit some from the Civil War) and have some imagination recreating the historic events in our minds.  Until then, we are thankful for these Electronic Field Trips from Colonial Williamsburg which boost our knowledge and imaginations!  Huzzah!  

We had our first Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip last week and the kids enjoyed it immensely. We learned that the negative campaigning tactics of today are nothing new.  That surprised us!  The first bitter election was in 1800 between Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist John Adams.  Then tensions increased when Thomas Jefferson tied with his Vice-Presidential candidate, Aaron Burr!  Because of this the 12th ammendment to the Constitution was ratified.  Although we had studied these topics a few weeks ago, we had not made the connection with negative campaigning of today. 

We began the week by reviewing this historic election in the Teacher Notes provided by EFT.  Since much of it was review, we were able to whiz through that and focus on some new vocabulary and ideas that were presented.  The notes took us through a brief history of elections in Colonial America, and I realized I had a Colonial Williasmburg Journal with great pictures of the CW actor/interpreters reenacting the election process...the very thing we were talking about.  So I pulled the journal out and we looked at all the pictures (and of course looked to see if we could recognize anyone from our previous trips.)   

Another topic of the EFT was the voting qualifications in Colonial America.  I began this by asking the kids if they remembered our trip to Colonial Williamsburg when we were sitting in front of the Courthouse. Someone came out and told us we could be part of the jury for the trials coming up.  We all stood. Then he called out the qualifications to be on the jury. We sat when we didn't qualify.  Out of our large group, only a handful were "in".   Hmmmmmm, the point was well made. Those of us who had to sit certainly felt historically excluded.  These are the same qualifications for voting in the eighteenth century: white male, property owner, Protestant, over 21 years of age.  The kids remembered and that prompted discussion.

Then we looked at two sets of original source documents, provided by "The Will of the People" EFT.  First we studied actual documents that showed  how discriminated groups of voters worked to gain the right to vote.  We also learned when the right was granted with a Constitutional Ammendment.  Then the kids got to play an interactive game at "The Will of the People" web site on their computers, about the history of voting rights.

After that we looked at another set of historical documents and analyzed negative campaign tactics.  Because we did not live in the time period  of these papers, we could easily detect the bias and slander.

Before the day of the actual Electronic Field Trip, we previewed the videos.  I am glad we did, because the kids were able to ask all of their questions and comment about everything they saw.  We also got to look over the script to answer any other questions we had.  Best of all, we got to pause and review any parts we missed because we were laughing so hard!  The script writer and actors competently took a negative topic and lightened it up with some terrific humor!  The kids tried finding some of the humorous stuff in the script but it wasn't there.  We've done a bit of theater and I know that with a group of clever people, once they get together and get on a roll, one never knows where it will go!  We wondered if this happened with the production of this video.  

The videos added a new dimension to the concepts we had studied. We recognized some of the actors from our previous trips!  (In the credits, my daughter found the name of the Patrick Henry we met in 2004.  He plays someone else in "The Will of the People" and it was fun to finally find him!  So that's what he looks like without a wig!  LOL)  

Of course, Thomas Jefferson was played by the same actor whom we got to meet in Colonial Williamsburg in 2004 (but we couldn't find him on our recent trip a few months ago).

He did an excellent job, as always!  When I saw this video, I got to thinking that this actor must like kids.  When we met him in 2004, it was at Kimball Theater at a program for kids.  Thomas Jefferson spoke specifically to the kids and answered only their questions.  He did have to raise his eyebrow a few times when parents snuck in a few questions via their kids.   And no, I wasn't one of them!  lol   Then Poplar Forest has a special program called "Conversations on Democracy" where this same actor portrays Thomas Jefferson.  He and various historical figures answer questions for students.  During this video as well, Thomas Jefferson acts with a brother and sister, teaching them about elections.  Thomas Jefferson engages well with the kids, respecting them, and patiently answering their questions, often times with humor.

On the day of the Electronic Field Trip, I tuned the computer to the video streaming and Colonial Williamsburg had beautiful classical music playing.  I kept that low and in the background while the kids knocked out some math.  When we heard the music stop, we knew it was time for the Electronic Field Trip. What a good excuse to put math to the side! 

The video is broken down into 3 parts.  After each part, the cameras went to the studio where Thomas Jefferson, a historian from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a political science professor from nearby Christopher Newport University, answered questions that were called in from students across the country.  Some of this was funny to watch too. Thomas Jefferson acted perfectly innocent about how his supporters handled information about opponent John Adams, while the CWF historian begged to differ and told the other side of the story!  The political scientist related everything to this year's election...and some of that information shocked Thomas Jefferson!  I think they did an excellent job telling both sides of the story without bias.  

There were two sessions of the EFT, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We watched both, since the questions would be different at each one. It was so much fun to hear the various questions and the actor/interpreters' reaction and answer to them.  A few days before when we had previewed the videos, the kids told Dad about how funny the video was.  He couldn't understand how they could be learning anything if they were having fun.  Well, during the afternoon's live broadcast, he came home early and had to pull up a seat and laugh (and learn...gasp) with us! ;)

After the sessions, I called to order a DVD.  The lady was very nice and asked me what I thought of the program. We talked for a few minutes about how wonderful and unique this particular EFT was.  The DVD should arrive in about 6 weeks, since it has to go through post production.  It will include the videos, the best of the questions and answers (I hope they include all of Thomas Jefferson's funny reactions!), closed captioning, and chapter titles for easy search.  Anything CWF does is quality, so I am content (though eager) to wait for it! 

My kids also had an opportunity to e-mail questions to Thomas Jefferson.    My daughter e-mailed two questions: 

"Dear Mr. Jefferson (we weren't sure if he was e-mailing as president or after), If Aaron Burr had been chosen President of the United States, would you have minded? Do you have any foresight in how his presidency would have been like? Thank you for teaching about the elections. Sincerely, _____"

She got a reply shortly before the Electronic Field Trip.  She enjoyed not only his answer, but was tickled when he signed it, "Your most humble servant, Th. Jefferson."

After the Electronic Field Trip, my son finally thought of a question.  He asked, "Mr. Jefferson,  Were you influenced by anyone to run for President or did you come up with the idea on your own? Thank you for taking the time to answer this question.  Inquisitively yours, __________"

My son had a blast reading the answer he received from Thomas Jefferson, which began "Master __________". The answer was very interesting!  I printed out copies of the e-mails for each of the kids to have as souvenirs.  It was the highlight of their week!  We are looking forward to the next one in November...Yorktown!

Now for those who would like to know how I organized our EFT information... 

In preparation for the Electronic Field Trip, I felt a little overwhelmed!  lol  There were many details to note, to see if my computer was set up properly for the live stream, remembering the time for the test stream,  remembering the time for the actual EFTs, correctly converting from Eastern Time to Central Time, and remembering how to access all the parts of the EFT.  I printed out the different pieces of information and put them in a general Electronic Field Trip binder for handy reference at any time.  To help me remember what this notebook is for, I got some scrapbooking paper that reminded me of some of the prints I saw in Colonial Williamsburg.  

Then I printed out "The Will of the People" pdf file of Teacher Notes and Student handouts and activities, phone numbers in case we called in a question, etc.  I put that in a seperate binder.  I also included my own copies of the e-mails between Thomas Jefferson and my kids!  ;)  To decorate this binder, I chose a French Toile since part of the contension the Federalists had with Thomas Jefferson was his love for France!

This week we are finishing unit 1 of TOG and will have our unit celebration this Saturday.  I also hope to focus on some more aspects of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, as a review, with some great videos I have gotten.  In addition, I hope to focus on Jefferson's restored friendship with John Adams. We will lighten up on math, Latin and science as needed to complete week 9 of TOG and finish our projects and rehearse!  Although the costumes are almost done, they have been quite the challenge!  Nevertheless, they are coming together!  Stay tuned!    

It has taken my mind quite some time to get back into the 21st century swing of things after a wonderful vacation to the 18th century. It has helped getting back into the history and literature books (my favorite part of school).  When we finished studying the American Revolution last year, I was really sad.  I felt that everything would be down hill from here historically.  I wasn't getting excited about this school year like I usually do.  This year in history we'll study 1800-1900.  As we have read our books and had our discussions, I am seeing that I still sort of have a foot in the door of the 18th century.  After all, we've been studying the presidencies of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson...the Marquis de Lafayette is still around...and James Madison's presidency is around the corner.  

To top it all off, I have found a wonderful opportunity for homeschoolers via Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.  They are offering a reduced price to access the award winning Colonial Williasmburg Electronic Field Trip series.  I've been eyeing this for years, but it costs $500 per school!  (gasp) Through the homeschool co-op, I was able to sign up for $50! (yea!) This window of opportunity closes on Oct 6.  At that time, depending on the number of homeschoolers that join, I might get in for even cheaper!  Last I saw it was down to $49.  Those who wish can also purchase individual series for a reduced price.

About once a month for seven months, we can access streaming videos on-line that are produced and acted out by the fantastic Colonial Williamsburg  actor/interpreters.  Then some of the actor/interpreters will answer questions live from students around the country! (My young historian has already started forming questions!) Lesson plans, on-line interactives, etc will also be provided.  These videos can be accessed at any time after the original session.  Also there is a forum where the students can ask questions that will be answered by one of the wonderful historians at Colonial Williamsburg.  We watched some samples on a series on slavery.  During the question and answer session, I was extremely impressed with how this sensitive subject was handled and quite pleased with the stance that was taken.   We even recognized a few of the actor/interpreters whom we met last month. 

The first one in the series will be Oct 16. Called "The Will of the People," Thomas Jefferson will discuss bitter presidential elections. Ahem, anyone know about those???? A few weeks ago we had studied the brutal presidential campaign between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  Connections will be made between the past and the present.

On November 13, "Yorktown" will air.  The kids are hoping the Marquis de Lafayette will be in this one.  We think we heard his voice in the preview.

"Making History Live" will premiere on December 11.  We'll go behind the scenes to learn how Colonial Williamsburg prepares their actor/interpretors.  This one should be a lot of fun, since we posed lots of questions amongst ourselves while we were at CW in Aug.

Then "In Pursuit of Science" will be aired on January 15.  From seeing the previews, this one also looks like a lot of fun.  We recognize some of the science from our books on Benjamin Franklin last spring.

On February 19, "Freedom Bound" will premiere.  Covering slavery and the Underground Railroad, this will be perfect timing for our studies on the same subject leading into the Civil War.

"Remember the Ladies" will air on March 26.  My daughter, especially, should enjoy this one.  Something she and I have realized in the last couple of years, is that history is full of lots of "guy" things.  It will be fun to get a lady's perspective!  ;)

Finally, "Soldier of Liberty" will air on April 23.     

I plan to accomodate the rest of our subjects around this.  It should be a terrific way to interject a little fun of a different venue each month.  I like the fact that this isn't "canned" but provides an opportunity to use higher level thinking skills. Additionally it will give the kids (and me) a chance to relive some great memories while making new ones, making connections between yesterday's history and today's.