HMMMMM!  Interesting day.  I think my title says it all.  It was a true east coast kind of day.  All foggy in the morning.  Some of us believed that it was going to actually be cool:)  Oh, how wrong she was!!  It was warm at 7 am.  That overcast look was just to reel you in, make you think it is cold so you wear your jacket and then BAMO!  You’re sweating.  On top of all that, all of the coffee shops were closed.  We had to finally settle for Mickey D’s for our morning fix.  What is the world coming to when you can only get coffee at a major university at the local McDonalds. 

Off to Washington’s Crossing we go.  Very cool stuff.  I especially liked all of the authentic furniture.  I now know the origin of the saying Bar and Grill.  This is one more chance to illustrate the influence of our history.  I honestly believed that bar and grill meant a place served drinks and food.  I have been informed that it comes from the design of the bar and the grill is the wooden slats that the barkeep could pull down and lock to secure the bar while he was downstairs retrieving a keg of ale.

So, off to the “turn in the Revolutionary War” at the Monmouth Battlefield.  I think that this is where my students really need to be keeping a timeline.  There are so many different battles and important happenings, that it is very easy to get confused as to what went where at what time.  I am going to start the year off with a whole class reading on Joseph Plumb Martin.  This book is wonderful on giving a first account and he isn’t much older than my students.  Next, I plan to have the students create a timeline.  We will have a large one displayed in the room and they will journal one so they can write any and all side notes about the date.  When we encounter a battle or event in our curriculum, we will discuss where it goes on the timeline and why.   Our text doesn’t put special attention on remembering the dates, but I do think it is very important to have them in the correct order.  Note:  Washington crosses the Delaware River on Dec 25, 1777.  He has success at the Battle of Princeton and Trenton in Jan and Feb of 1778, but suffers defeat at Brandywine that summer and is forced to retreat to Valley Forge so his troops can recover.  This gives the British an opportunity and they take Philadelphia. 

On that note, off to the lovely metal and plastic platform I call my bed.  I think I’ll try to sleep in a little tomorrow and start the new week refreshed.  BRING ON THE HISTORY!