March Quiz Winner
5th grader Caleb Aylor, from Troutville, Virginia. His librarian at Greenfield Elementary, Barbara Hunt, has been using the American history quiz as a tool for teaching library research skills. A copy of The American Story, inscribed to Caleb, is on its way.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Winning History-Telling for December, submitted by Nate Crawford, 5th grade student at Central Elementary School in Bellevue, NE. Nate has imagined a letter from Washington to Lafayette. Congratulations to Nate, and to his HAL (High Ability Learner) teacher, Sandy Sykora, who encouraged him to write for the contest.June 21, 1794
Dear Lafayette,
How does it go in France? Both myself and my country are experiencing difficulties. The public refuses to let me retire. Although I want to retire and go home to Mount Vernon, the public was lined up and refused to leave till I ran for president. I finally gave in. I have been elected president. I had to borrow money to get to New York. I still don’t feel like I really won. New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina didn’t get a chance to vote.
Our new nation and government is not without its problems. Jefferson, one of our greatest thinkers, quit the government because of our disagreement about states’ rights. He wanted a government that had a weak central government. He wanted all the states to govern themselves. He thought the central government should just be in the background. I believe the opposite. He was replaced by the next best candidate, Mr. Randolph. Although he is good, he didn’t write the Declaration of Independence. Also,you have probably already heard that a couple years ago a man called Shay started a rebellion. He tried to destroy our courts and arsenal. I went to revise a treaty and the Congress was so awed by my appearance that they wouldn’t make any disagreement. I will never go there again.
There have been some good things. I am carving a new nation. I f I can make the right changes, then this will be a strong nation. If I make the wrong changes, then this new country will be weak and perish. I do not wish to be responsible for this nation’s downfall. It would make me more infamous in the ruination of this young country than famous for winning its freedom. I hope to be famous for the right reasons or not be famous at all.
If only we the people here knew more about democracy. This country might not be so fragile.
Dear Lafayette,
How does it go in France? Both myself and my country are experiencing difficulties. The public refuses to let me retire. Although I want to retire and go home to Mount Vernon, the public was lined up and refused to leave till I ran for president. I finally gave in. I have been elected president. I had to borrow money to get to New York. I still don’t feel like I really won. New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina didn’t get a chance to vote.
Our new nation and government is not without its problems. Jefferson, one of our greatest thinkers, quit the government because of our disagreement about states’ rights. He wanted a government that had a weak central government. He wanted all the states to govern themselves. He thought the central government should just be in the background. I believe the opposite. He was replaced by the next best candidate, Mr. Randolph. Although he is good, he didn’t write the Declaration of Independence. Also,you have probably already heard that a couple years ago a man called Shay started a rebellion. He tried to destroy our courts and arsenal. I went to revise a treaty and the Congress was so awed by my appearance that they wouldn’t make any disagreement. I will never go there again.
There have been some good things. I am carving a new nation. I f I can make the right changes, then this will be a strong nation. If I make the wrong changes, then this new country will be weak and perish. I do not wish to be responsible for this nation’s downfall. It would make me more infamous in the ruination of this young country than famous for winning its freedom. I hope to be famous for the right reasons or not be famous at all.
If only we the people here knew more about democracy. This country might not be so fragile.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
October contest quiz winner ...
Carrie Polikandriotis's 5th Grade in Rosedale, Maryland. An autographed copy of The American Story is on its way.
Carrie Polikandriotis's 5th Grade in Rosedale, Maryland. An autographed copy of The American Story is on its way.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The Homeschoolers Contest Has a Winner
The winner is Daniel of Farm School. He's 7, in Grade 2, and this is the story he submitted:
The Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was a very old oak tree in Hartford Connecticut. When America was still a bunch of colonies, King Charles of England gave the colony of Connecticut a special charter, which gave the people of Connecticut permission to rule themselves more than the people in some of the other colonies. Then, when Charles's brother James became King, he had other ideas and didn't want the colony of Connecticut to have that permission. So King James named a Governor General, and the Governor General went around to the different colonies asking for the charters back. He even marched with some soldiers from Boston to Hartford to get back the charter. But I still don't know why the Governor General and the King really needed the actual piece of paper. It would be nice to be able to ask them why.
Now there's a story that when the Governor General came to Hartford and had a meeting with the people of the city, the Governor of Connecticut (a different man) made a long speech, maybe to make sure that it would get dark outside. The Governor General asked for the charter, and it was out on the table where everyone could see it. Then it got dark, and the room was lit with candles. The story says that all of a sudden the candles went out, and while the room was dark, someone took the charter out of the room and hid it in the oak tree, which was already hundreds of years old by then and had a hole in it. No-one knows for sure what really happened, but it makes a good story.
It would have been good to have cameras then so that someone could have taken a picture of the tree so we could see what the tree and the hole looked like. Was the hole big enough for the charter to get wet? What about mice or squirrels chewing it up? How long did the people from Connecticut keep the charter in the tree if they really put it there?
But the tree was real, and very, very old. It fell down more than 100 years ago in a big storm, and by counting the rings people in Hartford decided that it was almost 1,000 years old. It was very sad for everyone in the city when the tree fell, but they saved some of the wood to make things, like picture frames and walking sticks and even a chair for the people in charge of Connecticut now. And they took acorns from the old tree and planted them for new oak trees, which was a very good idea. Now where the tree was there is a special park with a monument so that everyone will remember the tree. Even if the story didn't happen exactly as people said, to have a tree that isn't a Sequoia be so old and big is important.
Congratulations to Daniel, and to his whole home schooling family at Farm School. Your autographed copy of The American Story is on its way!
The Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was a very old oak tree in Hartford Connecticut. When America was still a bunch of colonies, King Charles of England gave the colony of Connecticut a special charter, which gave the people of Connecticut permission to rule themselves more than the people in some of the other colonies. Then, when Charles's brother James became King, he had other ideas and didn't want the colony of Connecticut to have that permission. So King James named a Governor General, and the Governor General went around to the different colonies asking for the charters back. He even marched with some soldiers from Boston to Hartford to get back the charter. But I still don't know why the Governor General and the King really needed the actual piece of paper. It would be nice to be able to ask them why.
Now there's a story that when the Governor General came to Hartford and had a meeting with the people of the city, the Governor of Connecticut (a different man) made a long speech, maybe to make sure that it would get dark outside. The Governor General asked for the charter, and it was out on the table where everyone could see it. Then it got dark, and the room was lit with candles. The story says that all of a sudden the candles went out, and while the room was dark, someone took the charter out of the room and hid it in the oak tree, which was already hundreds of years old by then and had a hole in it. No-one knows for sure what really happened, but it makes a good story.
It would have been good to have cameras then so that someone could have taken a picture of the tree so we could see what the tree and the hole looked like. Was the hole big enough for the charter to get wet? What about mice or squirrels chewing it up? How long did the people from Connecticut keep the charter in the tree if they really put it there?
But the tree was real, and very, very old. It fell down more than 100 years ago in a big storm, and by counting the rings people in Hartford decided that it was almost 1,000 years old. It was very sad for everyone in the city when the tree fell, but they saved some of the wood to make things, like picture frames and walking sticks and even a chair for the people in charge of Connecticut now. And they took acorns from the old tree and planted them for new oak trees, which was a very good idea. Now where the tree was there is a special park with a monument so that everyone will remember the tree. Even if the story didn't happen exactly as people said, to have a tree that isn't a Sequoia be so old and big is important.
Congratulations to Daniel, and to his whole home schooling family at Farm School. Your autographed copy of The American Story is on its way!
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