History came alive for the 5th grade students of Decas Elementary School Wednesday February 8 as actors from the Boston-based Freedom Trail Foundation re-enacted the turning points of the American Revolution.
“They’re responding great,” said 5th grade teacher Renelle LeBlanc.
“No one’s talking, no one’s fooling around, they are really intent on what’s going on.”
The performance took the students through the events of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and other significant “Boston” moments of the American Revolution.
Students were not only enthralled by the performances of the actors Roxanna Myhrum and Tim Hoover but were also able to participate as “American” settlers or British “Redcoats.”
“It felt like we were really really shooting somebody,” said Kylie Decas, a student in Patricia Miller’s 5th grade class about her re-enactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
“It was awesome.”
Two performances were held for the 5th grade students; one at 9:00 a.m., and one at 10:15 a.m.
While around 16 students in total actually acted out in the performance, other students in the audience supported either side of the conflict; for example by calling the British Redcoats by their colonial epithet “Lobsterback” and chanting “Lobsterbacks, go home!”
They also participated by brainstorming ideas of what they would do in key moments in the revolution, such as during the Boston Tea Party. Some kids suggested blowing up the tea. Others suggested sharing it.
“Sometimes it is very difficult for a child to put themselves in somebody else’s shoes,” said 5th grade teacher Erin Higgins about the value of this type of performance-based educational activity.
“To have them act it out is easier for them to remember…then just reading it in a book.”
Actor Tim Hoover agreed.
“It’s one thing when [the kids] get to be a part in it, they start paying attention to the individual characters,” he said.
“The kids who are playing Edward Garrick [a key figure in the Boston Massacre] are going to remember him better on the test.”
The Freedom Trail Foundation conducts the “Freedom Trail,” a guided tour in Boston that uses the historic landmarks of the city to educate the public about American revolutionary history.
The Scholars Program is an initiative of the Freedom Trail Foundation that sends actors and actresses to schools throughout the year to support history and social studies curricula for 3rd and 5th grade students, according to their website.