Another week gone by – zoom! It is amazing to realize that the first third of our year has nearly come to a close. Thank you for supporting your child with their student led share and goal setting conference. The children each did a wonderful job selecting, describing and organizing the work they shared. It took most of the fall to work through each part of the process. Knowing yourself as a learner and a friend is an important part of our social and emotional learning curriculum – only through awareness can you bring about change in yourself and accept the diversity of others. It seems as though the children each know themselves a bit better as learners. They know how they are smart and how that is both unique from everyone else but also similar to everyone else as well. They know they can each achieve whatever they set the minds toward doing.
The History of Our Town
We had a perfect day for our Wonders tour through North Hampton. It will be interesting to find out what the children remember from the day. They seemed amazed to know that George Washington, General Lafayette and Benjamin Franklin had all actually been to their town. Yesterday they may have stood in the exact spot where those famous people had once been. While at the Dearborn Garrison marker we learned that Henry Dearborn had been Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of War. We saw the mile marker on Post Road and learned of Ben Franklin’s commitment to making sure people could communicate through a common postal system. He felt that information and informed citizens were important for liberty. We learned about the four-room School House at Centennial Hall and wondered what they auditorium looked like – guessing it might be like our cafeteria space. 
At Drake Farm after learning the history of the Drake family and their efforts to keep the fledgling colony safe from raids and attack we got to visit the donkeys out back. They were very cute, but so many of us overwhelmed them.
In the town center we learned about Samuel A Dow’s store – a place where you could buy everything! We learned about the Town Hall and the Library. We learned that the jail was downstairs and decided we would not like to visit. We noticed that our Town Hall as one of the few remaining Paul Revere bells. We’re lucky it wasn’t worn out by all the ringing calling everyone to the Meeting House like so many others. From the Town Hall we walked over to the train depot. We learned that how some people loved the train, while others did not. It was great when the farmers could sell their crops and visitors could come to our area. It was not so great when people left town to work in Boston – running a farm took a lot of people and North Hampton needed everyone – and leaving town meant taking your business elsewhere. The coming of the train signaled a real time of change for our town.
Beyond the school we stopped at the Little River Church. We had discovered that church and going to church was a very important thing in the olden days and yesterday we learned that the state court made laws about who could have churches and where. North Hampton had two churches that eventually joined into one. We stopped by Ogden Nash’s gravestone – we’ll be learning more about him today when the 8th graders come down to perform “Custard the Cowardly Dragon” for us. We learned about the Fish Houses, the Seaside Garden, the Union Chapel and Fuller Garden. We even saw the site where Franklin Pierce had lived during the summer. It is an empty lot now and the house once there is in Hampton. Can you imagine how they moved it?
A HUGE thank you to the seventh and eighth graders who volunteered to be docents at each of the sites. They had lots to share and answered many of our questions about dates and time and years.
Choosing Wonders
Now that we gathered some of the stories and history of our town we have decisions of make. Back in our classroom we’ll search for a bit more information to fill in some of the details about the people and places we may have missed. We’ll work to complete the stories that go along with each site as we decide and vote on the official 2012 Seven Wonders of North Hampton will be. We’ll be working to build a map of our tour and thinking about rich history surrounding our community as we decide. I wonder what you will hear at home – you may want to ask your child which site he or she feels was most interesting and why. They only have bits and pieces of information and understanding at this point. They need help fitting it into place and time. Right now it is all jumbled in a “way back then” setting along with the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. If it comes up in conversation your help with that would be greatly appreciated.
We had a wonderful day. The children are happy to know that North Hampton has a rich history and exciting past.
Bits and Pieces
- Ask your child to tell you about The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. Collecting “wonders” may have done the same thing for Eben it is has done for us. Somehow looking and noticing makes everyday things seem different. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when you find the story behind it.
- We are beginning an independent research project. The children have listed possible topics and taken the time to write down all they know already about their topic along with a few questions they hope to answer. What makes a good question? How do you take information from many places and make it your own? How much information and understanding does it take to become an expert? When you share the information with others, how can you help them understand?
- November 20 – Report Cards come home digitally – these will have codes, but no written comments. We will meet in the following two weeks for Parent – Teacher conferences.
- December 4 – Readers’ Theater Plays at Barnes and Noble – hopefully you found the permission slip yesterday and know the schedule for the evening.
Have a wonder – full weekend!