How do societies become braver over time?
What does it mean to fight for freedom?
How was the American Revolution a fight for freedom? At the end, who was free? Who wasn’t?
How does individual bravery connect to societal bravery?

These are the questions students have begun to explore in Humanities this week! In order to set the stage, we started by learning about the Lenni Lenapi, their early relationships with the European settlers, how these relationships changed, and the French and Indian War. Now, students have started the first of three books they will read in this unit. Voyagers are reading The American Revolution: A Chronology of America’s Fight for Independence as they learn about The Revolutionary War and what it means to learn history chronologically. Pathfinders are reading Battle for a New Nation: Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War as they learn about The Revolutionary War and what it means to look at history as a series of events with causes and effects. Next week, classes will switch texts as we study the same topic, but from a second perspective.

As we read, students are documenting their research through some collaborative note taking and individual reflective journal writing.