Did she or didn't she make the first flag in response to a request by George Washington?  Was she a simple seamstress, or was her life more complex?  Elizabeth "Betsy" Griscom-Ross-Ashburn-Claypoole was widowed twice, a young lady each time.

(Liberty) Bell Work

How many candles would be on Betsy's cake, ​this year? Birthday:  January 1, 1752

How many words can you make from the letters in her name? ​​ B E T S Y   R O S S

Art Appreciation Here's the famous painting (right) of Betsy Ross presenting her new flag. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What is happening? Write your thoughts.

Blindness Betsy was blind for three years when she died peacefully in her sleep, on January 30, 1836.  She was 84 years old. Imagine doing everyday tasks without the gift of sight. How would your life be different than it is right now?  Discuss. Upholstery "R" Us Betsy Ross's business was upholstery.  In addition to this, she made and sold curtains, bedcovers, tablecloths, rugs, umbrellas and Venetian blinds. We will take time to make a Venetian blind art project of our own.

Sewing a Flag? No one knew of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag until her grandson told the story in 1870.  Read the account for yourself. Watch the video below and try your hand at making one of Betsy's one-snip, five-point stars.

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How many candles would be on Benjamin's cake, ​this year? Birthday:  January 4, 1746

How many words can you make from the letters in his name? ​ B E N J A M I N   R U S H

He Signed

There it is:  one of the 56 signatures from the bottom of the Declaration of Independence.  Dr. Benjamin Rush signed that document, identifying himself as one of the traitors to the English crown.  Rush's signature is just one of the bold decisions made by this incredible man.

BloodLetting It seems that the word Benjamin Rush was unafraid and unapologetic in his methods and beliefs.  Dr. Rush was certainly a proponent of bloodletting. The idea behind bloodletting it that if enough of the diseased blood was removed from the body, the body could better fight the remaining disease.  On the surface, it made sense.  Even the traditional barber pole tells the story of when barbers extracted teeth and performed bloodletting on their customers. It also played into the thinking of the time that the more products of the body that could be let, the better.  Rush devised pills that forced a body into thunderous bouts of diarrhea.  He wanted a sick body to relieve itself of all the urine, bile, vomit, and sweat as possible.  In this way, all the evil spirits would also leave the body. Finally, Dr. Rush was a surgeon.  On that note, we have a task ahead of us that also involves surgery.  Get ready to enter the operating room! He Taught Dr. Rush trained thousands of future physicians, but perhaps his most well-known student was Meriwether Lewis who was soon to lead the first scientific expedition funded by the United States. Among other medicines, fifty dozen of Dr. Rush's Thunderclappers found their way into Lewis's medical "bag".  These bilious pills had enough mercury in them that archeologists have been able to trace the Corps of Discovery's trail to the west and discovery exact locations for their overnight camps - by finding their latrines along the way. Some questions: How many is fifty dozen? What is a latrine? Define bilious. Why were Rush's pills known as Thunderclappers and Thunderbolts? Read more about Medicine and Health on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Discuss Some people would condemn Dr. Rush for his medical beliefs and subsequent practices.  Are charges like these justified?

Yellow Fever Perhaps Dr. Rush's views of expelling disease are most obvious in his treatment during the Yellow Fever epidemic. SmallPox In a time before people were accustomed to getting vaccinations to avoid diseases, Dr. Rush was heralding such actions.  How frightening is it to consider purposely putting a bit of the unwanted disease into the body to force the body to fight it.  Then, the body could forever resist the same disease.  We will talk more about his treatment of smallpox later in the year. Father of American Psychiatry Rush used what he knew (or thought he knew) about the body and the circulation of blood to focus his attention on the mind.  As an aside, Rush created the primary source (right) to display his beliefs about alcohol's effects on mood and emotion. Dr. Rush's interests led him to create many methods for treating people who would today be diagnosed with insanity, autism, Down's Syndrome, and other issues. Some of his methods were highly unorthodox; many even seem inhumane. As unbelievable as these methods are, they were the precursors to the methods used today in clinics, schools, and special facilities.  And today, for his work and research, Dr. Benjamin Rush is known the Father of American Psychiatry.  The Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, is a testament to the work of Dr. Rush and others and their attempts to understanding mental inefficacies. Music Appreciation Enjoy these songs as you try to find their connections to Dr. Benjamin Rush. Fix You ​Try Everything Proud ​When We Stand Together

Benjamin Franklin is a unique specimen in the history of the United States.  Always the eccentric, Franklin carved quite a legacy among many strong personalities.  He is a founding father of a different ilk.  Where others were statesmen, Franklin was a charmer.  When others were innovators, He cut new trails.  While others were writers, Franklin had a bold voice that was heard beyond the words in a pamphlet.

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How many candles would be on Ben's cake, ​this year? Birthday:  January 17, 1706

How many words can you make from the letters in his name? ​ B E N J A M I N   F R A N K L I N

Discussion Quotes

Liberty's Kids Franklin's Spark We will use a portion of the materials at this link to accompany this video:  Franklin's Spark:  Student Educational Materials.  Check out the extensive collection of  Philadelphia materials at History of Philly. an Electric Personality It's high time we learned about electricity in our class. What is it?  How does it work?  How is it tamed?  We will use a couple of days in our class to investigate forms of electricity that Benjamin Franklin could only dream of.  Go to our Electrical Circuits page for more. ​In addition, take some time out to answer some lingering questions in this Wonderopolis article:  Who Discovered Electricity? Go Fly a Kite... ...But do not fly one in a storm!  What do you say, we make our own kites to decorate the classroom?  Let's think about which Franklin Facts we should include on your kite and what "tales" of fiction to place on the tail. Ink in His Veins Let's try to partially replicate the printing process that Franklin seemed to enjoy so much. When I was in high school, I went into the newspaper business, even owning my own community paper for a while - collecting advertising, interviewing eyewitnesses, photographing sporting events, regularly visiting with the chief of police, laying out and pasting up the paper, delivering it to the printer, and distributing it.  It was definitely hard work, and I learned much from my mistakes.  Let me share my crude results with the class.  What do you notice about my papers?  What do you wonder? Mood Music Allow the music of Franklin's Armonica to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Draw the scene as you listen.  Then write, using all the visual imagery you can muster. Music Appreciation Here are some Music Appreciation videos to help with your reading fluency (and they might even roughly apply to lessons learned from Benjamin Franklin): Building Better Worlds ​Live Like We're Dying Song on Fire When We Stand Together

He Signed 'Em Our friend, Franklin, was one of the founders the United States of America.  A key figure in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin also signed the Constitution of the United States, making him one of only six people to sign both documents. Ben & Me Here's a different account of this interesting figure.  This cartoon is an example of how our history has been "romanticized" through the years, making it appear that everything happened with positive grandeur and leaving the dirty realities by the wayside.  Still, Ben & Me is a classic that hits many of the highlights of Benjamin Franklin's life. Inventing the Future Benjamin Franklin was a man ahead of his time, often inventing items that filled massive needs for the people.  From bifocals to the Franklin Stove, BF was a visionary with a knack for solving problems.  Take a look at our Tomorrow's Technology Today page for some inventions that are arriving on the scene for the 21st Century.  Are they worthy of the same kind of recognition as Franklin's inventions?  Do these inventions fill gaps in our needs, or are they merely luxuries that we could do without? Fire! Franklin came up with the Volunteer Fire Department concept as a better response to the fires in Philadelphia. We will work through an active bucket brigade activity in teams to try to put out a fire. While we're on the Subject Can Kids Be Inventors, Too?​ ​Can You Make Music with Water Glasses? ​What Are Prosthetics? ​Why Do We Change the Clocks Twice a Year? Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? Robotic Timeline In your group, use markers and a code key to create a timeline about Benjamin Franklin (Make sure you take the time to plan your route first!).  Ask the teacher to place an Ozobot on your timeline.  Use the Seesaw app to record the Ozobot following your line, and narrate what is happening as the robot passes each point on your line. Your Turn We will now proceed to "invent" some creations for ourselves, using K'Nex building materials.​

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How many candles would be on Joseph's cake, ​this year? Birthday:  November 21, 1760

How many words can you make from the letters in his name? ​ J  O  S  E  P  H      P  L  U  M  B ​M  A  R  T  I  N

During the winter of 1777 to 1778, Washington camped with his troops at Valley Forge, nearly twenty miles north of Philadelphia. Images of bloody footprints in the snow, soldiers huddled around lonely campfires, and Washington on his knees, praying that his army might survive often come to mind when people hear the words "Valley Forge." Read the whole article ​from Mount Vernon's website. Valley Forge In4 from Mount Vernon on Vimeo.

Art Appreciation Here's the famous painting of George Washington at Valley Forge. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What is happening? Write your thoughts.

Let It Snow It might seem like the better-known battles involving George Washington and the Revolutionary War occurred in the winter.  We often imagine of bloody footprints, frostbite, and illness.  Supplies were low and slow to arrive, and baby, it was cold outside, making it even harder for the soldiers under General Washington to be away from home. ​This year, we might long for a Snow Day away from school, but Snow Days in the classroom can be exciting, too.

Music Appreciation ​I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

A mantra that's often repeated when we talk about innovation in education is that failure is an important part of the process.  In some respects, it's true.  Unfortunately, this line of thinking can place a focus on the wrong aspect of the process.  Those who stress the importance of failure as part of the innovation process tend to focus on failure.  They'll point to stories about inventors like James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson vacuum...

Having the freedom to fail is important to innovation.  But even more important to the process are the traits of resiliency and grit.  Resiliency is the ability to come back after a defeat or unsuccessful attempt.  Grit is resolve or strength of character.  These two characteristics need to be continuously developed as we look for new and better ways to serve our students...

...Understanding failure happens but also not accepting failure as a result is paramount in serving our students...

Aside from concerns expressed by colleagues, you may face pushback on new ideas from your students...School can easily become a checklist for our students (complete homework, tests, rubrics, graduation requirements, etc.).  In contrast to multiple choice tests, learning that focuses on creation and powerful connections to concepts not only takes more effort but also more time.  Yet, if we do not challenge our students in their learning experiences, we aren't truly preparing them for the real world...The school environment is the perfect place to challenge and encourage them to stretch their thinking; and it's a safe place for them to try, fail, and try again.