History in Action in Mrs. Bram's Class!

Mrs. Bram's 5th grade students are experiencing what it was like to live under colonial rule in pre-revolutionary war America. For the last few weeks they've been taking part in a fascinating classroom experiment, where the students are the colonists who need to respond to the actions of the British Government. Mrs. Bram pays the students once a week, but also collects "taxes" around the classroom that stand in for the various Taxes and Acts passed by the British Parliament at the time. Students have to pay a "stamp tax" for every hand-out Mrs. Bram gives out or they need to rent pencils to simulate the effects of the Tea Act. Over the last few weeks the taxes and the frustration to these taxes has been ramping up. This week the students (led by Mrs. Bram) had their own version of the First Continental Congress to discuss the effects of the Intolerable Acts. As the pressure keeps building, the students experience and understand in a very personal way, the factors and emotions that led to the American Revolution.