Christine CarrilloWith tin pie pans sitting on...

Christine Carrillo

With tin pie pans sitting on a piece of wood on their desks and nails

and hammers in hand, fifth-graders at Lincoln Elementary School in

Corona del Mar pounded their way back in time and into the lives of

colonial folk.

They sat among their peers, boys and girls alike, and carefully

embroidered stars on different-colored fabric, stenciled borders and

designs on blank tiles and made bread.

For a day, dressed in 18th-century-style breeches and gowns and

wearing cocked hats and linen, ruffled caps, the three fifth-grade

classes moved from one station to another Wednesday to live the

history lessons they’ve learned.

“We think that simulations are one of the most effective ways of

teaching social studies,” said Leslie Slevins, one of the

fifth-grader teachers at Lincoln. “They develop an empathy for ...

and a better understanding of how people lived then.”

Employing the services of many helpful parents, the eight

different colonial stations, which included butter churning and

woodworking, challenged students to cast aside their 21st-century

comforts and embrace the ways of the colonial world.

“I think it’s really fun and I like the activities and dressing

up,” Chloe Harder, 10, said. “I now have a better visual of what

their life was like and how we have everything so easy.”

Chloe’s fellow tinsmith and classmate, 10-year-old Maxine Morris

agreed.

“They had everything so hard,” she said. “Not like us.”

The fifth-grade social studies curriculum focuses on the study of

the 13 American colonies and, by breathing life into the curriculum

at the culmination of their history lesson, the students get a sense

of the reality behind the lesson plan.

“It’s great, and [the students] really appreciate it,” said

Michele Koziara, a parent who helped organize the event. “They’ll

always remember it. They may not remember the history behind it, but

they’ll always remember Colonial Day.”

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Christine Carrillo visits a campus in the

Newport-Mesa area and writes about her experience.