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Monday, January 26, 2015 | Erie Times-News | GoErie.com | 7A
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Read All About it!
Follow each new chapter as it unravels in our serial story, while enjoying student responses and artwork.
WEEK 2: LETTERS TO ABEDNEGO AND STUDENT
UDENT A
ARTWORK
RTWORK
PUJA DAHAL
Students write letters to Abednego
Dear Abednego,
Iʼm proud of you. Iʼm a little scared, but I know that you
are OK. Iʼm at home right now and amazed that you are far
away and OK. Your brother and father are also very proud
of you. I will right again soon.
– Your loving mother
Payge Hayes, fourth grade, Wattsburg Elementary
BY: LINDA BOLLA
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
COORDINATOR,
ERIE MARITIME MUSEUM
W
hen you
look at the
rations given
to sailors to
eat daily, it
seems like a lot of food! (Full
“Sailorsʼ Rations” chart is
available in Teacher Resources
at NIE.GoErie.com) Would
you want to sit down and eat 6
quarter-pounder hamburgers?
Thatʼs how much meat a
sailor was given on Sundays,
Tuesdays and Thursdays. A
pound of bread every day?
And “bread” in rations means
one pound of shipʼs biscuit, a
Dear Abednego,
There is nothing more in the world I would like to do
than see you again. What you are doing is making your
father very proud! I heard you were assigned to the ship
Niagara. That one boat could mean life or death, so you
be careful out there. I have heard that the captain is one
of the nicest on the PresqʼIsle, but he can become a very
aggressive man if you get on his bad side. A tough month
has passed here as well. Your father has been injured in
the wheat field. He fell and hurt his back. The doctor
says he will be better in no time. He will write to you
soon, and I will have your brothers do the same.
Sending you love, Mama
Sammie Gibbs, seventh grade, Westlake Middle School
hard, dry, thick sort of cracker,
made from flour and water.
A sailorʼs diet was plain
and filling. Fresh foods were
rarely available onboard ship
– remember, refrigeration and
canning were not available to
preserve food. Since meat is
salted to preserve it, and what
vegetables there were were
usually roots or dried, most
food had to be boiled to eat it.
Seven sailors – the same
number of men as on a cannon
crew – ate together in a group
called a “mess”. Men in a
mess would take turns as cook,
getting the rations for the
group together to make a meal.
According to what was
rationed in 1813, each sailor
would consume 4,000 to
6,000 calories per day. Today
Dear Abednego,
I hope you come back because I have not seen you in
a long time. Things have been going so bad back here.
Anyway, I hope you are safe and sound. I really wish
I could join you but I am not as strong as you. Iʼll see
you when you come back.
Love,
Alexandria DeJesus, fifth grade, Wayne School
Dear Abednego,
I hope you come back because we hope you win the
battle. Itʼs ok if you lose but we believe you can win.
We really miss you and we wish you could be here
with your sisters and brothers. They love you a lot.
XOXO.
Sincerely,
Victoria Vega, fifth grade, Wayne School
a student aged 9 – 13 years
should eat 1,600 to 1,800
calories a day, and the average
adult should eat 1,800 to 2,000
calories a day. Why do you
think a sailor needed to eat so
much more than we do?
Those who say, “The
wind is free,” never had to
feed the crew! While the
wind blows freely around us,
harnessing it to fill the sails
takes a lot of human energy.
To fuel that work, sailors
needed many more calories
than we do every day.
Sources: The American
Heart Associationʼs Dietary
Recommendations for
Children; Erie Maritime
Museum exhibits
SAIL HO!
BY: RUSS MCLAUGHLIN • ILLUSTRATED BY: JAN MCLAUGHLIN
A simulation based on research in other historical areas, we always found fascinating the
re-construction of our ancestorʼs lives. Many family letters, as well as any we had purchased
were often incomplete, partially ruined from age or in poor grammar. None the less, they
were of great importance in revealing history. We try in this work to duplicate the fascination
of putting together a picture of a way of life.
Copyright
Copy gh 1990, used with permission of the author/illustrator
1813 • Presq’ Isle Harb
Dear Mother and Fathe
or
r,
I take pen in hand to wi
sh you well and express
my love for you and my
are so many people here
brothers. There
in the Presq’ Isle harbor.
I have been staying in
tents and even ships. We
so many homes,
all smell much of smoke
and eat much fish. I am
the Niagara. There is a
now on board
drummer boy named No
ah who plays so jaunty
became fast friends. I ha
an
d he and I
ve a sea bag that has bec
ome my home. Since spa
all I own is in its canva
ce
is limited,
s wrap. I bought an ext
ra pair of shoes for two
from a sutler named Jim
and a half dollars
and a brand new shirt
for an outrageous sum,
well. I shall write soon.
but it’ll ser ve me
Your loving son,
Abednego Haayyyeess
adno=111548
FIFTH GRADE, WAYNE SCHOOL
FIFTH GRADE, WAYNE SCHOOL
Dear Abednego,
I hope you are doing fine. I miss you so much. Your father
and I have been doing well. Your brother has been hunting
with your father lately, and he is very good at it. As for me,
I have been sewing quilts and clothes to sell. I fear for your
safety. I hope that you are eating well.
– Your loving mother
Catherine Hayes, fourth grade, Wattsburg Elementary
THE WIND IS FREE
YOHANA WDAGIZA
WINBER MOO
FIFTH GRADE, WAYNE SCHOOL
gara
U.S.S. Brig Nia
Dear father,
am
nd to tell you I
I take pen in ha sailed in 3 ships.
have
well and now
it is
e Niagara and
I am now on th
e is
Sh
steady hand.
hard to have a
ry
ve
’s
h 20 guns. It
now armed wit
e
th
any men from
crowded since m . I sleep on the
oard
Army came ab
are
y others and sh
an
m
h
it
w
ck
de
de
the larboard si
a small space on mmer and four
e dru
with Noah, th
share
ittsburgh. We
soldiers from P
bread
ed meat, hard
victuals of boil
sh. We
tables and no fi
and boiled vege
e time.
we trade all th
tell stories and
a bag.
s are like my se
Their backpack
y at
them constantl
We live out of
made
d
an
d
es melte
dl
n
ca
y
M
.
ht
nig
aded
ew shirt. I’ve tr
a mess of my n
yours
ke
pistol, just li
for an old flint
te
ri
w
ing dark, I’ll
father. It’s gett
soon.
,
Your loving son
es
Abednego Hay
John Baker, Courtesy of Erie Maritime Museum
“RED COATS” IN THE U.S. ARMY
BY: LINDA BOLLA
EDUCATION PROGRAMS COORDINATOR,
ERIE MARITIME MUSEUM
B
ritish soldiers during both the
Revolutionary War and the
War of 1812 were often
called “red coats” because their
uuniform coats were bright red.
The United States Infantry
wore
blue coats with red collars
w
and
a cuffs at the start of the
War
W of 1812. Abednegoʼs
friend
Noah, the Drummer,
f
however,
wears a red coat
h
with
w blue collar and cuffs.
Why?
Because traditionally,
W
the
t musiciansʼ uniform colors
are the reverse of the rest of
the soldiers – so, if the soldiers
are wearing blue with red, their
musicians would wear red with
blue.
Musicians play an important
role communicating orders during
battle. Over the noise and confusion,
soldiers can still hear the sounds of
drums, fifes, and bugles. Commanders
use different drum, fife, and bugle calls to
convey their orders to soldiers and sailors
during action.
GLOSSARY:
• Sea bag: a canvas bag which holds all of a sailorʼs possessions
• Jaunty: carefree and confident
• Sutler: someone who follows an army camp and sells some of the things they need to
the soldiers
• Larboard: an old name for the left-hand side of a ship, when standing onboard looking
forward. We now say “port side” for the left side. “Starboard” is the name sailors
use for the right-hand side.
• Victuals: an old-fashioned word meaning “food”
• Rations: food issued to sailors
• Spirits: in the U. S. Navy, whiskey
TEACHERS:
RESPONSES:
Find a printable Pack Your Bag! activity,
Please send students written or drawn
along with the Teacher Resource Guide
for this serial story at NIE.GoErie.com.
New resources added!
responses to [email protected] or
NIE, 205 West 12th Street, Erie, PA 16534