Revolutionary War on Wednesday

This chapter book is part of the Magic Tree House series, and it involves historical fiction. I like it because it provides a sense of adventure and excitement, along with educational facts about the Revolutionary war. I think it could be useful to add in the classroom with kids in grades 3-6.

Summary: In this adventure Jack and Annie come face to face with George Washington and the soldiers of the Revolutionary War.

Personal Reaction:
I read this with my 5th grade class and I loved hat they are learning but at the same time so interested in what they are reading about!

Classroom Extention :
Compare aspects of war then vs. now
Write a letter of encouragement to a soldier ( )

Summary:

Jack and Annie are brother and sister who have discovered a treehouse filled with books. The soon find that the treehouse is magic and any book they read can transport them to the actual place and time in the book. The treehouse is owned by a magical librarian named Morgan le Fay. Revolutionary War on Wednesday is the twenty-second book of the Magic Tree House series. On Wednesday morning, Annie wakes up Jack so they can get to the treehouse. They find a note left by Morgan, instructing them to find four special kinds of writings: 1. Something to follow 2. Something to send 3. Something to learn 4. Something to lend They had already been on the search and had found Something to follow, as they journeyed to the Civil War. Now they had to find Something to send. Jack picks up a book, that is near the note. The title of the book is The Revolutionary War. Jack says the words that will take them to the Revolutionary War "I wish we could go there", and points at the cover. Soon they find themselves in revolutionary period clothing and it is cold. In order to find what they are looking for, Jack and Annie read the book to get information. Jack takes notes as they go along: "American patriots fight for independence from Britain. British = redcoats". They see people in the distance and decide to go see if the people can assist them in their search. They discover a group of soldiers, around a campfire. They creep up to get a better look, but end up too close and are heard. They come out of hiding and find themselves face to face with patriot soldiers. Although the soldiers are nice, they inform the children that they have to leave to meet their Commander-in-Chief. The soldiers leave but Annie and Jack decide to follow them, in hopes that they will be led somewhere that can help them find what they are searching for. They run along a riverbank until they hear voices and see hundreds of soldiers. Jack reads in the book that it is Christmas of 1776 and the men are about to go on a secret mission. The Commander-in-Chief encourages his men, with the words of Thomas Paine. Soon after, Jack realizes that the Commander-in-Chief is George Washington. As Jack writes down this information, a soldier asks him what he is writing. Jack, in fear of being caught with a history book, runs off down the riverbank. He stops when a soldier yells at him and shines a lantern on him. It ends up being the captain of the troop he had talked to earlier. The Captain tells him to find Annie and go home at once, because the secret mission was dangerous and no place for children. Jack agrees to leave, but before he does the Captain asks him to take a letter to his children, but that he is only to send it if he hears that the patriots have failed. Jack realizes this is their Something to send and runs off to find Annie. Snow begins to fall and he has a hard time finding her, but he does. He finds her in George Washington's boat. He joins her to tell her that he has the item they need and they can now go home. Unfortunately, the soldiers get on board and take off. They are headed across the Delaware River with George Washington and his men. When they arrive on the far shore, George Washington sees them and instructs them that they are to return home. As the children wait to leave the soldiers are concerned about the snow and not being able to complete their mission. Annie yells out that they should continue and that they will succeed because the Hessians will not be expecting them. Hearing this, George Washington declares them seized as spies. Jack then reminds George Washington that he spoke words of encouragement to his men, and that he should follow his own advice. George Washington agrees. He thanks the children for their help, orders them back into the boat, and tells his men to march on. The children are taken back to the original shore. As soon as they land they run back to the treehouse and wish to go back home. Once they are back, they put the letter next to the first item and receive a note from Morgan: "Come back on Tuesday". They agreed and headed home, looking forward to their next adventure.

Personal Response:

I have read many of these books, to my sons. I think that Mary Pope Osborne has done a fantastic job of researching her topics and incorporating her characters into each adventure. It seems to boost students interests in topics they would not normally like, and that is a huge success for anyone.

Classroom Extensions:

Break the class up into groups to research and report on different concepts of the Revolutionary War. This can be based on groups active in the war itself, the reason the war happened, the author Thomas Paine, etc. There are many people and topics that can be researched.

Act out some of the important moments either before or during the Revolutionary War. This can be a lot of fun for the students and reinforce the lessons of our nations history.

Have the students design book covers, for this book. ( )

I picked this book up expecting to feel brain cells dying as I read it. I was very wrong; I can see why my students enjoy this series so much. It's very well written (albeit extremely simplistic) and interesting. It was an extremely quick read and is educational, to boot! ( )

Summary: In oder to help their friend save his library Annie and Jack travel through time to find "something to send". They end up meeting up with George Washington during the Revolutionary War helping him in his most important moment of crossing the Delaware River.
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
This story is an excellent example of Historical Fiction because it uses actual times in history and people from the time while also creating a story during that time. The reader can learn much about the time period through reading this story. It is also Fantasy because the main characters annie and jack only make it to that time period through time travel using their magical tree house.
Characterization: George Washington Is a flat character in this story, we do not know much about him, other than he is a general in the army. WE learn more about him through the children helping him in the story but in the end we still do not know much, we would not be able to predict his decisions, or predict his actions.
Media: sketching pencil, charcoal