Johnny’s injury is what brings him down–but in the end, it helps him “stand up.”  His wound heals faster than his heart, but he learns! The first step in his healing process, though, is Gran’ Hopper’s stinky linseed poultice. To help kids see, feel and smell why a poultice might be comforting, we dampened an actual linseed poultice we’d made, and let them experience its soothing relief.

As a take-home, we had them choose herbs, write down a recipe for healing, grind the herbs in a pestle, and put their concoction in a small muslin bag. This let our kids get “hands-on” with some historical and thematic elements of this story, and learn a little about colonial medicine, too.

• assorted herbs (our preprinted labels feature herbs we found at the grocery store)
• at least one mortar and pestle to share
• small muslin bags
• herb labels for the “buffet” (in our printables)
• recipe handout (in our printables)

FOR DISCUSSION

We all tend to take modern medicine for granted. In colonial times, doctors had few effective medicines available, and many still relied on techniques like bloodletting, herbal medicines, and English folk remedies like burnt toads! Ask the kids which technique might have actually worked, and why.

Doctors often struggled to treat disease—especially in the cities. Ask the kids why illness might have spread more easily in Boston as opposed to the countryside.

While the kids are choosing their herbs and making their recipes, you might show them this video about colonial apothecaries.

A LitWits project from the Rising Action

In Johnny’s darkest hour he travels through Boston on foot, winding up on his mother’s grave. To follow in his footsteps, we keyed an old map of that city with textural story elements, each one representing an important place. This helped  kids “get into” the historical setting in physical ways, and it gave us a chance to talk about Johnny’s inner journey, too.

SUPPLIES

• bits of tin foil

• short pieces of twine

• salt crystals

• gold glitter

• pebbles

• bits of newspaper

• loose tea

• gold sequins

• googly eyes

• watercolors

• copies of the numbered map template (in our printables), printed on cardstock

• teacher key (in our printables)

We glued the map to a pocket folder and used it to store worksheets. If you’d like to do that, add pocket folders to the supplies list.

DIRECTIONS

Setup

Have the kids look at this 1775 map of Boston and see if they can identify what the symbols might represent, such as the docks, the bridge, the hills, and the wall.  Explain that back in Johnny Tremain’s time, the shape of Boston was a lot different than it is today. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, the city was almost an island, with one small strip of land, the “Neck,” connecting it to the mainland.

Since that time, such a large amount of land has been “filled,” or reclaimed from the sea and the Charles River, that the city has almost doubled in size. Show a modern map that illustrates the reclaimed land vs. original land. You might want to talk about the impact this would have had on the environment and animal habitats along the shore.

Now distribute the map and “walk” through old Boston (and Johnny’s story) with the kids, handing out the textural items as you go. 

Getting our bearings

1.  Where does the story open?  Place silver (tin foil) on Hancock’s Wharf at Lapham’s silversmith shop. This also stands for Johnny’s pride in being a superior silversmith apprentice, and the hot spilled silver that ruined his hand and career. This is a good time to discuss the art and process of silversmithing in Colonial times, and share any props or videos.

2.  Where does Johnny go when Isannah hurts his feelings by saying “I hate your hand!”?  Follow Johnny’s walk through Boston all the way to the town gates, and glue a loop of twine on the gallows (on the Neck!).

3.  Find the “foot of the Common” and put salt on the salt marshes. Why would there be salt there?  It’s an estuarine habitat, where the Charles River mixes with the salty water of the tides.

4.  Make your way to Beacon Hill and put the glitter of candles there. Talk about why lights in the windows would suggest a family was wealthy. Note that tallow candles were common, but they were smelly, drippy, and didn’t last long. Those with extra money might use sweet smelling beeswax or bayberry candles. Families with access to the whaling industry would have used spermaceti, or whale-oil candles. Ask the kids which candles the Lytes and Hancocks would have used. 

5.  Follow Johnny’s footsteps to the Copp’s Hill. Talk about the meaning of the “dead worthies of Boston,” with their slate grave markers, as opposed to Mother, whose grave is unmarked. Talk about what kinds of things make a person “worthy.” Honor Johnny’s mother with a tombstone of her own (a pebble).

The events that followed

6.  Where does Johnny eventually find work?  Place a bit of newspaper at The Boston Observer office on Salt Lane. Talk about the role of The Observer, and other Whig newspapers, in preparing Bostonians for the revolution. What kinds of activities happened there besides newspaper printing? The Sons of Liberty met there in secret! 

7.  What important event took place in the Boston Harbor? (Discuss the “tea party” events of Chapter ) Glue some loose tea in the harbor near Griffin’s Wharf.

8.  Read aloud Paul Revere’s “one if by land, two if by sea” plan as overheard by Johnny as he awakens in Dr. Warren’s surgery, in Chapter 10. Glue two lanterns (gold sequins) on North Church. Show students a map of Paul Revere’s and Billy Dawes’ rides that night.

9.  What was happening across the Charles River as the lanterns were being hung in the church spire? (Read Paul Revere’s words again for a hint) Glue two watching (googly) eyes in Charles Town.

Finish the maps by painting all the water around Boston and Charles Town with beautiful watercolors while listening to American Colonial music.

If you have time, use Google maps to show students current day Boston. Find as many locations from the map project as possible using the satellite view.