During the American Revolution, the Campbell family watched friends and neighbors move across the Straits of Mackinac to a new island home on Mackinac Island, while they stayed behind to await word of the need for a lumber mill.

“There’s a land not far from here, once cleared by the hands of soldiers for firewood, where maple sugar runs and a fine, swift creek flows,” states patriarch Robert Campbell.  When permission comes from the British government to begin the mill, preparations being in earnest.

A Place Called home: Michigans Mill Creek Story brings history to life with authentic detail from author Janie Lynn Panagopoulos, and vivid illustrations from renowned artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen.

Lesson Plan

A Place Called Home

Social Studies – Language Arts – Technology

“Readers make leaders!” – J.L. Panagopoulos©

This picture book story was written for the State of Michigan to help share the stories of America’s historical past.

The forts mentioned in this book along with Mill Creek are today living history museums located in the “Straits” of Mackinaw, Michigan.

* Before you read this story show your students a map of the United States and ask them to identify the state of Michigan.  Help them find the Straits of Mackinaw. What shape do they see when they look at the state of Michigan?  What are the names of the lakes that surround the state?  Those lakes are part of the Great Lakes of America.  There are five Great Lakes in America, can your students name them?  H.O.M.E.S is an easy word to remember and it will give your students a clue of the names of the Great Lakes:

H = Lake Huron

O = Lake Ontario 

M = Lake Michigan

 E = Lake Erie 

 S = Lake Superior

*  What other states besides Michigan border the Great Lakes?

*      In the book A Place Called Home the characters talk about a period of time during the American Revolution.  Was your state one of the original 13 colonies?  What were the names of the original 13 colonies?  When did your state become a state?

Michigan was not one of the first 13 colonies and did not become a state until 1837; Michigan was the 26^th state to join the union.

Michigan, however, was surrounded by the Great Lakes and was prime territory for early settlement and development because of the transportation that the lakes made available to the settlers and explorers. 

The first European (French) fur trader came to Michigan in 1610, his name was Etienne Brule.

“I had with me a youth of 15 who wished to go with the savages (Native Americans) to learn their language…to learn what their country was like, see the great lake, observe the rivers and what tribes lived in that region…so that on his return we might be informed…we asked him if this was agreeable to him for it was not my wish to force him but so soon as the request was made, he accepted the journey with great willingness. The youth was furnished with everything necessary…”  Le Sieur Samuel De Champlain, founder of New France 1610.

The British first came to Michigan through the Great Lakes in 1712, when they led an attack against the French in Detroit at Fort Pontchartrain.  Because the British came into what is now the State of Michigan, they brought with them the first steps of the American Revolution.

In 1759, after the French and Indian War, when the French surrendered to the British and forfeited their lands to British settlement, the forts throughout the Great Lakes became home to the British and the waterways of the Great Lakes became their highway of travel.

It wasn’t until 1796, thirteen years after the American Revolution (1775-1783) was over, that the British finally left what was to become the state of Michigan and the first American flag flew over Fort Detroit and Fort Mackinac.

* Did your state have any involvement in the American Revolution?  Were there any French or British forts in your state?   

     While writing this book I had an opportunity to work as an archaeological assistant at Fort Michilimackinac, and I wanted to make certain that the pictures included in this book would reflect the forts, the mill, and the artifacts of this  historic area of America.

         Have your students look at the pictures in the book and try to identify artifacts that might have been found at these historic sites.

1.    The pictures of the fort and mill are correct to the historic past.

2.    The use of the horses and sleds to pull the fort “pieces” across the Straits on the ice.

3.    The use of studded horseshoes on the horses that pulled the sleds across the ice.

4.    The birch bark Indian canoe and ornamentation on the Native American filling the canoe.

5.    The food products growing in the garden at the fort.

6.    The apple trees transported to the mill site.

7.    The yoke pieces used on the oxen.

8.    The cow bell and chicken bones were all found at the mill site by an archaeologist.

9.    Buttons from the coats of the soldiers. Original mill pieces such as the blades and mill stones found in the mill pond.  Remnants of the burned fort which were still visible up until the 1950s when the idea of reconstructing the fort was first considered.

*  For the fun of it use a small wading pool and fill it with sand.  Next bury modern things that we use today in the sand and have them discuss which artifacts might survive time and why.

           Suggested things to bury:

1.    A plastic bottle, would it survive time and why?  Time to talk about the environment and recycling?

2.    An apple

3.    A metal toy car

4.    A shoe

5.    A piece of paper

6.    Etc…

*  The research concerning the Campbell family was difficult to find because these were simple people that were not wealthy nor were they famous. Have your students think about two hundred years in the future and ask them in what ways will people in the future           know that they have lived.

1.    birth certificates (primary source documents)

2.    baptismal records

3.    social security records

4.    death records

5.    cemetery records

6.    diaries & journals

7.    personal letters

8.    photographs

These are all things a historical researcher might find in an archive that records the life of a person.  Have your students start keeping a journal for the future.  Make sure they record their full name, address, phone number, the full names of their parents, the name of their school, and the full name of their teacher.

In their diary/journal have them write down things about themselves that they would like people from the future to know about them.  Have your students talk with their family to learn more about their past and record it in their diary/journal.  By doing this, they are creating primary source documents that perhaps someone 200 years in the future might use to write a book about them.

*  Consider creating a time capsule with the documents.

  IP Videoconferencing Component

If you are participating in an IP videoconference using this book, please make sure you have worked with your students for proper videoconferencing etiquette.

1. Make sure your students have read A Place Called Home.
2. Make sure your students have created questions to ask the author. If their question has been asked, make sure they have a back-up question.
3. Make sure your students sit quietly until it is time to ask their questions or to share their information.
4. Make sure your students sit politely (no heads on tables, no tapping of pencils or hands thumping near the microphones) and listen to the author as she answers questions. Students may interact and respond to the authors' questions, but they must be attentive to make sure they can hear and participate.
5. Make sure, between questions and answers that you mute your mike, and if you have desk mikes that react to noise, make sure your students do not touch them between questions as it will move my camera away from the person asking the question and to the student that "might" be touching the mike.