The countdown begins...departure date July 16th!

Dear students (past and present), friends, parents, and colleagues:

I am so excited to share my upcoming trip to Italy with you through this blog. I could not be more grateful to Shore Country Day School and the existence of the Loring Award for making this once-in-a-lifetime adventure a possibility.

As many of you know, Third Grade at Shore devotes a significant portion of its social studies curriculum to the study of ancient cultures. Through a focused, concept-based approach to the study of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artifacts, Mr. Hamlin and I love to share our knowledge of how these great civilizations have contributed to the ways in which we understand our current world.

It has been one thing to study these places, but I cannot possibly express my excitement about seeing them with my own eyes. My plan has been to create a jam-packed tour of Italy where I can learn more about what I aim to teach so that Third Grade can be an even more fantastic experience for Shore students.

I have two special companions on this trip. First, the amazing Mrs. Kinahan (first grade teacher extraordinaire) who will accompany me to Rome for five nights, and then to Florence for two. Stay tuned for all the information, pictures, stories, maps, and tours I'll be posting on this blog (see the above map to locate the neighborhood where we'll be staying).

Next, my husband will join me for the second part of the trip where we plan to explore the ruins of Pompeii and the Amalfi coast.

Please be sure to click on the "subscribe" button at the top of this page so that you will receive a notification each time a new blog post is complete.

I'll arrive in Rome on July 17th! I hope you are having a great summer! Please feel free to post a comment here and there on the blog and...don't forget your summer reading letters! I promise to respond to each and every one upon my return to the states.

Ciao!

Mrs. B.

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The Duomo - Florence's Cathedral

Ciao! Today, we visited The Duomo , a major cathedral in the center of Florence. From the ground, it is quite a sight to see, but when we climbed the cupola to the very top, we were overwhelmed by the breathtaking view of all of Florence. Here are two views of The Duomo from the ground - can you guess why it is called The Duomo ? Here is an incredible picture (that I did not take myself) of Duomo from a distance at dusk. Domes are amazing architectural achievements. You might be reminded of The Pantheon in Rome from a recent blog post. Rome's Pantheon was indeed a inspiration to the Florentine people. But of course, they wanted their dome to be even larger! When looking at the pictures above, can you imagine how this dome was built? Can you envision the workers putting it together piece by piece? How did they do it? How long did it take? How did they get the materials from one place to another without modern technology? Here is a brief expla...

Pompeii - Part Due

Hello friends! My last blog (Pompeii - Part Uno) covered a lot of information about the roads and set up/organization of Pompeii. Romans are famous for building long-lasting roads that connected the villages and cities of their empire as it grew larger and larger. Perhaps we take our roads for granted now, but if you think about it, the” paths” we travel over and over again to get to school, the market, to see family/friends, and so on have become the roads of our lives . Not really "paths" at all, but modernized and fortified with strong materials like stone, asphalt, and concrete. They allow us to feel connected to one another and to travel easily from place to place. They also enable us to share our stories, ideas, plans, and concerns throughout our communities. The stories, ideas, and values of the Romans were shared and passed on over time by way of the people who traveled the ancient roads that still exist in Italian cities today. This is just one way they uni...

The last Italian adventure…for now

After my visit to Pompeii, my husband and I spent a few days exploring the Amalfi coast. This breathtaking part of Italy is made up of many small villages built into the tall jagged cliffs of the seashore. Here is a map! Driving along from Pompeii, we were simultaneously amazed and terrified by the dramatic twists and turns in the road as we moved further southeast. All the way, steep drop-offs to the ocean had us glued to the car windows. We marveled at the engineering it must have taken to construct this highway and were filled with admiration for the people who have lived here for generations - building their homes, churches, and local businesses right into the landscape of the rocky coast. Throughout our visit to this part of Italy, we never got used to the magnificent views that could be had from each hamlet or village where we stopped along the way. While reading up on one particularly distant pair of rocky islands and coves that could be seen a bi...

Romeing

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