Tag Archives: Traveling Teachers

Teachers can examine the Boston Tea Party, either in person or by virtual tour

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Author Terry Lee Marzell stands in front of the museum and gift shop erected near the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Summer vacation has arrived! What are your plans for your time off? Many teachers would agree that one of the best ways to spend summer vacation is travel. It’s a great way to expand personal horizons, improve teaching practices, and engage in experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations to achieve these goals is Boston, Massachusetts. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites related to our Colonial past available for touring in the city, and one of the most interesting of them is the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea Party, which took place on Dec. 16, 1773, in Boston, was an act of protest organized by the patriotic group known as the Sons of Liberty. The action physicalized an objection to the Tea Tax imposed on the Colonials by the English Parliament. During the protest, the Americans, some dressed as Indigenous Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea waiting to be unloaded off ships anchored in the bay at Griffin’s Wharf. Chests of tea, which belonged to the East India Company, was thrown overboard into the brackish water, ruining the entire shipment. The action, which resulted in a loss that would equate to $4 million today, was declared treason by the British government, and their response was swift and harsh. The episode escalated hostilities that resulted in the American Revolution, which eventually resulted in the birth of our nation.

If visited in person, the Tea Party site offers a museum, a brief documentary about the Boston Tea Party, a gift shop, a tea house offering brews just like those that were thrown overboard, and a recreation of a period sailing vessel complete with a re-enactment of the original Boston Tea Party, conducted in an environmentally safe way, of course. The facility is open every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a fee to experience the re-enactment, and I would recommend reservations.

Recreation of a Colonial-era ship involved in the Boston Tea Party is available for examination by teachers, in person or by virtual tour, who wish to improve their instructional practices. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

To explore the official Boston Tea Party website, click here. To share with your students an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party by participant George Hewes, click here. For access to virtual field trips related to the Boston Tea Party, as well as other related Revolutionary War events, click on this link for virtual field trips.

Whether you visit Boston’s Colonial sites in person on online, I bid you happy learning!

Teachers: Visit Boston’s Paul Revere house museum to learn more about Colonial history

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Hal Marzell stands in front of the colonial home once owned by Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere. He is famous for his legendary midnight ride to warn the colonial troops about the arrival of British troops in 1775. The structure is located in North Square in downtown Boston. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

During their summer vacations, many teachers enjoy expanding their horizons and improving their teaching practices through traveling. One of the most interesting places to do this is the city of Boston, where many historical places of interested related to US History, particularly the Colonial Period and the Revolutionary War, are located.

While on a recent vacation there, my husband Hal and I visited the house museum belonging to the Colonial patriot Paul Revere. Revere was an American silversmith, engraver, and bell manufacturer who was also a member of the group known as the Sons of Liberty. He is best remembered for the legendary midnight ride he made to alert Colonial troops about the arrival of British soldiers on April 18, 1775. What school child hasn’t heard poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous lines, “Listen, my children and you shall hear/Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”?

Author Terry Lee Marzell stands in the interior courtyard of the Paul Revere house museum on her recent vacation to Boston, Massachusetts. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Paul Revere owned the home at 19 North Square on the North End of Boston from 1770 to 1800. He lived in the home, which was built in 1680, with his wife and the younger children of his brood of 16. The house is downtown Boston’s oldest building and one of the few remaining 17th-century dwellings still extant in the city.

When touring the two-story home, visitors can view the colonial kitchen and family room with its warming hearth downstairs, and upstairs a master bedroom with an additional fireplace and a second bedroom. Much of the furnishings are period pieces, but there are five pieces that were once owned by the Revere family. Docents explain details about the history of the house and are available to answer questions. In the courtyard outside, one of the bronze bells cast by Paul Revere stands in an enclosed case for easy viewing.

Today, the Revere house is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Teachers who wish to visit the site during their summer vacation will find it open every day from 10:00 am to 5:15 pm. There is a small fee to enter. For those who unable to travel to Boston soon, more can be learned about Paul Revere, his midnight ride, and the house museum, by clicking on this link to The Paul Revere House. To read the entire poem about Paul Revere’s ride written by Longfellow, click on this link to poets.org.

Wherever you go and whatever you do, I wish you a joyful, fun-filled, restorative summer vacation!

 

Boston’s Old State House offers valuable learning opportunity

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Hal Marzell stands in front of the Boston National Historic Landmark known as the Old State House on the spot where the Boston Massacre occurred in 1770. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

I’m sure many teachers would agree that one of the best methods of experiential learning is travel. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel is Boston, Massachusetts. My husband, Hal, and I just returned from a history-packed visit to this beautiful city, which preserves many landmarks that date back to our nation’s earliest beginnings. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, and one of the most interesting of these is the Old State House.

An administrative building has stood on the site of the Old State House since 1657. The current incarnation originally served as the seat of British rule in the colony. One of the most notable features of the building is the pair of seven-foot tall wooden figures depicting the lion and the unicorn, traditional symbols of the British monarchy. Students of history will recall that here, on the night of March 5, 1770, a squadron of British soldiers opened fire in the square in front of the royal building, killing five Colonials and wounding many others. By the next morning, Bostonian leaders were calling the incident a “bloody massacre.” Six years later, on July 18, 1776, Bostonians gathered under the balcony of the Old State House to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud for the first time. The Declaration signaled the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and the eventual emergence of the American colonies as a new nation.

Author Terry Lee Marzell explores the American Revolutionary War exhibits housed at the Old State House located on the Freedom Trail in Boston. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Today, the Old State House, recognized as a Revolutionary Space and designated as a National Historic Landmark, is administered by the National Park Service. The structure can be found on a self-conducted tour of the Freedom Trail. The structure and museum inside, located at 206 Washington St., is open to the public for self-tours every day (except some holidays) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a small entrance fee.

Students and teachers who are unable to travel to Boston could learn more about this important historical place by examining the website at the Old State House. Here is a link to a 9-minute virtual tour of the building. For more information about the Freedom Trail, click on this link to Freedom Trail.

Whether you visit Boston’s Old State House in person or online, I bid you happy learning!

A visit to Gibraltar offers ample material for classroom studies

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Most teachers would agree that travel, in addition to being fun and intellectually stimulating, is one of the most meaningful learning experiences available for both themselves and their students. And Spring Break is a great opportunity for travel! Recently, I returned from a vacation to Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar. Although I was in Gibraltar for only a few hours, I could see many ways to incorporate the travel experiences I gained there into classroom curriculum.

Author Terry Lee Marzell and her husband, Hal, contemplate the Strait of Gibraltar on a recent visit to the tiny British territory. Photo Credit: Terry Lee Marzell

Geography teachers would probably point out that Gibraltar, which is officially designated a British Overseas Territory, is located at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, just south of Spain, and is dominated by a huge limestone outcrop known as Calpe Mons—also known as the Rock of Gibraltar. History teachers would note that Calpe Mons is dotted by many caves which were inhabited by humans in prehistoric times. The territory was first settled by Moors in the Middle Ages and was later ruled by Spain. Spain ceded possession of the area to the British by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. This tiny territory is only 2.25 square miles, but it is called home by approximately 32,000 residents, and that’s not counting a robust population of Barbary apes! Through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, the territory furnishes a connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

If you are exploring a unit on mythology with your students, you might want to share some information about the influence of Gibraltar in Greek mythology. In ancient times, Gibraltar was a source of great mystery and legend. In fact, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed the area to be the location of one of the Pillars of Hercules. Greek legend advanced the notion that, while completing his twelve labors, the mighty strongman created the Strait of Gibraltar by smashing through nearby Atlas mountain. In antiquity, sailors were warned not to sail beyond the landmark, as to do so would surely result in falling off the flat edge of the earth and result in death.

A spectacular display of stalactites and stalagmites brilliantly lit by colored lights can be seen during a visit of Gibraltar’s Saint Michael’s Cave. Photo Credit: Terry Lee Marzell

When taking a tour of Gibraltar, travelers almost invariably include a visit Saint Michael’s Cave. The name of this cavern derives from a similar grotto located in Italy where legend has it that the archangel Michael appeared. Saint Michael’s Cave was created through the gradual seeping of rainwater through the limestone rock, which turned the water into a weak carbonic acid that gradually dissolved the rock. The result is that, over thousands of years, the original geological fault grew into long passages and more than 150 large caverns that feature vaulted ceilings. In addition, a spectacular display of stalactites and stalagmites were formed during this process, and which today have been brilliantly lit by a stunning display of colored lights. A study of all of these natural formations would make a wonderful unit for science teachers who are leading their students, both elementary and secondary, in a study of geological formations.

Any visit to Saint Michael’s Cave will invariably put the traveler in contact with the territory’s Barbary apes. Science teachers will enjoy helping students learn all about why these so-called apes are not apes at all! In actual fact, they belong to a species of monkey called macaques. Learning activities can involved discovering the differences between apes and monkeys, and the habitat, diet, and history of the particular species that live on Gibraltar.

A species of macaques live on Gibraltar, and a study of these primates would make a great science lesson for students. Photo Credit: Terry Lee Marzell

Part of the mythology surrounding these primates posits that if the macaques ever disappear from Gibraltar, then the British will also leave the territory. In response to this myth, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill became concerned with the diminishing numbers of Gibraltar’s macaques during World War II. To increase their numbers, he arranged for additional macaques to be imported into Gibraltar from Morocco and Algeria. Gibraltar’s macaques are provided with food and medical care by Britain’s Department of the Environment, but still the gluttonous primates will look for something to eat from curious tourists. Sometimes the monkeys become a little bit overly aggressive!

Naturally, only a very small number of teachers are able to take their students on a field trip to Gibraltar, although many would love to organize such a wonderful field trip! Nevertheless, students can still study many aspects of this tourist attraction online. To share more information about the geography and history of Gibraltar with your students, click on this link to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Additional information about the territory of Gibraltar can be found at Visit Gibraltar. More information about the Barbary macaques can be found at Animalia Biography. Enjoy!

 

Reflections on Spanish literature stimulated by tour of Spain

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Spring break is prime time for teachers—and students—to incorporate travel into their vacation plans. Many people, both young and mature, know that travel, in addition to being fun and intellectually stimulating, is one of the most meaningful learning opportunities available. Last month, I was able to enjoy the fun, stimulation, and learning opportunities to be gained from a tour of Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar.

Terry Lee Marzell contemplates the monument dedicated to Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes located in the Plaza de Espana in Madrid, Spain. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

While touring the Iberian peninsula, I was able to reflect on the numerous contributions of Spanish authors to the canon of world literature. For example, Don Quixote, written by celebrated author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and published in the early 17th century, has always been one of my favorite works of literature. I’m not alone in my appreciation, as this novel is one of the most-often translated books in the world, and it’s one of the best-selling novels of all time.

While in Madrid, we stumbled across a monument dedicated to Cervantes and his epic novel which has been erected in the city’s Plaza de Espana. The monument is comprised of several figures. Prominently displayed near the base of the memorial is the author himself. Beneath his seated figure are the mounted figures of his two most famous characters, the appealingly delusional Don Quixote de La Mancha, and his trusted sidekick, the humble farmer Sancho Panza. The fictional peasant girl Dulcinea is also represented. In addition, the memorial offers a personified depiction of the entire collection of Spanish literature, dressed in 17th-century clothing and holding a book in his right hand. And finally, the monument also displays the five major continents, all of them reading the works of Cervantes. This depiction is intended to represent the universality of the author’s novels. This monument is a memorial that any teacher of English, World Literature, or Spanish language courses would surely appreciate.

Statue of Spain’s most celebrated national hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid, located in Seville, Spain. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

But Don Quixote is not the only Spanish character that came to mind in my travels through Spain. While visiting the city of Seville in the region of Valencia, I was reminded of the legendary tales of the 12th-century knight known as El Cid. This historical figure, whose real name was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, became well known during his lifetime for his military service in the armies of both Christian and Muslim rulers. Today, he is recognized as Spain’s most celebrated national hero. El Cid is the protagonist of the most significant medieval epic poem written in the Spanish language, El Cantar de Mio Cid. In this work, Rodrigo de Vivar is portrayed as embodying all the qualities of the ideal medieval knight: strength, courage, generosity, loyalty, chivalry, and piety. The poem is read all over the world, in versions for both adults and children. Before I retired from the teaching profession, I enjoyed sharing these entertaining tales with my World Literature students for many years.

You and  your students can examine a free ebook version of Don Quixote at this link: Project Gutenberg. Biographical information about Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar can be viewed online at Encyclopedia Britannica. To read El Cantar de Mio Cid in English, click on noorbook.com. To read the book in modern Spanish, click on caminodelcid.org.