Maria Ceprano
Program Director
Department of Elementary Education and Reading
Department of Elementary Education and Reading
The fifth grade class wanted to say a very special good-bye. The class posed in front of a poster showing San Giovanni Bosco's first class with the title in rough translation : At school, along with history and memories.
A fitting picture, I think. Let us hope that our partnership with San Giovanni Bosco in Torremaggiore will continue with many good memories for the teachers and swtudents at the school as well as our teacher candidates.
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In the spirit of times gone by, we have children walking to the doors of our B&B to see how we are doing.
This has happened several times. In fact it isn't unusual for us to run into some of the children as we go about our usual explorations. Life seems to be so safe here. Anna has been working on a unit on the planets. She, Ashley and Taylor worked together to have the children develop a giant mural of the solar system. Two classes of 5th graders worked on it and it was impressive to see how organized they were in doing so. It now decorates the walls outside their classrooms.
After working at the school today, we had lunch at the B&B and then went to the community library-- not a library in the actual sense that we in Buffalo would know it, but a combination bookstore, "bar" and library. It's a place where people gather for book readings and socializing. The girls delivered their readings for children using some of the dual English Italian language children's books we had brought with us. The seating arrangement was set up in rows , and about 25 children came to listen . Each of the girls invited a child or two in the audience to come up read the Italian text that corresponded with the English text that was being read. Some of children's favorites we presented in total. Amanda did a very vivacious presentation of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, and it was interesting how the children following her mimicked her intonation in Italian when they read. Anna read an extract from DR. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech, and Filomena helped by explaining the importance of the speech and revealing the significance of the sections Anna read.
In the evening we presented readings to an adult audience. The place was reorganized differently -- cafe style with table for the audience to occupy. Wine or coffee was available and some socializing took place before the presentations started. Each of the presenters had handouts with Italian and English available. The first half of the readings centered on the theme of the "hope for a brotherhood of man" again with Martin Luther King Jr."s I Have a Dream," and lyrics of songs such as John Lennon.'s Imagine, and Elton John's For Love etc. We encouraged the group to sing the English words to music we provided , and it was neat to see the people actually following the English word, singing and clapping for themselves and us at the end of each piece. When the presentations were over the people sought out copies to take home and told us how much they enjoyed us. This would be a great program to repeat -- May with Joan Baez's song relating to Sacco and Vanzetti. Maybe next time. The weather was fantastic for our trip to Pompei, Naples, and Sorrento, and then the next day, to Capri, Amalfi and Positano.
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AuthorDr. Ceprano is a retired Professor of Reading and the English Language Arts at Buffalo State College. She developed the IPDS-Italy connection through her Spring 2014 sabbatical. Archives
January 2018
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