A Geography lesson

I entered the class: the students were standing waiting to greet me ‘Good morning’ as usual.

They were all smiling and I could perceive a sense of warmth and expectation.

I greeted back and said: ‘ Sit down please!’ They looked at me and I could read in their eyes the unasked question:’ Aren’t we going to the lab for e-twinning?’ ‘No, not this morning, we are going to study some Geography.’ There was an immediate reaction of disappointment and the bravest ones asked why. ‘We need to know something about Dublin for the school project and we can’t delay any longer!’. ‘How boring’ somebody whispered. They were all miserable at the idea of doing something so unattractive as a Geography lesson.

’ Stand up please. ’ I could see a glimpse of interest and wonder on their faces. ‘Close your eyes and jump on your feet , all together.’ They didn’t see any point in that silly thing however they obeyed and……….

Unbelievable!!!!! We were near the Spire. ‘Ooohhh! was the only reaction of my students.

’ OK , here is the Spire, also called the Monument of Light , the centre of Dublin. There you can see James Joyce’s statue. He was one of the most important modernist writers. We are going to pass by O’Connell Monument and walk along the river Liffey, which crosses Dublin, as far as Ha’Penny Bridge so called because once people had to pay half a penny to cross it.

Now link by the arm and follow me. We were flying over the city : we saw The Temple bar, one of the oldest pubs , where artists gather. we stopped at Molly Malone’s statue and I told them her story then all together we sang ‘ Alive, alive, oh - Alive, alive, oh
Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"…’

‘Let’s visit the Castle, Saint Patrick’s, Trinity college where we are going to take a look at the ‘Book of Kells’’.

The students were amazed at the beautiful sights.

‘ But I am hungry ‘said Peter followed by a chorus of ‘Me too!’ ‘ Well let’s take a rest at St. Stephen’s Green’.

The children enjoyed themselves eating and running and leaping on the grass.

‘ Now we are going to have a trip into the past at Dublinia where you can breathe some historical atmosphere and write your name in runes, the Celtic alphabet. ‘

‘ Be ready now to be transformed into Vikings and go around the town shouting and scaring passers-by’.

‘ This is super’ they all agreed, a group of guys dressed up as Vikings with the horned cap on a noisy bus which was transformed into a boat to have a trip on the river Liffey…..’but now it’s time to close your eyes and jump. Time has flown by, the lesson is over.’ And we all found ourselves in our class.

‘How many things have we got to tell our European partners!’