Our second day in Boston was great. We stayed in Salem and started at the House of Seven Gables. It was pretty amazing to see the sight of where Hawthorne’s novel was based. In addition to teaching social studies I am also a reading teacher and this would be a perfect opportunity to pull the students into reading a classic novel and at the same time show them real pictures of what the house looked like. I also thought the explanation of the house, and how the gables were removed, was very interesting. The view from the house was absolutely spectatcular right along the waterfront!
After leaving the house we walked through the town of Salem and went to the Peabody Essex Museum. They had an amazing amount of artifacts and artwork- something you could really only share with students by taking them there. I thought the best artifact in the museum was the one Tad shared with us- the chest that belonged to the aunt and uncle of Benjamin Franklin. To me artifacts mean a lot more if there is an interesting story that goes along with it, something I need to remember when I share things with my students.
