Greetings, P2D2!
It is I, Lego Man!
Ginny and I have packed our bags and are waiting at Logan, Boston’s very big airport, for the airplane to let us on. Most of you have been here before, at some point or another. One of your daddies is even a pilot at Logan. We will be up in the air very soon…what do you think they will give me for my snack, since my mouth is only painted on? It better be something tastier than batteries; I get dry mouth. So, I’ve never been to P2 before. But Ginny has told me all about you…and how smart, kind and funny you all are. She will miss you all so much. Even you, Mr. Nobody, wherever you are! But everybody takes trips now and then. I am very excited to come and visit your classroom, once our big trip to Italy is over. Up until now, I have only ever lived in Ginny’s house, on top of the fridge. I am her absolute favorite toy. She plays with me, sometimes, but mostly uses me when her power goes out during gigantic thunderstorms because my feet light up when you press my stomach. Behold! I am, in fact, a giant flashlight.
Ginny told me that you were all learning Italian for your language of the month, in March. You can count to ten in Italian? You can say “Ciao”? You can say “Come stai”? You know what “Benone” means, and you know to say it loudly and cheerfully? You always remember to say “grazie” and “prego”, because you have such great manners? My goodness! She has also told me that you know how to do Italian push ups. Well, I know how to do push ups too, just not Italian ones. Okay. Fine. I’m a Lego. I don’t really know how to do any push ups the right way, because I don’t have muscles. But I really WANT muscles.
Can you drop and give Lego Man dieci?
You guys already, obviously, know lots about Italy. But Ginny and I want to tell you a few new things, as we take our big trip, and show you some pictures…so that you can pretend to come along, too. Italy is, as you know, the home of lots of pasta and pizza…and, one of your very favorite sports, soccer. Do you remember how you and Ginny looked at a map of Italy and talked about how some people say that the country shaped like a tall boot kicking that little island at the bottom, Sicily, like a soccer ball? Italy, like a lot of countries, takes its soccer pretty darn seriously.
Italy is also home to many of the world’s most beautiful works of art and buildings; it’s a country that has a very interesting history, because it’s been around for so long and has seen so many changes over the years. Some very important scientists, mathematicians, inventors, artists, writers, poets and astronomers have all come from Italy. (I heard you guys recently built some WICKED awesome telescopes at the project table! Telescopes were invented in Italy…does anyone remember who invented them?) The land itself is quite lovely; Italy has lots of dark green plants, bright and strong sunlight, and they take awfully good care of their gardens. Many of the towns here look like the illustrations in one of your favorite picture books, Strega Nona, because they have red-shingled rooftops, and at least one central piazza. Piazza is another word for a town square. The first place that Ginny and I are going to visit may look a lot like the pictures in Strega Nona, but we are probably not going to meet Big Anthony. (If we do, we will be sure to offer him some Alka Seltzer for his poor tummy.) The first place we are visiting is a teeny tiny town called Reggio Emilia. Reggio Emilia is in the north of Italy, the top of the boot, which is the same part of Italy where you can find the Leaning Tower of Pisa…that tower we talked about during our egg drop experiments. Do you remember how we talked about Galileo dropping eggs and feathers and cannonballs off of a very tall tower, which most of you had already seen pictures of? I heard you guys threw a bowling ball off the loft during your egg experiments…is that true, or is Ginny only teasing me? She seemed serious; how did you drop a bowling ball and avoid cracking the floor?
Anyway. Reggio Emilia has some really great preschools, full of kids exactly like you, and we are going to visit those preschools. The kids in Reggio Emilia love to play and be silly with their friends, just like you. They love to build towers and boats and stables and spaceshuttles in the block area, just like you. They love to paint, they love to sculpt with clay, and they love to come up with beautiful creations using the recycle closet every day, just like you. They love to plant seeds and watch them grow, just like you. They love to pretend to be wild animals, sailors, Vikings, Boston Harbor Rescue Squad teams…and characters from their favorite movies and stories, just like you. They love to do big floor puzzles, or curl up in the reading area with a great picture book about dragons, just like you. They love to write books, just like you. They love to get REALLY messy at the sensory stations, just like you. (Lego Man also loves to get REALLY messy; we have so much in common!) They love to cook all the time, just like you. They love to make their own rock bands and to throw concerts, just like you… sometimes with backstage passes, just like you. They love to do science experiments, just like you. They love to listen to stories and chapter books, just like you. They even love Star Wars, just like you! (Do you think they know how to make Yoda Soda?) So…what’s the only difference between you and them? Well, they speak a different language. That’s about it. How many of you already speak a different language at home? I hear that, just in your classroom, you have kids who speak Hebrew, Russian, German, Ukranian, Greek, Turkish, Vietnamese, French, Spanish and Bengali at home. Plus, you ALL speak English and know a lot of American Sign Language.
Anyway. Ginny and I are going to visit Reggio Emilia to get some new ideas about how to make our classroom even more fun for you. We want to make the P2 classroom look more beautiful than it already is, because the rooms in Reggio Emilia are supposed to be really snazzy. Snazzy is another way of saying awesome. We also want to see some of their snazzy projects and their snazzy investigations.
Phew. Lego Man is tired. Jumping from key to key on this laptop is hard work, for someone with no muscles. Also, Ginny is telling me that I look ridiculous.
We’ll write again as soon as we can, but the plane is leaving pretty soon. Here is a new Italian word for you: arrivederci! That means we’ll see you soon!
Love,
LEGO MAN (and Ginny)
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