Monday, December 3, 2012

See the Mysterious Giant of Barletta!

This week Mrs. Yollis' class continues with their unit on fantasy. The story of the week is called The Mysterious Giant of Barletta by Tomie dePaola.


As luck would have it Nonno has been to see the giant!
(Nonno is our guest blogger.  He is Ben's grandfather and currently lives in Italy.   
He shares his Italian travels with all of us! Enjoy his guest post!)





We visited Barletta during our trip to Puglia after Mrs. Yollis told us you would be hearing a story about the Mysterious Giant of Barletta. We wanted to see the giant and take some pictures to share with you.

Barletta is also in Puglia, on the heel of Italy.






The giant statue is located right in the city on a busy street.














People park their cars in front of the statue, ride their bicycles past and also wait for the bus right by the statue.
The statue is more than five meters tall. Five meters is more than 16 feet. Here is a picture of Cecca right next to the base, or pedestal, of the statue so you can judge how tall the statue is.





And also took one of her standing on the pedistal near his leg. Cecca is one meter 54 centimeters tall.

Barletta has many farms and fields around the city where they grow grapes and olives. (Can you imagine the giant meeting Captain Minekion out here in one of these fields?)

Very close to Barletta is a place where they make salt from sea water.


Barletta is now a modern city, but years ago it was a city of the Roman Empire. Years ago the coast was often invaded so the people built a huge fort for protection. Now it has a modern harbor that is overlooked by the huge fort where people can visit.




Is That Luigi?
Movie stars can be seen near the statue.



Now the statue is called The Colossus of Barletta. Here is what the people of Barletta tell us about it.

The Colossus of Barletta is a bronze statue of the Early Middle Ages, hollow on the inside and over 5 meters high. It most probably represents an emperor or famous warrior as shown by his military uniform, his rich, imperial robe and the bejeweled crown on his head, trimmed with two strings of pearls. Maybe Hercules, maybe not.

We are not sure how the statue arrived in Barletta. According to one story the Venetians stole the statue from Constantinople. On the journey back to Venice, the ship was wrecked in a storm and the statue was found on the beach near Barletta. According to another story, the Colossus was discovered in Ravenna, north of Barletta. Transported by ship, it was brought to Barletta’s harbor, probably to be used in some celebration.  When the statue came to Barletta it did not have a base, that was built later so it would seem even taller.


What did you think of Nonno's guest blog post?

Write a comment as if you are the Giant of Barletta or Zia Concetta!

Do you know any Italian facts or any Italian words? 
Try using Google Translate!

  

9 comments:

  1. Che piacere vedere nel vostro blog delle foto italiane! Noi alunni di classe terza di Sovizzo (Venezia) visitiamo spesso il vostro blog. E' bellissimo. Un nostro compagno di classe è proprio di Barletta. La Puglia è stupenda, come tutta l'Italia. Comunque siamo diventati anche noi dei blogger e impariamo molto da voi.. In tutto il mondo siete i nostri preferiti. Complimenti ragazzi e brava Mrs. Yollis.
    Con affetto
    3A 3B 3C Sovizzo
    www.ascuolaconnoi.wordpress.com
    ascuolaconnoi@gmail.com

    What a pleasure to see in your blog italian photos ! We are students of third grade of primary school in Sovizzo (Venice)and we often visit your blog. It's wonderful. One of our friends is just by Barletta. Puglia is beautiful, as all Italy. However, we are young bloggers and we learn a lot from you .. Around the world your blog is our favorite. Congratulations to all you and to Mrs. Yollis.
    Love,
    3A 3B 3C Sovizzo (Italy)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear 3A 3B 3C Sovizzo,

      Ciao and grazie molto for your comment! The class was very excited. We even looked up Venice in our atlases.

      We loved exploring your blog. We looked at the drawings, and we watch the video about a very large stick bug. The class was impressed with how calm everyone was around the large insect.

      Would it be possible to add a Google Translator gadget to your blog? Perhaps you already have one, and we missed it. We'd love to read your posts.

      Arrivederci!

      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
  2. Caro 3A 3B 3C Sovizzo,

    Il mio nome è Abbey, uno degli studenti della signora Yollis '. Penso che sia molto cool che hai inviato un commento italiano! Lo sapevate che lo spagnolo suona un po 'come l'italiano? Ad esempio, Grazie suoni simili a Gracias.

    Cordiali saluti,

    abbazia

    Dear 3A 3B 3C Sovizzo,

    My name is Abbey, one of Mrs. Yollis' students. I think it is very cool that you have sent an Italian comment! Did you know that Spanish sounds a lot like Italian? For example, grazie sounds similar to gracias.

    Sincerely,

    Abbey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Abbey,

      How did you get your comment in Italian? You must share your method with all of us!

      Grazie!

      Your proud teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
  3. Cari amici italiani,

    Abbazia ci ha mostrato come utilizzare Google Translate per convertire il nostro inglese a italiano. Ecco un link al sito di Google Translate:

    http://translate.google.com/

    ¡Buono fortuna!

    Il tuo amico,
    La signora Yollis





    Dear Italian Friends,

    Abbey showed us how to use Google Translate to convert our English to Italian. Here is a link to the Google Translate site:

    http://translate.google.com/

    Good luck!

    Your friend,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cari amici,
    Penso che l'Italia è un posto interessante. ¿Qual è la cosa che preferisci in Italia? Non ho
    stato in Italia, ma la mia bisnonna è cresciuto in Italia e poi si trasferì negli Stati Uniti d'America. Ha incontrato il mio bisnonno qui. Era da Irlanda.
    ¡Spero di visitare l'Italia un giorno presto!

    Cordialmente,
    Katelyn



    Dear friends,
    I think Italy is a interesting place. ¿What is your favorite thing in Italy? I have not
    been to Italy, but my great grandma grew up in Italy and then moved to the United States of America. She met my great grandfather here. He was from Ireland.
    ¡I hope to visit Italy one day soon!

    Warmly,
    Katelyn

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarah (Katelyn's twin)December 5, 2012 at 7:48 PM

    Cari amici,
    ¡Penso che l'Italia è incredibile! ¡E 'il mio cibo preferito ... Pasta! E la campagna è bellissima. ¿Che cosa fai per divertirti? Mi piace correre fuori. ¿Cosa ti piace l'Italia? ¿Qual è nella tua classe? ¡La mia classe ha un sacco di animali vivi!


    Cordiali saluti,
    Sarah (doppia di Katelyn)



    Dear friends,
    ¡I think Italy is amazing! ¡It has my favorite food... Pasta! And the countryside is beautiful. ¿What do you do for fun? I like to run outside. ¿What do you like about Italy?¿What is in your class? ¡My class has lots of live animals!


    Sincerely,
    Sarah (Twin of Katelyn)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gentile Signora Yollis e livellatrici terzi,

    E 'come fare un viaggio in Italia! Anche se, è solo un libro su l'Italia, che suona eccitante!

    Ho usato Google Translate per digitare questo in italiano. Io non sono fluente in lingua italiana. Sto imparando cinese. Forse posso inviare un commento su "Come a dire semplici parole cinesi."

    Sembra che gli alunni terza lettura di un libro su un gigante misterioso che sta prendendo le immagini di Italia. Ora si conoscono poche parole italiane, io vi darà una sfida. Ecco una sfida per voi. Vi sfido a inserire quattro parole italiane. Essi sono: ciao, arrivederci, buona notte, e buon giorno. Se non si conosce li uso Google Translate. Ecco un'altra sfida. Dammi una sfida! :-D

    Mi auguro che gli studenti apprezzato il terzo libro!

    Cordiali saluti,
    Heather


    Here is the comment translated into English:

    Dear Ms Yollis and third graders,

    It's like taking a trip to Italy! Although, it's just a book on Italy, that sounds exciting!

    I used Google Translate to type this in Italian. I'm not fluent in Italian. I'm learning Chinese. Perhaps I can post a comment on "How to say simple Chinese words."

    It seems that the third graders reading a book about a mysterious giant who is taking pictures of Italy. Now you know a little Italian words, I will give you a challenge. Here's a challenge for you. I challenge you to enter four Italian words. They are: hello, goodbye, good night, and good morning. If you do not know them use Google Translate. Here is another challenge. Give me a challenge! :-D

    I hope that the students enjoyed the third book!

    Sincerely,
    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  7. That sounds fun from Claire.

    ReplyDelete

* * *
Getting feedback is important to our writers. Let us know what you liked or what you learned.

Steps to Comment:

1. Write your comment in the box below. Be sure that you have proofread it for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Students should have a parent check it!

2. Choose an identity. (If you have a gmail account, use it. If not, choose name/url. You can leave the url blank if you do not have a blog.)

3. Click "Publish your Comment". You may preview your comment before publishing if you'd like.


Important: All comments MUST be approved by me.
:-) Mrs. Yollis