St. Brendan\u2019s Journey to the Land of the Saints
as seen through the 8th c. text,
The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis

An Integrated
Geography, History, and Literacy Curriculum
for Upper Elementary and Middle School Students

Deborah Abbott
Academy School
Brattleboro, Vermont 05301
deb_abbott@wsesu.org

her long troubled relationship with England and back to earliest times, there has always been another, less obvious reporter speaking \u2013 the oral tradition, Ireland\u2019s vernacular narrative, telling the country\u2019s tale to her people in stories handed down since God was a boy.

\u201cThis fireside voice took great care to say that imagination and emotion
insist on playing their parts in early history and therefore, to understand
the Irish, mere facts can never be enough; this is a country that reprocesses
itself through the mills of imagination.

\u201cBut we all do that: we merge our myths with our facts according to
our feelings, we tell ourselves our own story. And no matter what we are
told, we choose what we believe. All \u2018truths\u2019 are only \u2018our\u2019 truths, because
we bring to the \u2018facts\u2019 our feelings, our experience, our wishes. Thus,
storytelling \u2013 from wherever it comes \u2013 forms a layer in the foundation of the
world; and glinting in it we see the trace elements of every tribe on earth.\u201d

Author\u2019s Note
Frank Delaney
Ireland, a Novel

6.1 Students examine causes and effects in relation to events in order to generalize
about the workings of human societies. . .
6.4 Students identify major historical eras and analyze periods of transition . . . in
various locations worldwide.
6.7 Students use geographical knowledge . . . to understand the present, communicate
historical interpretations . . .
6.13 Students understand the concept of culture . . . in various locations worldwide.

H&S5-6:11 Students interpret geography and solve geographic problems.
H&S5-6:13 Students analyze how and why cultures continue and change over time.
H&S5-6:17 Students examine how access to various institutions affects justice, reward,
and power.

R4:5 Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar words by using strategies to unlock
meaning (e.g., knowledge of word structure, affixes, context, etc.)
R4:7 Students use comprehension strategies (flexibly and as needed) while reading
literary and informational text.

written history
Relative and Absolute Geography
Primary and Secondary historical and geographical resources and their

This study\u2019s goal is to explore with children how man creates and interprets what we call
history and how geography affects societies. The student will develop an understanding
of the impact of religion and beliefs on a culture, how these beliefs guide a person\u2019s
actions, and the consequences those actions have on the community.