Day 29: We Enter the Catacombs!

Reasons I Love 39 Clues #8,574: All of the real life settings that the adventures of Amy and Dan Cahill allow readers to discover and travel to as they follow the series.

The first cool place that my students had never heard of, but were able to experience through our reading together? The Maze of Bones, aka the underground network of Catacombs in Paris, France.

I gave my students the teaser at the beginning of the book that The Maze of Bones was a real place that Amy and Dan would have the opportunity to explore. Every day since they had been asking when we would get to the Maze of Bones part.

Finally, on Day 28 of our streak, we reached it. The Catacombes de Paris. The Maze of Bones.

But you know what made the experience even cooler for my students? Google Maps. Thanks to the street view images from Google Maps, entering the catacombs of Paris was a much more eerie and exciting experience than it would have been otherwise. Their satellite and street view maps provide a great view of what different locations look like that my students may never otherwise have the opportunity to visit or see.

To set the scene and help my students better visualize where Amy and Dan's clue hunting adventures were leading them, I typed in the address for the Catacombs' entrance. (1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, Place Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris in case you wanted to sneak a peek yourself).

Screenshot of the entrance to The Catacombes de Paris on Google Maps

Before Amy and Dan ventured down into the underground tunnels lined with human bones, our class got the chance to check out the entrance to the Catacombs, along with other visitors' photographs of the passageways below.

My students got to see the entrance sign to the catacombs that Amy and Dan read before entering...

 walk down the street to see the nearby Metro station that their rival clue hunters arrive from...

and the visit the dimly lit, narrow tunnels, lined with skulls and bones lining the walls in intricate patterns that Amy, Dan, and Nellie must walk down in search of their next clue.

Pairing these images with the detail described in the book helped my students to have a much better understanding of the setting and events happening in the text. Coolest. Thing. Ever.

And, since all of the 39 Clues books have Amy and Dan traveling the world to exotic and unique locations, readers' journeys can continue in each book.

With all of the new technology tools available, reading can become a much more interactive journey than ever before. I love taking a virtual field trip to Paris with my class on a Tuesday afternoon.

What new and exciting settings have you traveled to through your reading? Have you checked it out on Google Maps yet? Do share!

Happy Reading!
Mrs. Hartman

PS-- And just in case you were wondering...it was a dark and rainy day for our entrance to the Catacombs reading so we were able to read in our own personal classroom "Catacomb" space. Just like we'd hoped for!