Advice for teachers -
Italian

Unit 1 – Area of Study 1: Interpersonal communication

Theme: The individual
Topic: Education and aspirations
Sub topic: School exchanges in Italy

Outcome 1

Exchange meaning in a spoken interaction in Italian.

Examples of learning activities

• Read a blog about a recent school exchange in Italy. Take notes and highlight the differences observed between Australia and Italy. Skype a student in Italy who has recently completed an exchange in Australia. Compare their answers to the blog.
• View a video about secondary school education in Italy. Reflect on how it differs from a school in Victoria.
• Listen to a conversation between an Australian student on exchange and their host family. Answer prepared questions about the conversation.
• Write six to eight questions to ask someone who has been on a school exchange to Italy. Swap questions with a classmate and answer their questions based on research material.
• Prepare a three-minute speech to give to the class about an exchange program (actual experience or researched via class materials), noting major similarities and differences between Australia and Italy. Create PowerPoint slides to support the speech. Respond to questions from other students about this topic.
• Interview another student in the class, using prepared questions. Discuss specific aspects of the Italian school they attended during their exchange or one that they have researched. Concentrate on classrooms, subjects studied and school routines.
• Listen to a student from Italy talking about their exchange in Australia. Reflect on how this information correlates to other material on the topic by discussing it with a classmate.
• Summarise all the findings discovered on this topic in a graph or Venn diagram.
• Read source material about education from Italy’s National Institute of Statistics. Extract information and make comparisons with information about Australian education sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
• Produce an article of 250 words outlining for an Australian audience some aspects of Italy's education system.
• Read journal entries written by students in Australia and Italy to gain an insight into the personal aspects of participating in an exchange in another country and staying with another family.
• Find a blog on the internet written by someone who has been on a school exchange. Annotate it to identify key points that represent individual experiences.
• Listen to a recorded discussion or radio programs about school exchanges. In pairs, make a list of the insights gained by the students on the exchanges. Categorise them as personal, educational, cultural, social, etc.
• In pairs or small groups, discuss the following example topics and create draft plans to produce a piece of writing.
  1. a. Write an article about an exchange experience for your school’s website.
  1. b. Imagine you have been on an exchange and write an email to your teacher about your time on exchange.
  With the class divided into two groups, debate the topic ‘Language and education exchanges are very worthwhile’. Both sides must use evidence and examples from the research gathered.

 

Detailed example

An email to your teacher about your time on exchange

1. Create a workbook to record information, notes and bibliographic details gathered throughout the area of study. Develop a glossary of key terms and concepts.
2. View a documentary about Australian students who participated in an exchange to a school in Italy. Take notes under a series of headings, which could include: type of school, subjects studied, impressions and teaching styles.
3. Compare the different experiences of the students in the documentary. How were they similar or different?
4. Conduct research on aspects of the education system in Italy. Include school subjects (elective and compulsory subjects), English language education, and senior secondary examinations. Construct a table to summarise the information found. Make comparisons to the situation in Victorian schools.
5. Listen to a speech given on the education system in Italy. Note the techniques used in the presentation to convey as much information as possible and how it was made engaging.
6. Listen to a podcast of two students discussing their experiences on a school exchange.
   
7. Draft an email to your teacher about your time on a school exchange.

Unit 1 – Area of Study 2: Interpretative communication

Theme: The world around us
Topic: Communication and media
Sub topic: Our connection to screens

Outcome 2

Interpret information from two texts on the same subtopic presented in Italian, and respond in writing in Italian and in English.

Examples of learning activities

• Read an article about ‘screen addiction’ and extract vocabulary for a class glossary for the topic.
• Listen to an interview and read an article about screen use in Italy. Answer questions about each one. Write a 100-word summary of all the views expressed in both texts.
• Search the internet for stories in Italian on the topic of ‘When being on screen is harmful’.
• View a video/vlog/YouTube clip where young people discuss how and when they are 'on screen'.
• View a series of photos that depict young people using screens in their daily lives and analyse them.
• View a documentary about the usefulness of screens in modern life.
• Discuss the themes mentioned in the article on ‘screen addiction’. Prepare a two- to three-minute presentation to the class about your personal screen usage.
• Discuss the positive aspects of screen usage with a classmate. List your combined positives on a poster for the classroom wall.
• Compare crucial points from the documentary with the class posters. Discuss any differences in small groups. Using the lists and summaries, debate the issue ‘Screens are ruling our world today’.
• List the types of screens that could be part of the topic ‘Screens are ruling our world today’. Write a 200-word letter to a friend in which you express your concerns about being ‘on screen’ so much.
• Create a list of positives and negatives about screen use. Write a 100-word summary of the list.
• Research statistics relating to screen use in Australia and Italy. Tabulate the results.
• Write an imaginative short story in which you project current screen usage into a utopian future.
• 
  Prepare a two- to three-minute presentation to the class comparing your personal screen usage with that of typical teenagers in Italy.
• Respond to questions in both Italian and English, based on two texts you have studied, on the topic of screen use by young people.

 

Detailed example

A two- to three-minute presentation comparing personal screen use with that of typical teenagers in Italy.

1. Read an article about how people are using screens in Italy today.
   
2. Identify the key points made in the article and create a matrix to show the positive and negative points.
3. Conduct further research to discover any material that can be added to the matrix.
4. Listen to an interview about this topic. Identify key vocabulary and expressions associated with the major concepts.
5. With a partner, brainstorm the number of hours that you typically spend using a screen. Tally the results and compare these to teenagers in Italy.
6. Prepare a number of comparisons to include in the presentation such as the:
• kind of activities you do on screen
• number of hours spent daily on screen
• similarities and differences.
7. Draft the speech structuring it with an introduction, middle and conclusion.

Unit 1 – Area of Study 3: Presentational communication

Theme: The world around us
Theme: The Italian-speaking communities
Topic: The Italian cultural heritage
Sub topic: Festivals

Outcome 3

Present information, concepts and ideas in writing in Italian on the selected subtopic and for a specific audience and purpose.

Examples of learning activities

• Watch a documentary or videos on a range of Italian festivals that have a strong link to the history of a particular city/town and take notes under the headings: city/town, main characters, season, food and activities.
• Read an explanation of the festival from a website in Italian, identifying the vocabulary used.
• Identify cultural differences between the celebration of festivals in Australia and in Italy.
• Read one or two articles on Italy’s passion for traditions, their heritage and celebrations. Answer comprehension questions about them.
• View a video of interviews with Italian people participating in festivals, and then answer a set of questions.
• View footage of interviews with Italian actors, directors and producers in order to answer a set of questions.
• Write about an Italian festival in 100 words.
• Analyse photos that depict highly engaging moments while Italians celebrate historical festivals.
• Identify cultural elements from your reading, viewing and listening. Consider the questions: Are there any particular elements that could only come from Italy? How can you tell? What identifies them? Compare these ideas to festivals celebrated in Australia.
• Write draft outline for one of the following topics:
  
  • a journal entry about an Italian festival that someone has just attended.
  • a persuasive article in which you convince your audience to attend an Italian festival including information such as: historical background, where and when this is happening, what happens during the festival.
    
• 
  Create a 3-4 minute video about an Italian festival including its historical value in order to encourage potential tourists to attend the event.
  

 

Detailed example

A three- to four-minute video about an Italian festival

1. View a range of videos and documentaries which show the celebration of some Italian festivals.
2. Take notes under headings: city/town, main characters, season, food, actions, themes or ideas.
3. Discuss the cultural elements and knowledge and understanding that can be gained from learning about this festival.
4. Decide which elements are to be included in the video. Discuss the outline with the teacher.
5. Plan the structure of the video. Write it up as a series of dot points.
6. Research the particular elements to be presented.
7. Write a script. Draw a storyboard.
8. Edit as necessary.
9. Show the video to the class.
10. Seek teacher feedback.