ITALY

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this unit is to allow children to experience the clothing styles, architecture, food, language, religion, culture, and customs of another country that they are not familiar with. They will do many projects throughout the unit that will permit them to experience Italy hands-on. A focus activity will be done everyday to let the students pretend that they are actually traveling to Italy. My hope for this unit is that it will teach the students a plethora if information about an unfamiliar place, and that the new knowledge they gain will give them a burning desire to visit Italy one day themselves, and see the wonderful country we have explored first hand.

CONNECTION TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:

No. 1- Knows and understands how to use maps, globes, and other graphical tools to acquire, process and report information. In this unit, students will be exploring many maps of Italy both on the Internet and on handouts. This will allow them to not only learn more information about Italy, but help them improve their map reading skills.

No. 4- Knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places. By making a salt map of Italy, the students will be able to see and feel the physical characteristics of Italy. By studying all of the culture and customs of Italy, students will know the human characteristics of the country as well.

No. 6- Knows and understands that culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and experiences. Through studying the culture and daily life of Italy, the students will develop a personal perception of the country. They will also be able to understand some of the perceptions or ideals of the Italian people.

No. 7- Knows and understands that physical processes shape patterns on the earth’s surface. In studying such places as Pompeii, and other places on their salt maps, students will be able to see how certain geographical areas became as they are today.

No. 10- Knows and understands the complexity of the earth’s cultural mosaic. In learning about an entirely different country and culture, the students will be able to see how different and interesting other parts of the world are. They will no longer believe that Texas is the only place that life exists.

No. 18- Knows and understands how to apply geography to interpret the present and the future. After this unit, the students will be able to draw conclusions between geography and things that are happening in our world today, and things that will continue to happen in the future.

APPLICABLE TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

The student understands how humans adapt to variations in the physical environment.

Describe the effects of physical and human processes in shaping the landscape.

Identify and compare the human characteristics of selected regions.

The student understands the concepts of location, distance, and direction, on maps and globes.

OBJECTIVES LIST:

Students will demonstrate their ability:

1. 1.  To identify important cultural aspects that are relative to Italy.
2. 2.  To illustrate their knowledge of Italian architecture by making a replica of the Tower of Pisa.
3. 3.  To learn about Italian dress, language, and food, by reading the Italian folk-tale, "Three Lost Princesses," retold by Betsy Franco.
4. 4.  To practice skills relative to their knowledge of Italian and the Italian counting system, by taking part in an Italian shopping experience.
5. 5.  To learn about land formations and spatial analysis, by making a salt map of Italy.
6. 6.  To demonstrate their knowledge of Italian holidays by recreating their own Martedi Grasso.
7. 7.  To find information on the Internet and complete a worksheet for a web site.

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION:

This unit over Italy is to be broken down into ten, sixty minute class periods, with one period a day for ten days, devoted to the unit. This unit is planned to stimulate all the aspects of a child’s mind in order to get them excited and ready to learn a great deal of information about a wonderful place. This stimulation will occur through many hands-on learning experiences, done individually at times, and in a group at times. The students will make a passport, a salt map of Italy, a crown, a pasta collage, and a replica of the Tower of Pisa. They will recreate their own Italian store so that they can show off their knowledge of Italian money and counting. They will study the customs of Italy and decorate for the Italian celebration of Martedi Grasso. They will also read and map the folk-tale, "Three Lost Princesses," use web sites to gain more knowledge and maps of Italy, and end the unit with a huge Italian Feast. All of these projects allow for kinesthetic and multisensory learning. The unit is intended to be extremely fun, and something that the students will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. Many souvenirs are to be made for fun, but the increase in knowledge will be enormous, and lasting.

DAY ONE:

Sponge Activity:

The word Italy will be written vertically on the board. The student will spend five minutes trying to find a verb that begins with each letter in the word Italy.

Opening:

At the beginning of every class period devoted to Italy, the students will close their eyes and pretend that they are in an airplane flying to Italy. They will sing the same song every time that they do this mental focus. It is to the tune of Row, Row, Row, Your Boat.

Song: Go, go, going, going to Italy, so much fun we’re going to have, so many things to see!

After getting the students focused I will tell them that we are going to start a unit on Italy. I will ask if anyone has ever heard of Italy, been to Italy, or what they know about Italy. I will tell them that before we can begin our study they must make their own passport. I will take their pictures, and they must glue them on to construction paper and design their own passport that will allow them to travel to Italy.

Guided Practice:

We will begin this part of the lesson by reading the first few pages of "Three Lost Princesses." We will discuss what we read and then we will begin our discussion of Italy. I will show the students a few maps of Italy on the overhead so that they can visualize the area we will be talking about. We will then discuss a few pertinent facts about the country such as population, climate, size (area), major cities, main religion, and the flag. This will let students become familiar with the country, and open the door for the surge of knowledge they are about to experience.

Independent Practice:

The project for today is to make a salt map of Italy. The students will divide into groups of three and study a map of Italy that shows the physical characteristics of the country. They will then form a map that they will go back and label after the map has dried. The students should discuss what their map will feature and illustrate, before beginning the process. While the students are working on their maps I will review them on the facts we have learned earlier in the period.

Materials:

Maps of Italy for the overhead projector

Maps showing physical characteristics of the country

Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue

Camera

Salt Map Mix: flour, water, salt, food coloring is optional

"Three Lost Princesses"- copy for each student

Handout on general facts of Italy

DAY TWO:

Sponge Activity:

The students will list as many things as they can remember that they learned about Italy, the day before. They must do this independently, with no help from a partner. When this is complete, they may spend some time labeling their maps.

Opening:

The students will again sing their song, and we will review everything we learned on Day One. We will also go over the Sponge Activity to see what things some of the students were able to come up with.

Guided Practice:

We will begin this time by reading a few more pages of our folk-tale, "Three Lost Princesses." We will discuss the pictures that we see, and what we have read overall. We will focus in on the clothing that the characters in the story are wearing. We will talk about the importance of crowns (they signify royalty), and about the power of swords, and why they were used long ago in Italy. I will show the students many examples of crowns and swords.

Independent Practice:

The students will independently make a crown or a sword, it is completely their choice. The crowns will be made from construction paper and can be decorated with markers, costume jewelry, or fabric. The swords will be made from cardboard and aluminum foil, and can be decorated also with markers, costume jewelry, or fabric. At the end of the period each student will share what they made with the class.

Materials:

"Three Lost Princesses"

Examples of swords and crowns

Construction paper

Costume jewelry

Markers

Fabric scraps

Cardboard

Scissors

Glue

Stapler

DAY THREE:

Sponge Activity:

The students will write a paragraph describing their favorite type of Italian food, and why it is their favorite.

Opening:

We will sing our song, and then talk briefly about our favorite types of Italian food. We will also discuss different places to find Italian food in our city.

Guided Practice:

We will read a few more pages of our folk-tale, and discuss what is going on in the story. We will identify the main characters, and list the major events that have occurred so far in the plot. We will then discuss the handout on Italian food. I will provide many visual examples of pasta and we will discuss how the pasta is prepared. We will acknowledge the pastas we have tried, and learn about the ones we have not yet tasted.

Individual Practice:

The students will break up into groups of three, and form some type of pasta collage. This can be on paper, it can be a building, a crown, a sword, and animal, or a scene of some sort. This collage should be extremely detailed and require the input and artistic ability of the entire group. At the close of the period, the collages will be presented to the class. The students will be expected to list all of the pasta they used in their collage as a review of the day’s lesson.

Materials:

Handout on pasta/Italian food

Various samples of pasta

Pasta for collages

Glue

Scissors

Construction Paper

String

DAY FOUR:

Sponge Activity:

The students will draw a map of their house, or of the school. This helps them understand the aspects of architecture, which will be studied this period.

Opening:

We will sing our song, and discuss our maps. It is crucial to note that all the maps are different. Each and every dwelling has its very own plan or map.

Guided Practice:

We will read a few more pages of our folk-tale, and pay close attention to the dwellings that we see within the story. We will compare and contrast these dwellings. We will then go over the handout on Italian architecture, and I will show the class a slide show on the important historical and famous dwellings in Italy. We will focus in on the Tower of Pisa.

Independent Practice:

To illustrate their knowledge of Italian architecture, each student will create their own Tower of Pisa, using marshmallows and toothpicks. They should be sure that their replica models the actual tower, and that it leans, just as the real on does. We will conclude the period by letting each student present their creation to the class. We will then discuss five important things we learned about Italian architecture.

Materials:

Handout on Italian architecture/structures

Slides of historical or famous dwellings

"Three Lost Princesses"

Marshmallows

Toothpicks

DAY FIVE:

Sponge Activity:

The students will write a paragraph on their most favorite part of the Italy unit so far.

Opening:

We will sing our song, and then discuss a few of the favorites that the students listed. We will then briefly discuss the importance of language- how it allows us all to communicate with one another.

Guided Practice:

We will conclude the folk-tale, and then map out the story using the pocket chart activity and the story mat. Each child will make their own story mat using the worksheets that I will provide. We will display these mats on a bulletin board in the room. We will then discuss the handout on Italian language. I will use flash card to teach the words on the handouts.

Independent Practice:

The students will each be given a flash card, some will be in English and some will be in Italian. They must walk around the room until they find the match to their word. For some their match will be an English word, and for others it will be an Italian word. The pairs will stand in front of the class and say the English word and its Italian translation. We will then review the words one more time with the flash cards.

Materials:

"Three Lost Princesses"

Story mat worksheets

Pocket chart activity worksheet

Language flash cards

Handouts on Italian language

DAY SIX:

Sponge Activity:

The students will list all of the pieces of American money that they can, and define how much each piece is worth.

Opening:

We will sing our song and then talk about the money that we knew. We will discuss the importance of having a uniform system of money in a particular country.

Guided Practice:

We will go over the handouts on counting in Italian, and on the Italian money system. We will spend a great deal of time making connections between counting in Italian from one to ten and counting in English from one to ten. We will also make connections between Italian money and American money. I will have an example of the basic pieces of American money as well as Italian money. We will talk about how the pieces that equal the same amount of money are completely different in the two countries. We will practice counting in Italian, by using flash cards.

Independent Practice:

This activity will be done as a group. I will simulate an Italian store in the classroom, with many products that the children are all familiar with. They will be required to come in and know how to read the price tags and know how to give me the exact change. This will require them to count, and also to put into practice the skills they have just learned in using Italian money. At the end of the period, each student will show what they bought, and tell how much Italian money that they spent.

Materials:

Handouts on Italian money and counting in Italian

Examples of American and Italian money

Products to create an Italian Store

Price tags

Counting flash cards

DAY SEVEN:

Sponge Activity:

The students will write a paragraph describing what they believe the best part of education in America is.

Opening:

We will sing our song, and then discuss what people put down for their responses to the sponge activity. We will talk about the meaning of culture. What do the students think is part of our culture here in America.

Guided Practice:

Today’s period will be devoted to the culture and customs of Italy. We will discuss the education and religion of Italy (handout). I will show the class another slide show composed of slides from the Christian catacombs and of the Vatican City. The Vatican City is the religious center of Italy. All of these elements are crucial to the culture of Italy. We will discuss each one of these elements in great detail so that each student is extremely familiar with them.

Independent Practice:

This part of the unit requires some research. The students will break up into research groups and each group will be assigned a special topic relative to Italian education or religion. This report will be presented with visuals on the last day of the unit.

Materials:

Slides from Vatican City and the Catacombs

Handout on education and religion

Enough research topics for the research groups

DAY EIGHT:

Sponge Activity:

The students will have a free write in which they can put down anything they want to on the paper. It will be like a journal writing activity.

Opening:

We will sing our song again, and do a broad review of everything we have discussed so far in our unit. We will go over language and counting flash cards and talk about the highlights of the unit.

Guided Practice:

We will go to the computer lab for this day of the unit and spend a great deal of time exploring web sites related to Italy. I will demonstrate for the class how to reach a web site, and how to access information. I will use these two sites for examples- "The Christian Catacombs of Rome" @ http://www.catacombe.roma.it, and "Roughguides Italy," @ http://travel.roughguides.com/index_fr_d.htm.

Independent Practice:

For practice using web sites the students will divide into groups and each group will complete a web site worksheet. The worksheet will require each group to reach a few sites, analyze the information at each site, and decide which site is most helpful to them. They can also use the web sites for help completing their report.

Materials:

Computers

Overhead attached to computer

Web site worksheets

Flash cards for review

DAY NINE:

Sponge Activity:

The students will write a paragraph about their favorite holiday. They should describe the holiday and then tell why it is their favorite.

Opening:

We will sing our song and then briefly discuss our paragraphs. We will talk about the importance of holidays and celebrations.

Guided Practice:

We will discuss the handouts on Italian holidays and celebrations. We will talk briefly about all of them, and then go into great detail on Martedi Grasso, which is the last day of the Carnevale. We will discuss all of the decorating that is done before this celebration. We will also choose which holiday we think would be the most fun to celebrate if we lived in Italy.

Independent Practice:

The class will divide into decorating committees to prepare for our own mini "Martedi Grasso." Two groups will make horns, two groups will make streamers, and two groups will make masks. When the decoration making is complete we will have our own party as the conclusion to period.

Materials:

Handouts on celebrations and holidays

Cardboard tubes

Scissors

Tape

Crayons or markers

Crepe paper

Sticks

Mask patterns

Construction paper

DAY TEN:

Sponge Activity:

The students will write a paragraph about their most favorite part of the unit on Italy.

Opening:

We will sing our song for the final time, and then discuss our favorite part of the unit.

Evaluation/Assessment/Feedback:

The students will take a test that covers everything we have discussed in our Italy unit. It will only be ten questions long, and every student should score well as long as they have listened and participated in class.

Closure:

After the test, we will have a gigantic Italian feast. Each student will be assigned a food item to bring to the celebration. We will spend the remainder of the day talking about everything that we have learned in the unit. We will review all flash card one time and discuss every project that we have done. Then the students will present their group reports.

Materials:

Italy Unit Test

Italian Food/Beverages

Flash Cards

Sample of each project

Web Site: "Capri."

Address: http://www.catacombe.roma.it

1.  Brief Description-

2.  Are there any maps available at this site? What are they of?

3.  Name the most important thing you learned from studying this site.

Look up the web site listed below. Write a brief description of the site, and then answer the questions that follow.

Web Site: "Lonely Planet Destination-Florence"

Address: http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/eur/ita.htm

1.  Brief Description-

2.  Are there any maps available at this site? What are they of?

3.  Name the most important thing you learned from studying this site.

Look up the web site listed below. Write a brief description of the site, and then answer the questions that follow.

Web Site: "Lonely Planet Destination-Florence"

Address: http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/eur/flo.htm

1.  Brief Description-

2.  Are there any maps available at this site?

3.  What are they of?

4.  Name the most important thing you learned from studying this site.
 

1. 1.  What is the capital of Italy?
2. 2.  What is the folk-tale that we read throughout our unit on Italy?

3. 3.  What is one kind of pasta that we talked about?

4. 4.  What is the number five in Italian?

5. 5.  What is the Italian equivalent to our $1 bill?

6. 6.  Where is the religious center of Italy?

7. 7.  Describe the Italian flag.

8. 8.  What does "arrivederci" mean?

9. 9.  What are the Summer Holidays?

10. 10. What was your most favorite part of the unit on Italy?

Appendix for "Italy," by Ellen Dolan
Milliken Publishing Company, St. Louis, 1995

1. 1.  Map of Italy- to be used on first day to show cities and to help with salt maps
2. 2.  General Fact Sheet on Italy- to be used on the first day to acquaint the students with the important facts of the country.
3. 3.  Sheet on Vatican- to be used on the day we discuss religion.
4. 4.  Education (front)- to be used to show students how the education system is in Italy. Language (back)- to be used to show students common phrases in Italian. The flash cards will come from this.
5. 5.  Architecture- will be used on the day that we discuss Italian architecture and make our own Tower of Pisa replicas.
6. 6.  Food- this handout will be used to identify the different types of Italian foods and pastas that we will be studying. There are also many helpful recipes.
7. 7.  Celebrations and Holidays- this worksheet will be used to teach the students about the many different holidays celebrated in Italy.

Appendix for "Italy," by Betsy Franco
Evan Moor Educational Publishers, Monterey, 1995

1. 1.  Map of Europe and Italy- to be used on first day to show students where in Europe Italy is located, and the key cities in Italy.
2. 2.  "Three Lost Princesses,"- to be used on days one through five of the unit.
3. 3.  Pocket Chart Activity- to be used when mapping the folk-tale
4. 4.  Main Characters and Story Mat- to be used when mapping out the folk-tale
5. 5.  Using Italian Money- to be used on the day we discuss Italian money and have our Italian shopping experience.
6. 6.  Wonderful Foods of Italy- will be used to illustrate the many different types of Italian foods/pastas.
7. 7.  Celebrating Carnevale- contains information on Martedi Grasso, and directions on how to make streamers, masks, and horns.
8. 8.  Counting Chart- used to help students learn to count from one to ten in Italian.

Bibliography

"Capri." Cond’e Nast Traveler. http://travel.epicurious.com/bin/where-to.cgi?path=europe.

Dolan, Ellen M.  Italy.  Milliken Publishing Company. St. Louis, 1995.

Franco, Betsy.  Italy.   Evan Moor Educational Publishers. Monterey, 1995.

"Lonely Planet Destination-Florence." http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/eur/ita.htm.

"Lonely Planet Destination-Florence." http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/eur/flo.htm

"Roughguides Italy." http://travel.roughguides.com/index_fr_d.htm.

"The Christian Catacombs of Rome." http://www.catacombe.roma.it.

There could be numerous extensions to this lesson. You could make it a math lesson and compare the size of Italy to the size of other countries. You could study scientific inventions from Italy, the historical background of Ancient Italy and Rome, read another folk-tale, make mosaics, and study the government of Italy.

Created 4-27-99

Return to Lesson Plans and Research Papers, 1999