"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" (John Lennon)

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Photo competition

Let's start taking pictures!



Here are the rules for the photo competition.
First and second year students will be involved in this competition in the following weeks and they have to take a picture of an animal (ex. cat, dog, fish, tortoise, butterfly, ladybird, hamster, bird, squirrel, cow, sheep, goat, rabbit, chicken, hen, pigeon, horse, donkey, worm, lizard,...).





















Enjoy taking the picture and try to be careful and accurate when you write the description of the animal you have in the photo. 
And ....


Friday, March 30, 2012

Leave a comment!

Here is a very nice activity a French colleague of mine created for the project "Postcards from our countries"

New York

If you remember it, some months ago, we studied some facts about London, I showed you a power point in class and gave you photocopies to read at home. You also made very nice posters on it.

Now it is time to know more about New York. In the presentation below you have the same information that are in the photocopies I gave you and there are also some nice pictures that I found on the net and that I
took myself some years ago when I went there on my summer holidays.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Lugnano: describing our school and our village

1st year students of class ID


Here is the file with all the descriptions of our school you have to learn for the visit of our Spanish friends.
Read your part several times and learn it by heart.



And here is the file with the description with the most important places in Lugnano.

Let's describe our school in Giove

1st year students of class IA 

Here is the file with all the descriptions you have to learn for the visit of our Spanish friends.
Read your part several times and learn it by heart.

Giove: historical descriptions

In a few days 3rd year students of class III A and III B will be like tourist guides. In fact they will tell their Spanish friends of the Comenius Project all about Giove and its most important places.

Here you find the file with all the info.



And here is also the tale.





So please read it over and over several times and get ready to tell everything to your friends!

Assisi: audio files part 3


BASILICA OF SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI



The basilica was built in the mannerist style between 1569 and 1679. It has a rectangular ground plan, divided into a central nave and two lateral aisles, with ten side chapels, a transept and a choir. The church is 126 meters long, 65 meters large and the dome is 75 meters high.


Inside this church there is the Porziuncola that is a little church of the 9th century. In this little church Francis of Assisi decided to give up the world of rich people to live in poverty among the poor and here he started the Franciscan movement.



The transito
The Cappella del Transito is the small room where St. Francis died 3rd October 1226. It was a little hut used for ill people.


 



The Rose Garden
The rose garden is the last remains of the ancient wood in which St Francis and his friars lived. Here he talked to the doves, inviting them to praise the Lord. Doves have been nesting since a long time in the hands of the statue of St. Francis in this rose garden.
According to tradition, one night St. Francis, feeling the temptation to abandon his way of life, rolled naked in the bramble thorns. In contact with his body, the bramble bushes turned into dog roses (rosa canina) without thorns. Since then, these flowers are here in this garden.





Bifora or window with two lights is the symbol of humanity and divinity.
Trifora or window with three lights is the symbol of the Trinity (The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit).
Rose window is the symbol of Christ.


Assisi: audio files part 2

BASILICA OF SAINT FRANCIS


The basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and comprises the Upper Church, Lower Church, and a crypt where the remains of Saint Francis are. The Upper and Lower Churches are decorated with frescoes by medieval important painters such as Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti.

The façade of the Upper Church has a portal in Gothic style with twin doors and a beautiful rose window.
The interior is an important example of the Gothic style in Italy. The most important decorations are the series of 28 frescoes ascribed to the young Giotto.
The frescoes tell the story of the life of Saint Francis and were probably painted between 1296 and 1304.  
The Lower Church consists of a central nave with several side chapels with semi-circular arches which are connected by a low blue-painted ceiling decorated with golden stars. The nave is decorated with the oldest frescoes in the church.

 



Voice Recorder >>

In the crypt there is the stone coffin of Saint Francis. This burial place of St. Francis was found only in 1818 because his remains were put in a secret place by a friar to prevent the spread of his relics in medieval Europe.






Voice Recorder >>

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Assisi: audio files part 1

To 1st year  students of class I D.
Here are the audio files of the descriptions you have to read when we go to Assisi.
Listen to them and exercise your pronunciation.



ASSISI

Around 1000 BC some immigrants settled near Assisi and were called Umbrians. From 450 BC these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy in 295 BC. In Assisi there are still some Roman ruins such as the Temple of Minerva that now is a church.
In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino and his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi.
After the Romans, the Ostrogoths, the Lombards and the Frankish ruled. Assisi became an independent council in the 11th century.
There were a lot of wars between Assisi and Perugia at that time, and in one of these battles Francesco (St. Francis) was imprisoned by the soldiers of Perugia.
Later the city was under the rule of the Pope.  


Voice Recorder >>



BASILICA OF SAINT CLARE

The Basilica of Saint Clare is a church dedicated to Saint Clare of Assisi and it contains her remains. She founded the Order of the Poor Ladies or Order of Saint Clare and died in 1253.
The construction of the church dates back to 1257. Clare's tomb was found in 1850.
The feast of St. Clare is celebrated throughout the Church on 11th August.  



Voice Recorder >>


Cartoons!

This is for 3rd year students of class III D

III D students wrote two stories that we will use to create cartoons together with the teacher of Art.
Here are the stories that you have to read to make the audio files for the project.
Practice reading aloud so that when we are back from Easter holidays we'll work on it.




Monday, March 26, 2012

Assisi

We're still preparing to receive our Spanish friends of the Comenius Project. They will visit a lot of nice places such as Rome, Florence and Assisi. We're going to Assisi with class I D and I C. Here you can find the descriptions of the sites we will see together with some pictures,

In this file you find very essentials descriptions of Giotto's frescoes that are in the Upper Church of Saint Francis in Assisi.



Saturday, March 24, 2012

Translation Competition VIII


Here are the due dates for the work the 3rd year old students have to do for the eighth part of this activity:




III B: Flat Stanley, Chapter VIII by April 13th
III D: Flat Stanley, Chapter VIII by April 13th







     III A: Mercy Watson, Chapter VIII by April 13th

Thursday, March 22, 2012

What are they doing?


This week we reviewed present continuous tenses. Clicking here you can find some exercises and the grammar explanation I wrote in an older post last year.
Here are some pictures: describe them talking aloud.

What is he doing?

What are they doing?



Watch this video and then



take time to do some more exercise.
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=5504

Friday, March 16, 2012

My favourite film

This week in class III A and in class III B we talked about films. We learnt how to write the plot, how to give info about the actors and how to tell our opinion on the film itself.
Here are some points to remember when describing a film:



My favourite film is .............
The plot
It is an action film/a western/a comedy/a cartoon/a historical film/an adventure film/a historical film/ a musical/a science fiction film/ a war film/a crime film.....
The film is about .............
It is set in (town/city/place)........
The actors
The actors are ............
The main character is played by ......
The actor ...... plays ......
Your opinion
I like this film because......

Try to follow these tips and .... I'll read your works next week!

Get ready also to talk about the film in front of the class.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Accessories

And this morning some students created these flashcards with words they wanted to learn.




Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Free time flashcards

These flashcards are useful to review the lessons we had in class I A and I D.
Moreover they are useful to all the students to be able to speak about their free time, even for Trinity and for the end of year exams.

After having watched and listened to the flashcards try to do both the exercises and the games!



Receiving postcards from Leon and Izmir

Some days ago I delivered the postcards from Leon, Spain and I 've already wrote a post about it that you can read if you click here.

This morning I delivered the postcards from Izmir, Turkey. The students found these towns on the map and then started reading the postcards. They took the postcards home so that they can read and understand them better and they can also show them to their parents.
Evere time I give them the postcards it's a holiday! They are happy of receiving them, of looking at the wonderful images and of being connected to other students of the same age from all over Europe.
And ... I'm happy too both because they use English and because I see them full of enthusiasm for this eTwinning project "Postcards from our countries".


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Daily routine flashcards

Students of class I D created these flashcards this morning. They are useful to review daily routine vocabulary and playing the games is also fun!



TV Programmes

Yesterday in class III D we studied TV programmes and we talked about their favourite TV programmes.
This morning we created these flashcards.



Sunday, March 11, 2012

Clothes

Last week we've been reviewing clothes using the following structures:

What are you wearing?
I'm wearing .....

What is he/she wearing?
He/she is wearing .....

Here I found some videos about clothes so you can review these words once more and over and over again!







And here you can find some exercises too.
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6206
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1006
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6014

Letters from and to France and Finland

Students of class III D are still exchanging letters with French and Finnish friends.
The nice thing is that every time I send the letters the day after they ask me for the reply!
Writing letters is not like writing emails, it take a bit more time, more words, more effort but then the smiles and happiness on my students' faces tells that it is really worthy carry on with this project!

Enjoy this new video.


Try our video maker at Animoto.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Translation Competition VII


Here are the due dates for the work the 3rd year old students have to do for the seventh part of this activity:




III B: Flat Stanley, Chapter VII by March 22nd
III D: Flat Stanley, Chapter VII by March 22nd







     III A: Mercy Watson, Chapter VII by March 22nd

Presenting important cities and towns 1

Students of class II A are now presenting towns an cities of historical interest that are near our region  to their Polish and Turkish friends of the eTwinning project "Schools get together with History". As for the previous activity the made power point presentations working on them either alone or in paris. They had to search both for pictures and for some information using internet both at school and at home. 
And now the results!




Power Point made by Matteo

Presenting our region 6




Power Point made by Vanessa

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Presenting our region 5




Power Point made by Federica.

Presenting our region 4


orvieto


More PowerPoint presentations from chiara

Power Point made by Tania

Presenting our region 3



Narni


More PowerPoint presentations from chiara

Power Point made by Ilaria.

Presenting our region 2



gubbio 1


More PowerPoint presentations from chiara

Power Point made by Laura.

Presenting our region 1

Students of class II A are now presenting towns of their region (Umbria) to their Polish and Turkish friends of the eTwinning project "Schools get together with History". They prepared a power point presentation working on it either alone or in paris. They had to search both for pictures and for some information and for doing it they used internet both at school and at home. Here are the results!



Power point made by Guglielmo.


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Preparing the visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Our Spanish friends form Jerez de la Frontera will come very soon. And when they are here we will visit Florence and the Uffizi Gallery. So, to prepare the visit to this wonderful and very famous museum I chose some paintings to describe. The students will see the presentation, study the descriptions and then explain the paintings to their friends. Each student has got a work to present and here you can see the images better than in your handout. 



Here is an interesting video to watch.


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Playing cards!

Yesterday in class III D we reviewed everyday and free time activities together with adverbs of frequency in a different way: in fact we played cards!

How to play:
Divide students in groups of 3 or 4.
Each group has a set of activity card and a set of adverbs card.
The activity cards are given to the students.
The adverb cards are put face down on the table.
A students stars taking and adverb card and make a sentence like "I never go shopping".
If the group decides that the sentence is correct the student can discard the card.
The winner is the students who finishes the cards first.
If a students doesn't know the activity on the card or a word can ask for "help" first to the group then to the teacher. 







This game was really useful to review both vocabulary about everyday activities and free time and to review the use of the adverbs of frequency and their position in the sentence. The students realized the difference between usually, always, never ect. and everyday, once a week. In fact practicing saying these adverbs it came natural saying sentences like: "I always watch TV" and "I do homework everyday". This was also an enjoyable way to get ready for the conversation phase of the Trinity exams. 

First News

This year I made a subscription to the weekly magazine "First News" (you find the link on the right).
Every week I get a newspaper and I take it to school. I leave it in the English mini-library where the students can take a copy to read it at school or at home if they want to.
As this morning we had some time left at the end of the lessons I paired them up, they choose some articles they were interested into and read them.




After reading they had to write the words they didn't know in a piece of paper and look them up in the dictionary. For homework they have to reuse the words to form sentences that refer to a different context.  next week we'll see what they have found out and what they have created!

Much Ado about Nothing

In April students of III class will go to see a show at the theatre based on the Shakespeare's play "Much ado about nothing" that in Italian is "Molto rumore per nulla". They'll go there together with their Spanish freinds of the Comenius Project who are coming to visit us. 
Here you have the summary of the plot in Italian so you can get more info before we go to see the show.




Some students have already seen the dvd, some others will see it shortly.

Here I found a very nice video in English where you can see the effectiveness of words combiend with irony. 


A video in English.


And now the same video in Italian.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Have a nice week!

Our school: Lugnano

Here is a presentation I made with smilebox of the school of Lugnano for the etwinning project "Postcards from our countries".
Watch and enjoy it! We had a lot of fun making the pictures with the kids at school!


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