Un grande saluto a tutti voi da Baveno, Italia!

A big hello to you all from Baveno, Italy.

To all my wonderful students. I have missed you and think of you most every day. I wish you could all be here with me to experince all that I love about Italy. After a few weeks in different places throughout the UK and Europe, including a brief stop in Venice, I am now in Baveno, a small town in the North of Italy, very close to the Swiss, French and Italian Alps. To give you an idea of distance, we drove from Montriond in the French Alps, through the Alps in Switzerland and then into Italy in less than 4 hours. That's right, three countries in four hours! The town of Baveno is situated on the stunning Lago Maggiore (The Greater Lake). In area, it is the second largest lake in Italy, after Lago di Garda and Lago Como. It is Italy's longest lake, spanning just over 64 kilometres. It runs through both Italy and Switzerland and there are many towns that overlook these Mediterranean waters. It is my third night here and at the moment, we are experiencing a summer storm. There has been lots of rain in the last two hours, but the temperature remains beautiful, currently around 26 degrees celcius. I believe it has been raining a lot in Perth, however, I'm sure it is very much colder.

I am posting a photograph of the view from our appartment. It is 8:30pm and if you look closely, you will see a rainbow. When the weather clears over the next day or two, I will post some more photographs 😊

I trust you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday break and hope you are enjoying the lessons I prepared for you. You have a wonderful relief teacher in Signora Stirling. I know you will all be making me very proud.

Divertiti! Riprendero' presto.

 Signora Isaia

Festa Della Mamma

Throughout weeks one to three, students across all years were introduced to how Mother's Day is celebrated in Italy. A very important day on the Italian calendar, the Festa Della Mamma (Festival of the mum), is celebrated on the same day as we pay tribute to our beautiful mums in Australia - i.e. - the second Sunday of May.
Some of the phrases students were introduced to, included:
Buona Festa Della Mamma (equivalent to saying Happy Mother's Day);
Ti voglio bene Mamma (I love you Mum), and
Tu sei la Mamma, piu` bella del mondo! (You are the most beautiful mum in the world!).
Below are some images of the mini projects students completed for their mums' special day.
Room 24

Room 28

Room 15

Ben tornato! Welcome back!

Commencing in Term 2, all children from years 1 to 6 will start to learn the Wattle Grove Primary School song in Italian. This is set to pose a significant challenge. Not only will most of the vocabulary be new, the rhyme and meter is very different from that which the children are familiar with. Of course at Wattle Grove Primary School, we never shy away from a challenge! It may, however, be necessary to simplify some of the Italian lyrics for the sake of ease and a better melodic flow. As we learn and practice together, we will have a better understanding of what changes may be necessary.

In the first few weeks of Term 2, testing will continue across all year groups in preparation for reporting. We will be learning some new vocabulary to share with our beautiful mums and grandmothers, in time for Mother's Day. As well, all years will either be completing or starting a project focusing on wild animals. This is in addition to year specific vocabulary warm-ups which continue to be incorporated into every lesson. The children will be aware they can access their vocabulary warm-ups, including revision from last last term and last year, right here on the blog!

Toward the end of Term 2, I will be on leave for 8 weeks. More information regarding the work I have set for the children and the teacher taking my classes, will ensue.

I look forward to another dynamic term of teaching your children the very beautiful Italian language
and culture.

Room 13 performing Canzone Saluti (The greetings song).

Congratulazioni

Congratulations to the following students who were recently awarded with being State Finalists in the inaugural Western Australian Association of Teachers of Italian video competition: "Ciak, si gira! Dammi un minuto!"

From Room 21: Mukesh, Natalie, Syrus and Boston.

From Room 26: 
Shantai, Fiona, Eden and Madison.
Su, Alyssa, Taylah and Amy.

Ciao a tutti

During weeks 4 and 5, children are undertaking end of year testing.
Students in years 1 and 2 have been learning the names of fruits and vegetables.
Students in years 3 and 4 have been learning about their school environment and stationary they may use in the classroom.
Students in years 5 and 6 have been introduced to sports and are consolidating their learning in the use of definite articles. In English, we have only one definite article, the. In Italian there are 6 common definite articles that are used according to the gender of nouns.
 All students have been introduced to the concept of time, including time of the day, past and present use of time, and how to ask for and tell the time.

Ciao a tutti

Throughout Term 3 students in years 5 and 6, as part of their formal term assessment, had the opportunity for selection into a State-wide video competition. Congratulations to the following groups of students on their success in being selected to enter:
 “Ciak Si Gira! Dammi un Minuto!”

Room 26
Madison, Eden, Shantai and Fiona
Su, Alyssa, Taylah and Amy

Room 21
Natalie, Syrus, Boston and Mukesh

Room 15
Namita, Chandrea, Tia and Nuha