Italian Pen and E-Pal Project

It is very exciting to confirm that a relationship has been established with a network of schools in Baveno, north of Italy. At the end of 2017, children in rooms 17 and 12 wrote in Italian to the students of Feriolo Primary School, telling them a little about themselves and their family traditions. It was wonderful for the children to read the letters that were received in return.
I have recently received correspondence from another school within the network, Fogazzaro. Students from this school have an English club where they have been studying Australian animals. They have shared projects they have been working on about the animals native to their part of Italy. Throughout the April school holidays, I will be considering what class, or group of students will have the opportunity to build a relationship with the students of this new school. In the meanwhile, please take the time to read a little about school life on the other side of the world, in beautiful Italy. Grazie per l'attenzione.

Benvenuti i genitori, la famiglia e gli amici.

Welcome parents, family and friends 

to the Italian Program at Wattle Grove Primary School.

Dear Parents and Guardians

My name is Kylie Isaia (or as I am known to the students, Signora Isaia). This is my third year teaching Italian at Wattle Grove, after a tremendously exciting two years getting to know your children. I feel truly blessed teaching at a school with such cultural diversity and high expectations of student learning. Just as I am confident your children have engaged and learned a lot about the Italian language and culture, I too have learned from your children, their culture, their thirst for knowledge, their unique talents and personalities. 

In 2018 all students from years 2 to 6 will revise and extend their vocabulary, knowledge and understanding of the Italian culture. For families with students in year 1, commencing their Italian learning journey, I wish to take this opportunity to introduce myself and provide you a summary of my approach to teaching and learning, as well as a bit about the Italian program for this year.

 A little about myself….

I married into an Italian family 20 years ago and quickly resurrected my love for the Italian language and culture having studied it for several years at school. Over the last 10 years my family have derived immense reward from hosting Italian exchange students, building lifelong relationships with them and their families. My husband and I and our two daughters have been fortunate to travel to Italy to absorb ourselves in the language and the culture and I have witnessed firsthand the profound benefits our daughters have gained from their own independent exchange experiences. 

Benefits of learning an additional language

The Australian Government have recognised the benefits of children learning an additional language, reintroducing a compulsory language curriculum for primary and early secondary students commencing this year and supporting six languages, including Italian. “Research shows learning languages develops children’s overall literacy, strengthening literacy-related capabilities that are transferable across learning areas” (Australian Government Early Learning Languages Initiative, 2015).  As well as teaching values of acceptance, tolerance and understanding of other cultures, learning an additional language has far reaching advantages including enhanced communication, academic and critical thinking skills and significantly, personal skills including increased self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience (Department of Education, NSW).

Why Italian?

The Italian language is considered to be one of the closest languages to English with a large percentage of both languages derived from Latin origins. For the many students at Wattle Grove that have English as their second language, Italian will assist in enriching their English vocabulary due to many similar and familiar language roots. Phonetically, Italian is one of the easiest foreign languages to read, write and pronounce. Competence in the Italian language may provide future career opportunities particularly in the areas of the arts, music, sciences, film, fashion, cuisine and hospitality.  Knowledge of Italian may be particularly  beneficial for students studying music and is often necessary for tertiary academic, business and social research students (Italian Language Centre).  Of course for families hoping to travel to Italy and the many parts of Europe where Italian is spoken, being able to speak a little of the local language can add immense satisfaction to the travel experience.

Italian at Wattle Grove Primary School

The Italian program for 2018 will incorporate study of both the language and culture. It is designed in accordance with the outcome requirements of the Western Australian Curriculum. Students will be taught in line with a whole school explicit instruction approach, including weekly vocabulary warm-ups designed to aid retention. With my personal background in music and the theatre arts, lessons will be designed to engage students and delivered to meet different learning styles, for example, through the use of technology, drama, music and play-based activities in conjunction with more formal delivery styles.

Homework and how you can help

Learning a new language requires commitment and regular practice.  As the timetable is only able to accommodate a 50 minute period, once per week, parents can assist their children by prompting them to share new words they have learned each week.  Homework will only ever consist of a few words, a phrase, or a sentence that I will encourage and challenge children to find ways of incorporating into daily conversations.

For families and children wanting to extend their knowledge, I recommend the program Duolingo, available free both online at www.duolingo.com and also as an iPad/phone application. The program provides mini lessons that can be completed in as little as 5 minutes, and enables children to set their own learning goals.

If you would like to learn more about the Italian program for 2018, I welcome the opportunity to meet with you. I am available by appointment by phoning the school, or alternatively, feel free to email me at kylie.isaia@education.wa.edu.au. 

Apprendimento felice! Happy learning!

Letters from Pompeii

Year 5 and 6 students recently completed a unit learning about the devastation of Pompeii after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, Italy on the 24th August, 79 AD. Children read the letters of an eye witness account from Pliny the Younger to his historian friend, Tacitus. As part of their assessment for the unit, children were to write a letter to a loved one as if they lived through the devastation of that tragic 24 hours in history. I was extremely impressed by the commitment many of our students made to writing a creative and emotive letter. The following is a beautifully recorded letter depicting the essence of the era, written by Catherine from Room 28. 

My Dear Antonio,

What I have to tell you is one thing history will never forget.

I was doing what I was usually doing, practicing what Mother and Father say I am great at, drawing. I was reclining on the luscious sofa drawing my beautiful view of Herculaneum, one of my neighboring cities. All of a sudden, the ground shook a little and my mother felt as if something was terribly wrong. "Darling, tell Astios to send a message to your father saying: come home quick!" The ground is only shaking but I feel as if something is terribly wrong! And Darling, stay with me". I laughed a little at mother's embarrassing short poem but it's obvious that they were made for each other.

So, my father desperately came home. It's now 2:00pm and I'm very worried because I see very dark and toxic looking smoke racing up the gigantic mouth of Mt. Vesuvius. I didn't want to tell my parents because they already had a lot to handle with my father's business. But my younger sister, Adriana told my parents and they ordered us to start packing. No sooner had those words left their mouth, a loud BOOM met our ear drums [followed by] a shower of ash and rocks.  We were frightened by the awful sight as our joyful and heart-warming city had been nearly half buried under dark ash and rocks. My eyes started watering but a good thing was I couldn't see the dreadful sight.  Mother and Father decided to leave Pompeii once and for all and didn't hesitate to put their plan into action.

But I didn't want to leave. I had my friends and family here. And our house and belongings. Besides, this is our hometown! But my bratty sister thought this was a joke. "Yay! We're moving to a different land! Where the birds are chirping, blues skies like blankets, per....." Adriana was dreaming "Adriana?! Can't you see we are about to get killed along with an entire city! Who knows if South Italy might get wiped out with us?!", I screamed. "Catherina, don't talk to sister like that Darling. Adriana, your sister has a point, this is very serious. From now on, she is in charge of you. Listen to her, okay Dear", my mother said, very subtlety. Meanwhile, my father had nearly finished packing. But just as we were about to leave, CRASH! Something fell down but we saw nothing except the things from the shake. Then another CRASH! We looked down from our balcony, and we saw tiles. Tiles were falling off our roof!

So, we ran south as far away as we could from Mt. Vesuvius. The ground started shaking and the volcano started making angry sounds! Everything was getting destroyed! Suddenly, when we were at least 3 cities away from Pompeii a black smoke started coming out Vesuvius and everything in its way started getting destroyed! It was the pyroclastic flow! We hid as it made its way towards us but it stopped in front of a huge building..

After a week, we returned back to Pompeii but EVERYTHING was destroyed so we decided to live in another city for 2 years while father and mother people started rebuilding. Life was very different because it was so plain but it's better to live poorly than to have no life, right? We lived in a plain apartment with plain food and clothes. We could only wear our dresses on special occasions so this is life, right? But I'm grateful for it.

Yours sincerely,

Catherina (Catherine).

L'incredibile Cinque Terre

Ciao a tutti.

I write this on my last day in Italy. Whilst I am sad to be leaving this beautiful country, its people, food, stunning landscapes and the wonderfully warm weather, I am looking forward to seeing you all on my return in just a few, short days. I have posted below some photographs of the breathtaking landscapes and villages of the Cinque Terre. Can you guess what Cinque Terre means in English? That's right, there are five 'lands', or centuries old villages that are built into the coastline of the Italian Riviera. The villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore can only be visited by train or by taking a boat or ferry. Only the locals who live there and services such as the police, ambulances, postal and produce deliveries are able to access the villages by vehicle.

The Liguria region in which the Cinque Terre is built, is famous for its pesto sauce made from the herb basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper. I'm sure a lot of you will have tried it before. It is delicious, especially on hand made pasta. I hope to be able to make pasta and pesto with you all, later in the year.

I am very excited to share with you all the many photos I have taken, as well as a competition I am currently planning for the last week or two of Term 3.

Until Monday, keep smiling, stay warm and sogni d'oro 😊

Signora Isaia

Scuola elementare a Baveno

Ciao a tutti

Today, I leave Baveno and the very beautiful Lago Maggiore and travel to the Cinque Terre (more to come about this spectacular region).

A few days ago, I left a note for the principal of an elementary school in Baveno. Baveno Elementary School is a state school, like Wattle Grove and similar to a primary school in that students are from the ages of 5 to 11. I wrote of our wonderful school and how much I would like an opportunity for our two schools to develop a relationship so that we may all learn about each others' language and culture - just like we are learning from our sister school in Canada. As all schools in Italy are closed for the summer holidays, until mid-September, I have left my letter with the lovely lady who lives next door to the appartment I was staying in. She told me she will be very happy to pass my letter on to the principal when school returns. I have everything crossed we will receive some good news in the weeks to come. Below are a couple of photos I took of the school. It looks pretty different to ours, doesn't it?

This time next week (Monday, Week 6), I will back to see all your smiling faces. Until then..... ridi😁

Signora Isaia

Divertimento sulla funivia

Ciao a tutti

Today, I took a ferry (traghetto) from Intra, near Baveno on the west side of Lago Maggiore to the east side commune of Laveno. Here I went near to the summit of Sasso del Ferro (1,100 metres altitude), by riding in a funivia (cable car). Unlike other cable cars I have been on, these were like open capsules for only 1 or two people at a time. It was a little bit scary to begin with, then the splendour of the breathtaking views over Lago Maggiore, the Alps, the Lombardy Lakes and the Po Plain, had me totally absorbed. The funivia is not only used as a mode of transport but for the restaurants and small shops nestled at the top, to send their rubbish bins to be emptied at the bottom.

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