In classe si legge il giornale!
Cronaca, reportage, articolo di spalla, taglio basso sono solo alcune delle parole chiave protagoniste delle lezioni di italiano nelle prime settimane di dicembre in sesta. Dopo aver analizzato la struttura della testata di un giornale, gli studenti hanno provato a cimentarsi con la lettura di alcuni articoli di quotidiani, proposti dall’insegnante, e li hanno commentati insieme.
Oltre all’argomentazione rispetto alle vicende e ai fatti accaduti, locali ed internazionali, gli alunni hanno notato, a livello testuale, una diversa struttura sintattica e lessicale. Proprio la terminologia specifica è stata oggetto di spiegazione ed approfondimento, e si è cercato di rendere alcune delle nuove parole più fruibili ed accessibili anche nelle produzioni scritte richieste in classe.
I ragazzi hanno risposto all’attività con entusiasmo ed interesse, proponendo loro stessi la lettura e il commento di alcuni articoli di cronaca locale degli ultimi giorni. Chissà se questo esperimento darà l’impulso ad una sana curiosità nei confronti dell’articolo di giornale… io lo spero proprio!
L’insegnante
Paola Bazan
SHAKESPEARE’S TWELFTH NIGHT
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
“If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it!” So begins Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comedy of mistaken identity, romance and general tomfoolery. In their work with learning more about literary history, the Grade 7 literature students have recently studied the bard in great detail. They have read and written some sonnets, learned more about the state of England in the Elizabethan age, and finally had the chance to perform some of his immortal lines themselves – though whether they achieved greatness or merely had greatness thrust upon them is still up for debate!
Mr Osmundsen
NEW USES FOR OLD THINGS
Move over Ms Cinzia and Ms Cristina, the new secretaries have arrived! Thanks to the Kindergarten parents who kindly donated phones, laptops, keyboards and calculators, our classroom has been turning into all types of offices this week. Children have been writing names and numbers and discussing appointments, orders, and passwords. Used tickets and maps have enhanced our learning spaces even more, and helped us to recognize numbers and words everywhere. What a great reminder that we can find new uses for old items, instead of throwing them away.
Ms Nilva
Kindergarten Teacher
OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing” says a famous proverb. Rugged up in warm coats, scarves and beanies, the Pre-Nursery children have been enjoying playing in the garden even in the cold weather. The outdoor environment offers many important learning opportunities for young children. Pre-Nursery are working on their gross motor skills as they ride bikes and tricycles around the playground; they are developing a connection to nature as they look for minibeasts around the garden; they are developing social skills as they begin to engage in simple group games. Outdoor learning is crucial for children’s emotional and physical wellbeing and we are lucky to have such a beautiful and ample outdoor space.
Ms Paola Perosa
Pre-Nursery Teacher
SCIENCE WEEK
From the 18th – 22nd of November the Middle School students celebrated Science Week, with the aim of engaging and inspiring students of all ages to explore the fascinating world of Science!
Grade 6 were asked to investigate experiments that they could try in class. They were encouraged NOT to try the test first, but to predict what they thought might happen. The students had to demonstrate and talk about their experiments to lots of visitors.
Grade 7 investigated the Science of Sport. In small groups they selected different sports, which they then researched. Their presentations explained how the sport and related equipment actually work and they spoke about physics, chemistry and biology in their presentations.
Grade 8 had the task of planning a lesson for the Elementary students, where they became the teachers! All of the objectives were met and a fun time was had by all. The students now have a greater appreciation of what is involved in planning a lesson.
Miss Rodas & Mr Green
Middle School Science Teachers
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THE N3 “FAMILY HANDS” PROJECT
In Nursery 3, the students have been learning about themselves and their families. To explore some of the differences and similarities both inside our families, and between them, we asked each family to help with a weekend home project where the children had to trace, cut and decorate the hands of different family members.
Children enthusiastically completed the assigned ‘homework’ and brought their finished work to school for their peers and teachers to see. In class, we used the hands for a variety of purposes, such as sorting according to size (small for children, big for grownups), counting the fingers from 1-5, and much more. Soon we will place the hands on the display board right outside the N3 classroom for everyone to come and have a look.
Ms Adriana
N3 Teacher
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REFLECTING ON RIGHTS
November 20th was Universal Children’s Day, and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Convention on the Rights of the Child UIS invited a special guest speaker.
Lawyer (and UIS Parent!) Federica Tosel came and dedicated her time to explain what rights children have, but also to make it clear that with these rights come responsibilities. “We are given an education but we have the responsibility to do our best every day.”
Grade One have been discussing and questioning what needs and wants are. They have been sorting statements into needs or wants. Needs are what we need to survive, to have a full life. We all have basic needs, which we cannot live without. Then there are things that we want but don’t need to survive. Every child has rights to these basic needs, whatever their ethnic background, religion, gender, language or ability. Children must be informed of their rights so that they can speak up when their own, or someone else’s rights, are not being respected.
Mrs Tosel played some games with us to help us understand that not everything that makes us feel good is a need. As the children walked out of the assembly they reflected on how lucky they are to live in a country that supports their rights and also thought about the children living in other parts of the world who are not as fortunate.
We were given a bracelet and asked to write what we can do to help… there is so much we can do every day. Being kind to one another and being respectful of each other’s beliefs is a great place to start.
Ms Daniela
Grade 1 teacher
Daniela DiBiaggio
Grade 1 teacher
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AM I LIVING?
Am I living? Is a car living? How do I know? A car moves, it needs fuel, it lets out gas. So is it living? The Grade One scientists have been investigating living and non-living things. We have been on nature walks observing living and non-living things in our garden, we have looked for pictures to identify things that are living, non-living and those that have never been alive, we have learned about life cycles, and we have even had a special visitor. Noodles the hedgehog came to class and we had so many questions. We observed Noodles closely and learned all about hibernation, how she moves, when hedgehogs have babies, along with many other things. This week some Grade Eight students are coming to teach us about plants. We are really becoming experts!
Rhiannon Thomas
Grade 1A Science and Social Studies teacher
THE EXPLOSION INTO WRITING
Maria Montessori called it ‘the explosion into writing’: a phenomenon we are witnessing at its fullest in the Nursery 4 class these days, as the children are showing such great enthusiasm in writing, which is now embedded in almost everything they do. Children are spontaneously engaging in mark-making activities during choosing time; from keeping scores during group games to writing messages during imaginative games, to labelling their creations when they draw. The weekly Phonics sessions are supporting the children’s ability to form letters correctly and their understanding of letter-sound correspondence, and they are beginning to incorporate these skills accurately in their writing.
Miss Valentina
Nursery 4 Teacher
AUTUMN ITALICA ART
Autumn gives us so many beautiful scenes of vibrant colours and textures! So to bring the outside into our classrooms for Autumn week, Grade 4 decided to take a moment to capture the season by creating a landscape which was decorated using the italica handwriting that we’ve been working on so far this term. The children loved working closely together, snuggled up on the floor making their mark collectively, which resulted in a stunning piece of art work. We thought that hanging it outside the dining room would be a good place to show it off to the rest of the school. We were delighted to discover that it had inspired some Grade 1 children to have a go at making their own pictures with letters, who took a trip upstairs to Grade 4 to show us their work.
Alison Horrobin
Grade 4A teacher
