An American Teacher

Top 5 Quick Substitute Lesson Ideas

Cartoon image of an ill young woman (teacher for this post) lying in bed, propped up against her pillow, with a red ice pack on top of her head, wrapped in a blue blanket around her shoulders. A cat is curled up at the foot of her bed. She looks like she has a fever and is measuring it with a thermometer in her mouth.

5 essential, evergreen, no tech and low prep ideas for substitute lesson plans, for those unplanned absences!

Italian National Holidays: Teach Your Students About June 2nd

Blue sky background and the Italian Air Force Frecce tricolori squad in V formation, heading straight up, leaving contrails in the colors of the Italian flag: green, white, red.

Today is the 79th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the [Italian] Republic! On June 2nd and 3rd, 1946, almost 25 million Italians (89% of eligible voters) went to the polls to vote in a referendum on what form of government would represent them post-World War II. This referendum marked the end of the Italian constitutionalContinue reading “Italian National Holidays: Teach Your Students About June 2nd”

Creative Comics and Onomatopoeia Activities in the Classroom

a variety of blank speech balloons or thought bubbles in rows of three and in different shapes

Understanding Onomatopoeia: Sounds That Speak

Upper left hand corner: black silhouette or icon of a person with hurt knee saying Ahia in a speech balloon; lower left a ringing yellow bell with the caption Din don; lower right center, comic explosion graphics saying Bang, pum, boom; lower right corner: wow; center right a locomotive in black and white with white smoke from its smoke stack and grey smoke near the wheels stating ciuf ciuf; upper right corner: a yellow face emoji with full cheeks and holding a bitten apple, with the graphic caption gnam gnam; upper right center: comic explosion graphics, one on top is yellow and red with the word Vlan! and the lower one is a red explosion graphic with the comic bubble word Slap! in light blue.

What is onomatopoeia? Crack! Brrr! Mmmm! These sounds, representing actions, are onomatopoeic. In one blog I found this statement about onomatopoeic words: “…there is another way to make us understood without using meaningful words: onomatopoeias…” but I would argue that onomatopoeic words are very much meaningful as they are a helpful way of showing, notContinue reading “Understanding Onomatopoeia: Sounds That Speak”

Quick Onomatopoeia Lesson Plan for Kids

red barn with two haystacks peeking out from left and right side behind the barn with two horses' heads hanging out of an open Dutch door. Under the door are a white goat, a grey rabbit, a white goose, and a peach pig.

Learn Italian Animal Sounds: Fun Onomatopoeia Guide

This post all about onomatopoeia in Italian; the sounds animals make, for example, are not the same in Italian and English, though sometimes the sound is the same but the spelling uses Italian phonetics. Be prepared, though, for students to make these sounds in class – loudly! Cani e gatti (Cats and Dogs) While dogsContinue reading “Learn Italian Animal Sounds: Fun Onomatopoeia Guide”

4 Significant Contemporary and Modern Italian Women in Politics

Veduta interna dell'aula della Camera dei Deputati italiana

Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy On October 22, 2022 Giorgia Meloni took the oath of office as Italy’s first female Prime Minister. Born on January 15, 1977 in Rome, Meloni grew up in the Garbatella district of that district. Her father left the family when Meloni was young, so she grew up with aContinue reading “4 Significant Contemporary and Modern Italian Women in Politics”

8 marzo (March 8): La Festa della donna or Giornata internazionale della donna (International Women’s Day)

A bouquet of yellow mimosa flowers with 8 photographs of women from different parts of the world hung on a light pink background. 8 March Women's Day is written in red in the bottom right corner

March 8th is a worldwide day to celebrate women and their contributions to their societies and cultures. This tradition actually began on February 28, 1909, in the United States, to commemorate and honor the women protesting for better working conditions in a garment workers’ strike in New York City that happened in 1908. But accordingContinue reading “8 marzo (March 8): La Festa della donna or Giornata internazionale della donna (International Women’s Day)”

Where are the women?

Finding a complex problem for a problem-based learning unit can be daunting, but it does not have to be an earth-shattering or brand new issue to launch into a PBL unit and include students in the process. March is traditionally Women’s History Month and it spawned this question in my mind: where are the womenContinue reading “Where are the women?”

Navigating the Potential Pitfalls of Teaching Units on Family: Inclusive Alternatives to the Family Tree Project

Two brown kid hands stamped on white paper surrounding a red heart

Educators aim for a trauma-sensitive teaching approach to avoid harming students, particularly concerning family topics. Traditional family projects can stigmatize, prompting the need for reimagined activities focusing on self-identification and inclusive representations of family. Various creative alternatives highlight diverse family structures while fostering essential language learning and providing a supportive environment.