March 19, Father’s Day in Italy
In Italy, Father’s Day – La Festa del Papà – is celebrated on March 19, the Roman Catholic feast day of Saint Joseph (San Giuseppe), the earthly father of Jesus Christ. This date is fixed on the liturgical calendar and does not change from year to year, unlike the moveable third Sunday in June observed…
A Guide to the Alphabet Soup of Education Acronyms (Especially in World Language Teaching)
Dear First Year Teacher, keep calm and read on! Anyone who has spent time in education – whether as a teacher, administrator, or curious parent – has likely encountered a bewildering parade of acronyms. In world language teaching especially, the jargon can feel like you need a decoder ring just to follow a department meeting.…
AI in the World Language Classroom: Helpful Tool or Academic Shortcut?
Artificial intelligence has arrived in the language classroom whether teachers invited it or not. Students at every level now have access to tools — ChatGPT, Google Translate, DeepL, Duolingo’s AI features, and many others — that can translate, conjugate, write essays, hold conversations, and even explain grammar rules in seconds. For world language teachers working…
La Festa della Donna
Suggestions for how to teach about Women’s Day to American students in Grades 7-12, including a lesson plan and student project guide. Do you celebrate Women’s Day? If so, how? Please share in the comments! What Is La festa della donna? Every year on March 8th, a unique celebration unfolds across Italy. Streets, workplaces, and…
Translanguaging in the Italian Classroom: A Practical Introduction for Italian Language Teachers in the United States
What Is Translanguaging? If you teach Italian in the United States, you already know your students bring a rich mix of languages into your classroom. Many speak English at home, others speak Spanish, Mandarin, or even Italian dialects passed down from grandparents. For a long time, conventional language teaching wisdom said: keep the target language…
Top 5 Quick Substitute Lesson Ideas
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
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 constitutional…
Creative Comics and Onomatopoeia Activities in the Classroom
Title: Sounds of Objects and Actions – Onomatopoeia Lesson Plan Grade Level: Not grade or language level specific Duration: One language block of 30-60 minutes (can be repeated for different topics over the course of an academic year) Materials needed: Smartboard/projector/computer, white or other drawing paper, crayons, pencils, Internet connection for leggiamo insieme con topolino…
Understanding Onomatopoeia: Sounds That Speak
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, not…
Quick Onomatopoeia Lesson Plan for Kids
Dear free newsletter/blog subscribers, I am offering you this quick, easy, low prep lesson plan for when you need a quick, filler type of lesson, like during early release schedules or during school wide testing periods, or at the end of the school year. Please let me know in the comments what you think -…
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Project-Based Italian 