Foundation- La Sveglia Birichina

Level 1/2- Arcobaleno di Sapori

Level 3/4 – Tutti a Scuola

Level 5/6 – i Miei Amichetti

In Italian, students regularly use ICT tools to enrich their Italian language experience. A regular favourite across our school is the ‘Mindsnacks’ app.

Students use this app to learn to speak and read a foreign language by playing games. The games are designed to improve vocabulary and conversation skills. There are apps for Italian, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese and Portugese. Mindsnacks gives students an indication of their progress of vocabulary words as they progress through different topics and levels.

Students have been utilizing the app regularly to revise topics such as numbers. As Ripponlea Primary School has a strong Mathematics focus, it has been interesting to see children make links with mathematics in their classroom and their learning of the Italian numbers. It has been highly effective for students in Grade 3/4 during their focus on Weather and Seasons, as well as Grade 5/6 students who were learning to tell the time.

I strongly advise those who do not have the app to download it and enjoy…it is highly addictive and very rewarding!

So many things have happened over the last few weeks!
Many exciting experiences and news to share with you all…

Cannoli Day was a huge success!
Cannoli are a Sicilian dessert (Sicily being a region in Italy) that consists of crispy pastry tubes with a creamy filling, typically of sweetened ricotta cheese or custard.
The feedback from students on the day was that they were DELIZIOSO!

Some of the sweet delights… before the storm!

The Grade 5/6 students recently went on an Italian excursion attending the Melbourne International Film Festival to watch an Italian film screening at the ACMI. Afterwards, students strolled along leafy Lygon Street in Carlton, and discovered Melbourne’s own ‘Little Italy’, enjoying a delicious Italian lunch at a restaurant with their peers…Buon appetito!

Al ristorante…

Margherita pizza….buonissimo!

I also had the pleasure of attending the Grade 5/6 camp…one of the activities involved students learning about growing fresh produce from your own garden…and using ingredients to make our very own pizza, which was cooked to perfection in a wood fired oven (definitely the best way to cook a pizza!)

Recently, the Foundation students also learnt how to make pasta during their Italian class. They learnt how to cook spaghetti, just like Strega Nona!

Students learned that although using magic may have worked for Strega Nona, the most efficient method involves boiling water, salt and some pasta on hand! The pasta was cooked ‘al dente’. ‘Al dente’ literally translates to ‘to the tooth’, which refers to cooking pasta that is just a little firm on the inside- so that it has a nice bite to it!

Students in 3/4 have been learning a chant called ‘Scuola, Scuola’ that concerns school life. The chant is sung in tempo to the famous Neapolitan song ‘Funiculì, Funiculà’. Students are also rehearsing an Italian folk-style dance routine to accompany their chant to showcase to their peers!

Have a listen to Andrea Bocelli sing the real song…amazing!

‘Scuola, Scuola…siamo sempre la!’ 

Enjoy a ‘Colomba’ this Easter…or dieci!

What an amazing effort all of the students went to on Tuesday with their fabulous masks for our ‘Carnevale’ parade!
It was a lovely atmosphere seeing all the parents come along (and enjoy a coffee!)

Pronti per la festa!

Biscotti di Carnevale… fatti in casa!

Buonissimo!

Busy in the kitchen this weekend…ready for Carnevale day on Tuesday!

Check out the recipe below which was busy happening in the kitchen this weekend…

Can’t wait for all the students to try the tasty treats awaiting them!