We’re back!

Welcome back and Happy New Year everyone!
We closed last year sipping hot chocolate in our pyjamas, sharing Choosing Time in the foyer and wished each other Happy Holidays with winter stories and songs.
We start the year with new energy and excitement, and our first day back was a chance to look around and say hello to old and new friends: some have had haircuts, some have lost a tooth, some have grown taller, and some have new shoes, as the old ones didn’t fit anymore.
We also welcomed a new ECC teacher, Ms Salvina, who has joined the Pre-Nursery teaching team.
We are all eager to start on our learning journeys again, and see where 2020 will take us!

Ms Nilva
Head of ECC

Positive emotions ensure language learning success! Just ask our German students!

Keeping in mind the impact of positive emotions in learning, students are constantly involved in “hands on” activities which have the aim of making the topic meaningful by performing physical activities while having fun.

Grade 6 students are learning numbers. What better way to consolidate learning than having fun playing BINGO and getting some little prizes? The students were also asked to make a drawing out of a written text with the topic “WHAT CAN YOU SEE FROM THE WINDOW?”, thus learning how to get on top of a text using the dictionary.

Grade 7 students performed a DIALOGUE AT THE MARKET buying fruit and vegetables. Their performances were recorded and subsequently analysed by the students themselves focusing on pronunciation and on possible improvements. The Grade 7’s also made a poster describing their recent FIELD TRIP TO FLORENCE, thus consolidating the verbs in the past tense, means of transport, places to visit, weather and food.

Grade 8 students are working on a VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE SCHOOL. Students are writing the script with data about the school and imaginable conversations with a visitor and will subsequently film all parts of the school presenting the building to a visitor.

Grade 7 and 8 students were also involved in the TRANSLATION PROJECT from German into English of the Christmas Calendar containing stories about how Christmas is celebrated all around the world.

Frau Laura Seraffini
Middle School German Teacher

A Jingling Round of Applause for Our Carollers!

The Elementary students were in fine voice again for their Winter Concert. This year we were lucky enough to have our friends from Kindergarten make their debut, singing along with the older children! With the help of our maintenance staff, the car park became a concert venue as our students sang for the parents on the steps in front of the school. The repertoire included the usual favourites and some less well-known songs from around the world. It was a wonderful atmosphere and certainly reflects what makes The Udine International School a very special place.

And this was not the end of the story! We then moved to Largo Dei Pecile to enchant shopkeepers and passers-by with our charming voices! The encore was a success once again!

Our sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make the event a great success – with a special thanks, as always to Maestro Denis!

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

REUSE AND RAFFLE!

The  Elementary students have had an exciting couple of days exchanging toys in a fundraiser for the Still I Rise project.