“La ripetizione è la madre della memoria”
(Repetition is the mother of the memory.)
Rhyme and repetition are key features of children’s stories. We used stories to reinforce language learning in Years 3 and 4.
Year 3 students learnt to read, speak and understand the script for the story of “The Little Red Hen” – “La Gallinetta Rossa”. Students chose narrators and characters for the performance. Students learnt to sing “Forza, Forza” which told the story in song. Year 3 parents and their teachers were invited as guests to be their audience.
One of the year 3 students commented: “Our performance is like a speaking choir.”
Year 4 students worked in small groups to learn to read, speak and understand the script for these stories: “The Little Red Hen” – “La Gallinetta Rossa”; “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff” – “I tre capretti Gruff”; and “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears” – “Riccioli D’Oro e I tre orsi.” Year 4 students performed their puppet shows for visiting classes as their audiences.
In both Year 3 and Year 4, students prepared puppet characters for their puppet shows, drawing their own interpretations of the story characters on paper plates.
The many facets of their learning are described in the elaborations from the Year 3 content descriptors in the Australian Curriculum – Italian. These different facets included in our lesson planning and creative activities include:
- Creating
Listen to, view and read a range of imaginative texts for children, and discuss messages and impressions.
Key concepts: story, drama, message.
Key processes: viewing, reading, predicting, describing, discussing.
Key text types: narrative, song, poetry.
- Translating
Translate texts to compare meanings and share understandings about aspects of Italian language and culture that are different from English
Key concepts: translation, comparison.
Key processes: translating, explaining.
- Systems of language
Experiment with pronunciation and intonation and use rules of spelling.
Recognise how grammatical structures are used to form simple texts.
- Language variation and change
Understand that language use varies according to the participants’ age, gender and relationship, and the context of use.
Evviva La Musica 