The St James Learning Community was a buzz celebrating Italian Day. The school were entertained by a Commedia dell’arte an early form of Italian theatre. Each learning community then completed Italian language and cultural activities to celebrate the day.
Prep Learning Community
Prep learners dressed in Italian-themed clothing or the colours of the Italian flag to join in the fun. They also enjoyed some delicious pizza for lunch!
Jessica then came in to teach us about a special Italian celebration called Carnevale, where people wear colourful costumes and masks. She showed us pictures of Carnevale and explained how the celebrations vary in different regions of Italy.
Prep learners loved creating their own vibrant Italian masks using a variety of materials such as sequins and feathers. Each mask looked unique and creative!
Next, the Preps learned about two of Italy’s most famous landmarks — the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum. They then carefully sculpted one of these landmarks using clay, paying great attention to detail.
For snack time, the Preps enjoyed tasty mini meatball subs and refreshing mango gelati. To finish off the day, they learned about the meaning of the colours in the Italian flag and created their own flags using confetti.
The Prep Learning Community had a wonderful day celebrating Italian culture and history. It was an engaging and hands-on experience that they will remember fondly!
Junior Learning Community
Italiano Day was a fantastic opportunity for us to come together and celebrate Italian culture. As a Junior Learning Community, we took part in many fun and exciting activities; such as viewing an Italiano comedy show called ‘Commedia dell’arte’. We also designed and decorated our own Italiano Carnevale mask and tasted some authentic Italiano polpette with sugo pomodoro and pane (beef meatballs slow cooked in tomato sauce with crusty bread) and crostoli (crispy fried Italian pastries). We all had a fun day celebrating all things Italy!
Middle Learning Community
The Middles had a ‘bel momento” time on St James’ Italiano Day. We explored famous landmarks of Italy, including the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum. Afterwards we created clay models of these landmarks. Next, the middles viewed a virtual tour on a gondola through Venice. We made small versions of gondolas using cardboard and our creative minds. It was a ‘favolosa’, day.
Senior Learning Community
In the Senior Learning Community, we explored the famous artist and sculptor, Michelangelo. After studying his incredible artwork on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, learners had a go at recreating his experience by drawing on paper attached beneath their tables. It was hard to believe that Michelangelo worked like this for 4 years, our learners were complaining about sore arms and backs after 10 minutes!
