N is for Nutella

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Buon Giorno! ...goodmorning readers, and welcome to the wonderful world of Ms. Sarahs Blogging. Or should I say Mrs. Sarah...in some of my first year classes (6th grade) I had to teach the difference between Ms. and Mrs. Here, they simple say Professor...(fill in Surname here. Surname= last name.) I have had many first year students call me Mrs. Sarah. I told them not to make this mistake in most American schools because than you will assume the teacher is married. I also tell them to call me Ms. Sarah because my last name is much too long for them to say. Preschoolers at home call me Ms. Sarah too! Simple is where to start off with a langauge. It goes the same for me....I have been here over a month now and still pronouce very few names correct during roll calls in class. The teacher has me take roll call to practice my Italian....Mario, Lucia, Giorgio, Martina, Frederico....easier read than said...they look easy on paper but try to pronounce the names correctly....Oh me odea! (...Oh my gosh) I correct the students English, they correct my Italian. Two way Learning 😊

In my 2nd year classes (7th grade) we have been working on the ABCs of Torino. I brought an ABC book of Minneapolis and St. Paul to my host family as a host gift when I came to Torino. So, as per my host mothers/teachers awesome idea...we are using this book in our second year classes to teach the students about Minnesota, but also for them to make a similiar book about Torino. This has been an awesome lesson to do because the students learn about many landmarks in Minnesota....(or famous people in Minnesota...because even I was unfamiliar with some of the famous Minnesotans mentioned!) The book sounds like a Preschool book but, it comes with very much detail about each Landmark metioned. The students are very curious to learn about the Minneapolis landmarks, most popular amongest the 2nd year students is the famous cherry on the spoon art structure in Minneapolis sculpture garden, this is on the A page...A is for Art. The students OOOOO and AHHHH at this photo! Perhaps the more modern art really catches their eyes...its not often to see modern art in Torino. My favorite pages the students made so far is B is for Bicherin. Which is the tasty chocolate, coffee, alcohal drink here. Ofcourse the students must have it alcohal free.... And another favorite psfe is N is for Nutella! ...because the Nutella factory is here. It is actually in a 'suburb' of Turin but the Italians say it is in Turin.....such as we say something is 'in' Minneapolis.

In the 3rd year classes I am doing a series of lessons on 5 states. So far I have done lessons on Minnesota and California. I was sure to tell the students about the myth of Paul Bunyan from Minnesota. I emphasized that not all Minnesotans were red flannel nad have an ox named Babe! Ofcourse California is a more well known state than Minnesota so they had much more to add to my presentation about California. Happy I was at least able to tell the students some California sports teams thanks to Jennies notes. The 3rd year boys know more about American sports than me....oops :/

A photo I have along with this blog is an exercise I made for the students. I wrote sentences, ripped them apart and asked the students to put the sentences together correctly. If you know me, you know I love home made, low cost, or even free teaching tools! Here is small proof that you do NOT need to bring any teaching materials when teaching abroad....all this took was a piced of paper, a writing utensil, and the students Ofcourse 😉 engaging and hands on practice for the students..we even made it a 'race' who can make the sentences faster. Races Always make Learning more fun....but only when the students maturity levels can handle it. It is easy for us, as native English speakers to see the mistake the students made in the sentences. A task that seems simple for us....not so simple for an English language learner.

Weekend plans....off to the seaside with the host family! I am ready for some bellissimo (lovley) views.

I saw it was 1 degrees today in Minnesota...I mean -17 celcious...I must Always convert for the Italain students when I tell them the Minnesota temperature! They cannot believe how cold it is....I remind them that this considerably warm by Minnesota standards.

Arredeverci! (goodbye, farwell)...untill I blog again.

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Photos

I wanted to share the group bike photo
I was just able to access this Group photo. We all had an incredible time biking through Barcelona...!

Sentence excercises with students
English practice...

Student excercises
Here is how the students arranged the sentence..