- How is my grade calculated?
- Is extra help offered?
- How can I improve my Italian?
- How can I understand what is going on in class if I don't know Italian?
- Do you speak English in class?
- I understand that your orals are not scripted. How does that work?
- How often do you give homework?
- Why aren't all the presentations from the entire year on the site?
- What is your e-mail address?
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How is my grade calculated?
Your grade is made up of the following:
10% homework
10% participation
40% oral practice/presentations
40% written quizzes/tests
These grading rules are standard across all languages.
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Is extra help offered?
Yes. For Hammarskjold students, help is available by appointment on
Wednesdays after school. For Churchill students, students may make
arrangements with me to meet at Hammarskjold after school. If this is not
possible, I can arrange for another Italian teacher to help you after school
at Churchill.
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How can I improve my Italian?
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Please don't be afraid to speak - the more you
speak the more natural it will feel and the better you will become. It
doesn't matter if you are not saying everything perfectly - what matters is
that you can get your point across to another Italian speaking person. Of
course, grammatical accuracy is something to strive for but that will come
in time. You can also go on the various authentic sites listed on my links
page to further your exposure to Italian and the culture.
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How can I understand what is going on in class if I don't know Italian?
You are not expected to understand everything that is said in beginning.
Since the entire class is conducted in Italian and you will not know much to
communicate, it is crucial that you pay attention and practice in class and
at home. You will be given a list of commands that you will hear the
teacher say and you will practice in class performing those commands. You
will also be given a list of common useful phrases that you will be expected
to use in class every day. Those phrases will be extremely helpful to get
you through the beginning until you begin to understand and use language on
your own. You will be surprised at how quickly you will understand Italian!
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Do you speak English in class?
The entire class is conducted in Italian and students are expected to speak
in Italian. Though it may sound scary now, it is a very effective way to
learn a language and you will find that as you progress through the year,
you will be able to understand most of what is being said. English will be
used occasionally to answer questions or to clarify. Students will be made
aware which times are appropriate to use English through the use of
an "English Permitted" sign. When the sign says "Italiano", Italian is the
only language that is acceptable at that time.
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I understand that your orals are not scripted. How does that work?
Orals are conversations between two or more people in different scenarios.
Students are not permitted to memorize a script of what they plan to say.
Students will be told what they are expected to talk about and students will
practice with random partners in class to feel more comfortable. When
students perform their orals, they will not know who their partners are or
which person they will be in the situation until they are called up to
perform. The focus is on real life communication and in a real life
situation it is not possible to write a script as to what you will say.
This is what we try to replicate in the classroom so that when your child
does go to Italy, s/he will be able to communicate.
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How often do you give homework?
Some form of homework is given every day except Fridays. Homework may be a
written assignment, a study assignment or both. Please check your child's
agenda to make sure s/he is doing her/his homework.
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Why aren't all the presentations from the entire year on the site?
It was my goal to keep all of the presentations from the entire year on the
site so that students could refer back to them as necessary. Unfortunately,
there is not enough memory alloted on the site to keep them all there.
Instead, I can only keep the most recent presentations on the site.
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What is your e-mail address?
ldangelobonelli@ebnet.org
