Around the World in 180 Days

A student's school enrollment for a year is usually 180 days. During this time, our social studies curriculum is based on various countries throughout the year. It is understood that the study of these countries MUST align with social studies curriculum standards.


Here is a sample of a lesson plan for the study of the country of Italy:

1. Introduce the country of Italy by locating it on a map of Europe.

2. Discuss how we could get to Italy if we wanted to visit. (Modes of transportation)

3. Show an Italian Flag and discuss its three colors. Have students color their own Italian flag.**

4. Introduce Christopher Columbus as a brave explorer. Share book: Let's Read about Christopher Columbus. Discuss facts from the story.**

5. Create a passport stamp to paste in "passport". (This can be done through the students' own artistic expression or through the downloading of clipart from the internet.)

6. Show pictures of Italian children in traditional dress. Have students color pictures of Italian children and traditional Italian food. (These can be found through the internet or from reproducible books at teacher supply stores.)*

7. Review what has been learned about Italy so far. (For each country, much research must go into the most important facts that are relevant and developmentally appropriate for your students. Most of my information came from non-fiction books and internet searches.)

8. Discuss Italian artist, Leonardo Da Vinci and show pictures of his art. **

9. Share pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and any books about it.**

10. Craft: Make a mosaic of students' choosing or pre-made picture from one-inch squares of construction paper glued onto a sheet of art paper.

11. As a culminating activity, students will use the internet for images to include in a powerpoint presentation to illustrate facts they learned during the unit of study on Italy. (For younger children, this could be done by having one powerpoint presentation created with each students completing one slide with a graphic and fact from the unit. Older students could create their own multi-slide presentation through collaboration with one another or independently.)*

*Powerpoint slideshows will be presented through the use of a laptop and projector.
**Books read and pictures shared will be displayed through the use of an ELMO document camera and projector.