Teaching Unit about the English Romantics

This year I am going to work on  Romanticism and  the Victorian  Age mainly.
Starting from January I will work on poetry and the English  Romantic Poets.
My teaching unit is about  Romanticism and I will work on it with my 4th year class students in a Liceo Artistico in Reggio Emilia.
My students do  Art and Art related subjects at school but they are also involved in studying Italian Literature, French Literature, History and Philosopy. I would like them to find  connections with the context of the European Romanticism, starting from the  Pre-romantics and the Sturm und Drang.

I have collected the main  texts and visuals online by using  a  WAKELET which I am going to share with my students.

We are going to use  materials taken from our English Literature  Book but  we will also use free online materials to exploit the world of  Romanticism.
The Learning path starts with the students viewing a film - this is homework  for them- and it is freely accessible from our  RAI portal- Bright Star.
This film is a focussed on the life of a young poet who died  in Italy -  Keats- and belongs to the second generation of the English Romanticism.

The next step will be on learning about new feelings and ideas in the late XVIII century by reading and viewing some videos.
Since Art and the Natural Landscapes are important I would like my students to focus on the works by some painters who are  associated to  Romanticism- this implies that the Teacher of Art will be asked to focus on the themes too.  I do really hope that this will help my learners to understand  the age of feelings and Romanticism.
The focus on the unit is on  poetry and we will deal with  some poets of the first generation of Romanticism and the key words like feelings, Nature, the role of the poet in writing  poems.
The poems will be  Daffodils and   some extracts taken from the  ballad  " The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner".

English poets shared different views about Art and  I would like my students to read and reflect on the poems by Keats " Ode to a Grecian Urn"  and  " Bright Star" .

   
Here is the Wakelet which I am going to share with my learners.






Evaluation and Tasks related to the unit about Romanticism

The activities done in class will be mainly based on a spoken interaction, this implies that  I will check the students' understanding and their  reading competences.

What I would like them to be able to do:
- to find connections with the time in which  the poets lived and find the main key ideas and differences with the past
- to be able to describe a painting and the emotions  we can share while thinking about  the landscape and the main characters in the painting
- to be able to express themselves by replying to  questions in English both in writing and in speaking tasks
- to use the language and the lexis related to literature and art correctly.

Hopes for the Future- education is crucial

We are approaching the end of a year which has seen many changes. I feel that the greatest  and most important change should involve education- we do need to care and provide  education for all the children in the world.

Their voices can help us work on a better world where they can achieve whatever they want to.
Education has been neglected in many regions and areas of this world but it can support  the development of individuals and help countries  grow.

Let's hope that  2020  will bring  new hopes for children!

#ForEveryChild, quality education is a right.

Hear the voices from children all over the world 🌐, on what they like to learn. And why they want to learn. 👇 pic.twitter.com/wDIr0IFM5E

— UNICEF Education (@UNICEFEducation) December 29, 2019

Erasmus+ in Dublin

Last July  I left for  Dublin and spent two weeks in the beautiful capital city of Ireland .

I chose  Alpha College in  Dublin where I had already studied  in 2014 . The course was focussed on the use of technology in education- most of the  apps  were free and  we worked on many  Google apps. The tutors were great and I really appreciated the workshops.  In the afternoons we were free or on some days we were guided to discover some cultural institutions and related to the past history of Ireland.

I must say that I was already familiar with many tools before I did the coursee but  what I wanted to do when I chose the course  was to work in English and to reflect on my teaching  experience.  I worked in a small group and I really liked trying new tools  or rather learn more about them.
We could also reflect on our  school systems and we learnt about other countries  and teaching  experiences. I worked  with educators from Spain and Eastern Europe. Everybody was kind and worked well.
Since I had already worked on European projects I was  ready to continue my  CPD.  I started many  years ago with  Leonardo  projects and then I won a scholarship for Comenius.  I was lucky but  I had also taken advantage  of what  Europe is doing for  education and  students. The money spent on such projects  should have an impact on our  life and also our systems of education.

My school is part of a European  Project - Erasmus + which we won last year and which is going to finish next year, in 2020.  The name of the project for Liceo Chierici is  Reach, which implies that our school wants to improve the   language competences of the educators and to provide new learning environments for our  students. Educators have been involved in attending courses abroad in order to better the language competences and  ICT while others  chose  some job  shadowing  experiences.

We want our  school to have a European vision and to help our learners to get access to new learning scenarios both at school and  abroad. When Reach finishes more educators will have learnt about  Europe and the many  projects  we can work on, but what really matters is that  our  school has a new horizon. Educators will be involved in sharing and maybe cooperating  with other schools.

Learning languages, working and studying abroad are a priority for many schools in Italy now. Educators started travelling  with the first  European projects and  some are still developing. My school is  working now to better what we have been doing  so far.

Some educators went  to Scotland and England, others  chose  Dublin  and Spain- Barcelona.  Some will leave in some months and  will go to Dublin and also to France. We are becoming  an international school thanks to this project.

Here is my reflection in Italian which I have shared with the other educators in my school and which I hope will help other educators to develop new learning  paths.

I cannot but say that Europe is helping me as an educator and that  I will try to  develop new skills  among my students, supporting  their learning experiences.

Europe is also supporting people who are unemployed and financing  many projects that are aimed at promoting   life long learning.

I cannot understand why people are against Europe. Europe needs to improve the life of its citizens and education and work are crucial for today and also for the future. Education and better education are our aim.

Erasmus+ is a great opportunity, we cannot but say  " Thank you   Europe! "