A Snapshot of Italy

Hello, this is Carolyn Wilhelm from The Wise Owl Factory again, this time with a blog post about Italy.  After all, all roads do lead to Rome. I'm including a Free Snapshot of Italy SMART board and a free Snapshot of Italy Power Point interactive presentation for your classrooms.  The presentation is, "A Snapshot of Italy" with an A to Z section, and work pages with answer keys in the second section.


Did you know if you travel to Italy and toss a coin over your shoulder into Trevi Fountain it will insure your return trip?  And if you find yourself near the Mouth of Truth and put your hand in the mouth, it will be bitten off if you have told a lie?  Well, these "facts" may be myths but they are fun to think about.

Ice Cream, pizza, and pasta are all from Italy, and I'm sure your students would like to know that important information!  It is close to the end of the school year and time for learning some things that may not be on that mandated test.  Sometimes the end of the year is the most fun as there is some time to expose students to new and interesting topics.

Mount Vesuvius is best known for the eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  The two other major active volcanoes in Italy are Etna and Stromboli, and are are located on the islands of Sicily and Stromboli.  This is according to Wikipedia. 

I also consulted the children's picture book (although it could be used as an actual travel guide) THIS IS ROME, by M. Sasek.  It had much interesting factual information and could even be educational for teens. AROUND THE WORLD, LET'S VISIT ITALY, by Susie Brooks is another excellent book to help students learn about the rest of the country.  It is very visually appealing and discusses things like the leaning tower of Pisa, sports, food, and sight seeing for children.  

The work pages for this presentation are about Rome and not the entire country of Italy.  The questions can be answered using the children's book:  THIS IS ROME or by watching the presentation.

Teachers could use a pre-test, post-test format and give the work pages to the students to fill out before and after the presentation. Or, they could allow students to try to find as many answers as possible using books and the encyclopedia before showing the presentation.  Then, interest would be higher when the Snapshot of Italy is shown.

However these presentations are use, I hope you will enjoy this free resource.  Thanks for reading, Carolyn