View Content #22578

By Harinder Khalsa, Romance Languages, University of Oregon

This two-day activity was designed to inspire students of Italian to inquire about neighborhoods in Rome, life in Rome, and how life has changed over the years. It is apt for Intermediate-Mid and Intermediate-High learners.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Extract relevant information from a website.
• Describe neighborhoods.
• Present preferences and support preferences with evidence.
• Tailor communication to audience needs.

Modes:  Interpretive Reading, Presentational Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Presentational Writing

Materials Needed: Airbnb website in the target language (link for Italian), worksheet (Note: Airbnb doesn’t have a neighborhoods site for all cities. Teachers can find alternative online sources for the first part of the activity for different languages.)

Additional Websites for students of Italian:

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartieri_di_Roma 

https://www.tripadvisor.it/NeighborhoodList-g187791-Rome_Lazio.html

http://www.turismoroma.it/about-rome/orientarsi-quartieri

Pre-assignment and activity: Students will come to class with a semantic map they worked on previously that reflects on life in a city (possible categories include: neighborhoods, transportation, hang-outs, and tourist attractions).To inform semantic map creation, the teacher should use detailed images to present one of his/her favorite neighborhoods in a country where the target language is spoken (i.e., Garbatella in Rome) and initiate a discussion about the students’ local neighborhoods to elicit vocabulary and expressions that help them talk about neighborhoods and lifestyles in different American cities as well.  This presentation will serve as a model that informs presentations during the remainder of the activity.

Procedure

PART I (Hand-out p. 1)

1. Group Work:

The teacher will ask the students to form groups of 3-4 people, give directions and monitor students while they present their findings on their neighborhood of choice in a country in which the target language is spoken.  After everyone presents, the group will decide on a neighborhood where they would like to stay in and explore.

• The teacher will establish common norms that the group will adhere to while presenting such as: using multiple images as a reference, speaking freely without constantly referring to notes or reading them.
• The listeners will take mental or written notes on their classmate’s presentation and tell briefly what they like about this neighborhood at the end of each presentation. Teacher may ask students to create a chart on a piece of paper to help the note-taking.

1. It seems like a quiet neighborhood … (Sembra un quartiere …}
2. I would like to explore/experience [a certain aspect of the neighborhood] because … (Mi piacerebbe esplorare/sperimentare … perché …)
3. I am not interested in this neighborhood at all because … (Non mi interessa questo quartiere perché …)

2. Class Discussion:

The teacher will project the images of neighborhoods to see if the students picked the same or completely different ones and discuss as a group what were the common elements they found in these neighborhoods. At this point, the teacher can show pictures of certain neighborhoods from the 50's or 60's and today to discuss about what changes the city went through, how the life style (including language) has changed over the years, and how those changes have impacted the quality of life.

3. The teacher transitions into the next stage of finding a place to stay in one of these neighborhoods and presents her choice as a model. The students are asked to pick an Airbnb location (apartment/house) in the neighborhood they previously selected and bring in class information (images, notes, ppt) listing the cost/night, amenities, rules of the house, etc. and tell why they chose this particular place.

PART II (Hand-out p. 2)

The following day in class, students go back to the same group and present the places they found. After everyone presents, the group decides on one place to stay and they present their choice to the whole class. The class reacts to their choice and asks questions about when they will go there, what they plan to when they are there, etc.

Notes:

Thoughts on what can be built upon this two-day activity:

• Teachers may use this as a starting point for a group or individual writing activity where students write on a Blog about their experience or send a postcard. (part of IPA)
• The class can discuss about the Airbnb experience. Is this an ideal way to find a place to stay, why?

An anecdote:

Harinder’s students worked on this activity during Winter ’16 term at the UO and one her students spent a week in Rome with his group of friends at the Airbnb he found for this activity. When he came back in spring term he gave a presentation to class about his experience. The Airbnb facility and the landlady didn’t exactly match the description but they had a good time nevertheless. After all, it’s Rome we are talking about!!

Some keys to success:

The completion of each task before coming to class is crucial for the success of this assignment. The teacher may experiment with Universal Design for Learning principals to make the instructions for the assignment clear for the students in multiple ways (written/audio-video/text/maybe even quick Snap Chat reminders) and will allow the students to present their finding in their own creative ways.