iLessons on Italian Culture

GESTURES

“With our hands: Italian gestures”

This culture lesson explores the origins of Italian gestures and explains their meanings. Through a highly interactive approach between teacher and students, you can learn more than 15 hand positions by first practicing each gesture in context and understanding its specific purpose. The lesson uses examples from photos and videos created by the school teachers, along with repetitions and fun role-plays where students take center stage.

CINEMA

“CIAK ITALIA: History and Fun Facts of Italian Cinema”

Italian cinema has shaped the history of the seventh art and is studied by film enthusiasts around the world. In addition to genres, actors, directors, and iconic characters, this lesson explores the unique qualities of Italian cinema — how it has evolved while preserving the traits that make it distinctly “Italian”, from a glorious past to a promising present, through new filmmakers and emerging talents.

HISTORY

“Roots and Wings”

This lesson deals with one of the most captivating themes for students with Italian roots and those passionate about Italy’s rich history. A people of poets, artists, heroes, saints, thinkers, scientists, navigators, and migrants — as the famous inscription on the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome reads. Thirty million people left the boot-shaped peninsula to seek their fortune elsewhere — mainly in Argentina and Brazil, but also in many other countries across South America, as well as in Central and North America, Australia, and Europe. This chapter of history is told through images, statistics, videos, and stories of Italians who planted their roots abroad. Today, Italy has become a country that hosts immigrants, in an increasingly globalized world.