The ICoN - AP Italian course

This unit covers the topic of traditional and alternative sources of energy.

Points for discussion include climate change, climate-induced disasters, future problems for our planet and the importance of using renewable energy sources and protecting the environment.

Students learn to identify and describe people, objects and places in an articulate way, to describe a space and situate an element within it in complex situations, and to report other people's speech.

This unit covers the topic of recycling waste and how this is done in Italy.

It discusses recycling in general and the importance of respecting the environment.

Students learn to give instructions and advice on how to respect the environment, and they learn to describe habits, behavior and actions using the impersonal form.

In this unit, students tackle texts about literary works, actors, film directors, movie plots and news items.

They learn to describe experiences, events in the past, and plans for the future, and to relate the plot of narrative texts and movies.

The main objective of this unit is to familiarize students with famous people representing Italian genius: inventors, travelers, and literary figures who have shaped the history of Italy and other countries.

Students learn to understand a biography and place facts in their historical context, as well as to narrate and understand real-life events and inventions from long ago, ask questions politely, and talk about dreams.

The main objective of this unit is to familiarize students with topics concerning the use of the Internet and social networks from different points of view: public opinion, journalism, new ways of writing on the Internet, the relationship between the Internet and books, the Internet and children, and the importance of remaining vigilant online and on social networks.

Students learn to express their own opinions, doubts, feelings and needs, and to understand an opinion essay.

This unit looks at everyday life in the city and in the countryside in Italy.

Students reflect on the positive and negative aspects of both lifestyles, learning to argue for and against ideas. Comparisons are offered between Italian and American lifestyles.

Students learn to express opinions, agree and disagree, understand brief ads and advertising materials and express emotions, doubts and hopes.

This unit analyzes the eating habits of Italians as a distinctive cultural trait and looks at how those habits are changing.

Students compare and contrast typical Italian and American dishes and analyze the effects diet has on the human body and on athletic performance. Students also examine new trends in nutrition, both scientific and more eccentric.

They learn to give and understand instructions for a healthy diet and to discuss the contents of an oral or written text.

In this unit, students look at commercial advertising and public service announcements and learn to understand and use the metaphorical and figurative language typical of advertising. They analyze the effects of advertising on our everyday lives, examine the differences between commercial and public-service advertising messages, and compare public-service advertising in Italy and the United States, both in terms of content and communication methods.

They learn to understand and use language creatively to communicate with metaphorical and figurative speech, and to ask for and provide the meaning of an expression or phrase.

The aim of this unit is to familiarize students with Italian traditions by studying popular festivals.

Students look at how a popular festival unfolds, and they learn to recognize the religious and pagan elements of festivals. They also explore the cuisines typical of the various regions of Italy.

They work on understanding television programs, express opinions, research a particular topic and produce descriptive texts.

This unit serves as a "festival of museums” with texts describing places and works of art all over Italy.

Students find out about cultural events and cultural promotional events taking place around Italy, and gain familiarity with the language of art and texts about artistic events and phenomena.

They learn the vocabulary needed to talk about Italian craftsmanship and some typical products, and to describe a traditional festival in their country.

They learn to understand written and oral texts on a specialized topic, to understand the specialized language of art, and to produce texts in a microlanguage.

The main aim of this unit is the understanding of narrative delivered through different channels and methods.

Students study the history of Italian television and the changes it brought about in everyday family life. They look at Italy in the 1960s, listen to texts about the ways in which World War II shaped people’s lives for many years afterwards, reflect on how Italian television works today, and compare the role television plays in Italian and American culture.

Students learn to understand a newspaper article and a complex video, and to express and support an opinion and understand the communicative function of certain expressions in the spoken language.

This unit aims to introduce students to the world of performance, particularly television shows, musicals and comedies.

Students discover Italian performance artists through their biographies, learn to understand complex texts on the performing arts, learn about the history of Italian musicals, and reflect on how the concept of comedy can differ between cultures.

Finally, students learn to understand a theatrical review, to identify and produce synonyms and periphrasis, to recognize and understand typical expressions.