Sintesi del contenuto

• Lettura di livello A2, che approccia esperienze scolastiche globali, confrontando abitudini di studenti di diversi Paesi.
• Include domande di comprensione e attività lessicale.
• Adatto per lezioni di lingua dinamiche e interculturali.

Obiettivi didattici e benefici per gli studenti

• Sviluppare la comprensione scritta.
• Arricchire il vocabolario relativo alla scuola e alle routine scolastiche internazionali.
• Stimolare l’attenzione alle differenze culturali e promuovere la curiosità verso il mondo.
• Rafforzare l’autonomia nello studio della lingua inglese attraverso esercizi graduati.

Come utilizzare la risorsa in classe

• Pre-lettura: discussione guidata sulle esperienze di ritorno a scuola.
• Svolgimento degli esercizi di comprensione e lessico in modalità collaborativa o individuale.
• Stimolo alla conversazione con domande aperte per esercitare le abilità orali e scritte.

__________

The long summer holiday is over. Your bag is ready, your books are new, and it is time to go back to school. In Italy and in many other countries, this happens in September. But did you know that students do not start school at the same time everywhere? Around the world, the new school year begins in different months, and sometimes in different seasons.

In the United Kingdom, the school year usually starts in early September. It is the end of summer, and the days are shorter and colder. British schools have three terms(1) in one year, from September to July. Students have holidays at Christmas, at Easter and in the summer. In many British schools, students wear a uniform, so they all look the same. The colours are often blue, grey or green.

In the United States, school also begins at the end of summer. Some students start in August, and others start in September, because America is a very large country and every state is different. But one thing is famous in many countries: the big yellow school bus. The buses are always bright yellow, because drivers can see this colour easily in the morning. Every day, these yellow buses take millions of children to school.

Now here is the surprise. In Australia, the seasons are not the same, because it is in the southern half of the world. When it is winter in Europe, it is summer in Australia! So Australian students have their long holiday in December and January, at Christmas time, and they often go to the beach. Then they start a new school year in late January or February, in the middle of summer. Australian schools have four terms in a year, not three. These students go back to school on a hot summer day!

So the school year is not the same in every country. In some places it is hotter when school starts, and in other places it is colder. A school year can also be longer in one country than in another. In Australia, the longest holiday is in summer, at Christmas. Some schools begin earlier, and some begin later.

But one thing is the same for students everywhere. After a long, happy summer, the holiday ends, the alarm clock(2) rings early again, and a new school year starts. New teachers, new friends, new books: welcome back!

Glossary

1 term: periodo scolastico (qui non significa “termine” o “scadenza”)
2 alarm clock: sveglia