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Let’s visit Italy! Italy is a special country to me because my great-great grandparents emigrated from Italy in the early 1900s. My great-grandmother, who lived to be 103, passed on the stories her parents told of their journey here. So let’s learn about this country. Land of artists and emperors and pasta and vineyards.
This is timed to correspond with Universal Yum’s Egypt snack box shipping on October 15th.
Please note that I have not screened all of these resources. Grade level is an approximation.
Preschool & Kindergarten
- Italy ABC, by Sharon Katz Cooper (picture book)
- Maria Montessori, by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (biography)
- Pasta Sensory Bin (activity)
- Pasta Threading (activity)
1st & 2nd Grade
- Theodore’s Italian Adventure, by Trent Harding (picture book, fiction)
- Take Me Back to Italy, by Baby Professor (picture book, geography)
- Four Seasons in One Day, by Jessica Courtney-Tickle (interactive picture book)
- I, Vivaldi, by Janice Shefelman (picture book, biography)
- Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, by Peter Sis (picture book, biography)
- Who Was Leonardo DaVinci, by Roberta Edwards (biography)
- History of Pasta (webpage)
- Italian Paper Doll (free download)
- Ancient Rome Paper Doll (free download)
3rd & 4th Grade
- Mystery of the Roman Ransom, by Henry Winterfield (Roman Empire, fiction)
- Detectives in Togas, by Henry Winterfield (Roman Empire, fiction)
- Looking for Marco Polo, by Alan Armstrong (fiction)
- World Geography: Italy Unit Study (webpage)
- Italy Unit Study (webpage)
- Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machines Kit: Paper Airplanes Based on the Great Master’s Sketches – That Really Fly! (activity book)
- Where is the Colluseum, by Jim O’Connor (non-fiction picturebook)
5th & 6th Grade
- Stones in Water, by Donna Jo Napoli (WWII, fiction)
- Fire in the Hills, by Donna Jo Napoli (WWII, fiction)
- The King of Mulberry Street, by Donna Jo Napoli (Immigration, fiction)
- The Orphan of Ellis Island, by Elvira Woodruff (Immegration, fiction)
- Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions: You Can Build Yourself, by Maxine Anderson (activity book)
- Tools of the Ancient Romans, by Rachel Dickinson (activity book)
7th & 8th Grade
- The Ides of April, by Mary Ray (Roman Empire, fiction)
- Leonardo’s Shadow, by Christopher Grey (15th Century, fiction)
- Daughter of Venice, by Donna Jo Napoli (17th Century fiction)
- War in My Town, by E. Graziani (WWII, fiction)
- Galileo Mini Course (free online unit study sample)
- Coloseum Building 3D Puzzle
High School
- Art History (free online class, Khan Academy)
- Duolingo Italian (free online class, language)
- Chasing the Lion, by Nancy Kimball (Roman Empire, fiction)
- Alchemy’s Daughter, by Mary A. Osborne (14th century, fiction)
Just for Fun & Adult
- Buon-A-Petitti (YouTube channel of an Italian Grandma cooking)
- Gladiator (Movie, rated R)
- Roman Holiday (movie, rated 7+)
- Mark of the Lion Series, by Francine Rivers (Roman Empire, fiction)
- The Montessori Method, by Maria Montessori (non-fiction)
- The Amazing Race, Season 24, leg 8
- The Amazing Race, Season 29, leg 7
