University of Tulsa

Advanced Placement Summer Institute

Italian Language and Culture

July 21 - 25, 2008

As the third year of the AP Italian Language and Culture program and examination finish, many teachers will be instituting the AP component of their Italian curriculum for the first time. The collegiality of the institute and the time to create the AP syllabus and classroom units will prove invaluable to pioneer teachers of AP Italian Language and Culture. More experienced teachers will be able to contribute tried and tested materials as well.  Participants will leave with materials ready to use in the AP classroom, with ideas for teaching the AP class generally, and with an articulated curriculum that will feed into the AP course. (Coincidentally, we will look at “selling” Italian to your school and district’s curriculum directors.)

The 2008 AP Summer Institute at the University of Tulsa  will focus on vocabulary building, writing (topics and skills), speaking, listening, and reading in the AP course; integration of authentic cultural materials and activities (how to make mozzarella, for example); print and web resources; teaching through the use of content-based materials (Italian through opera; Italian through art); curriculum mapping; and creation of syllabi. Participants will look at texts, ancillary materials, enrichment possibilities, and teaching techniques, and they will compile an extensive list of resources for the AP Italian classroom.  Special attention will be given to materials that could expand both teacher and student knowledge. The institute will explore ways to embed vocabulary, figures of speech, and grammar int o the syllabus  (and the student). AP Italian Language and Culture examination samples and rubrics will also be available.

Participants should bring their text(s), a dictionary, and as many questions as they may have….

Biographical information:

Beth Bartolini-Salimbeni has taught Italian language and literature since the 1980s at both the university and the high-school levels, served as ETS’s representative to the AP Italian task force that developed the initial program, and trained the first cohort of AP Italian Language and Culture consultants for the College Board. A former Fulbright scholar and twice an NEH fellow, she currently serves as one of the Italian representatives to the World Languages Commission. Her life goal is to eat her way from the Alps to the heel of Italy.

Updated 1/4/08