1. Students will arrive to class as recordings of Italian songs are playing on the stereo. They will retrieve their folders, take their seats and note the instructions on the white board.
2. Students receive copies of "Star Vicino" and the IPA Worksheet. Students should have pencils in their folders.
3. Teacher leads students in physical and vocal warm-ups. Teacher asks students to review the rhythm and melody of "Star Vicino" by singing through the song using solfege and hand signs.
4. Students are asked to look at the text. The teacher will ask if any students speak Spanish and will explain that Italian vowels and Spanish vowels are very similar. The teacher will also remind students of the solfege vowels [o, e, i, a] which are the perfect, pure vowels to use for Italian.
5. Students will be asked to set music aside and look at the IPA Guide on the interactive board. The teacher will explain what, how, and why the International Phonetic Alphabet is.
6. Teacher will guide students through the pronunciation of the Italian vowels as well as English and Italian words that use these vowels.
7. Teacher will lead students in practice writing the correct IPA symbol for vowels in common English words in Part I of the IPA Guide. Individual students may volunteer to write symbols on the board as students write the correct symbols on their IPA Guide handouts.
8. Students will be asked to listen and differentiate vowels sounds in a list of Italian words and write the correct symbol on Part II of the worksheet as the teacher reads each word, students echo the word, and the teacher reads the word aloud again.
9. Students will volunteer to come up to the board and write in the correct IPA symbol for each word. Teacher will make corrections as necessary.
10. Students will work in groups in twos or threes to write the IPA symbols for the vowels in verse 1 of "Star Vicino" as indicated on the worksheet. The teacher will check in with student groups to provide assistance or keep students on task.
11. Students will take turns writing the IPA symbols on the interactive board as the teacher guides students in pronunciation of each word.
12. Students will write the correct IPA symbols for the first verse directly above the Italian text in their music.
13. Students will sing through "Star Vicino" using the Italian text. Teacher will make corrections as necessary.
15. Students will work alone or in groups to write out the vowels in verse verse 2 of "Star Vicino" directly above the Italian text in their music. The teacher will check in with students and groups to provide assistance or keep students on task.
16. Teacher will review verse 2, providing correct pronunciation, and students will make corrections in their music as necessary.
17. Students will sing through verse 2 before reviewing verse 1 and singing through the entire song.
18. Students will, individually, take turns going to the computer to record their podcasts of verses 1 and 2. This activity will be repeated in each of the next two classes until all students have an opportunity to record.
