Strega Nona
Strega Nona
INTRODUCTION
It is Christmastime in the little town of Calabria, Italy.
There is no time for Strega Nona's usual business of curing headaches and
mixing love potions. Instead, it's time for her annual feast for
the whole town. Strega Nona feels that Christmas has a magic of its
own, and therefore, this season is not a time to use her own "special powers."
So how will she ever have her feast ready by Christmas Eve? Let's
help Strega Nona prepare her big feast. It will be your quest to
learn about the Italian Christmas customs so that you can help make Strega
Nona's traditional feast the best one yet!
THE TASK
After reading the book, Merry
Christmas, Strega Nona, work with a partner to find out more
information about traditional Christmas customs practiced in Italy.
You will:
THE PROCESS
STEP #1
Although Christmas in Italy has many different customs
than that of America, there are also quite a few similarities as well.
You and your partner will choose who will investigate to find the differences
between American and Italian customs and who will investigate to find the
similarities between the two. You must find at least five altogether.
Click on Mrs. Snowman to learn about American Christmas customs.
Click on Mr. Snowman to learn about Italian Christmas customs.
STEP #2
Locate and identify at least five cities from a map in
Italy. Click on
La Befana, the Christmas Witch, to show the map of Italy.
STEP #3
Many traditional Italian dishes and baked goods are prepared
for Christmas each year. Click on the picture below to find some
favorite Italian recipes.
STEP #4
Explore the Italian language. Choose 5 words to
memorize in Italian. Please make sure that at least 3 of them are
Christmas related vocabulary. Click on the window to translate the
new words.
Step #5
You have learned that Italy and America share many common
traditions. Choose a similar tradition that you celebrate in your
home and explain why this tradition is so special to you and your family.
EVALUATION
You will be evaluated in five different areas.
Click
here
to see how many possible points you can score for each
task. The essay (Step #5) will count as 5 extra credit points.
CONCLUSION
When you have completed this webquest, you should have
a better understanding of how Christmas is celebrated in Italy. Linking
to Babel Fish will be an easy and exciting way to translate English
and Italian words. Hopefully, you will remember to visit this site
again when you come across foreign words in your reading. The Italian
recipes that appear in the links above are just a "taste" of what cuisine
Italy has to offer. Perhaps most importantly, this quest will offer
you a deeper appreciation of other international customs and how they can
easily be associated with those of our own country. If you find "Christmas
in Italy" to be an interesting topic, take the time to further explore
how Christmas is celebrated in other countries of the world. You can learn
even more about the similarities and differences between America's Christmas
and the Christmas' of our various international neighbors.
RESOURCES
If you just can't get enough of Holidays Around the World,
keep on learning!! Visit your local library and check out these great
books:
Christmas Feasts and Festivals by Lillie
Patterson
Children of Christmas by Cynthia Rylant
Let's Celebrate Christmas by Roseanna Pistoles
A Wreath of Christmas Legends by Phyllis
McGinley
Christmas Everywhere by Elizabeth Sechrist
The Legend of the Poinsetta by Tomie DePoala
Christmas Around the World by Emily Kelley
Celebrations by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley
Also, visit these excellent computer sights!