If we’d like
our students to learn some basic vocabulary regarding everyday
actions, why not motivate them to keep a diary.
Here are some
verbs they can use.
To get up at…a.m.
To get dressed to put on (clothes)
To take a bus\train to school
To arrive at school at….. a.m.
To meet your classmates
To take an exam
To have lunch at…..p.m.
To get home at…..p.m.
To study
To listen to music
To watch T.V.
To listen to the radio
To phone someone
To use the computer
To go out
To go to bed
Of course,
this is just the beginning. They can add other activities, give
opinions, talk about their friends etc.
It can become
a good habit and will definitely improve their writing skills.
Now let’s talk
about a world famous diary, The Diary of Anne Frank,
which charts two years of Anne Frank’s life, from 1942 to 1944,
when she and her family were hiding in Amsterdam from the
German Nazis. In her diary she tells of her hopes and
frustrations, and depicts the nightmare reality of eight
persons crowded into a tiny living quarters in fear of being
discovered. The Frank family was betrayed before she could
finish her work. The final entry is on August 1st , 1944 and on
August 4th, they were transported to the Auschwitz concentration
camp.
The diary gained a wide fame in the United, where it was
dramatized and filmed.
I would recommend that the students read The Diary of Anne
Frank. Probably they would have to read it in Italian, but
afterwards they could use it for a class activity in English.
They can write down all the questions they can using information
from the diary.
They could also research this book in Internet, finding out
information when it was written and published, her age when she
wrote it, what were some of the book quotes.
I particularly like this quote from Anne’s diary.
"Think of all
the beauty still left around you and be happy."
A Nice
Thought
"One advantage
in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring
clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer."
Franz Kafka