Topic: Longing for unity. Unification of Italy

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

XXIII. Europe and the world in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Student:

1) describes the political situation in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, including the processes of unification of Italy and Germany.

The general aim of education

The students will learn about the process of unification of Italy.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student will learn:

• to describe the stages of unification of Italy;

• to explain the symbolism of the process of unification of Italy

• to list the leading activists and politicians of the era of Risorgimento.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion, “for and against” debate

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text and audio recording.

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• collective activity;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• computers with Internet access;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens, large sheets of paper;

• materials from e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or large screen with a projector to display the content of the e‑textbook for the whole class.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to revise the information about Italy during the Spring of Nations.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains to the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students to fulfil Instruction 1, that is, to listen to the song Va, pensiero from “Nabucco” opera by Verdi. The students determine its mood and discuss together why it became a hymn to the supporters of Italian unification. The teacher discusses with the students the issue of revolutionary symbolism in the context of Italian unification. The teacher asks the students to fulfil Instruction 2, i.e. to listen to the program. The teacher discusses the conclusions with the students.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students to prepare for the debate „for and against”. To this end, the teacher asks the students to familiarize themselves with the materials presenting the assumptions for unification, the plans and their implementation by two leading politicians of the Risorgimento era: the diplomat (Camillo Cavour) and the revolutionist (Giuseppe Garibaldi). For this purpose, the teacher divides the students into two groups – the students are assigned randomly (exceptionally, the students who have already got their opinion are assigned to the group of their choice). Group I fulfils Instruction 3 and group II – Instruction 4.

2. Then, the groups gather and write down the arguments for and against on the boards, opting for a diplomatic unification route (group I) or a revolutionary unification route (group II), and criticising the opposite one. Students present their arguments to the whole class and justify them. The teacher takes care to provide the students with feedback when they fulfil instructions. The teacher summarizes the discussion; The teacher asks the students, who have been randomly assigned to a group but who actually had different views, about their feelings and beliefs. The teacher draws the students’ attention to the influence that listening to Verdi's song at the beginning of the lesson may have had on their assessment of the phenomena.

Summary

1. Students do Exercise 1. After analysing the map displayed on the interactive whiteboard, they arrange the wording in the appropriate order.

2. The teacher assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. For this purpose, the teacher can prepare an evaluation questionnaire both for self‑assessment and for the assessment of the teacher’s and other students’ work.

3. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to do Exercise 2 and to search for information on the relationship between Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Then the students may write a short script of the film scene showing the meeting of the two politicians, propose the cast, decorations, etc. Another version - preparation of a comic book.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Longing for unity. Unification of Italy

The movement of unification of Italy was started by the Kingdom of Sardinia. The first stage was to include Piedmont after winning the war with Austria in 1859. After an uprising against the authorities broke out in the Kingdom of Both Sicily, it was supported by “red shirts” led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. As a result, this country was also incorporated into Italy undergoing the process of unification. In 1862, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed. In 1866, after Austria lost the war with Prussia, Venice was incorporated into Italy. In 1870, Italians entered the Papal States. They occupied Rome and severely limited premises of the Church.