TRINITY TOPIC IDEAS

Grade 5• My best holiday/summer ever• My passions / my hobbies / my pastimes• My best friend• The history of pizza• The history of Coca-cola• The history of Ferrari• My passion for horse riding• My first ….• My summer holidays in Russia• My volunteer work withthe Red Cross• My future career

Grade 5: My summer holidays in Russia

1. When and where I went to Russia2. The differences between Moscow and St.

Petersburg (and its food)3. What is St. Petersburg like4. What I bought in Russia5. Why I prefer this holiday in Russia to other

holidays I have been on

When and where I went to RussiaLast summer on the 7th of August I went to Russia

with my family. We went there by plane, but before reaching Russia we landed at the airport in Budapest and we stayed there for about two hours. The journey from Rome to Budapest lasted about two hours and then two more hours from Budapest to Russia. We reached St. Petersburg by train from Moscow and we I stayed at two different hotels, one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg.

Questions for the examiner – Have you ever been to Russia? What do you think about Moscow and St. Petersburg?

The differences between Moscow and St. Petersburg (and its food)

I visited two important cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Moscow I visited some churches The Red Square, the Gum and St. Basilio’ s Church. In St. Petersburg I visited: St. Nicola’ s Cathedral, St. Isacco’ s Cathedral, Salvatore sul Sangue Versato’ s Cathedral, Peter and Paolo’ s Fortress. The typical Russian dishes are bear meatballs, it’s a hot & spicy food, but I prefer Italian food because it is less spicy & hot. Another typical Russian food is ‘borsh’, a red soup with vegetables and meat.

Questions for the examiner - Have you tried our Italian food? What do you think about our food?

Salvatore sul Sangue Versato’ s Cathedral

What is St. Petersburg likeAn important monument of this city is Peterhof, a huge

building (1714-21) elegantly decorated, built by Jean Baptiste Le Blond. It overlooks the Gulf of Finland and behind the palace there is a large park, with beautiful gardens and fountains. The most important fountains in Peterhof are: the Pyramidal Fountain, The Big Waterfall with its golden statue built in 1799 by Shubin and Martos, Nettuno’ s Fountain, Adamo’ s Fountain built by Giovanni Bonazza in 1718 and the Roman Fountains. The Ermitage is a famous museum built by different architect in 1839-51, in it there are about 300 pictures, two theatres and a big garden behind it. It is public from1852 by Nicola I.

What I bought in Russia

In Russia I bought a souvenir of The red square, of Peterhof, which is a calendar , and a little golden statue. My favourite souvenir is the matrioska, little wooden statues of different images, for example, of an actor or of an important person.

Questions for the examiner – Have you ever bought any souvenirs for friends when you went on holiday? What did you buy? Did they like it?

Why I prefer this holiday in Russia to other holidays I have been on

For me Moscow is more beautiful than St. Petersburg for its shops and cathedrals, but St. Petersburg is more impressive than Moscow for its churches and monuments. I think the best part of the holiday was the visit to the Red Square because it is really big, there is Gum , it is an elegant shopping centre and St. Basilio’ s Church. My holiday in Russia is the best holiday I have ever had because it was real fun: I met new people, I tasted typical dishes, I saw dancers performing in their traditional costumes and I visited really special places

Grade 6• My pleasures in life• My passion for football / tennis / swimming / basketball• Memoirs from South America• Dr House / 90210 / Vampire Night• Global Pizza• The history of Coca-cola• The Pope / Gandhi / Robert de Niro / Tom Cruise /

Negramaro / Vasco Rossi / Gigi D’Alessio / del Piero• My favourite book / film • My hobbies / my pastimes• The history of Ferrari• Catullo: the poet of love

Grade 6:Basketball in Italy

• Important leagues: NBA & Lega Basket A• How the sport is played and its team positions• My favourite team: Eldo Napoli• My favourite match: Eldo Napoli vs. Winthetur

FC Barcellona• My favourite team player: Morandais• What I think about this sport

Two important leagues (Have you ever played

basketball?)Basketball is becoming in Italy more and more popular

today, especially among teenagers. In my school, in P.E. class, the boys play basketball (while the girls play volleyball). Professional basketball began in the U.S.A. in 1891 by a P.E. teacher at Springfield College in Massachusetts.

The most important league is the NBA (National Basketball Association) which was founded in 1946 in New York City. In Italy, the most important league is Series A Basketball called Lega Basket A. It was founded in 1920 in Milan.

How the sport is played and team positionsTwo teams of 5 players play against each other to score as many

points as possible to win. There are 4 quarters of 10 minutes each. The positions of the players are:

• The point guard is the most vital part of a basketball team. A point guard leads all four other players on the court and tells them where they need to be.

• The shooting guard is the best scorer on the team. The team looks for this position to score a lot of points and to play hard defensively. • The small forward is usually a great defenseman. • The power forward is the one of the more skilled players on the court to get jump shots. • The center is usually the tallest player on the floor. He must defend the area well, and dominate the offensive.

My favourite team: Eldo Napoli (Which team do you like?)

SS Basket Napoli is my favourite team. It was founded in 1946 and now it is in series A. This team has won two Italian cups, once in 1968 and last year in 2006. The team colours are white and blue.

In Italy, basketball teams change their names. It depends on their sponsors, for example, last year, the Naples team was called “Carpisa Napoli” (which is a famous Italian franchising that sells handbags), this year it is called “Eldo Napoli” ( a company that sells domestic electrical appliances in Italy).

My favourite match: Winthertur FC Barcellona vs. Eldo Napoli

My favourite match was between my favourite team and Winthertur FC Barcellona on the eleventh of January 2006. Italy won 66 to 64. The most exciting part of the match was towards the end of the game when Morandais scored the final winning points. If Eldo Napoli continues on this level of playing, it will become the most popular basketball team in Italy.

(When did you last see/watch a basketball match?)

My favourite player: Morandais (Who is your favourite player?)

My favourite player is Michel Morandais. He is from Guadaloupe, the West Indies. He was born on the tenth of January 1979. He is 1 metre and ninety-five centimetres tall and he weighs about 93 kilos. He has been with this team since 2005 and I think he is a great player, the best player of the team because he always scores the most points on his team in a game. He is going to be an international player.

What I think about basketballI think basketball is becoming an important sport in

Italy, even if it is not as important as in America. Many Italian basketball players not only play in Italy but also in other important European teams which can be seen on cable TV. Even if I don’t play this sport very often, it has taught me to become a team player and I usually play power forward. I try to score as many points as possible and if I don’t the other players try to help me. If I do continue to play in the future, I think I will learn a lot from this team sport.

What do you think about this sport?/Is it very popular in England like in America?

1. The flight from Madrid to Bogota2. Peñol rock in Colombia3. Carmelina’s “hogar”4. Sao Paulo5. Rio de Janeiro6. Copacabana beach

Memoirs from South America

Memoirs from South AmericaI’m going to talk about my memoirs from South

America, a trip that I took to different towns of this continent. The trip lasted 45 days and it will remain a vivid memory forever since I saw the most beautiful, and at the same time, the most devastating areas of Colombia and Brazil.

Have you ever been to South America? If you have the chance to travel there, I think you should visit these wonderful places I have seen.

The flight from Madrid to BogotáI left on the thirty-first of January this year. The flight from

Madrid to Bogotá was very tiring. Fortunately, I was sitting next to a very nice Peruvian that lived in Italy and spoke the Italian language very well. In all my life I have never fallen asleep on a plane, for this reason, I had taken with me a lot of pastimes: my mp3 player, some paper and pen to keep a diary and I also took a magazine “Speak up” to practice my English.

Have you ever been on a 14-hourflight?

Peñol rock in ColombiaIt was the sixth of February, I woke up very early to

reach Penol rock very early since it was always very sunny and hot. The landscape was wonderful. There was a very big river that was formed with small islands around it. On one of these islands there was an enormous rock and I decided to climb up. There were 739 steps!! When I arrived at the top, my legs were trembling from the effort.

But that fantastic landscape was worth every small step I took to reach the top.

Carmelina’s “hogar”This particular place is named after a nun that died as a missionary in Medallin. Carmelina’s “hogar” is a home for the homeless. It isn’t an ordinary home, but a particular one, in fact, it is where homeless children live. They are all orphans. Several of these are native indios, although they are from a lot of different races, they all live in happiness. The special thing that I remember, and I will always remember are their smiles. While I was staying in Medallin, I went to the hogar every Saturday and Sunday to pass a wonderful day together with these special children. When I go back to South America, I’m going to visit this place more often because I want to help these needy people.

Sao PauloI stayed in Sao Paulo for 20 days. I have just two vivid

memories: the weather that was always cloudy, and the traffic that was never-ending. I think people have spent most of their lives in traffic here. Oh, another thing I remember, was the food. In fact, in Sao Paulo, you can find all types of food: Chinese, Japanese, German, Greek, Russian, and above all, Italian food. But I loved the Brazilian meat, I often had lunch in the “churrascarie” where they prepare a whole lot of different types of meat. If you go there, you should try it. It is really tasty.

Rio de Janeiro I arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the fifth of March at 5:00 a.m.

Rio for me represented a dream that came true. I went to Tejuca Natural Park where there is the statue of Jesus Christ the Redentor. I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of one of the biggest statues in the world, and surrounding this magnificent wonder, was the view of the entire city of Rio. After this experience, I can say that I saw “one of seven wonders of the world”.

If you go to Rio, I suggest visiting this area because I think you will have a wonderful experience.

Copacabana beachThe day after my visit to Rio, I went to Copacabana beach. The

weather was beautiful. The beaches are very wide and there were always a lot of friendly Brazilian people. The sand was white and the water was very clean, and I could often hear the sound of the music, especially the samba, on the beach. The beach was always very populated with a lot of tourists, but there were also people from favelas (an area where poor people live and there are a lot of drug pushers) and they usually went to the beach to steal money. One day, while I was sunbathing, I saw a boy of about 10 steal a bag and run away.

But, anyway, the environment was fantastic and I promised myself to return in the future.