Here are small but valuable tips to get good grades!

Whether we like it or not, sooner or later the moment of the theme comes. In the form of a letter, diary, essay and whoever puts the theme of English on it is a pleasure for those who love writing and the humanities and a torture for the geniuses of mathematics. From today, thanks to these small but effective tips, the theme will no longer be a problem and you will face that moment with a smile on your face. Let’s see how!

You have great ideas but are you afraid of going off topic? Every time you take a pen in your hand, do you get the famous writer’s block? First you need to ORGANIZE THE TIME and manage it intelligently. Such as?

If you have three hours available you can:

  • use 10 minutes to understand the track
  • 20 minutes to make the ladder and to find ideas
  • 1 hour 30 to write the theme
  • 30 minutes to correct it
  • 30 minutes to copy it in beautiful


As it happens during an interrogation, reading and understanding the theme of a theme is fundamental. Give yourself the right amount of time and try to capture the greatest number of details. They will be your compass and your way to compose a perfect lineup!


The secret to writing a good text is breaking it into three parts. This is not a very difficult mathematical operation and you can do it even if the fractions are not your forte.

1) INTRODUCTION – “Who starts well is in the middle of the work” never anything more correct. Here you have to present and introduce what you are going to talk about. A bit like presenting a friend to another.

2) CONDUCT – This is the central part of the topic in which you have to explain and analyze the elaborate.

3) CONCLUSION – Have you ever seen a movie without an ending? Closing is the time to say your opinion and leave a personal touch to the theme.
Finally … have you ever heard of the 5 W that journalists use? Before starting to play the theme, take a sheet and write the 5 Ws that are: Who? (who), What? (what) When? (when), Where? (where) and Why? (why). If throughout the theme you will try to answer these questions you will surely get a wonderful vote for your joy, of the parents and the teacher. What do you say … let’s try?


How far is the Earth from the Sun? And the other planets? Here is a simple laboratory to propose in the classroom. Thread and clothespins are enough.
Astronomy fascinates and intrigues students of all ages, but the magnitudes involved escape everyday experience: how far is the Earth from the Sun? And Saturn? The billions of kilometers do not help understanding or imagination.

In this astronomy laboratory we propose a very simple method to restore the distances between the planets of the Solar System and the Sun to everyday gestures. We will use thread and clothespins (and images of the planets or socks, if you prefer) to make a “scaled” solar system without even having to do a calculation.

We will help you with three clues that stimulate different skills.


  • Required material (for each group):
  • 10 clothespins
  • A rope of a few meters
  • Images of the planets and the sun
  • Pull the thread between two chairs or simply lay it on the floor. Fix the Sun at one of its ends with a clothespin.

Fix Pluto at the opposite end with a second clothespin. Where are the other planets? Using the pegs and images of the planets, try to identify the position of all remaining planets by hanging each image in the relative position.

If you do not have the images of the planets, just write on each clip the planet it represents.


Divide the boys into groups of three or four. Give each group the material to create the Solar System.

The students will have to hang the clips at the wire at distances such as to correctly represent the real distances, shown in the table and expressed in astronomical units (ua).

Remind students of the definition of an astronomical unit, motivating it: 1 ua corresponds to the average distance between Earth and the Sun, which is about 149,000,000 km. Why are astronomical units used instead of kilometers? To simplify your life: even the distances of the planets are more understandable. Saturn, for example, is far from the Sun 9.6 ua, that is almost 10 times more than the Earth.

The clue 1 is the following: hang the Sun at one end of the wire and Pluto at the other.


The second clue must be given together with the previous one: observe the numerical sequence in the table very carefully.

You can solve the problem with good precision and without making calculations. Let your students rack their brains and discuss for about ten minutes. Each group will choose one of these two ways: a pure “eye” strategy or a “hand” or “foot” strategy. In the second case, students try to use hands or feet or fingers as a unit of measurement on which to set approximate proportions.

Over the years, the most creative group I worked with tried to use the nose, attempting the word play with NASA, evidently with terrifying results.


Give the groups the clue 3: Find a graphic or an image (ex: the one present on the number 2 of Focus School) where the distance between the planets is proportional to the real one. Look at it carefully and try to find the regularities.

In my experience, at least one group arrives at the solution within a few minutes.


Notice that Pluto is about 40 ua from the Sun. Divide by two and find 20 ua. It is about the distance of Uranus from the Sun. Operationally this means that if you fold the thread in half, Uranus is at the midpoint.

Now take the thread folded in half and fold it again (model sheet). The middle point of the first half corresponds to about 10 ua, while that of the second half to about 30 ua.

Take the folded thread twice already and fold it in half again: the outer part of the thread is now empty, there are no intermediate planets, but between Saturn and the Sun there are several. With this move you found Jupiter (at 5 ua). Again bend the line between Jupiter and the Sun and at 3 ua (about half of 5, and this is the largest approximation) find the asteroid belt, with the dwarf planet Ceres. If you continue to bend, you will find Mars (1.5 ua), Venus (0.7 ua) and Mercury (0.4 ua) one after the other. The only exception is the Earth.

But we know that the Earth is exceptional: we are on it. Let each group explain its strategy and discuss it with others.


Five infallible tips by Nicola Gardini, professor at Oxford, to pass the exam brilliantly! After you have read this article you will not be able to make mistakes!

If your biggest nightmare is verification, this is the right article for you. For some, in fact, writing their thoughts on a piece of paper is very simple, almost natural. Others, on the other hand, find it very tiring and they are given the advice of the professor at Oxford and author of “Viva il latino. Stories and beauty of a useless language “(Garzanti, 2016), Nicola Gardini.

1 – Exercise, exercise, exercise

To write a good theme you need to read a lot. It seems absurd, but instead it is just by reading that we learn to master words. The advice is to «Read a few pages every day. And summarize what has been read, even if only by voice. Catching up on the important things, the key words, the meaning of a speech: only in this way will we be able to make sensible, interesting and perhaps pleasant speeches for others too »says the professor.

How to create a classy magazine!

2 – How to choose the theme

Going by instinct, choosing the theme you like best, but never rejecting someone from the start: “One always knows more than he thinks he knows. A theme is also an opportunity to put oneself to the test, to express ideas that one had inside but that had not yet found the opportunity to release ».

3 – Organize time well

Theme given and two hours to do it. But how can you make the most of this time and avoid getting lost and then having to run to the end? «It is useful to dedicate a few minutes to the design of the speech: what do I say? How do I start? How do I conclude? What are the most important things to say? In what order do you show them? However, while writing, one can also give the speech unforeseen directions. Very well. Just don’t get lost. It is also nice to discover ideas by doing.

4 – Bad sheet, yes or no?

«As a student I have never used bad sheets, not even in high school – says the writer -. Therefore, I cannot argue that ugliness is a necessity. But it can be a good support. Maybe just a sheet of paper, on which to make a schemino to begin with: a list of points; or even on which to formulate an unclear thought. This avoids messes on the beauty ».

5 – The structure

A good theme answers the question of the track. «Maybe just trying to define the track even more clearly. It can also challenge it. The student or student does not necessarily agree. Then we need examples. Comparisons between things, situations and people are also very effective. The comparison creates variety and helps to specify the topic, without taking an absolute point of view. And then it takes a nice conclusion. This can be a summary of what has been said during the course of the topic; it may be a general consideration; it may indicate a further way of tackling the issue “.


What is an interview? How do you do it? It seems simple, after all it is only a matter of recording the answers and writing them down. But in reality, this type of article requires a lot of preparation. Otherwise you risk writing things of no interest.

The interview was defined as “an interview between a journalist and an interlocutor who accepted it, knowing its purpose: to make its answers public”. (Profession journalist, Sergio Lepri). Here are some tips to make a good interview.


The “equipment” of the perfect interviewer is simple and essential:

  1. A notebook and a pair of pens Don’t forget a pencil too: always write, in any condition.
  2. Notes or photocopies of previous interviews with the person. They could always serve if you have doubts or if the interviewee gives you different information.
  3. An audio recorder or a smartphone / tablet that can do the same. NB: even if you record the interview, take notes. You never know!
  4. Video camera or mobile phone capable of filming. It is not always necessary to film the interview but, if you have to make videos and / or photos, make sure that the photographer and video maker have the equipment ready (batteries charged, enough memory …).


Knowing who is going to interview first is essential. Therefore:

  1. Go to Google and type NAME + SURNAME of the person to be interviewed. Your social media profiles (Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter …) and any articles about him will appear. Study everything.
  2. Do a research also in the library on the interviewee or on the topic of the interview.
  3. Talk to fans or people who are dealing with the interviewee. They will tell you useful anecdotes to make the interview more curious.
  4. Watch the movies, listen to the songs, read the books that can help you better understand who you are interviewing.
  5. The day before the meeting, check on Google the latest news on the interviewee or on the topic of the interview.


Planning the questions you want to ask the interviewee is crucial. Draw up a list of questions starting with “open” questions, which serve to put the interviewee at ease (eg: “How are you?”) And let him speak.

  1. Begin the interview with the most general and simple questions.
  2. Continue with the more specific and thorny questions.
  3. Let us tell you anecdotes: make the story more alive and interesting.
  4. If during the interview, a different question comes to mind, don’t worry and do it!
  5. Be attentive to the gestures and expressions of the interviewee. Sometimes they say more than a thousand words.
  6. Remember that even a “no comment” can be an answer.

The interviewee will be more inclined to give you good information if you behave in a polite and nice way. It is always better to interview in person. If the interview is by phone or by e-mail, then say it in the article.



Until the end of the 1980s, the typewriter was the most widespread tool for writing texts in good copy. Today it no longer exists, it has been overtaken by computers, tablets and smartphones, that is by … emails! But who invented the typewriter? And when? And, above all, is it called “to write” or “to write”? Find out with us!

In the nineteenth century many people tried to grab the primacy of having invented the typewriter, the tool that put anyone in a position to write well (as well as to do it much faster). But it seems that the Italian Giuseppe Ravizza was the first to have invented the typewriter.

In 1846 Ravizza made a first attempt with humanitarian purposes: this machine, in its intentions, was intended to ensure that even the blind could write. Ravizza chose to give it a name of her own: scribe harpsichord, due to its resemblance to the musical instrument. Before him another Italian, Agostino Fantoni, created his typewriter version in 1802.

It is estimated that at least 52 inventors created different types of typewriters in different places, times and ways, independently of each other.

Until 1868, however, no one could market a typewriter model. The credit for selling this invention goes to three Americans: from then on the success of the typewriter was uninterrupted for more than a century. So much so that more and more refined models came out: electric (to write faster), with the built-in corrector (to eliminate errors), capable of changing writing style and even silent, that is (almost) without the tic tic tic tic typical of machines to write in action.

Does it say typewriter or typewriter?

Question from a million dollars: do you say typewriter or typewriter? Some think that the correct name is “typewriter”. In reality, in the English language the preposition DA can have the meaning of an end or a purpose. In this case the purpose is to write and therefore it is correct to say typewriter, exactly as you say iron, eyeglasses or evening dress.

And the keyboard? The layout of the keys in typewriters has remained the same since 1864 until today. The reason is that the layout of the keys, according to the scheme called QWERTY (they are the first 6 letters to the left of the keyboard) was designed to allow typists to write quickly, putting the most used letters at your fingertips. And also to avoid that the most common pairs of letters, written quickly one after the other, would have the mechanisms of the typewriter interlocked.