Dopo la ricreazione, mi metto a studiare per l’interrogazione di storia.

In Italian, dopo normally takes a noun with an article when you are talking about a specific event or time period: dopo la ricreazione = after recess / after the break.

Without the article, dopo ricreazione would sound unnatural in standard Italian. The article la is needed because ricreazione is being treated as a specific school period.

Not usually in the English sense. In a school context, ricreazione means recess, break, or school break.

So this is a good word to watch out for, because it looks like English recreation, but here it refers specifically to the break students have between classes.

Mettersi a + infinitive means to start doing something, to begin doing something, or to get down to doing something.

So:

• mi metto a studiare = I start studying
• more literally: I put myself to studying

Compared with just studio, this expression adds the idea of the moment when the action begins. It suggests a change: first I am not studying, then I begin.

Because the verb here is mettersi, which is reflexive.

The full verb is:

• mettersi a fare qualcosa = to start doing something

In the first person singular, that becomes:

• mi metto = I put myself / I start

The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject:

• mi metto
• ti metti
• si mette
• ci mettiamo
• vi mettete
• si mettono

So mi is there because the speaker is saying I start.

Because the structure is mettersi a + infinitive.

Examples:

• mi metto a leggere = I start reading
• si mette a piangere = he/she starts crying
• ci mettiamo a lavorare = we start working

The preposition a is required by this expression. You cannot say mi metto studiare.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• studio = I study / I am studying
• mi metto a studiare = I start studying / I get down to studying

So mi metto a studiare focuses on the beginning of the activity. It is a more precise choice if the speaker means that after recess, they begin studying.

In school Italian, interrogazione usually means an oral test, oral exam, or a situation where the teacher questions a student aloud.

This can confuse English speakers because interrogation in English sounds much harsher, like police questioning. In Italian school language, interrogazione is completely normal and common.

So l’interrogazione di storia means something like:

• the history oral exam
• the oral history test
• being questioned in history class

Per here means for, in the sense of in preparation for.

So:

• studiare per l’interrogazione = to study for the oral exam/test

This is the normal preposition to use when studying in preparation for something:

• studio per l’esame = I study for the exam
• studio per il test = I study for the test

Because la becomes l’ before a word beginning with a vowel.

So:

• la interrogazione → l’interrogazione

This is called elision, and it is very common in Italian:

• l’amica
• l’estate
• l’ora
• l’interrogazione

Di storia means in history or of history in the sense of school subject.

When naming subjects in Italian, you usually use di + subject without an article:

• esame di matematica
• compito di italiano
• interrogazione di storia

If you said della storia, it would usually suggest of history in a broader or more literal sense, not simply the school subject name.

Italian often uses the present tense for:

• habitual actions: After recess, I start studying...
• vivid narration: After recess, I start studying...
• near-future meaning in context

So this sentence could describe a routine or a planned/immediate action, depending on context. Italian uses the present tense more flexibly than English sometimes does.

It is optional, but very natural.

Dopo la ricreazione is an introductory time phrase, and Italian often separates that kind of phrase with a comma for clarity:

• Dopo la ricreazione, mi metto a studiare...

Without the comma, the sentence is still correct:

• Dopo la ricreazione mi metto a studiare...

The comma mainly helps readability and rhythm.