Learn Italian: La nostra maestra legge una bella storia. - Our teacher reads a beautiful story.

In Italian, you almost always need to put a definite article (like la, il, i, or le) before a possessive word (like nostra). The main exception is when you are talking about singular family members (like mia madre). Since a maestra (teacher) isn't a family member, you must include the la.

I learned that Italian adjectives usually go after the noun. Why is it una bella storia instead of una storia bella?

While most descriptive adjectives do go after the noun, a small group of very common adjectives usually go before it. These are often adjectives describing beauty, age, goodness, and size (sometimes remembered as BAGS adjectives). Because bella is about beauty, it naturally sits before storia.

Can the word storia also mean 'history'?

Yes! The word storia is used for both 'story' (like a fairy tale or a novel) and 'history' (the subject or past events). You just have to rely on the context of the sentence to know which one makes sense. Here, a teacher reading a 'beautiful story' is the logical choice.