Project summary

The project addresses secondary students of 14-17 who are studying English as a foreign language. The aim is to develop students’ literacy skills with reading, writing and acting out literary pieces of participating cultures. At the same time teachers can share their teaching practices. There are 6 schools in the partnership with different experience in international projects and mobility programmes. The project is a continuation and development of a collaboration on eTwinning: “Our Reading Experiences”. The participating countries have several cultural and historical links so the students can extend their subject knowledge with personal experience.
We want to improve the students’ basic language skills: reading, writing and speaking, with exposing them to natural and meaningful foreign language environments. During the work we will use modern technology: web2 tools, social media, electronic devices, thus, make a bridge between traditional a 21st century literacy skills. Some participants bring their experience and expertise into the project while others are extremely motivated and eager to join this multicultural community. Italy has great knowledge in TIC (technology, information and communication), Lithuania has a drama club and Hungary includes drama in the language learning curriculum while Spain involves parents and stakeholders in their storytelling activities. Turkey has a great expertise in organising literature-related activities and competitions. All of them have experience in eTwinning. Croatia expressed their wish to improve their knowledge and skills in using new methods and technologies in language teaching. They have strong connections with local societies and institutions.
Both students and teachers will take part in several activities including reading and discussing selected books, writing drama scripts and acting out their play. Other areas of art such as design, illustration, taking photos and shooting films are incorporated in the tasks to deliver. The final products will be annotated book lists, a drama script and performance, a literary magazine, and literacy corners at schools and the establishment of a student volunteer system to ensure the longevity of project results after the completion of the project activities. During their work students will read literary pieces, magazines, write stories collaboratively, share their ideas with presentations, discussions and debates locally and internationally. They will also meet with and learn from local theatres, publishers, and contemporary artists. Students will also explore their European citizenship as they will carry out research about the operation of the European Union and will explore their own and the partner countries’ history and role within the EU. They will comemorate important international days such as European Day of Languages, Europe Day and World Book Day. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in non-formal extra language courses with the aim of providing them with extra language practice and help them become independent learners and prepare them for lifelong learning. They will learn how to use European Language Portfolio and Europass documents to monitor their own progress.
Parallelly to students’ activities teachers will strongly cooperate to share good practices of teaching with a view to strengthening their teaching profession. Throughout the three project years they will continuously take part in joint teacher training sessions, lesson observation, micro teaching and peer-teachig sessions. They will mainly focus on methods, tools and techniques used for developing reading, writing and speaking skills. A special emphasis will be put on incorporating drama techniques in everyday teaching practice. Therefore, throughout the project both students and teachers will take part in drama workshops led by professional educational drama trainers. As a result of all this the participating teachers will compile a handbook of good teaching practices both in English and in the participants’ mother tongue.
We expect that our students will get confidence in speaking in English, improve their reading and writing skills and communication competencies. While reading and sharing their ideas about books they will learn about and understand other cultures better and discover similarities among people of different nations. In order to reach that teachers will provide practices in reading, writing and speaking skills using methods like dialogic teaching, dramatising, and collaborative tasks. Students’ achievement will be evaluated with several tools such as questionnaires, tests, quizzes, self and peer evaluation sheets, interviews. Products of the project will be available in eTwinning and on the Internet and project activities and reults will continuously be disseminated during and after the project in the form of promotional events, trainings and workshops inside and outside the partner institutions.
Participating organisations:
– Százhalombattai Arany János Általános Iskola és Gimnázium (koordinátor intézmény)
– Srednja skola Hvar, Horvátország
– FEC Santo Tomás de Aquino La MIlagrosa, Spanyolország
– BURHAN FELEK COK PROGRAMLI ANADOLU LISESI, Törökország
– LICEO SCIENTIFICO PASTEUR, Olaszország
– Pr.Zadeikio gimnazija, Litvánia