I have already joined 4 iEARN projects this year:
1. My name around the world
2. A day in my life
3. Our story book
4. Holiday Card Exchange
Most of all my students enjoyed ”Our story book” Project. It is a project that gathers different ideas from different cultures or countries to complete an amazing story. About 14 willing students from the 5th, the 6th and 8th grades were involved in this project from October 1st to November 30th, 2015. Students have proposed ideas and titles for the book, at last the title one of my students proposed was selected “I just think and I am There”. The first three parts of the book were written in two institutions from Macedonia and one school from Pakistan. The last part was created in Moldova by 3 willing students who wrote the content of the last part, selected images and drew pictures for the book. The rest of the students read all the parts the story and performed various tasks based on speaking, listening and writing. They also contributed with ideas to continue the story, proposing and describing the sights of Moldova that deserve to appear in the book [http://magicenglishmagicehglish.weebly.com/our-story-book]. After the book was finished, one of the students created a movie based on the part they wrote. The students who created the book joined a webinar of participants in the project, which took place on November 25th, finishing the project.
Being involved ”Our story book” Project, the students gained knowledge about the culture of the partner countries (Macedonia and Pakistan); developed the abilities of writing an artistic text in English, applying their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, arranging a text and images on the page, reading and recording a text using the digital tools, selecting the main ideas of a read text; learned formulating and expressing their opinions, both orally and in writing; took photos and painted pictures; created a movie, selecting the suitable images; learned how to use a blog. All these activities contributed to the development of linguistic, communicative, cultural, interdisciplinary, civic and methodological (digital) skills, leading to the increased of students’ imagination, creativity and critical thinking.
For me as a teacher, ”Our story book” iEARN project was a great experience. It was very easy to implement it as it is well-planned step by step and its facilitator, Vinny Tsao from Taiwan, was always in touch with the participants, informing us about everything happening in the projects and supporting us.
Another project I implemented with success was “Holiday card exchange”. About 30 willing students from the 5th, the 6th and 8th grades have made about 70 Winter Holiday Cards that were sent together with information about Moldova, its geographical position, capital, sights, culture, customs and traditions related to religious holidays (New Year, Christmas, Easter) and national (Independence Day, Our Language) people from Moldova, recipes of our traditional food in 7 partner institutions from 6 countries (USA, Russia, Ukraine, India, Lithuania and Taiwan) from which we received in exchange greetings and other interesting information about their culture.
Making the cards, students practiced using various techniques and tools (working with paper, cutting, drawing, decorating, color matching).The project gave students the opportunity to develop their imagination, responsibility and critical thinking in the process of making the cards. They also gained knowledge and formed attitudes towards the culture of the partner countries, developed their abilities of writing various types of texts in English (descriptive, narrative, artistic, scientific, congratulatory messages, writing address), reading and using various online communication tools (blog, Skype, E-mail).
1. My name around the world
2. A day in my life
3. Our story book
4. Holiday Card Exchange
Most of all my students enjoyed ”Our story book” Project. It is a project that gathers different ideas from different cultures or countries to complete an amazing story. About 14 willing students from the 5th, the 6th and 8th grades were involved in this project from October 1st to November 30th, 2015. Students have proposed ideas and titles for the book, at last the title one of my students proposed was selected “I just think and I am There”. The first three parts of the book were written in two institutions from Macedonia and one school from Pakistan. The last part was created in Moldova by 3 willing students who wrote the content of the last part, selected images and drew pictures for the book. The rest of the students read all the parts the story and performed various tasks based on speaking, listening and writing. They also contributed with ideas to continue the story, proposing and describing the sights of Moldova that deserve to appear in the book [http://magicenglishmagicehglish.weebly.com/our-story-book]. After the book was finished, one of the students created a movie based on the part they wrote. The students who created the book joined a webinar of participants in the project, which took place on November 25th, finishing the project.
Being involved ”Our story book” Project, the students gained knowledge about the culture of the partner countries (Macedonia and Pakistan); developed the abilities of writing an artistic text in English, applying their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, arranging a text and images on the page, reading and recording a text using the digital tools, selecting the main ideas of a read text; learned formulating and expressing their opinions, both orally and in writing; took photos and painted pictures; created a movie, selecting the suitable images; learned how to use a blog. All these activities contributed to the development of linguistic, communicative, cultural, interdisciplinary, civic and methodological (digital) skills, leading to the increased of students’ imagination, creativity and critical thinking.
For me as a teacher, ”Our story book” iEARN project was a great experience. It was very easy to implement it as it is well-planned step by step and its facilitator, Vinny Tsao from Taiwan, was always in touch with the participants, informing us about everything happening in the projects and supporting us.
Another project I implemented with success was “Holiday card exchange”. About 30 willing students from the 5th, the 6th and 8th grades have made about 70 Winter Holiday Cards that were sent together with information about Moldova, its geographical position, capital, sights, culture, customs and traditions related to religious holidays (New Year, Christmas, Easter) and national (Independence Day, Our Language) people from Moldova, recipes of our traditional food in 7 partner institutions from 6 countries (USA, Russia, Ukraine, India, Lithuania and Taiwan) from which we received in exchange greetings and other interesting information about their culture.
Making the cards, students practiced using various techniques and tools (working with paper, cutting, drawing, decorating, color matching).The project gave students the opportunity to develop their imagination, responsibility and critical thinking in the process of making the cards. They also gained knowledge and formed attitudes towards the culture of the partner countries, developed their abilities of writing various types of texts in English (descriptive, narrative, artistic, scientific, congratulatory messages, writing address), reading and using various online communication tools (blog, Skype, E-mail).