Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2016 Newsletter------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the project Planet Diversity in which we took part with my 6 th graders, having the story of The Little Prince as our starting point, the students of the 7 partner countries formed five groups: the Active team, the Artists, the Astronomers, the Geographers and the Philosophers which interacted with each other-with the Active team promoting the learning experience into a physical embodied learning experience. They had the opportunity to explore fundamental and universal values, to affirm their abilities by accomplishing tasks and got inspired to pursue more challenging personal goals on their own.
During the project“ Land of Ambrosia” students read the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Then they drew pictures to tell the story. They sent these pictures to their French partner school and they made a completely different and original story out of them, naming it“ A cocoon for two”. Therefore, expressing themselves with music, Art and theatre and learning about other cultures through them enables them to create their unique forms of expression and develop interdependence and ownership.
Focus in on the Arts eTwinning projects set the Arts in the centre of our work as they are among the prime ways to negotiate our understanding of ourselves and the world, and connect with ourselves and with each other.
In the eTwinning project“ Art In Us” pupils listened to folk music of the partner countries, selected the piece they liked most and improvised a dance for it. Greek pupils devised a unique dance for a Portuguese Fado. The joy of creativity is seen from the seriousness on the faces of the pupils and on the way they check on each other to be sure that everything goes as planned. The mutual feeling of sharing and cooperation shone out bright when they accomplished their work.
Creativity emerging from diversity Working with students from different backgrounds, engaging in the same activities with them, exploring their culture and learning about them helped dispel any preconceived notions from a very early age.
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