About the project
It addresses the issues connected with languages, traditions, customs, nature, things around us, our well-being at school and beyond it, and cultural and historical heritage values.
The basic idea of this project is to create a real connection and friendship between the partner students. The students will get to know each other, share information and experiences, and improve their communication, language, and ICT skills simultaneously. The students will learn to discuss different matters and come to agreements and work in teams. They will learn about the sounds our lands and people produce, about their partners’ traditions and customs, their languages, culture and ways to keep their well-being at school and in everyday life. The project bases on the topic of languages, culture and the feeling and notion of wellbeing. During the project, the students will work in mixed teams of partners. The teachers will monitor the students' work and act as coordinators.
Within the scope of this project, we aim to:
- encourage students to get to know each other and become friends;
- develop the students’ abilities to communicate in foreign languages, share information, create tasks for each other, and collaborate virtually;
- enhance the students’ ICT skills;
- enhance the students’ understanding and knowledge of European countries, cultures, traditions, customs, languages and wellbeing;
- develop the students’ cultural, language, and wellbeing awareness and foster their teamwork;
- help the students make new friends and have fun.
The Sounds of Our Lands is an eTwinning project that focuses on languages, traditions, customs, nature, things around us, and cultural and historical heritage values. It is closely connected with such school subjects as Languages, History, Culture, Art, Literature, Cross-Cultural Studies, Social Studies and Computer Studies.
In this project, secondary and high school students will integrate their knowledge received during school lessons in the above subjects into the project’s activities.
Within the project’s work, the students are going
1) to learn how to introduce themselves, their countries, and schools, use the language in authentic contexts, translate texts from and into different languages and analyze them, learn new words, and broaden their vocabulary;
2) to do individual and group research about their partners’ countries, languages, traditions, customs and routines;
3) to create videos, presentations, pieces of poetry and stories;
4) to improve their writing, speaking, presenting, teamwork, and ICT skills;
5) to raise their cultural and historical awareness;
6) to participate in forums, debates, and online meetings.
In the project application form, we described “The Sounds of Our Lands” eTwinning project and stated that it addresses the issues connected with languages, traditions, customs, nature, things around us, our wellbeing at school and beyond it, and cultural and historical heritage values. As it is understood from this description, it brings many disciplines together.
First of all, the project integrates both the mother language and the target language through different tasks such as glossary and wellbeing advice/wishes. Furthermore, the students need to interact in English in transnational team activities, online meetings and discussions while they may prefer using their mother tongue in national group activities.
Secondly, the project topic is linked to history. Many partners come from different countries, and we learn about their histories and cultures in videos and presentations.
Thirdly, it is integrated with geography. In country presentations, we also learn a lot about the countries, at least their location on the map.
Fourthly, our project includes haiku and short story writing tasks. These topics are connected to “Language and Literature.”
In addition, the project is certainly integrated with “Information Technologies”. From eSafety and netiquette to using web tools, the students use and improve their ICT skills.
Finally, considering the wellbeing theme, our project is related to the curriculum of guidance and counseling lessons or psychology as well. With this activity, we aim to pursue to feel better at school.
There have been great changes in the world, from technology to marketing, as well as changes in the environment, climate, demography, ecological resources, etc. For example, new jobs have appeared, and we have become more digitalized. We can see the effects of these changes in our work, educational or social life. And due to the pandemic, this process has accelerated more. We need to keep the speed of this change as teachers. For this reason, we have to make students possess the key competencies and 21st-century skills.
The key competencies are defined as the competencies each European citizen needs for personal fulfillment and development, employment, social inclusion, and active citizenship in “Council Recommendation of European Commission on key competencies for Life- Long Learning” (17 January 2018). Considering this, the paper analyzes the project in terms of including and teaching the competencies and the skills.
Communication in the mother tongue:
It covers using the language appropriately, effectively, and respectfully.
This project is in English, but it also includes tasks in the mother language, such as commonly used words in the native language and wellbeing advice in the native language. Moreover, the students need to express the project to the people around them: their classmates, parents, friends, etc. So, they will always use and develop their mother language skills throughout the project.
Communication in foreign Languages:
This competency is also about using the language appropriately and effectively. If the language is foreign, it becomes much more important to use it correctly to avoid misunderstandings.
As mentioned before, the project language is English. We are partners from 8 different countries, and all the partners learn English as a foreign language. Therefore, it can be said that this project is a golden opportunity for both the students and the teachers since it creates real situations in which language can be used for communication. The students will be able to learn new words/ expressions/ idioms and comprehend the structures or speech acts. They will work in international groups and always exchange ideas with their peers.
Mathematical competency and basic competencies in science and technology:
Mathematical competency includes logical and spatial thinking in solving and presenting everyday problems. Competence in science includes understanding the natural world and the cause-effect relation. Competence in technology covers using the technology interactively and mastering ICT literacy.
We aim to improve the students in these fields in the project. For example, they design logos, create slogans summarizing the project and cards, write a part of the story one after the other, or make videos and guesses, etc. In all these activities, they use their competence in mathematics and technology. They think, analyze, and make guesses.
Digital competency:
It describes information and media literacy and uses technology effectively.
The project creates opportunities for the students to use technology interactively. The students will learn various Web 2.0 tools and be able to use them when needed. They will create cards, logos, videos, games, etc. They will learn about media literacy and disinformation, e-safety, and netiquette rules. With this project, they will step into becoming good digital citizens.
Social and civic competencies:
They include collaborating, managing, and resolving conflicts, interacting respectfully, and understanding global issues, human rights, etc.
This project has 15 schools and around 170 students from different cities and countries. In other words, it is a small society, a sample of the world population having different backgrounds, cultures, and expectations. The students will work in their school groups or transnational teams. They will need to cooperate and work collaboratively to complete the tasks. While trying to do the activities, they may face problems. They are expected to overcome these conflicts democratically. In the project, the students will learn to cope with the problems, express their ideas respectfully, and defend themselves while being fair. Shortly, they will learn to be civic and internalize their rights.
Cultural awareness and expression:
It can be described as valuing cultural diversity and respecting other cultures. This is a very important competence for being a world human. We should be aware of cultural differences and act respectfully to live in peace and equality.
Raising cultural awareness and getting the students to respect each other is one of the main aims of this project. The students introduce themselves, their schools, and their cities/ countries at the beginning of the project. They prepare presentations about other countries and their cultures. They create videos about some of their traditions, and the others try to guess them. They express advice about wellbeing in their mother languages and translate matched partners’ advice into the target language. All these activities inform the students about other cultures and develop openness to cultural otherness. During the project, the students will carry out many tasks together and have to be polite to each other all the time.
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship:
It can be defined as “leadership” and “creativity.” It requires making personal plans, projects, and attempts.
This project presents many activities to develop students’ creativity, such as story-writing, logo-designing, making short videos, preparing presentations, etc. Moreover, the team and group work activities lead to improved leadership skills. The students need to express themselves well and make the others accept their offers or ideas. In this project, the students will be encouraged to take control of the activities.
Learning to learn:
It consists of autonomous learning skills as well as analytical and critical thinking skills.
The students will learn to use knowledge and information appropriately and interactively in the project. For example, they will do research and present the information they get in a suitable way as country presentations. They will be responsible for their learning in the project. They will be given task and tool instructions, and they will decide how to put things together to create the product, and they will solve the problems they come across. They will be just guided. In brief, this project will show them there are always new things to learn and discover, and they have the power to determine their own way of learning.
The stages of the project:
Stage 1:
-the students provide presentations of their schools and classes;
-the students provide their logos and emblems for the project;
-the students create the project’s blog and website (1 months);
Stage 2:
-the students have their first online meetings, vote for the project’s logo, exchange information about their countries, schools, and themselves, make international teams, and take part in common learning activities (2 months);
Stage 3:
-the students learn about their partners’ languages, traditions, exchange tips to keep their well-being, safety and confidence at school and beyond it in international teams using different e-tools, they learn to use ICT tools, make up and present their work results using the vocabulary they’ve learned in school classes within such school topics in English as “Art”, “Nature”, “Travelling”, “My country”, “Nature and me”, “Culture” do online learning activities and have online meetings (2 months);
Stage 4:
-the students present the results of their team work in the shape of poetry, songs, videos, e-books using the vocabulary they’ve learned in school classes within such school topics in English as “Art”, “Nature”, “Travelling”, “My country”, “Nature and me”, “Culture”. They improve and develop their writing and ICT skills, practise new vocabulary, learn to communicate and collaborate, do online learning activities and have online meetings (2 months);
Stage 5:
-summarizing: creating the project’s e-book, completing the project’s website, and doing the project’s evaluation (1 month).
The expected results:
The project's final result will be a set of e-books, the final project’s e-book, and the project’s website with all the school activities and materials. Besides, all the materials will be provided on the project’s site and TwinSpace.