ISIS GALILEI (GORIZIA), ITALY INSTITUT JAUME CALLÍS (VIC), CATALONIA, SPAIN RG RÄMIBÜHL (ZURICH), SWITZERLAND
2014-2015
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WARMING-‐UP: SEPTEMBER 2014 0. CELEBRATION OF THE EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES (26th Sep) Prior to the launching of the new etwinning platform, teachers were busy arranging for the celebration of the EDL. A blog was created: http://etwinningsharinglanguages.blogspot.com.es, which would serve both as: -‐ Our first meeting point -‐ Dissemination of the project (in English and Spanish) Procedure: a) MULTILINGUAL MESSAGES Students exchange the message: "Hi, we are from …... and we are happy to meet you. Have a nice European Day of Languages!" In the different languages in the project: Italian, Spanish, Catalan, German and Swiss German. b) Students of each country record a video with the messages in all the languages c) A CLASS VIDEO Students make a short video about their class. Ex hello, we are ... and attend.... We are happy to meet you and work with you in this project d) THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING FOREIGN LANGUAGES Students can make a video in which some of them say something about the importance of knowing a foreign language e) VIDECONFERENCE ITALY/ SPAIN on 26th Sep: introductions, discussion on the importance of learning foreign languages, and also a guessing game: which language/s are these students’? All the activities can be found in the blog, and also in the Page: BLOG in our Twinspace: http://etwinningsharinglanguages.blogspot.com.es/search/label/EDL STEP 1: October-‐December 2014 OUR COUNTRIES, REGIONS, CITIES AND SCHOOLS: PROCEDURE:
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a) Create the groups via forums. b) Create the threads for each category with all the instructions the students may need. c) The students prepare a draft of their presentation and the list of questions they need to ask to create it. d) The students start asking each other questions via forums. And creation of a page for each group on which they work together and write down all the information they gather. They also take part in Skype videoconferences (see materials: videos). e) When the students have all the information they need, they make their presentations and upload them on the page we will create for them. (See PAGES 1. SCHOOLS, 1. CITIES, 1. REGIONS, 1. COUNTRIES f) The presentations are uploaded in WWW.VOICETHREAD.COM and embedded in the corresponding pages numbered as 1. a. Once the three presentations of the 3 countries are uploaded in each page: SCHOOLS, CITIES, REGIONS AND COUNTRIES, students access the presentations on voicethread and leave comments on the presentations of their partners’ countries. Ideas for students’ comments: i. Something that surprised you. Why. ii. Something you already knew. Why. iii. Something very different from your country. In which way iv. Something similar in your country b. Prompt to leave as many comments as possible, on as many slides as possible, too.
MERRY XMAS: December 2014 a) Creation of a padlet: http://padlet.com/alessandra1507/MerryChristmas so students can exchange seasons’ Greetings in the different languages of the Project. b) Multilingual carols’ singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s7bgsiL1Sw c) Forum: Students’ messages and comments on the Christmas messages and carols: http://twinspace.etwinning.net/156/forums/forum/3510 Next step: January-‐March 2015 STEP 2: OUR LANGUAGES: • GERMAN • SWISS GERMAN • SPANISH • CATALAN • ITALIAN ACTIVITY 2.1: • Warming up: Watch video HOW LANGUAGES EVOLVE from TED-‐ED: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-‐languages-‐evolve-‐alex-‐gendler
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ACTIVITY 2.2. CONTENTS: a. Description: where it is spoken, how many people… b. Borrowed words from different languages throughout history c. Languages in contact (which languages do the mother tongues influence, and by which one/s they are influenced: in which way and to what extent. Using different web tools. You can follow us in our blog linked in the schools’ websites: http://etwinningsharinglanguages.blogspot.com.es Or log in the twinspace using this: Username: agencia.nacional.4 Password: etwinning2015 After Xmas, we came back to work on our new section in the project: STEP 2: OUR LANGUAGES: • GERMAN • SWISS GERMAN • SPANISH • CATALAN • ITALIAN TIMING: JANUARY -‐MARCH 2015 ACTIVITY 2.1: • Warming up: 1) Students watch video HOW LANGUAGES EVOLVE from TED-‐ED: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-‐languages-‐evolve-‐alex-‐gendler 2) They write their comments in the forum in the twinspace ACTIVITY 2.2. CONTENTS: 1 Descriptions of our languages: where it is spoken, how many people… 2 Borrowed words in our languages from different languages thought-‐out history 3 Languages in contact (where our languages are spoken, dialects, present influences) WORKING METHOD:
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Assign students to work on different tasks (transnational groups) using diff. tools: 2.2.a. HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGES Each country assigns students to work on a TIMELINE They edited the same timeline. They described the main events for each language. Link to the collaborative timeline: http://www.tiki-‐ toki.com/timeline/entry/390120/HISTORY-‐OF-‐OUR-‐LANGUAGES/ 2.2.b. BORROWED WORDS FROM DIFF. LANGUAGES THROUGHOUT HISTORY: In transnational groups using the same account in www.bubbl.us (mindmaping web tool). See mindmaps: Italian: https://bubbl.us/mindmap?h=26383f/4d9e5e/25M4EaLMcYBX6 Catalan: https://bubbl.us/mindmap?h=26deb0/4eedfc/25Vmmzu/jrDm. Spanish: https://bubbl.us/mindmap?h=26deb0/4e7c5d/25TIcvsvxfOMg German: https://bubbl.us/mindmap?h=26383f/4dc418/2500Uf/iyE.No and https://bubbl.us/mindmap?h=26383f/4dc3e0/25ab2hCRwLOjM 3 LANGUAGES IN CONTACT: using interactive maps (www.thinglink.com) for each language. Information on different dialects, links to videos or further information. See maps: • Italian: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/609077152003915777 • German: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/609783367352713216 • Swiss German: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/609783353180160000 • Catalan: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/612547655934935041 • Spanish: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/620911749033361408 (Spain) and http://www.thinglink.com/scene/612548068486676481 (America) 2.2.d. GAMES: Students created quizzes about the 5 languages, about the 3 above topics Swiss created Dustbin games: http://www.classtools.net/education-‐games-‐ php/dustbin Italians created Arcade games: http://www.classtools.net/_mobileQuiz/index.php Spanish created Packman games: http://www.classtools.net/pac/ See some of the games created:
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By Swiss: 1) http://www.classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_8/7tytk.htm 2) http://www.classtools.net/education-‐games-‐php/dustbin 3) http://www.classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_9/VgxU3.htm 4)http://www.classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_1/FDrWe.htm By Italians: http://www.classtools.net/widgets/quiz_35/Borrowed_Words_3nWUA.htm By Spanish: 1) BORROWED WORDS 1: http://www.classtools.net/pac/201502_3J2kgb 2) BORROWED WORDS 2: http://www.classtools.net/pac/201502_dehfBE 3) TIMELINE 1: http://www.classtools.net/pac/201502_gNLLCU 4) TIMELINE 2: http://www.classtools.net/pac/201502_Q76c8i 5) LANGUAGES IN CONTACT: http://www.classtools.net/pac/201502_YL48K5 Then they played each other's games and write their scores and comments in a forum in the twinspace. STEP 3: We have already started working on step 3 of the project: March-‐June 2015 STEP 3: INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH IN OUR LANGUAGES INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN AND OTHER ENGLISH-‐SPEAKING CULTURES IN OUR CULTURE/EVERYDAY LIFE. The students have been placed in 5 transnational groups (see in the twinspace) GROUP 1: ENTERTAINMENT: CINEMA, THEATRE, TV... GROUP 2: FOOD / EATING HABITS / RESTAURANTS GROUP 3: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY GROUP 4: SPORT GROUP 5: CELEBRATIONS / TRADITIONS Activities in step 3: 3.1. GUESS THE MESSAGES: Students create a list with sentences in their own languages (Italian, Swiss German, Catalan and Spanish), which included commonly used English words 3.2. SURVEYS: Students do surveys of the use and influence of the English language and American/British culture in our languages and cultures. 3.3. ENGLISH AND OUR LANGUAGES: Presentations on their findings.
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I will report back all the students’ productions in the next post in this Progress card. We also plan to have an expert talk on the matter and a logo contest. TO CONCLUDE: Despite our difficulties: -‐ Change of Italian students, -‐ The Swiss teacher not being able to log in on etwinning because her account was blocked at the beginning of the year, We have managed to keep on working, our students are highly motivated and the project is fully integrated in each school curriculum: -‐ Switzerland: Spanish as a foreign language class + help of the English teacher -‐ Italy: English as a foreign language -‐ Spain: “Projecte de Recerca” (proyecto de Investigación) in 4th ESO. STEPS 3 -‐ 4 -‐5: Step 3: MARCH-‐JUNE 2015 INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH IN OUR LANGUAGES INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN AND OTHER ENGLISH-‐SPEAKING CULTURES IN OUR CULTURE/EVERYDAY LIFE. DESIGN OF THE OFFICIAL LOGO Students have worked in 5 transnational groups GROUP 1: ENTERTAINMENT: CINEMA, THEATRE, TV… Spanish: Jana Oms and Mireia Torrents Italian: Asad Zucalli and andrea Decolle Swiss: Elia Baer, Caroline Böttger, Maurice Brunner, Janic Spinas, Damian Zaker GROUP 2: FOOD / EATING HABITS / RESTAURANTS Spanish: Carla Pérez and Maria Vidal Italian: Michele Giacometto, Petar Pekvic, Giorgio De Lillo Swiss: Luisa Casanova, Katja Dähler, Lubnan El Akhrass, Michéle Stachowski GROUP 3: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Spanish: Martina Macià and Melina Maschio Italian: Veljko janjic, Nokolas Durante and Alessio Tognan Swiss: Laura Frick, Felix Hartner, Luisa Laemmel, Mira Thommen GROUP 4: SPORT
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Spanish: ALex Noguera and Jose Rodríguez Italian: Stella Faggioli, dennis Fabris, Francesco Furlan Swiss: Anastasjia Marinkovic, Florian Niggl, Bettina Nipkow Xavier Thuillard, Samuel Ziegler GROUP 5: CELEBRATIONS / TRADITIONS Spanish: Oriol Puig and Sandra Turró Italian: Michael Moschion, Luca Grassi, Gabriele Battistutta Swiss: Robin Puthukara, Noë Sauter, Lea Schawinski, Adriana Wenger 3.1. GUESS THE MESSAGES (beginning-‐ mid March 2015) Students to make short videos in which they speak in their own language about the different topics ex. Food and while speaking they use English words which are familiar and commonly used in their languages. Their partners should then watch the videos, try to understand these English words and see if they are the same they themselves use while speaking their language. For example in Italian: “Ieri sono andato al Fast Food e ho mangiato un cheese burger con French fries poi ho fatto un giro allo shopping centre per comprare dei toast e del ketch up” The activity was also carried out in two Skype sessions, as a game, where students took turns in guessing the hidden English words in the sentences. Students’ reflections can be shown in the forum 3.1. In the twinspace 3.2. / 3.3. SURVEYS ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ON OUR LANGUAGES AND THE AMERICANIZATION OF OUR CULTURE. March-‐mid April Students did surveys to people in their own schools about each topic. Each country created their own surveys (on the 5 topics), had their friends /family… answer them, and then created forums in which students in the same group/topic, analysed and commented on the results of the 3 countries? 6-‐8 questions each survey; the questions weren’t exactly the same in each country. The results were analysed, commented and compared in forum 3.3 in the twinspace. 3.4. A LOGO FOR THE PROJECT (April-‐June)
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With the help of the Art teacher, students designed logos for the project. The logos were uploaded in Materials and then we had the voting for the best logos. We used the web tool: www.surveyeverywhere.com, but as only 40 responses were allowed in the free version, only Spanish and Italian students could vote. The Swiss did so in a forum 3.4. In the twinspace. The winning logo was uploaded as the image of the project. 3.5. ENGLISH IN OUR TOWNS (April-‐May) How much English is there in our towns? Students took pictures of places, ads in their own towns, which are in English or contain English words. The pictures were uploaded in Materials section in the Twinspace, and also presented using www.thematic.co or www.emaze.com Then students took a poll to find out to what extent is English present in our cities. Added: LECTURE: “LENGUAS EN CONTACTO” On the 20th March, a former teacher of the Spanish school, now retired, came to give a speech to the students on LANGUAGES IN CONTACT, and THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH IN OUR LANGUAGES. She is a great teacher, still active at University. She has published books about INTERFERENCES BETWEEN CATALAN AND SPANISH LANGUAGES, also on LITERATURE… gives a lot of lectures, even abroad… She gave the speech in Spanish (she used to be a Spanish language and literature teacher) and it was recorded (video and audio) Spanish students also interviewed her for their written project. 4. EVALUATION & FAREWELL 4.1. EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT Using the web tool www.smore.com, and using pictures uploaded in the twinspace, they wrote about: • -‐ WHAT I LIKED THE BEST ABOUT THE PROJECT • -‐ WHAT I LIKED THE LEAST • -‐ WHAT I HAVE LEARNT • -‐ WHAT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO DO
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• -‐ A FAREWELL MESSAGE FOR ALL MEMBERS. And embedded their presentations in the corresponding subpage. 4.2. VIDEOCONFERENCE: EVALUATION & FAREWELL Spanish and Swiss students met for the last time to talk about the above topics and also to say good-‐bye. Their common wish: to meet face-‐to-‐face next year. Who knows? 5.1. & 5.2. CATALAN STUDENTS MATERIALS: This section contains most of the written projects and oral presentations of the Catalan students. DISSEMINATION PAGE: Compilation of links that show where and how the project has been disseminated. For sure, not closed!!! The project will be shown as a good practice in a Teachers’ Training Course in early July in Catalonia, and more is to come.
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