Our schools are already participating in a Comenius project and our idea is to use Etwinning as a complementary tool within our project. We will start working with one of the schools involved (Escóla Secundaria de Gafanha de Nazaré), but we plan to invite the other schools participating to join in: Friedrich-Bayer-Realschule (Wuppertal, Germany), The Children’s Palace (Sibiu, Romania), Il Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace im. Emilii Plater (Sosnowiec, Poland), Fatih Primary School, (Ankara, Turkey) and AOC Terra VMBO Groen Oldekerk (Niekerk, The Netherlands). Within the Comenius project, whose most important aim will be to compare different methodological approaches in teaching those subjects involved in the project, especially foreign languages, our students will be involved in the creation of a dictionary and a newspaper and we will use etwinning to encourage and facilite thier cooperative work on these two projects. It will also be our purpose to make pupils aware of the importance of the use of a foreign language which will enable communication with people from different countries and will become the vehicle to get information and to know about the music, history, geography, economy or any other aspects of the countries involved, since we believe knowledge and cooperation are the best ways to improve understanding. At the same time, students will benefit from the use of ICTs, learning how these devices will be an essential tool to carry out the activities they will be dealing with. ICTs will be also dealt with from the teachers’ point of view, learning to use them as teaching tools that can help to motivate our students. There will be, therefore, a double scope of cooperation: for the teachers on the one hand, and for the students on the other.

• Subjects: Design and Technology, Foreign Languages, Geography, History, Informatics / ICT, Language and Literature, Music, Social Studies / Sociology
• Languages: ES - PT - EN
• Pupil's age: 10 - 18
• Tools to be used: Chat, e-mail, Forum, MP3, Other software (Powerpoint, video, pictures and drawings), Video conference, Web publishing
• Aims: For the students  To develop some knowledge of other European countries, helping to reinforce the European spirit and to promote... read moreFor the students  To develop some knowledge of other European countries, helping to reinforce the European spirit and to promote mutual understanding between people from different linguistic and socio-cultural backgrounds, reducing stereotyping.  To make students realise the importance of foreign languages, which will facilitate their communication with people from other countries.  To encourage students to use ICTs as means of communication and a way to get information, using them as a supportive tool for learning, providing a creative and safe use of these devices.  To encourage students to develop personal responsibility and the ability to work with others in a respectful and co-operative manner, improving students confidence, motivation and social integration, as well as their academic performance.  To gain specific skills such as negotiation, problem solving and team work, finding an appropriate use of different kinds of resources.  To establish a cross-curricular approach to learning. For the teachers  To improve the quality and attractiveness of teaching.  To learn about other educational systems and their approach to the different subjects.  To share and compare different methodologies used in the teaching of their respective subjects, with a special emphasis in the teaching of foreign languages with the aim of obtaining better didactic performances.  To create working tools necessary in the process of modern teaching.  To renew their enthusiasm and professional development by gaining new ideas and methodologies.  To promote the European dimension of teaching and longlife learning. hide
• Work process: Step 1: Organising the work  The teams of teachers in the partner schools choose the most efficient times and methods... read moreStep 1: Organising the work  The teams of teachers in the partner schools choose the most efficient times and methods to exchange information and the subjects for the collective e-mails.  Sharing of the exchange programme with the students involved.  Organisation in groups of the students involved according to their tasks and /or matching of the students involved for individual e-mail exchanges. Step 2: Individual e-mail exchanges  The students who will take part in different exchanges that will be organised during our project start exchanging individual e-mails with some language and technical help and assistance from the teachers at the beginning (depending on their level), and then go on communicating freely. Step 3: Collective e-mail exchanges  Students exchange information and materials and agree about the vocabulary and expressions that will be included in the dictionary.  Students share ideas about the contents of the first (2010) and second (2011) editions of our common newspaper. Step 4: Publication  The most interesting materials exchanged in step 2 are published in TwinSpace and the website of the Comenius project. hide
• Expected results: Students’ products: information on the subjects chosen, e-mails, Powerpoint presentations, videos, an online dictionary and a newspaper

• Go to the TWINSPACE