In today's world, we can observe sudden and rapid changes therefore we are obliged to emphasize the importance of our roots, as well as our common European roots. Despite the ability of free travelling around the world, as a result of the difficult political situation and many religious wars and connected with the problem religious refugees, we become “slaves” of our borders in order to become safe and sound. These all mentioned problems cause that young generation is afraid of other cultures and different religions. Our aims are to help the young children widen their horizons and become more courageous in exploring new cultures and religions through travelling and discovering unknown European history. By exchanging experiences, making new friends, uncovering the unknown history, they will be able to place their nation in the European history and will become open-minded European citizens. The combination of difficult historical problems with the use of innovative teaching methods and ICT technology and Internet resources, will have challenge young generation. We want to prove that children from different socio-economic backgrounds and professing many different religions, will have great fun working and playing together. Participation of so many diversified societies, let us to have the hope for equaling educational opportunities. So the students will be aware and open-minded citizens, eager to travel around the world in order to explore and be courageous on labour market.Our project ‘My History Is Your History!’ is going to make better teaching and learning conditions. Exchanging teachers’ experiences during project and training meetings and using innovate methods of teaching, will enrich staff’s competences and help to equal the diversity among students. It will be great opportunity to improve the language skills. Owing to expressing students’ thoughts and opinions on the project blog and via mails, they will also have the great chance to communicate and cultivate their interests and English language. The students will become the real creators of historical drama and workshops what will help them the competences of active learning. Our project goal is to consolidate family ties by involving the whole school community (also parents and grandparents) into all project enterprises. Creating historic comic books, card and board games and interactive family trees, let the students involve their imagination and art skills. Using ICT tools during the lesson, will develop their skills in this area, what will be very helpful not only in school but also on the job market in the near future. Six schools are involved in this project. Teachers working actively in project’s activities will take part in particular meetings. But the long term effects and the range of our activities will be highly bigger due to our implementations which will be popularized in local society and through media. The teachers and the students will become highly motivated and eager to work. Travelling abroad and exchanging ideas between young people, both will widen their skills and broaden their horizons and also build one European cultural identity. Having so wide range of skills, will give them opportunity to take participation in many competitions and in long-range future it will create imaginative, open-minded young European citizen. Our international cooperation will advertise the European Union and promote the idea of working together to create one united Europe.
The project 'Your History Is Our History' implemented in 2016-2018 to strengthen students' social and civic competences and their cultural awareness. By learning about the history of their own country, promoting patriotism and finding a European historical context, children can identify themselves with national culture easily and European roots easily. The project also emphasized the usage of information and communication technology as an attractive form of learning. Mutual cooperation and the necessity of communicating in English factored into language competences both students and teachers.Six primary schools took part in the project. The children come from diverse economic and social environments. In the majority, these are children from families with lower or medium economic and social backgrounds. Students spend most of the day at school. It is the only place that gives them the opportunity to develop their skills and abilities through participation in extra extracurricular activities. Children with special needs also attend these facilities. Each school uses a variety of working methods to involve young people in the learning process. Participation in this type of projects gave students motivation to learn about their own history and to improve their English speaking skills.Due to project’s schedule we carried all the tasks out. The school Erasmus + Team coordinated and implemented planned actions. We have familiarized the school and local community with the subject of the project and planned activities. To inform about our Erasmus+ Project we had an information project board. We also posted information on Facebook and eTwinning platform. To teach history creatively, without sitting at school desks and to put students’ attention on learning cause and effects, we have prepared an exhibition "Day with our national hero", a school competition as part of the celebration of the Days of Ancient Times, a carnival ball with a presentation of medieval figures, historical reconstruction “One day in the XVIth century Poland, a carnival ball with great historical figures, an exhibition showing life in communism times in Poland. Due to parents and children cooperation, we conducted historic picnics where our students presented history and culture of Erasmus+ partners’ and learned about their cuisine traditions. They had opportunity to try all the different dishes prepared by their parents. We also performed drama shows about important historical events related to polish national holidays. Students participated in school competitions to improve their historical knowledge. Both parents and students created the "Historical Corner", a place where students spend their free time at school, surrounded by a gallery of historical photos and paintings.Students have made didactic board games for their colleagues from abroad. They had to practise their knowledge of history and English speaking skills. They also created presentations of family trees, took part in the "Inter-National" Historical Competition using gogle drive forms, created a film presenting educational trips to historically important places and regularly corresponded with each other. All the tasks practise their linguistic, historical and ICT competences. Thanks to the exchange of students in Lithuania and Poland, participants of the project practiced communication skills and learned about their habits and culture. They participated in historical outdoor activities. Teachers at project meetings learned about foreign culture, the functioning of different educational systems, and exchanged new methods of teaching modern teaching technologies. The students have significantly improved their “key competences”, especially communicating in English, the usage of ICT technologies, the ability to learn, their cultural expression, but also creativity and innovation in learning. Thanks to the cooperation between schools and the exchange of experiences, we were able to adapt examples of good practices and use them in everyday work with students. Our teacher training meetings enriched teachers' workshop and as a result enriched and diversified lessons conducted by teachers. We also created historical didactic games that are now used in classes to learn and teach through play. Together with our Erasmus+Partners we made some kind of historic chronicle or magazine, which now is a guidebook of our activities. The "Historical Corner" organized at school, is a place where children spend their free time and the place which "promote" the history of school, the area where we live, our roots and our polish tradition.