As European Commission states ; Literacy, numeracy, science, and technology are the foundation for further learning and are a gateway to employment and social inclusion. In Europe, approximately 20% of the young generation is not equipped with the necessary basic skills in literacy, mathematics, science and technology. Our project ABC aims to develop the basic skills of pupils especially the low achievers and disadvantaged pupils.Since the low achievers and disadvantaged pupils can not pay enough attention to lessons for long, we will use gamification and game based learning methods to teach them and also all pupils at schools. With our project ABC we aim to achieve these objectives ; ABC aims to achieve the following objectives ; - participant schools' all teachers will be more competent in teaching basic skills, - good practices, new methods and innovative techniques to teach literacy, maths and science will be shared among European teachers, - disadvantaged pupils and SEN pupils will be given more chance to learn basic skills using attractive methods to them such as collaborative learning,action and games, - low achievers in basic skills will be given more chance to acquire basic skills with the help of good practices around Europe, - all participant schools' curricula will be renovated and adapted as a result of acquired good practices and skills, - cultural diversity, multiculturalism, social inlusion and European Citizenship issues will be given more importance at schools, - participant schools will improve their European Dimension and be more international schools , - the respect for and the knowledge of culture of our own countries and Europe will be increased, - innovative methods will be learned and shared among participants in teaching basic skills, - the rate of early leavers from education will be reduced , - we will train all schools' staff on how to teach basic skills using traditional , digital, board, creative and handmade games , drama , collaborative teaching, WEB 2 tools , apps , technology and gamification, - we will develop basic skills of pupils at pre-primary and primary schools and prepare them for their future, - we will improve basic skills of disadvantaged pupils and low achievers, - we will learn more on the system of countries who are successful in PISA examination such as Germany and Slovenia, - we will make the parents and pupils acquire reading habits and - communication skills of both pupils and teachers will be improved in their mother tongue and in English as the language of the project. 6 teaching and training activities will be done thoughout the project to teach basic skills to pupils using 1- Drama 2- Games 3- Digital Tools 4- Art, digital art 5- Collaborative methods , Buddy activities and 6- Action indoors and outdoors. All the Teaching Learning and Training activities will be joined by two participants from each partner school. With the help of open-door trainings all school staff, other schools' staff and education authorities will be trained and informed about the good practices in partner schools. Throughout the project different methodologies in different activities will be applied. Gamification and Game based learning will be the basic methodology of the project activities. We will also apply active learning, collaborative learning , project based learning,cooperative and peer teaching and learning, learning with drama and action methodologies in our project. We will use functional learning throughout the project. About 4400 pupils, 1205 of them with disadvantages , and about 500 teachers will participate in the activities of the project. We especially aim to teach basic skills more effectively to low achievers and pupils with disadvantages. All European teachers will have the chance to teach basic skills using games. At least 6 European schools will incorporate best practices they experienced into their curricula. Digital games, board games, traditional games adapted to teach basic skills, digital books, E-book , campaigns and other different implementation activities will be done to achieve the aims of the project. As the potential long term benefits of the project, pupils with disadvantages will learn basic skills in a fun way and more effectively. With games and different methods basic skills of all pupils in Europe will develop and success of European pupils in PISA test will increase. ABC will bring another aspect to success in basic skills' teaching.We will try to teach basic skills to low achievers using games and other fun activities as we believe that active learners learn better.
“ACQUISITION OF BASIC COMPETENCES” (ABC) is a project that reflects the philosophy and attitude of teachers and educational communities from all partner institutions of the project. This project was developed due to the need for the candidate institution to address some challenges: - insufficient skills of teachers to teach basic and horizontal skills; - weak motivation for development and improvement of communication skills in a foreign language of the staff and the children; - full inclusion of children with SEN, children - migrants and children - refugees. The other partners also faced the problems of social exclusion. They also had problems similar to those identified by the institution - candidate. All partners together chose to use on game-based learning as the main methodology. Various additional methodologies were applied, which are relevant to the main methodology - gamification, active learning, joint learning, project-based learning, cooperative and partner learning, educational drama as method of learning, action learning methodology and functional learning. The following goals were set and achieved in ABC: -The competence of all teachers in teaching basic skills has been increased; -Good practices, new methods and innovative techniques for teaching literacy, mathematics and science are shared among European teachers; -More chances and more opportunities are given to disadvantaged children and students and children and students with SEN to acquire basic skills, using attractive methods such as joint learning, actions and games; -Shared good practice across Europe has enabled people with low basic skills to acquire basic competencies; -The curricula of all partners have been renewed and adapted as a result of the acquired better practices and skills; -Greater importance is attached to cultural diversity, social inclusion and European citizenship issues in the institutions; -The European dimension of the institutions has improved and they are internationally recognizable; -Respect and knowledge of the culture of both one's own countries and Europe has increased; -Innovative methods in teaching basic skills have been learned and shared; -Although slightly, the percentage of early school leavers in partner institutions has decreased; -Teachers learned on how to teach basic skills using traditional, digital, board, creative and handmade games, educational drama techniques, cooperative learning, WEB2 tools, applications, technologies; -The basic skills of children and students are developed and they are prepared for their future; -The basic skills of disadvantaged children and students and those with low grades have been improved; -Teachers learned more about the education system of countries that are successful in PISA; -Parents and students acquired reading habits in this way as well -They improved their communication skills in their mother tongue and in English as the project language. Within the project, 6 LTTA were carried out for teaching basic skills to children and students, based on 1. Drama; 2. Games; 3. Digital tools; 4. Art / Digital Art; 5. Methods for working together / Friendly activities and 6. Indoor and outdoor activities. With the help of the open-door trainings the pedagogical teams of the participating institutions, representatives from other schools and kindergartens, students, the educational authorities were trained and informed about the good practices of the project. Just over 4,400 children and students, 1,231 of them disadvantaged and low-achieving, and about 540 teachers participated in the project activities. The desire to teach more effectively the basic skills of children and students with SEN and those with disabilities has been crowned with great success. One of the achievements bring an especially proud - the development of reading literacy in children and students and their parents, as well as the development of their interest in reading and love for books. An additional final product of the project has been created - HANDBOOK, which describes 36 of the games and theory with specifics on each of its topics. 144 different games, digital books, exhibitions, various campaigns, performances, concerts have been created and published on YouTube ABC Channel and many activities have been carried out to disseminate the results of the project. In the long run, disadvantaged children and students are expected to continue to acquire basic skills much more effectively in a fun way. The games and the various methods described will provide an opportunity to develop the basic skills of all children and students in Europe in whom they are applied. The international educational community will upgrade its skills to teach and develop basic competencies by developing its own versions of the created games. ABC has been awarded for OVERALL QUALITY PERFORMANCE by HRDC - Bulgarian National Agency for the Erasmus+ Program.