A medial journey to discover our European children’s books heroes: A media passport for Primary school kids Six different schools from six European countries will take part in our project. Pupils will be from 4 to 12 years of age. We would like to combine general and cultural information about the six participating European countries, children’s books heroes (a topic of high interest for pupils of primary school level) as well as different kinds of media. Depending on the age group of children, pupils will discover children’s books through a variety of media. Media, not just digital media, will help us to learn about our heroes, their authors, the intention of the books and to present our results. Newspapers, internet research, books, DVDs, audio-books, computers and ipads (apps), will be used to familiarise ourselves with children's books, to engage with them, to present results and to share them with the partner schools. The history, advantages and disadvantages of different types of media, dangers and possibilities will be included. Pictures, posters and leaflets can be drawn, articles for newspapers and websites can be written, short videos and audio books can be produced and so on. Children's books will be the "frame" for our common work on media with primary school children. During the first year of our project we will gradually develop a “Media Passport” (a media portfolio) for all participating pupils and schools. It shall reflect the media literacy of each pupil. The passport is intended to improve the pupils' media literacy according to their level of understanding and to make it visible to the pupils themselves as well as their teachers and parents. Moreover it shall be a motivation for getting involved in working with media. The common topic of children's books heroes works as a frame and combines intercultural learning, learning foreign languages and working with media. This Media Passport shall be finished after the first year and be used during the second year of the project. Improvements can be made. It shall outlast the project and continue to be used regardless of topic and curriculum. During the 6 mobilities (3 per year) the participating teachers will present their school's work on the project to the other participants. They will observe classes and will also teach pupils of the partner schools about a children's book and show results of their pupils working on that topic at home. Meetings will be held to discuss the ongoing project, results, further steps, and details of the project (for example: Is e-twinning a possibility we could use to work on the project during the second year?). Pupils will accompany teachers abroad and attend lessons and cultural visits. They will be accomodated at host families of the partner school children. Abroad they will work together with their European classmates on our common topic and share their experiences with the classes at home through a travel journal which will be expanded with each each. The host country has to organise the stay and the timetable for all participants and has to make sure that there is a good balance between formal meetings, work with the pupils and cultural visits. Furthermore, for the participating pupils the timetable has to be organised with a good balance of lessons and leisure time. Depending on the different curriculums of the countries and the different levels of equipment at schools, teachers may use different kinds of media more or less often. We will first need to establish what we want to teach our pupils and put into our Media passport. Through exchange and discussion we will support each other as well as learn from another. We will share examples of good practice and share useful material.
A medial journey to discover our European children’s books heroes: A media passport for Primary school kids Six primary schools from England, Estonia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain participated in the project "Our media journey to children's book heroes of Europe" under German coordination. The aim was to jointly develop and use a media passport for children between the ages of 4 and 12. The intercultural common (working) framework was to be provided by the topic of Europe's children's book heroes, which is of interest to primary schools. Both the work with children's books (promotion of reading competence and motivation, dealing with literature) and the promotion of media competence of the pupils (and teachers) were highly relevant for all our European partner schools and were reflected in all country-specific curricula. At the beginning of the project, each partner school selected a typical children's book from their country and all schools purchased the different books for their students. Together, the schedule from the application was revised at a first meeting as to when which book should be read and worked on by all students. In class, students learned about the partner countries' children's book heroes using a variety of media. Media, not only digital media, helped us to get to know the heroes, their authors, the intentions of the books and to present results. Newspapers, internet research, books, DVDs, audio books, computers and Ipad (apps) were used to get acquainted with children's books, engage with them, present results and share them with partner schools. Pictures and posters were drawn by the students of the partner schools, articles were written for newspapers and websites, short videos and audio books were produced. The children's books provided the framework for the collaborative work with the children. In the 1st year of the project, we wanted to gradually develop a media passport (a media portfolio) for all participating students and schools. The passport was intended to initiate and improve the media competence of the students depending on their age group and to make it visible for children, parents and teachers. In February 2020, at a second project meeting of the partners, we took the first steps toward realizing the media passport. Only a week after our meeting, the hosting Italian partner school suffered its first corona infections and as a result more and more schools closed and the work on the Media Passport came to a standstill. During the phase of school closures between February 2020 and May 2021, the partner schools tried to provide to provide general and cultural information about the six participating countries, as well as to read and exchange ideas about the selected children's books. Various media were used to communicate, present results, and engage with the content of the children's books. Unfortunately, it was not possible to realize the media passport due to school closures, alternating lessons and very differently organized attendance times at school. Before the pandemic, two meetings of the partner schools in France and Italy could take place. The traveling colleagues observed lessons at the host school and worked with the students for several lessons on the children's book hero of their home country. Results from their own students were included. In working meetings, they planned the joint approach and discussed how to keep to the objectives. Also a work in Etwinning was initiated and should be used by and with the pupils. The students from the partner schools were given small observation assignments and kept a travel diary to share their experiences with their classmates back home. The students were accommodated in pairs in host families of the partner students. When the pandemic situation made it possible in winter 2021 and spring 2022, we tried to organize a final meeting of all partners. However, it was not possible for everyone to attend a meeting. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)