Our 4 countries are faced with the same difficulties with our students in terms of lack of handling and lack of attention in the classroom. We all welcome students with disparities in school due to social and educational differences as well as a lack of motivation. The inclusion of some students also requires that we question our pedagogical practices. Advances in neuroscience and a children natural incline to play, allow us to implement ways to successfully learn. The main objective of this project is to see our students progress in the fields of science and reading comprehension. In order to do this, we want to implement games (associative, cooperative, symbolic, role-play or construction set) to stimulate the attention of our students and lead them onto the path of learning. Games provide us with a visible feedback on the student's choice, path and strategies. These information make it possible to identify successes, to differentiate learning and consolidate knowledge. The goal is indeed to distance oneself from the game to reach abstraction. But the latter remains in the child's brain as a referent to succeed in his task. Leading such a project on a European scale is a great motivation not only for children but also for teachers. It is stimulating and allows new exchanges on our practices. It is a great motivation to innovate and to organize meetings to set didactic principles and compare our preoccupations. Opening up to Europe is also an opportunity for some of our students to discover neighboring countries, different lifestyles and it allows children to travel and discover each other. Participating children are between 6 and 10 years old. It involves 4 schools each differently organized, which is all the more interesting. Each of our schools welcomes children with disabilities, but also with difficult family backgrounds. This project will allow many children to communicate in unity around a theme that means a lot to them. We really wish to make numerous children travel. Beyond the joint implementation of the project, they will be the ambassadors of our Europe, so severely criticized nowadays. Being a part such a project will raise our students awareness of belonging to a same entity. Our activities will be numerous. We will have co-intervention when handling games in the classrooms or when away. Children will make games and their rules for the younger students. Exchanges between students from the same school or from different countries will take place throughout the year. When away, visits will be organized to get to know the area and the lifestyle of our fellow students. A great game to discover the other, inspired by "trivial pursuit", will be entirely designed and handcrafted by the students. The kindergartens will be in charge of painting the board. The older ones (9-10 years old) will be responsible for the design of the game as well as the questions on sports, history, geography and arts whereas the 6 to 9 years old will be in charge of the questions on fauna and flora as well as on leisure. A pedagogical and fraternal bound will be experienced during these exchanges. Kindergarten teachers will give their insights into the different phoneme games and early counting activities. The various games (battles, memories, riddles, construction sets, association games, cooperative games) with the best evaluation will be collected in a case. This kit will be intended for years ahead but will also be supplemented and shared with other schools during observation and sharing workshops. It could also be used to create bonds between "CM2 " and "6ème" students. The games will be developed around concepts chosen at the very beginning of the project. For the 6 to 8 year olds, the games will be based on phonemes, word families, vocabulary, sentences, understanding sentences as well as short texts, in the mathematical field, around the numeration and number of tens and hundreds.For older children, the games will be used to set up automatisms in conjugation, grammar and reading comprehension, in mathematics, counting, mental calculations and understanding of problems. Concrete achievements expected: -collection of games for primary school students; -CDs, DVDs, short films/videos, brochures, photo exhibitions, travel diaries, portfolio for students. Impact on students: - motor development of students; - emotional and social development -development of intelligence - to teach children adequate behavior and the respect of certain rules; -to build our team spirit - encourage children to become active adults.
Our schools were experiencing the same problems, lack of handling in certain classes, lack of attention in class by our pupils, academic inequality, lack of motivation and effort. Faced with this observation, each partner team became aware that it was necessary to change its teaching practice. Learning through play is not innate for some teachers. It was necessary, through this project, to demonstrate to some of them the positive aspect of games in their teaching. It was decided to use as many educational games as possible, i.e. games created by the teacher on a specific difficulty. The pedagogical game links the game activity with the curriculum. This game has two functions, either to acquire knowledge or to confront knowledge with another reality, to make transfers. In both cases, it is part of a well thought-out educational approach. The game is only relevant if it is used wisely and if the rules are respected. The effectiveness of the game will depend on how and when it is used with the pupils. It is essential that the game is supervised by an adult or an older pupil. The role of the supervisor is essential: he or she is the guarantor of the proper use of the game. The evaluation will also have an impact on the appropriateness of certain games. The evaluation of the game is done through a form designed by the team (see attachment). It evaluates the motivation of the pupils, the difficulties encountered, the level of the game, the possibilities of evolution of the game. The evaluation is also done through the written exercises taking up the notions seen in the form of a game. Does the pupil make a link with the game? Does he/she use the game to answer the questions? Do they apply the same strategy? All children, from kindergarten to fifth grade, participated in this project. At the beginning, the teachers were very motivated and enthusiastic to change their teaching practice. The COVID period and the different health protocols slowed down the pedagogical exchanges for a long time. The closure of schools for varying lengths of time depending on the country slowed down considerably this impetus to innovate through play. The return to the classroom with the different protocols prohibiting games and respecting distancing did not facilitate the work. It should be noted that parents played a role in this project. The teachers proposed games to make the work at home less conflictual. The feedback was positive. This way of learning is still being used today to review concepts. The nursery assistants also took part by making the games for the nursery school. The town hall and the DDEC supported us in this project. During the commemorations, our school wrote a text on the importance of opening up to Europe and the benefits of opening up to others from school onwards. Our catering company offered the pupils dishes from certain countries and proposed typical dishes from our region for the pen pals' visit. One hour per week was planned where the older children became the masters of the game. During this hour, the teacher takes care of the pupils with difficulties. A follow-up sheet is filled in. During the covid period, doing the games workshops with 30 pupils per class was complicated for some teachers. To help them, it was decided to split the class in half. One half of the class did the games and the other half worked independently. In parallel with the Erasmus+ project, we signed an internship agreement with an English university to recruit a language assistant. This assistant was a great support to follow the progress of the games. The games workshops were also used in the APC. At the time of the mobilities, the exchanges were made with the maths games. These times were very rich. Each child had the possibility to exchange because we play each in turn. No child was left out and everyone was able to benefit from each other. The results were positive. The game gives the child social and cognitive skills and self-confidence. The pupil is confronted with rules and has to put strategies in place. They collaborate with their playmates and learn from their mistakes. Each child is enthusiastic and active, and the game allows a different approach to knowledge. The pupil is less stressed, less afraid of making mistakes. They try to reason through a strategy to succeed in the game. The game has required concentration and perseverance from some. Some learnt to lose, to wait their turn and to listen to the other. It was complicated in CM2 but everyone made progress. Setting up games workshops in our primary school timetable, to learn in a different way, is bearing fruit. Our pupils have progressed and have become aware that what we were learning was transversal. It is the best activity to exchange between classes, schools and countries.