The project with the title “We lived in one country – Czechoslovakia" was created in cooperation of two schools – ZŠ s MŠ Juraja Slávika Neresnického in Dobra Niva in Slovakia and Základná škola in Prachatice in the Czech republic. We would like to enter the project as two schools from two countries with common past which also affects the present. Based on the 70 years old history of our countries and in effort to keep it for the next generations, we made the individual ideas into the goals of the project. The aims mainly include to increase interest in individual countries, extend and strenghten the knowledge and skills by pupils´own work, improve language and cultutral competences of pupils, consolidate the relationship to our own traditions and to the traditions of the partners. The project activities are mainly designed for pupils of the second grade of basic schools aged 10 –15, although other pupils will participate in some local activities as well. in every mobility 18 pupils will travel accompanied with 3 teachers. Individual members of the pedagogical choir will participate according to the topic of mobilities. Four main topics are planned within mobilities. The first topic: “Folk art of our ancestors” - group activities about folk art, presentation of folk performance on topic Spring in front of the pupils of the school and local community, introduction of the local national costume, embroidery with the practical part of embroidering, mutual teaching of dances, taking part in performances of childrens´folk ensembles, workshops, work with clay, visiting of UNESCO cultural sights in Vlkolínec and Hronsek, festive ending of mobility connected with submitting of participation certificates. The second topic: “Common and still different” - mobility focused on geography of our countries, group activities on given topic, creating of the picture book In the common state, visit of local and regional sights (Dobronivsky hrad, Gavurky, Banska Stiavnica, Sv. Anton), eco-activities, sports afternoon, festive ending of mobility connected with submitting of participation certificates. The third topic: “Film production in the common period and today” - creating an album about actors and films, discussion with an actor, visit of film studios in Barandov and cultural sights in Prague, Cesky Krumlov, final presentations for other pupils of the school, festive ending of mobility connected with submitting of participation certificates. The fourth topic: “Common historical moments” - creating of poster about about historical facts of formation of Czechoslovakia, reports about the presidents, national emblems and flags, discussion with the living participant, gettting to know the history of national anthem, visit of the local sights and museum, joining the experience activities, presentation of results in front of the pupils of the school, festive ending of mobility connected with submitting of participation certificates. Individual mobilities merge connection of competence outputs (language, communicative and cultural competences, competences of self-development), media outputs (presentations of mobilities published on webpages of schools, on eTwinning, contributions to school magazines, local press and media) and material outputs. Except for the works created during group activities of pupils (picture book In the common state, posters, ...), material outputs include: Slovak-Czech-English dictionary (divided according to topics of the project), photo-book demonstrating the course of the project and its activities containing photo documentation and extracts of pupils´diaries, DVD containing photos, videos from activities and comments of pupils about their participation and how the project enriched them, brochure with basic facts used for promotion of the project and of both schools. All the activities realized during the project will have impact on both basic schools, mainly on participating pupils. In case of pupils it is about fulfilling of individual goals. In case of schools it is mainly about gaining experiences in the field of submitting and realizing of projects, which can subsequently be used in othr projects in Erasmus+ program. Educators can exchange advice in the field of pedagogical approaches and methods. The relationships established during mobilities will last farther. And so the idea of the project “We lived in one country – Czechoslovakia" will be fulfilled.
In the school year 2019/2020 the project "We lived in one state - Czechoslovakia" was created, which was carried out in the spirit of learning about common and different things of two countries, which once formed one state. It was created by the Elementary school with kindergarten of Juraj Slávik Neresnicky in Dobra Niva, Slovakia, and the Vodňanská elementary school in Prachatice, Bohemia. The goals that we set at the beginning of the project were fully fulfilled during the project, during the educational activities. These goals were aimed at increasing interest in individual countries, their cultural and geographical attractions, to expand and consolidate knowledge, skills, experience through their own work, to improve their language skills, to cultivate a relationship with the folk traditions of both countries. The educational activities and activities planned within them took students and teachers through the world of history, geography, film and folk art. Eighteen students and three teachers from each school always took part. In addition to them, however, other students and teachers were involved through the final presentation of works, presentation of certificates and participation in creative workshops. In addition to activities directly related to the topic of educational activities, the participating students and teachers played getting to know games, quizzes, visited various cultural monuments, UNESCO monuments, museums, open-air museums, cities, thanks to which they deepened their relationship with the country as such. The first educational activity "Common Historical Moments" was in the spirit of history. Pupils created presentations, posters about the presidents, anthems, flags, the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, national emblems, discussed with the monuments. Through their own work, they got to know important moments in our common history. The second educational activity took place as a virtual activity due to the pandemic situation. We called it "Common and yet different" and it focused on a geographical topic. Pupils created presentations about UNESCO monuments, posters, leaflets about capital cities, mountains and castles. They looked a little into the world of recycling through the secondary processing of waste and its transformation into decorative and utility items. Despite the difficult activity via the computer, the activity was very successful. The third activity was "Film art in the time of coexistence and today". In the form of group activities, students created presentations and scenes about actors, actresses, films, fairy tales, directors. They visited television, where they got an idea of how such an institution works. They also viewed Barrandov's film studios. The last activity "Folk art of our ancestors" took them through the world of our ancestors. They learned to dance folk dances, during the creative workshops they had the opportunity to get to know and try out the crafts that our ancestors once practiced. All students and teachers of schools were regularly informed about the project, as well as the local community through school websites, print media, videos on youtube. The project thus fulfilled its goals not only in terms of competency outputs, but also media outputs. And last but not least, through material outputs. In addition to the students' own works, they include the "Short Slovak-Czech-English Dictionary" containing words related to educational activities as well as words that students did not understand each other. Furthermore, it is an information brochure "Story of our project", which in a simplified form guides the reader through the entire project. It is followed by a "Commemorative photo book" containing photographs, a description of individual educational activities, as well as students' comments on them. And the DVD was processed in the same form. Individual outputs, as well as presentations, posters can still be used in lessons with a suitable topic. In addition, the project was a benefit for teachers in terms of their professional development, as they were able to learn about new and different methods in the partner school. To share your experience, advice. At school level, it is gaining experience in organizing Erasmus + projects. As the students said at the performance on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Elementary school with kindergarten of Juraj Slávik Neresnicky in Dobra Niva, during the project they found out that many things that are now Slovak or Czech were once common because we lived in one state, Czechoslovakia.