Nowadays, it has become imperative to adjust our teaching methods to the requirements imposed by the rapid development that we are experiencing. However, it should not be omitted that there are skills and methods which have started to lose ground in the technological era and it would be a pity to assist passively to them. Having this in mind, we have set out on the journey of discovering and rediscovering the pleasure of reading, as a way of improving students' basic competences language, communication, as well as skills such as interpretation, critical thinking and analysis. Alarmingly high numbers of students have never read an entire book in their lives, while others state that they only read out of obligation, but less than a book per year. Therefore, teaching English as a foreign language through stories can be a challenge as much as it can prove a source of endless inspiration and entertainment. BENEFICIARIES Our target group includes students of the ages 13-16 with basic English skills (minimum A2 level) from our schools. We chose this age group as they are old enough to read in English and young enough to still show enthusiasm for it. Therefore, we are addressing a number of approximately 400 students (the others, who do not have a working command of English, but are in the same age group, will be involved in artistic activities, cultural activities or activities which involve their mother tongue. The project also addresses teachers of English from our schools who will update their teaching methods and exchange experiences and practices with their peers, thus contributing to the creation of a professional network of English teachers. 100 students and 40 teachers will participate in the 5 exchanges we have planned, participants who will be selected from the target groups. GOALS 1.to develop students' taste for reading and motivate them; (minimum 50% of target group); 2.to develop students' creativity and language skills; (minimum 80% of the target group); 3.to develop students' critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability; (min. 60% target group); 4.to develop understanding of their own culture in connection with other European cultures; (minimum 70%); 5.to promote European values and develop cohesion among European citizens. 6.to exchange teaching methods and improve the material bases of the English teachers. 7.to produce sustainable teaching materials and share them with foreign language teachers in our countries and others. ACTION We have planned 4 exchanges: C1- November 2020 – Slovakia: For teachers to start on the project and the topic; C2 - February 2021 – Italy: Developing literary and interpretative skills through stories. C3 - May 2021 - Sweden: Teaching reading and critical thinking skills through stories. C4 – October 2021-Serbia: Teaching writing skills and creativity through stories. C5 - April 2022 - Turkey: Teaching speaking skills through stories. Developing self-confidence in the use of English. The exchanges will comprise topic-related seminars and workshops, cultural activities, attending lessons. APPROACH Project management implies planning, organization, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of results. In the planning stage - we identified the needs and established the aims and objectives of the project. In the organization stage, we will elaborate dissemination and evaluation plans, action plans, timeline of events, distribution of tasks and resources. In the implementation stage, we will organize the selection, preparation and participation in exchanges. We will produce the final results of the project. The dissemination plan is created to share the results and activities within our partnership and beyond it, so as to impact the target groups, the institutions, local/regional/national/European target audiences. The assessment is done at every stage of the project and its results will be included in the impact study. DEVELOPMENT •Students are expected to become more motivated, improve their language skills and intercultural competence; they will become more self-confident in their ability to use English, improve their literary competence, their reading, speaking, writing skills as well as their interpretive, critical thinking skills and creativity. •Teachers as well will become more motivated, improve their leadership, team work, presentation skills, improve their material base, and develop language, communication skills, interpersonal and intercultural competence. •Schools become more visible in their community, develop their human resources. Tangible project results include: Compendium of literary theory for secondary school students; Collection of story-related activities and lesson plans for secondary school students; Curriculum for optional class "TESS - Teaching English Skills through Stories"
Our project took place according to the planned activities. Due to the pandemic, it was shifted by a whole year, so the dates in the application do not match the real dates. The main content of the project was to increase students' but also EN teachers' interest in increasing language competence through the creation of stories, to increase students' interest in reading, to increase their self-confidence and, above all, to detach themselves from the constant help of electronics, applications in communicating in EN, to increase their more sensitive perception literature and a positive approach to creation, using imagination. Activities such as reading, critical thinking, writing, speaking through stories, and their own creation helped us to achieve our goals. Pupils led the relay in reading stories on mobility for younger pupils in mixed groups, which lasted 3 hours and the pupils took turns in stages, students created stories on the topic of celebrations and holidays in the given country, which they presented not both in written form, but also in audio version with a description and then created crosswords as additional material after reading or listening, in addition, they taught (each team) partners the history of their language in English, basic communication phrases, informed others about famous writers, their works, life, famous athletes, inventors, celebrities, singers, actors. This was also how they honed their skills of presenting information in English, even after each topic, we as teachers also introduced half an hour of questions and answers, for which the students prepared and had to answer them in English with their partners. At the beginning, we tested students in each organization from the English language, mainly for the purpose of obtaining information about the level of their competencies (the minimum A2, CEFL). At the end of the project, we gave students B1 and some B2 (self-selected) tests, where we found that 68% of those who initially achieved A2.1 got B1. A few students also obtained a B2 certificate (BULATS, TOEFL), which they organized themselves, not through our partnership. Rather, we attribute this success to their self-motivation and their strong motivation to work on themselves. However, we would like to add that their collaboration on the project gave them the confidence to believe in themselves more and let themselves be tested. The pupils were given a task, which they worked on precisely with the help of other pupils at the school, who did not meet the A2 level, but helped them with their creativity and knowledge of the given area. They presented their products at mobility events. During the tasks, the students created a lot, used creativity, and basically worked in mixed groups so that they were constantly in a position to use EN. EN teachers and other lang. exchanged knowledge and skills, and innovative teaching methods for students aged 13 to 16. There were also teachers of younger students in the teams, who knew how to reorient their knowledge to the perception of younger students. E+ school teams created banners, posters with new stories, with information mainly about partner cultures and religions, which they presented to students in schools and displayed in the E+ corner. We can assess as a partnership that our hypotheses have been confirmed, although we now know that even more extensive products could be developed, such as the English Language Teacher's Guide to Using Stories in the Classroom. We have created the mentioned guide via Canva with created stories for national holidays, sample lessons also based on these stories, audio versions and crossword puzzles and supplementary activities. This guide is currently used in EN language classes in partner organizations (also for younger students) and in September, based on the organization of open lessons in the 2022/23 school year, it will also be used in some schools in the region. Since we still plan to add more motivational lessons to the Guide in the 2023/24 school year, despite the end of cooperation on this project, we assume that the Guide will help other teachers. Another product is the eTw. project, where we published all documents such as photos, videos, and presentations from student works, and we are ready to apply for a quality mark for this project. SK school also received the eTw. school mark on the basis of this project. The project logo is also a product. The students received instructions about the conditions and characters that must be in the logo and in mixed groups they created it- they defended their logo and at the end a team of teachers from the teams chose one winner. An Inst. and FB public group was created to publish all the steps of the progress of the tasks, as well as ST' and TCH's feelings about mobilities. The project has many observers and friends on the mentioned social networks, so we bet on the safety of spreading the created products also among the group of teachers across the EU.