Project work LOCAL EVENTS

1. Project workLOCAL EVENTS EVROPSKI ODDELKI GIMNAZIJA BREŽICE, 2007 Marija Plut, prof.

2. Subject: SLOVENIA IN THE WORLDTopic: LOCAL EVENTSClass: 2.a EOPlanned time: 8 lessons Learning outcomes Students should ♦ acquire knowledge about the diversity of local events in their region, ♦ be able to communicate this knowledge through a presentation of one event in their region in both written and oral form, ♦ be able to demonstrate the ability to research local events both independently and in collaboration with other members of their group.

3. THE PROCESS OF PROJECT-BASED WORK • Selecting Topics Step 1 – Motivational activity (brainstorming) ♦ Students are divided into groups based on where they live (e.g. Krško, Brežice, Sevnica, etc.), ♦ in groups students are asked to think of as many local events as possible that they have attended in the last year, ♦ teachers help with additional vocabulary of events e.g. carnival, fete, jamboree, exhibition, festival, seminar etc.

4. Step 2 – Exchange of experience (communication and collaboration) Students share their experiences with members of other groups to gain knowledge of events in other towns and places. Step 3 – Local events worksheet, selecting a topic Students complete the attached local events worksheet and then select (in pairs/groups) the event they'd like to work on.

5. II) Making plans and Doing Research Step 4 – Planning the presentation (independent and collaborative learning) Students: ♦ work in pairs/groups and acquire collaborative skills through team work which aims towards the common goal of the presentation of one particular local event to the rest of the class, ♦ plan their presentation topic, conduct research and develop their final products, ♦ are given guidelines of good practice in the design of interviews, questionnaires and power point presentations.

6. III) Sharing Results with Others Step 5 - Oral and written presentation (communication – speaking and writing) Students: ♦ present their work in an appropriate format for the topic chosen, ♦ are encouraged to use creative and non-traditional forms of presentation e.g. poetry, role play, sketches, a photo-story, a brochure, posters, PowerPoint presentation, etc.).

7. IV) Assessment and Evaluation Step 6 - Peer and self evaluation (independent learning) Students: ♦ reflect on their own work and assess both how and what they learnt, with the help of the attached assessment sheet, ♦ then take part in peer assessment, ♦ finally assess the value and relevance of the work set and their feelings in relation to their approaches to this work.

8. Step 7 - Teacher Assessment and Evaluation Students: ♦ are assessed by teachers using the attached assessment form which is distributed to students in advance of their presentation. Teachers: ♦ pay attention to language skills and knowledge as well as the creativity and style of student presentations, ♦ reflect on the value of the work in relation to the attainment of the learning outcomes.

9. DEVELOPING AN INTERVIEW Preparing for the interview ☺ Make the appointment with the person. ☺Learn a little about the person before meeting him/her. ☺ Write your questions down before the interview, but be prepared to take different path of questioning if necessary. ☺ Know what you want to get out of the interview ahead of time. ☺ Decide in advance how you will record the interview – take notes, or use a voice recorder. ☺ Be on time, and well prepared ( with pen and paper or recorder ).

10. Conducting the interview ☺Be friendly and courteous. ☺Ask your questions clearly. ☺Don’t interrupt. ☺Ask specific, thought-provoking questions. ☺ Avoid yes/no questions. ☺Try to stay focused, but if something interesting comes up go with it. ☺Take good notes. ☺Ask the interviewee to repeat what they’ve said if necessary. ☺Review your notes with the person if necessary.

11. DEVELOPING A QUESTIONNAIRE Some handy tips: ☼ Keep your questions short and relevant. ☼Do not have too many questions. ☼Think of the type of questions: yes/no, multiple, longer answers. ☼Who is the person being questioned? ☼ Include instructions for your questions (tick, circle, underline…). ☼Consider how you will process and use the information collected. ☼ Remember a questionnaire is not a quiz! ☼Make it look attractive (give it a title, explain at the beginning what the questionnaire intends to find out).

12. Checking out the questionnaire Try it out on some of your friends (you may have to change it in the light of your findings). You should consider the following: ☼Are all the questions necessary? ☼Do the answers provide youwith sufficient relevant information for your task? ☼ Are the questions easily understood? ☼Can you think of anything else?

13. Analysing the questionnaire data ☼ Gather the responses to each question in one place. ☼ Go through each question in turn making a note of the answers, i.e. count the‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers or A, B and C answers and briefly summarise those answers giving greater detail. ☼ Summarise the findings. ☼ Check whether the results of the questionnaire fulfilled your original aim.

14. POWER POINT PRESENTATION • Common mistakes: • too many pictures – PPP should not distract from the relationship between presenters and audience, or from the subject matter, • too much text – for the same reason as above, • reading from PPP – PPP should contain only key words / phrases, • lack of eye contact – presenters are too busy looking at the PPP, • too small PPP graphics – all of the audience should be able to see everything,

15. problems with equipment – everything should be prepared andtested well in advance, • grammatical errors – the PPP material should be checked by the teachers during the preparation phase.

16. APENDIX 1LOCAL EVENTS WORKSHEET

17. APPENDIX 2LOCAL EVENTS WORKSHEET

18. THE CAMP PREMIKAMO MEJE 24th February 2006

19. 1) Introduction We chose to talk about the campPremikamo meje because we like camps in which we can meet a lot of people from different countries, learn something new and do only the things which we are interested in. We´ll first explain the main idea of the camp, then what people do in this camp and finally you´ll be able to see some photos which were taken there.

20. 2) Body ☻Where: primary school Maks Pleteršnik Pišece ☻ When: twice a year (usually in April and October). ☻Who: participants are from primary schools: Pišece, Vukovar, Pančevo, Tenja, Buje, Klanjec, Piran and Nova Gorica ; gimnazija Brežice also co-operates. ☻Activities: there are different workshops (karate, yoga, workshops on journalism, photography, translation…), trips to places in the area (Olimje, Klanjec, Čatež, Stubica, Slovenj Gradec…)

21. 3) Conclusion This camp is an excellent way to meet new friends, learn a lot about the problems people are dealing with because of their nationality, to get rid of prejudices we have about some cultures… So if you are ready to move some boundaries in your head and have a great time at the same time - join the UNESCO club in our school and maybe you'll have an opportunity to experience one of this camps. One is enough to see the world in a whole new way.

22. Task:Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones: ☻ The name of the camp refers to political borders. T F ☻ This is an event that takes place twice a year. T F ☻ The camp lasts for three days. T F ☻ The participants sleep in their sleeping bags in the classrooms. T F

23. Discussion question: Do you think that camps like that are a great idea? Explain your answer. Word study: ☻BORDER ['bo :de(r)] / the official line that separates two countries, states or areas, or the area close to this line / (meja) ☻PREJUDICE ['predžidis] / an unreasonable dislike and distrust of people who are different from you in some way, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc - used to show disapproval Example: Asian pupils complained of racial prejudice at school / (predsodek) ☻PARTICIPANT [pa:'tisi pnt] / Someone who is taking part in an activity or event / (udeleženec)

24. Sources: • Mednarodni tabor ˝Premikamo meje˝. Dostopno na spletnem naslovu: http://www2.arnes.si/~oskkpi1s/ • Sava Glas, 10. november 2005 (newspaper) oral: a conversation with Tanja Plevnik – a teacher inprimary school Pišece

25. SELF AND PEER EVALUATION Can you asssess your contribution as well as peer’s contribution? KEY TO AN ASSESSMENT SCALE: 1 – weak 2 – satisfactory 3 – good 4 –very good 5 –excellent

26. 1 Communication (How good were you/ (s)he at communicating with other people, presenting new ideas and having willingness to listen to others?) 1 2 3 4 5 2 Team/Group work (How good were you /(s)he at joining the group, working within the group, co-operating with other members?) 1 2 3 4 5 3 Creativity and problem solving (How good were you / (s)he at being creative, finding new solutions for your project?) 1 2 3 4 5

27. 4 Planning and negotiating (How good were you / (s)he at planning, discussing the ideas with the other members of the group?) 1 2 3 4 5 Decision making (How many decisions have you / (s)he made for the project, were the decisions accepted by the others? If not, did you suggest new ones?) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Involvement in project production (How good were you / (s)he at data procesing, writing comments, translating, drawing maps, etc.?) 1 2 3 4 5

28. PROJECT EVALUATION 1. How much time did you spend on the project (in hours)? 2. How much money did you spend on the project (photocopying, material…)? 3. Did your group have a leader who co-ordinated work? a) no b) yes. Name__________ 4. Who helped you? (more answers possible) a) nobody b) members of my team c) other school friends d) friends outside school e) parents and other relatives f) teachers (list subjects they teach) __________ g) others (state who)

29. 5. List the persons you made contact with in connection with the project: ____________________________________ 6. List institutions you made contact with in connection with the project: ____________________________________ 7. List the most important resources you used: __________ 8. What did you like most about the project? ____________ 9. What did you find most useful? ____________________ 10. What didn’t you like? ___________________________ 11. What would you do differently next time? ___________