Project name:

Tell me!

Description of the project
The project Tell me! is meant for pupils aged 9 to 11. Pupils will select expressions considered vital to communicate with others using a foreign language. These words/expressions will be recorded in the mother tongue as well as in English by the participants.

Duration
October – December 2002

Age group
9-11 (+/-1)

Expected number of schools
3-4 schools from different European countries, preferably schools from countries with not so widely spoken languages in Europe.

Participant schools
Solkan Elementary School, Slovenia
Escola Básica 2, 3 da Cruz de Pau, Portugal
Aadland Skole, Norway

Subjects
Languages
Plus cultural exchange – what is important for children from different countries, different cultural / social backgrounds / patterns to learn in a common language so that real simple communication takes place.

Activities

• Schools (pupils) choose between them the areas they are going to work on:
  • To greet or ask for names
  • In the classroom - comments
  • At the restaurant
  • In a shop
  • In the street - How to go somewhere (Directions)
  • In the park / playground
• Each school chooses the expressions they consider to be more important in the two areas (situations) they are going to work.
• Pupils send the expressions chosen to each others by email as well as to the common website of the project so that they can be introduced in a database, especially created to fulfil this aim at the ECOLE website.
• Expressions are inserted in the database (ECOLE website)
• With the expressions chosen they create small dialogues (one or two for each area)
• The dialogues created are translated from the pupils’ languages into English.
• Dialogues in English and in the other languages are recorded,
• Each school will be responsible for illustrating with drawings, photos, comics, the two areas they are working on,
• Webpages with the recorded dialogues are created
• The database will be updated with all the written and recorded expressions/dialogues in English and in all the other languages,
• Pupils vote in / choose the best situation having in mind the words and drawings created for the dialogues.

Parallel to the creation of the database and the recording of the dialogues pupils will create / imagine a story using comics / drawings in which they illustrate the dialogue and which will be the visual support for the audio recordings.

Expected outcomes / products
Webpages with all the recorded dialogues in the 4 languages from the 3 countries involved in the project plus English, as well as with the illustrations created
Database with expressions.

Project language
English plus the participants’ languages

General timetable

1. June – partner schools are established
   detailed project completely designed
    
2. September – Kick-off meeting in Amsterdam with the participation of the teachers involved in the project,
   starting the activities,
   choosing the expressions
    
3. October – sending the expressions chosen to each others
   building the database (ECOLE website)
   building up dialogues with the expressions / sentences
    
4. November - Translating the expressions into the pupils’ languages
   Illustrating the expressions
   Building the webpages
   Building the database with all the expressions (ECOLE website)
    
5. December - evaluation of the project by teachers and pupils
   final report