Our home countries and towns Students write posts in the forum highlighting the things they like in their home country and their favourite places in their hometown (places where they spend their free time). Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • Students in each country work in groups of four. Some of the groups will focus on their home country. Their topics are (adaptable according to students’ age) basic facts, nature, popular sights (cultural heritage), famous people, sports, industry etc. They create a presentation of no more than two slides. • The other groups will look at their hometowns. They have similar topics and instructions. • The slides are combined into two presentations (per country) that are published in the TwinSpace • Students present their own slides in a live web meeting. The students of the partner country prepare questions and ask them. • Students prepare (easy) Kahoot! or Socrative quizzes dealing with their presentations. The quizzes are then run for the partner students during a web meeting. Nature and wildlife Students post in the forum about their relation to nature and wildlife. Do they spend time hiking or camping, bird watching, collecting butterflies, fishing, collecting berries, mushrooms or plants, sailing or motor boating etc. and if not, why not? Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. Students can also share their own wildlife and nature photos in an album on the TwinSpace. • Students are divided into cross-national groups sharing and comparing information about nature and wildlife in their country. The topics of the groups are: - comparing climate, weather and average temperatures in different countries during different seasons - comparing and sharing pictures of wild animals (mammals) in different countries - comparing and sharing information about mountains, forests, bogs, rivers, lakes etc. - comparing and sharing pictures of wild plants: trees, shrubberies, flowers, berries and edible mushrooms • Students make shared tables in Google docs that are shared on the TwinSpace and upload their pictures in specific folders on the TwinSpace. If they can take their own pictures, even better. At the end, students present their findings in a web meeting on the TwinSpace. School and studying Students write posts in the forum saying what their favourite school subjects are and why, what they like about their school and what they don’t. Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • Students take photos of their school, different classrooms and labs, teachers and students at work, the schoolyard and the surrounding area. They choose the best ones and create a photo album. • Students work in cross-national groups to compare the content of different school subjects and classroom activities in different countries: what are the themes and topics, what are the ways of learning, how much do they use internet, computers and mobile devices, how often do they have tests etc.? • The comparisons are uploaded and published on the TwinSpace • Students reply to a short questionnaire (Google Forms or Survey Monkey) about their favourite school subjects, so that they can see if there are differences between countries and genders. The uploaded documents and the results of the questionnaire are presented and discussed at a web meeting. Youth culture (literature, films, music) Students write posts in the forum saying what kind of films and books they like. They can also talk about who their favourite writers, singers, film stars and sport heroes are. Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • Students work in pairs. Each pair chooses one famous person from their own country and presents him/her on a slide. The person can be a pop singer, a writer, an athlete, a musician or a politician. The slides are combined into one presentation (per country). • Students create their own trading cards” of their idols online (using e.g. BigHugeLabs or ReadWriteThink). The trading cards can be published on a Padlet and other students can give the cards stars or comment on them. The uploaded and published documents are presented and discussed at a web meeting. Food, eating habits and healthy lifestyle Students write posts in the forum talking about their favourite food and drink. Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • Students and teachers prepare a questionnaire about students’ eating habits. What they eat for breakfast, what they eat for lunch at school and what they eat for dinner in the evening. Do they eat snacks, fast food, vegetables and fruit? How often do they eat sweets, cakes and ice cream? Do they drink juice, soft drinks or energy drinks? • Students study the results in cross-national groups and draw conclusions about the differences in eating habits between countries (and genders). They also evaluate how healthy different eating habits are. The conclusions are published in the TwinSpace. • Students exchange recipes of their favourite dishes • Students cook the dishes according to their partners’ recipes either at home or at school in a cookery classroom. Everybody tastes the dishes. • All this is documented by taking photos of the cooking process itself, the dishes and of course the tasting. The photos are uploaded and published in the TwinSpace. Raising environmental awareness Students work in cross-national groups and create shared mind maps (e.g. Padlet or https://bubbl.us/ or MindMup 2) dealing with environmental issues such as: - how to save energy - how to recycle - how to protect lakes, seas and oceans - how to protect nature and wildlife • Following the suggestions in the mind maps, students take action at their own schools and its surroundings • Students create posters to express their concern and possible solutions • Students make short video clips at their own school to show what can be done and what they have done to save energy and protect the environment. • The posters are uploaded and published in the TwinSpace. They can also be uploaded in Dotstorming online voting tool so that students can vote for the winners. The videos are shown and uploaded mind maps and posters are discussed at a web meeting. Everyday life Students write posts in the forum talking about their everyday life (weekdays); what time they get up, how they travel to school, what they do after school, what they do in the evening etc. Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • Students make short video clips about funny incidents during the day dealing with encounters with family members or teachers or with using mobile phones, describing scenes at school or at home or while hanging out etc. • Students can create storyboards for planning their videos and the dialogue (Pixton or Storyboard That). • Students reply to a short questionnaire dealing with the times they wake up and go to bed, the time they spend on using their mobile phones or watching television, the time they spend doing sports, the time they spend on home work and the time they spend with their friends (outside school). • The storyboards, videos and the results of the questionnaire are published in the TwinSpace. The videos are watched and discussed together at a web meeting. Comparing the news media Teachers and students choose one particular date: • On that day students study at least one national newspaper and the news of one national TV channel. Students work in national groups studying the news and headlines covering at least the following (one topic/group): - International news: three most important international headlines and items of news - Domestic news: three most important headlines and items of news dealing with domestic issues - Sports news: three most important sports headlines and items of news - Arts and culture: three most important headlines and items of news dealing with arts, music, literature or cultural heritage - Crime: three most important headlines and items of news dealing with crime - Weather: weather forecast for that particular day • The groups are combined into cross-national groups to create slides in which the items of news from different countries’ media appear in different boxes side-by-side, so that it’s easy to make observations. Students try to reach at least two conclusions after comparing the news. The slides are published in the TwinSpace and presented at a web meeting. Cultural celebrations Teachers decide together which and how different (religious and cultural) celebrations are dealt with during the project. This is one way: • Students write posts in the forum talking about the most important celebrations (cultural or religious) in their country. They describe the ways their own family celebrates; what they eat, what they sing, how they decorate their home, etc. Students in the partner country reply to at least two of the posts, so that everybody gets at least one reply. • A special album is created for each festival or celebration. Students upload their own pictures or cartoons describing the celebrations and decorations.
