Make me a European

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The activities in this kit focus on European values and the development of European identity. Pupils learn about European Union's fundamental values: respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. They learn that these values unite all the member states and that a country, that does not recognise these values, cannot belong to the Union. Pupils explore their national identity, become aware of different nations that build the European community and develop the sense of belonging to the European community as a whole. They learn to appreciate the diversity of life in the Europe. They understand and respect the fact that life in Europe is culturally diverse and that different people bring different values to the European community thus making it stronger. They learn about commitments and come up with ideas on how they and their country can contribute to making the European community a better place to live for all the Europeans. They explore what and how each member country can contribute to a common European identity. The activities in this toolkit are based on eTwinning projects about Europe.

Objectives

• To help pupils to identify European core values and explore ways how to integrate them into their life. • To assist pupils to analyse ways on how to develop and strengthen their European identity. • To assist pupils to synthesise information about Europe and the diversity of its citizens. • To guide pupils in ways to demonstrate how European diversity enriches the way of life, culture and people of Europe.

Collaboration

European Core Values. The teacher introduces European core values (respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law). Pupils discuss and express their opinion on why these particular values are called core values and why all European citizens should possess these values. They are divided into international teams of 4-5 pupils. Each team is assigned a role: e.g. primary/ secondary school pupils, teachers, parents, tourists, pupils on a school exchange, etc. Each team comes up with ideas and examples of how their particular group of people can integrate European core values into their lives and how they can bring these core values to life. Pupils use the Twinspace Forum for team discussion. Then they write their final ideas on a kanban board. Example tool: Padlet Kanban Board http://bit.ly/eucorevaluesWho is an average European? Pupils collect interesting statistical data about European citizens and share their findings on an online canvas board. Example tool: http://en.linoit.com Example online canvas http://bit.ly/euaverageA story about Europe. Pupils do research on Europe and its citizens, they collect information about the diversity of its people, history and geography, and create a story in the form of a timeline. They can add text, video and audio files to the timeline. Pupils also create quizzes for their peers to check understanding. Example tool: Sutori https://www.sutori.comEurope in Cartoons. Pupils use cartoons to show advantages and disadvantages of living in Europe in a humorous way. They point out Europe’s strengths on the one hand while on the other, an emphasis is placed on challenges that Europe is faced with. Example tool: Toony Tool https://www.toonytool.com/ Example cartoons:http://bit.ly/eucartoonsI have a dream, a European dream. Pupils in one partner school record audio files about their European dreams. They talk about their views of Europe and their vision of the future of Europe. They share their audio files with their partner schools. Pupils from partner schools create a video based on the information in the audio file. They use the audio file as a narrative voiceover and match the narration with the visuals in the video. Example audio tool: Audacity http://www.audacityteam.org Example video tool: Windows Movie Maker. Example video: http://bit.ly/eudreamWho cares? We all do! Pupils talk about how they can contribute to European citizenship and what they can do to strengthen European identity. They talk about how they can make Europe a better place for all its citizens. Example tool: Flipgrid https://info.flipgrid.com

Evaluation & Assessment

Ode To Joy. Pupils create motivational posters about Europe and Europeans. The posters are shared on their schools’ websites or printed out and displayed in their schools for the visitors to see and admire. Example tool: http://wigflip.com/automotivator/

Follow up

What does Europe mean to me? The teacher creates a concept map with the name Europe in the middle. Pupils, parents and teachers are invited to contribute to it with their ideas. Example tool: http://popplet.com

Additional information

Age from:

12
Age to:

15
Difficulty:

Intermediate

Make me a European

Additional information

School subjects

Key competences