MOST INFLUENTIAL EUROPEAN WOMEN
This learning scenario was chosen and adapted for a class of 30 students aged 12, learners of English as a foreign language (current level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: +A1). It took us 115 minutes (2 classes of 50 minutes plus 15 minutes at the beginning of the next class) to go through the teaching-learning-assessing process.
The 30 6th graders had been working with the Past Tense Simple of regular and irregular verbs, in the affirmative, negative and interrogative. This learning scenario proved to be an amazing opportunity to reinforce what had been learnt, giving practice on Past Tense Simple for biographies, during an activity that was both interesting and fun.
At the beginning of the first class, students were presented with the Europeana portal. I explained how to search for information and highlighted the benefits of using Europeana. Then students looked for important women in Europe using the Europeana Collections and the Europeana Exhibitions. Working in groups, they chose one European woman who changed the world, looked for more information about her on the Internet, then planned and created an A4 poster about her main achievement.
When the next class started, students presented their posters in front of the class and then wrote 2 questions about their heroines, to be answered orally by their classmates after studying the common timeline that was created collaboratively using the tool recommended by the author of the learning scenario. We scanned all the posters and included them in the digital timeline uploaded to the website of the project. I collected all the questions and at the beginning of our third class students answered them in a mock quiz show – the winner was awarded a certificate, yet all the students were winners in this great learning adventure!
I wholeheartedly appreciate Javier Ramos Sancha’s learning scenario, with the authentic context involving real-world tasks and tools. I am sincerely satisfied with my students’ work and dedication during this project. I especially enjoyed their engagement in team work, their gallant peer collaboration and evaluation, and the pride in their eyes when their work became public as it was offered to the community and the public at large through the website of the project.
The 30 6th graders had been working with the Past Tense Simple of regular and irregular verbs, in the affirmative, negative and interrogative. This learning scenario proved to be an amazing opportunity to reinforce what had been learnt, giving practice on Past Tense Simple for biographies, during an activity that was both interesting and fun.
At the beginning of the first class, students were presented with the Europeana portal. I explained how to search for information and highlighted the benefits of using Europeana. Then students looked for important women in Europe using the Europeana Collections and the Europeana Exhibitions. Working in groups, they chose one European woman who changed the world, looked for more information about her on the Internet, then planned and created an A4 poster about her main achievement.
When the next class started, students presented their posters in front of the class and then wrote 2 questions about their heroines, to be answered orally by their classmates after studying the common timeline that was created collaboratively using the tool recommended by the author of the learning scenario. We scanned all the posters and included them in the digital timeline uploaded to the website of the project. I collected all the questions and at the beginning of our third class students answered them in a mock quiz show – the winner was awarded a certificate, yet all the students were winners in this great learning adventure!
I wholeheartedly appreciate Javier Ramos Sancha’s learning scenario, with the authentic context involving real-world tasks and tools. I am sincerely satisfied with my students’ work and dedication during this project. I especially enjoyed their engagement in team work, their gallant peer collaboration and evaluation, and the pride in their eyes when their work became public as it was offered to the community and the public at large through the website of the project.
© Daniela Bunea, 2019-2021
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