Chain Reaction Erasmus Project

Project Title

Chain Reaction

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Chain Reaction was a project that was carried out by schools Grundzales pamatskola from Latvia, Scola Gimnazjala No. 7 Buzau from Romania, Republic Hrvatska Zupanija Splitsko Dalmatinska Osnovna Skola Sucidar from Croatia, Detska Gradina 79 from Bulgaria under the leadership of Primary School number 154 from Warsaw Poland. The project implementation was planned for the years 2018-2020 but due to Covid-19 restrictions it was prolonged for 12 months. About 1,500 pupils aged between 7 and 14 and about 200 teachers of various specializations took part in it directly and indirectly. Before the project, schools had great difficulty in overcoming the belief prevailing among students that learing was boring, and the acquired knowledge was out ofevery day usage.The reasons for that were old teaching methods and the lack of activities raising students’ interest of knowledge.Innovation of this project involved the use of an element that attracted students’ interest , which was cycling and the use of it in teaching school subjects. In the first phase of the project, the participants were equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for further activities. The teachers learned how to organize lessons using bicycles in accordance with safety rules. The students took part in workshops about first aid and preparation of a bicycle for driving. We also created a project website (www.erasmus.sp154.waw.pl) where we posted news, materials produced, presentation of partner schools, a photo gallery. It was also supplemented with information on project assumptions, project activities and the Erasmus + program itself. The school community was informed about the creation of the website. In the further part of the project there was an exchange of good practices between teachers in the field of planning and conducting classes. In the project a holistic approach to teaching was used. The binder linking individual items was a bicycle. During science lessons for example students determined which muscles and joints work during cycling and how riding them affects their heart rate and blood pressure. History lessons were also based on bikes. During such classes, students learned about the monuments and famous people associated with the area where they lived. During English lessons, students expanded their lexical knowledge of vocabulary connected with bicycles, as well as the grammatical structures such as the imperative mode based on traffic regulations. At the same time, the active use of English, caused students to break the language barrier and learn to use it in everyday life situations. They also gained the ability to write a letter and an email in English. Students wrote and sent Christmas and New Year’s cards to their peers from the partner countries. Each school also organised art lessons about the bicycle and its symbolism in the paintings and other works of famous artists. Then students created their own works with the motif of a bicycle as a symbol of freedom, emancipation and progress of humanity that from the beginning of its history releases positive energy and emotions. Students were inspired by cycling not in the context of sport, but in its social dimension, referring to such concepts and phenomena as diversity, gathering, spontaneous creativity, DIY designs, as well as urban landscape and ecological way of travelling. The main purposes of the project were: – raising the competence of teachers in the area of conducting attractive lessons for students – promoting a bicycle as a healthy, ecological and attractive means for acquiring school knowledge among the group of teachers, pupils and their parents, – motivating students to learn foreign languages – getting acquainted with local customs, region and people living in partnership countries – broadening cultural awareness, learning tolerance – exchange of experiences and promotion of knowledge about other cultures, their similarities and differences – developing students’ feeling of being a part of Europe – developing students’ respect for others and fighting stereotypes, racism and xenophobia. Thanks to participation in this project students developed the following key competences: – communicating in English – IT competences -ability to learn – social competences – initiative and entrepreneurship – cultural awareness. As the results of the project, the teachers created 2 booklets containing guidelines on how to plan, organize and conduct safe bicycle lessons and how to use modern information technology during lessons. 10 English lesson scenarios, 10 science lesson scenarios, 10 history lesson scenarios and 5 art lesson scenarios have been developed and on their basis, 15 open lessons were conducted and recorded. After the end of the project, further cooperation was planned between partner schools in the area of participation in joint cycling competitions (eg Bicycle school), activities of clubs created by bicycle lovers and exchange of correspondence between students.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 113685,6 Eur

Project Coordinator

Szkola Podstawowa nr 154 z Oddzialami Integracyjnymi nr 154 & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Scoala Gimnaziala nr 7 Buzau
• Detska Gradina 79
• Grundzāles pamatskola
• REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA ZUPANIJA SPLITSKO DALMATINSKA OSNOVNA SKOLA SUCIDAR