Sing and Move! Children’s songs and activities that make children move for nursery schools in Prague and Aachen. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sing and Move! Children’s songs and activities that make children move for nursery schools in Prague and Aachen.

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Health and wellbeing; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

Project topic: Sing and move! Children’s songs and activities that make children move for nursery schools in Prague and Aachen.

Project goal:
With the project the culture of songs and short stories for preschoolers which make children move of both cities Aachen and Prague should be reflected and brought together. Students become familiar with children’s songs/ “movement songs” and “movement stories” which their nursery schools prefer to work with and exchange them with their partner. In a next step students are asked to work on methods to bring their songs and “movement stories” forward to preschool children. All this material should be put together in a handbook for nursery schools.

Project partners:
Students from ACKKS/Aachen and the VOS, SOS/ Prague who visit classes focusing on child care and education doing placements/internships during their school education, aged from 16-18+. The projects will be supported by teachers who teach the subjects German, Czech, English, Social Education, Physical Education, Children’s literature, Arts and Music.

Number of participants at short-term exchanges:
12 students, 2 teachers of each school

Project leading teachers:
Ruth Fiand, Käthe-Kollwitz-Schule Aachen
Olga Sedlarova, Vyssi odborna skola pedagogicka a socialni, Stredni odborna skola pedagogicka a Gymnazium in Prag

Project description:
First Project year:
First students gather their experience with children’s songs/movement songs and movement stories and choose favourites of their city’s nursery schools. Then they build „intercultural teams or twins“ and inform their partners about their collection of songs/stories. Therefore songs and stories should be translated into English, vocabulary glossaries should be worked out, students should exchange song texts, melodies and stories so that the partner can read and listen to them.
Next students work on methods and didactical material to bring their songs/ movement stories forward to preschool children. They work out teaching methods, creative activities which can help preschool children to understand their song. Again students exchange their didactical material. After this theoretical project phase, students should be given the chance to do some „practical work“ with their songs and didactical material in nursery school thus broadening their vocational skills. For this reason short-term exchanges are planned in Prague and Aachen which should give students a chance to visit their partner’s nursery school to present their songs/stories, work with their didactical material with the help of their twin partner. And finally evaluate their material, decide which materials they want to take into a handbook for nursery schools, work out this handbook. Or students create and offer a workshop for preschool children at school, if nursery schools prefer this. During this phase of exchange students should also take part at “module lessons” focusing and comparing the different schools systems/job trainings and nursey school concepts. They should also sit in on classes and present their project results to junior students.

Second project year:
Students work on a choir and/or dramatic performance of their songs/ stories for preschool children in which they sing/present their songs and stories/ “move”/“dance” their stories on stage. For this reasons children’s songs and stories which make children move or that tell a story which can be performed should be focused on during both project years. Students should choose an overriding topic for their performance so that the contributions of each student group can be combined to one performance. During short-term exchange, students take part at theatre/dance workshop and work on their own performance. They do rehearsals and finally nursery school children are invited to see the students’ performance. During this exchange students also take part at “module lessons” focusing on the difference in their job trainings and nursery school concepts (see first project year).

Project results/products:
• Collection of songs and movement stories with didactical material (handbook)
• Project homepage
• Project diaries
• Song audios
• Song and “movement story” performance/ dance and choir, film of performance
• Project homepage

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 51560 Eur

Project Coordinator

Käthe-Kollwitz-Schule Berufskolleg der StädteRegion Aachen & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Vyssi odborna skola pedagogicka a socialni, Stredni odborna skola pedagogicka a Gymnazium, Praha 6, Evropska 33