Celebrations in Europe (EN-CUR-481) - Teaching With Europeana

This learning scenario is about celebrations in Europe and cultural identity. Teachers can use it for interdisciplinary teaching and learning as the content involves the following subjects: language, social sciences and history. It is designed for students at age 11-14 and suitable for project-based learning.

With this learning scenario, students will learn how to obtain information from various sources (i.e. Europeana platform), how to use modern digital tools for brainstorming, group work, collaboration and problem-solving activities. Following are some sub-topics for group-work project: Seasonal traditions and customs, Traditions and customs related to nature, Celebrations related to religion, Celebrations related to family and Celebrations related to identity.

This learning scenario has been developed during the English version of the “Europeana in your classroom: building 21st-century competences with digital cultural heritage (Rerun)” online course. The course aimed to improve teachers’ understanding of cultural heritage in order to efficiently integrate it into their lessons and practices. The courses can be accessed here.

Author: Tiina Malt

Age of Students: 9-14

Subject and topic: Language, Social Science, ICT

Learning Scenario:

Europeana-DSI-4-CUR-2020-EN-Malt-doc Download

Europeana-DSI-4-CUR-2020-EN-Malt-pdf Download

CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Déri Múzeum – Debrecen.

Barbara Legutko says:

January 17, 2021 at 6:43 pm

Very interesting scenario! Congratulations and thank you for your work! I implemented it with my students of 7th grade in polish language, They were very impresed by the oportunity to learn about different customs and celebrations in other countries.

January 29, 2021 at 9:53 pm

I used the learning scenario “ Celebrations in Europe” created by Tiina Malt.( Europeana-DSI-4-CUR-2020-EN-Malt-doc) The students involved were 13 years old (7th grade) and they hadn‘t had any prior knowledge of Europeana resources. The learning scenario was implemented in creativity classes on-line lessons during the school closure due to Covid-19 outbreak in December.
From the original learning scenario, I decided to implement these topics:
• Reading articles about different types of celebrations in European countries
• Talking about pictures and movies the author used
• Group work
• Listening to the song: Together
At the beginning oft he lesson I told my students about Europeana and its goals.
The starting point of our activities was listening to the song and talking about how the studeents understood the text.Subsequently we were reading texts about celebrations in European countries. We read them together in Polish. My students had the opportunity to develop their speaking skills while they were talking about photos and short movies which ilustrated the texts. The students became familiar with the multitude of ceremonies that are held in various European countries. The students were interested in cultural diversity and customs related to celebrating e.g. Christmas Eve and various dishes in different countries
The photos and videos illustrating the texts were, in their opinion, properly selected.
Then the students, divided into groups, were preparing quizzes based on the texts. Thanks to this task, they improved their reading comprehension and group cooperation skills. Each group prepared a quiz consisting of 5 questions.
At the end oft he lesson each group formed their opinion about what they had found interesting and what they had learned.
This learning scenario encouraged my students to develop their collaboration skills, I encouraged them to use Europeana Collections to find more examples of celebrating different occasions.
With this learning scenario, students had an opportunity to work in groups, present their work through a web conference and acquire public speaking skills. We worked during 3 lessons.
The learning scenario is definitely a good choice if you want your students to be actively involved in your lesson. I can honestly recommend it.

pielorzagnieszka says:

April 25, 2022 at 8:10 pm

A very good scenario! I am quite sure that in the near future I am going to implement it with my students! It has very nice online tools and could also a good amusement to students!

Learning Scenario:

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