Implementation of ‘Europe and Us’ (SOI-HU-137)

My name’s Erzsébet Benkéné Kovács and I am a History/English teacher from Hungary. My students are 11 and 13 years old.

I implemented Loredana Popa’s learning scenario entitled ‘Europe and us’ with my 11-year-old students in English classes.

Idea

I chose this learning scenario because we were learning about the world (continents, geographical features, countries) and I wanted my students to take a closer look at European countries. By the implementation of this learning scenario, I hoped my students would get to know more about the European cultural heritage, famous sights and people.

Preparation

First, we revised the names of European countries, capital cities and some geographical features (rivers, mountains) by using maps.

Then, we formed the groups, chose 7 European countries and decided on the categories (capitals, flags, rivers, mountains, sights, singers/bands, famous people). Then each group chose one category.

In the introductory lesson I presented the useful websites given in the learning scenario and I showed my students how they could search for information or pictures on these websites.

After this, I prepared a Padlet about the countries. I gave them the names of the countries and the categories.

Working in class

We use Google Classroom with my English class and I shared an online document in the Classroom with the groups according to their category.

The students collected information and pictures in the shared document about the countries. With the help of the online document, I could check the students’ work constantly.

After they finished gathering information, I shared the link of the Padlet with the groups. The students added some information and a picture to each post.

Next, when the Padlet was ready, we looked at the different countries and the students mentioned some facts about them with the help of the posts.

After that, each group made some questions about the countries using the information collected on the Padlet.

Then I created a Kahoot! quiz from these questions that we played during the next lesson. This time the students played individually, not in groups.

Reflection

The topic was interesting for the students and they enjoyed the activities and online working. They also learnt a lot about other European countries.

The students were very active, though they found it a bit difficult to find the appropriate information and a good quality picture.

During the tasks, the students’ critical thinking improved as they had to find the correct information and picture and they had to agree about which one to choose. This also helped to improve their cooperative skill. By working on a shared Padlet, they had to respect each other’s work, too.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario?

Europe and us created by Loredana Popa

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:

• Adventurous Journey through Europe and Culture implemented by Agnieszka Pielorz
• Europe and Me implemented by Maria Antonia Brandao
• The Powerful Women in Europe implemented by Daniela Arghir

The featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana Collections and belongs to the public domain.