INTER-COOL-TURE LLP EUROPEAN MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP

European Shared Treasure

2010-11-10T21:34:00.006+01:00

Slovenj Gradec- Final show- 27th May 2010

2010-05-29T16:20:00.002+02:00

Final meeting- Slovenj Gradec from 23rd to 27th June 2010

2010-05-21T16:07:00.004+02:00

SUNDAY 23rd May
arrival of the guests
dinner at the hotel

MONDAY 24th
meeting in front of the hotel
welcome in the school hall, headmistress speech
welcome in the libry
students' presentation of Slovenia in the library
visiting classes and school premises
lunch
reception at the mayor of Slovenj Gradec
a guided tour around Slovenj Gradec
free time
dinner

TUESDAY 25th
workmeeting at school
leaving for Ljubljana by bus, a guided tour around the city
lunch
lift to the castle
free time or visiting the National Gallery
leaving for Slovenj Gradec
dinner

Wednesday 26th
Mezica- Podzemlje Pece: going underground, visit of a mine and a museum
visiting an old village Sentanel: museum of tools, tasting of traditional drinks, food
workmeeting at a farm
lunch at a farm
free time in SG
final festival of the Comenius Inter-Cool-Ture project
dinner at school

It's a small world- from Kalina- Bulgaria

2010-05-08T08:47:00.008+02:00

“It’s a small world” - this was the motto of the final spectacle at St. Sofronii Vrachanski Primary School in the town of Vratsa, Bulgaria. It was dedicated to the Day of Europe and showed what the children had learned during the second year of the their Inter-cool-tural project. It was in the form of a virtual trip to Italy, Turkey, Slovenia, Portugal and Spain and presented many interesting facts, games and toys from the travel culture boxes the Bulgarian kids had received from their friends. Class 1B played a children's game from Slovenia and showed a hare hunt in which a Slovenian chatter-box was used. Class 1G introduced Spanish dances and bull fight. Class 3B told about Ataturk and the Children's Day in Turkey and made a shadow show with Hacivat and Karagoz. Class 3V told about water mellons, cork, traditional costumes and toys in Portugal. What the children had learned about Italy was told by Class 4V through the Italian song "Stella, stellina" and a game "L'orologio" whose rules were fidden in the Italian travel box. The performance finished with karaoke of the popular song "It's a small world". The headmastress Mrs. Antoaneta Sirakova and the project coordinator Mrs. Kalina Nikolova wished the children a lot of trips abroad in the future which will broaden their general knowledge about the European countries.

Language course- from class 4 primary San Lorenzo Italy

2010-05-04T22:06:00.007+02:00

The children of the class 4 of the primary school of San Lorenzo (Italy )are working on the language course for foreign students.

Works about Azur and Asmar by class V- primary- San Lorenzo- Italy

2010-04-25T09:58:00.008+02:00

INTER-COOL-TURE FACEBOOK GROUP- from Luisa- Portugal

2010-04-14T16:24:00.006+02:00

Dear colleagues,
we have our page on Facebook!!!

Look for

Intercoolture Comenius

and subscribe the group!!!

Kisses Luisa and the Portuguese team

Opening the boxes- from Spain

2010-04-07T21:54:00.011+02:00

Before Easter holidays we did a meeting with all the students, every class presented the box you left in Girona. It was fantastic and the children liked it a lot. Look at the pictures!

Drawings about Azur and Asmar from Turkey

2010-04-06T16:24:00.006+02:00

AZUR AND ASMAR- activty plan from portugal 1 (Luisa and &)

2010-03-25T08:27:00.004+01:00

AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS DE SAMORA CORREIA

Escola EB 2,3 Professor João Fernandes Pratas

Activities around the film “Azur et Asmar”

Objectives:

Recognize and show respect for similarity and difference:- for identity and everything that contributes to individual identity, including membership of different groups.
- that all humans have basic needs and rights as human beings regardless of gender, race, height, capacity, etc.
- Develop strategies to learn to deal with discrimination, racism, for example and support others to succeed.
Activities:
- Find adjectives and / or names that describe the things we like / dislike, eg happy, sad, quiet, loud, fun, boring.
- Search the extent to which the school is part of a larger community. - Describe what they like and dislike.
- Write a letter / e-mail describing the school community.
- Identify different places on the map and find the differences and similarities (clothing, toys, food etc.
In an interview with Michel Ocelot said: ‘I considered the obstacle of languages, because I wanted to show the condition of the immigrant for whom the language barrier is a major difficulty. So, in certain passages, I do not try to make people (the audience) understand so that they feel a little lost.’

- Imagine what it is being unable to understand those around you.
- What are the feelings of Azur the first day as a foreigner in a new country?
- Write a page of the diary of Azur.

Living in a different world:

- Have you ever been "attacked" for being different?
- Have you ever treated someone badly for being different from you?
At the end of the film Asmar defends Azur and protects him from others who want to hurt him because he is different:
- What can we do to deal with discrimination, racism and support those that in our school suffer such assaults.
- Michel Ocelot has created magical creatures, fantastic, use your imagination and also create a magical creature.

Try to know how our school is involved in a wider community.

Our school is involved in different activities, sport and literature, for all ages, for good and bad pupils. That’s what makes the school's increasing merit, we can have bad grades but all of us can participate.
In our school there are lots of activities just as inter-class football or volley-ball, spelling contests, photography contests, European club, civil protection club, health club among others.
We also have school radio and school newspaper.
Our school has signed up to groups such as the electron and to projects like Comenius. Teachers of different countries came to our school and we have done lots of different activities related to this project.
Imagine what it would be the incapacity of not understanding those who are around you
It must be very difficult for an immigrant to go to a foreign country and not know the official language.
The people of the country can praise us but usually they criticize and we do not realize what they say so we cannot defend ourselves.
Dealing with the prejudices of others is not easy as much as many people want the fight them. There must always be someone racist and insensitive.
Imagine what were the feelings of Azur the first day as a foreigner in a new country?
I think that the feelings of Azur the first day as a foreigner in a new country, would be curiosity about the country where he was, intrigue, perhaps longing for his land, his family and satisfaction to know a new country and also great joy.

Moving to a new life in another country

Moving to a new life in another country should not be easy, as well as leaving their country and their friends, there are cases where the person doesn’t have the mastery of the language, the temptation to communicate with others is normal and simply cannot, should feel different from others.

Write a page on the diary of Azur

Dear diary
Today it was not an easy day for me, it was just scary, the looks of those people about me, I just wanted to disappear ... I do not know, I did not understand why people did what they did, I felt like I was an alien from another world ... what I'm trying to do is perhaps find answers, there must be someone who understands me.

Write a journal page of Azur

Dear Diary
February 25, 2010
Hello, another day has passed and it's time to come and write in my journal. Today I started the day very well, as you know, I do not need to pretend I am blind because I have blue eyes, now I can open my eyes and look at everything I was all morning in the street playing with Chamsous Sabah, she asked me to play with her.
But after lunch I was strolling alone, I bought an apple and suddenly two or three boys of my age pushed me, kicked me and finally said 'Go away curse, you give chance to our village "and they went away.
I was not hurt but I was sad, I thought the story of the blue eyes that gave bad luck was over but for those two young boys didn’t.
I thought the rest of the afternoon that if I saw them again, I would also beat them because they were from another race but I wondered myself "why are you going to hit them, you'll do the same thing they’ve done to you and you have nothing against their race”.
Now, finally, I'm here telling you what happened to me today. Well it's time to go to sleep. See you tomorrow.
P.S. What happened to Crapoux? May be the same, I don’t know.
Goodbye, Azur

A dream

Last holidays I went to Madrid. When I arrived at the airport I saw a young, magnificent boy and I told my sister.
I was always thinking of him. Madrid is a wonderful, amusing city but my holidays would be much better if he was with me.
Then I came home, to France, my home country.
In September, the first day of school, I arrived late. When I entered I said:
- Excuse me, may I come in?
Suddenly I saw my enchanted prince. It was the best moment of my whole life.

Azur and Asmar- Activity plan from Portugal 2 (Luisa)

2010-03-22T18:55:00.003+01:00

AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS DE SAMORA CORREIA
Escola EB 2,3 Professor João Fernandes Pratas
Activities around the film “Azur et Asmar”

Activity 1: Presenting a place.
Activity 2: Describing people - Simple present of the verbs to be and to have. Adjectives and clothes, vocabulary.

”AZUR ET ASMAR” - childhood
ACTIVITY 1: THE HOUSE OF “AZUR ET ASMAR”
Where does Azur, Asmar and the baby-sitter live? (in a town, near the sea, in the country, in an apartment...).
And you! Where do you live?

ACTIVITY 2: « AZUR ET ASMAR »
Look at the photo. Describe Azur and Asmar and write down the differences.
Then About you! Describe yourself.

ACTIVITY 3: HOBBIES
Activity 3:
Writing activity: Hobbies and preferences (I like, I prefer, I love).
What are the hobbies of Azur?
What does he prefer?
About you! What are your hobbies? What do you like to do?

TRAVELLING TO SOUTH
Activity 1: Locate continents and countries on a blank card.
ACTIVITY 1: WHERE DOES ASMAR LIVE?
You need an atlas to find the country of Asmar.
On what continent does Asmar live?

The Maghreb consists of three countries: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Report on the map of Africa:
1. Morocco.
2. Algeria.
3. Tunisia.
4. Mediterranean sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Azur and Asmar- Activity plan from Portugal 3 (Luisa)

2010-03-22T18:42:00.009+01:00

AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS DE SAMORA CORREIA

Escola EB 2,3 Professor João Fernandes Pratas

Activities around the film “Azur et Asmar”

Activity 2: Associate a flag to a country
ACTIVITY 2: FLAGS
The Maghreb countries all have a different flag. Connect each country's flag.

ACTIVITY 3: SOME GEOGRAPHY....
Complete the sentences using the words: in the west, between, in the east, in the north.

1. Algeria is ____________________ Morocco and Tunisia.
2. Asmar lives ____________________ of Africa.
3. Tunisia is ____________________ of Algeria.
4. Atlantic Ocean is ____________________ of Morocco.
About you. Where is your country? What are the colours of the flag of your country?

ACTIVITY 4
The first character that encountered Azur arriving in the South is Crapoux. But Crapoux is never happy! He is always critical of his country home. Put the phrases of Crapoux in the affirmative.
1. There’s no rain.
2. They haven’t got songs.
4. They haven’t got custard.

Activity 5:
Name the parts of the body.
ACTIVITY 5: CRAPOUX
Connect the words with the image:

ACTIVITY 6: THE WISDOM OF JENANE.
Fill in the gaps.
“Listen my son. I know two __________, two __________ two _________, so that I know __________ more than others”.
Activity 1: Multiple choice
THE CONQUEST OF THE FAIRY OF DJINN
ACTIVITY 1:
1. To save the fairy of the djinn, Azur and Asmar must first find:􀂉 three magical keys.􀂉 three secret messages.􀂉 three miraculous fruits.
2. What is the name of the bird?
􀂉 Majastra.
􀂉 Saïmouth.
􀂉 Phénix.
3. Who is Chamsous-Sabah ?
􀂉 A beggar
􀂉 A princess.
􀂉 A djinn.

ACTIVITY 2: Writing comprehension. Who am I?
Answer
1. I am red and I’ve got blue nails. I am the king of beasts. I take Azur on my back. Who am I?
2. I am small but very smart. I live in a magnificent palace. Who am I?
3. I am colorful. I do not speak but I have magical powers. Who am I?

Activity 3: Speaking of means of transport.
Activity 4: Work group

ACTIVITY 3:
To deliver the fairy djinn, what means of transport were used by Azur, Asmar and Crapoux?To you! What (s) mean (s) of transport do you use to go to school?

ACTIVITY 4:
Write a story like the one of Azur and Asmar. Imagine a distant and magical place, magical characters and a plot that ends well ...

Slovenian Inter- Cool-Tural toybox

2010-03-19T21:53:00.005+01:00

In Slovenian "toybox" there were dolls and teddy bears made by the pupils of the third triad of Druga osnovna Å¡ola Slovenj Gradec. In thebox there was also a button on a string, which can magically turn into an elastic rope if you twist it long enough. Younger children made aboard for a game called "Sheep and Two Wolves", and added a little bagwith beans needed for the game. Children of the first triad also added some bookmarks they made themselves. The wooden thing you can see inthe pictures is the so called "raglja" - it can be used to invite people to attend a mass in the days before Easter, as an instrument for cheerleading and of course as a toy for children. On the DVD there are traditional games played by the pupils of the first triad. We hope everybody will enjoy playing with the toys from Slovenia!

Project meeting in Bambini Montjuic- Girona- Spain- March 2010

2010-03-16T16:56:00.003+01:00

In this video one of the traditional dances that the children of the Bambini Montjuic school danced for the European guests on the 8th of march 2010, before the "grand nevada"!!

Scrapbooks inside the Inter- cool- tural boxes- from Vratsa- Bulgaria

2010-03-16T16:43:00.003+01:00

The scrapbook, write on a Cd and part of the works inside the box, was made by the pupils of 3b and 4v class and their English teacher Mrs. Kalina Nikolova.

The CD about traditional costumes in Bulgaria are presented by: Ekaterina Ivova and Katerina TihomirovaClass 3 vSt. Sofronii Vrachanski Primary School – Vratsa, Bulgaria

Inter- cool- tural boxes from Gazi school- Istanbul- Turkey

2010-03-16T16:28:00.008+01:00

Azur and Asmar: didactic courses- Classes III A, III C Secondary school of San Lorenzo in Campo- Italy

2010-03-16T15:34:00.003+01:00

Grade level: III year of a Middle School (13 year aged students)
Subject: Italian
Lesson objectives:
-to write a story following strictly the clues;
-to write a story respecting accuracy and coherence
Activities:
vision of the film;
group work on the possible sequels of the story;
shared choice of the best suggestion;
composition of the story
Subject: Geography
Lesson objectives:
-to describe and understand a territory;
-to be aware that to study different countries can promote the respect of one’s identity and the cooperation and integration;
Activities:
Study of the physical, economic characteristics of Maghreb
Subject: Citizenship
Lesson objectives:
-To form a responsible and liable citizen capable of understating other cultures, of appreciating the value of freedom, respectful of the human dignity and of the differences
Activities:
To reflect upon the spontaneous comments expressed by the students during the vision of the film and recorded by the teacher;
Debate on the messages of the author;
Analysis of the articles of the Italian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights related to freedom and equality among people without making any distinction of race, colour, sex, language, religion.

“Brotherhood has no colour”

Grade level: III year of a Middle School (13 year aged students)
Subjects: Italian; Citizenship
Lesson Objectives:
-to reflect upon respect, acceptance and discovery of the others as a personal enrichment
-to promote the awareness of the new ethic and multicultural European background and the acceptance of other nationalities
-to reflect upon the similarities between the contents of the 3rd article of the Italian Constitution, the 1st, the 2nd and the 3rd article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the main topics of the film “Azur and Asmar”.
Activities:
vision of the film “Azur and Asmar”;
guided discussion;
analysis of the articles: 3 (Italian Constitution); 1,2,3 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights);
production of a poster with some pictures from the film and the articles above-mentioned

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
This lesson activity is the result of some lessons held with a class of third year middle school students (13 years old). We started by looking at the film “Azur and Asmar”. We discussed the main topics on which the film is based: the idea of tolerance, equality and peace among people from different countries, religions and cultures. After that, the role of Martin Luther King as one of the most important men of the 20th century in the fight against racism was introduced. We did some research into his life and work using books, the internet and videos. Then we revised all the information, added pictures, sounds and a video and produced a multimedia product in order to reflect on the historical context of King's life and work. Moreover, this work is a springboard for further research and reflection.
Lesson objectives:
1) To become familiar with the historical context of King’s work and life;
2) To discuss and reflect upon a quote from his speech ”I have a dream”;
3) To watch a recording of King’s “I have a dream” speech;
4) To reflect on the importance of respect and tolerance towards other cultures
Subject: Cross-curricular, English as a second language, History, Social Studies, Citizenship.
Grade level: III year of a Middle School (13 year aged students)

Project activities we intend to carry out in the second part of school year 2009/2010

2010-03-16T15:27:00.003+01:00

§ Final layout of the protocol: - handbook to be spread among the school and local community - upload it on the school and project websites (each country has to write down a paper in which it should list ten main ideas or knowledges, based on its own experience, about how to welcome a foreign student at school, and send it to the coordinator. The coordinating school collects all the ideas and write the final document.);
§ Production of a CD with all the activities carried during the two years;
§ Final layout of the shared language course published on each school website;
§ Final questionnaire for students to evaluate its impact and the level of satisfaction of the people involved, processes and feelings (the coordinating school send it to the other schools, each school gives to the children involved and collect the results starting from the first week of May; the coordinating school receives all the data the week before Slovenia);
§ Project meeting in Slovenia from 24th to 27th of May: final evaluation of the activities carried out, exchange of all the materials produced to record on a CD to be given all students and communities (the students will be shared into groups, each group will cook a traditional dish, build a toy, etc under the guide of a foreign teacher);
§ Final exhibition about the project - Comenius Inter-cool-ture Day : meeting of all the students involved in the project inside their own school to celebrate the importance of the topic. It will be held in cooperation with people belonging to different foreign communities of the area. Local press will be involved (Bulgaria will celebrate it on the 9th of May- European Day);
§ Project hymn: the two italian schools will write down the text and the music of an Inter-Cool-Ture song to learn and sing during the final meeting;
§ Project group on FaceBook: the Portuguese school subscribes a group on Facebook;
§ Project Blog at the following address: http://inter-cool-ture.blogspot.com.

Project activities we carried out in the first part of school year 2009/2010

2010-03-16T14:57:00.006+01:00

§ Projects meeting in Turkey to monitor the project evaluating the activities carried out, to plan activities and share practices for the first part of this school year, to compare school systems;
§ Prosecution of the school correspondence: exchange of Christmas cards and of lots of information about Christmas traditions in each partner country;
§ First layout of a shared multimedia language course (drawings/photos, dialogues and audio recordings of lexicon and basic linguistic structures of each partner country) useful to reach two important aims: improve the knowledge of our cultures/languages and lay the foundations of an instrument to be used with our foreign students;
§ Plan “listening time activities”: parents/grandparents and/or people coming from other countries tell stories belonging to their own culture; compare, without discriminating, the different values found in the texts/stories read and listened;
§ Plan some teaching units about cinema: significant movies can let our children know each country’s way of living in a more real way and can let them better understand the relationships with others;
§ Activities/products about: traditional stories/ lullabies/ songs… traditional toys / games..;
§ Collect and exchange “materials” for the “inter-cool-tural boxes” (to exchange in Girona);
§ Projects meeting in Spain to compare / evaluate the activities developed and their impact, to plan activities and share practices for the second part of school year 2009/2010, to compare school systems.

2010-03-04T22:44:00.002+01:00

Project Meeting in Girona- Spain

TIMETABLE
Monday, 8th March 2010
9.30. Meeting in front of the hotel Peninsular.
10h. Arrival at the school
Welcome in the hall
Headmistress speech
Students festival
11h. Breakfast
11.30h – 13.00h. Primary School visit
13.30h. Lunch at school
15h. 16h. Infant School visit
16h – 18h. Comenius meeting in the hotel.
18.30h – 20h. Free time
20h. Meeting in front of the hotel
21h. Dinner in Can Lloret Restaurant
Tuesday, 9th March 2010
9.30h. Meeting in front of the hotel
Visit to Sant Pere de Roda Monastery
Visit to the fishmen village of Port de la Selva (Costa Brava)
13h. Lunch in Restaurant Porto Cristo, Port de la Selva.
16.30h. Arriving at the hotel.
17h – 19.30h. Free time
20h. Dinner in Le Bistrot restaurant.
22h. Visit to the famous catalan “Castellers” human towers.
Wednesday, 10th March 2010
9.15h. Meeting in front of the hotel
10h. The Girona Legends “in situ”, guided visit to the ancient town.
13h. Lunch at Bronsoms Restaurant
15h. The Jewish Museum
16.30h. Comenius meeting in the hotel.
18h. Free time.
20h. Meeting in front of the hotel
21h. Final cocktail - dinner in Cynara Restaurant.
Thursday, 11th March
Leaving of all the guests.

Azur and Asmar-San Lorenzo-Italy

2010-03-04T09:03:00.008+01:00

This is a big poster made by the children of the III A class of the primary school; they made drawings of the sequences of the story describing the scenery of the film. The children also built two puppets to put in our Inter- cool- tural box to bring to Spain.

Waiting for the boxes...- from Vratsa Bulgaria

2010-01-25T12:13:00.005+01:00

The pupils from Vratsa, Bulgaria expressed their art skills making dolls as the ones their grandparents used to play with. The children used wooden spoons, rags, maize leaves and threads to create the dolls. Then they named them with nice Bulgarian names: Ralitsa, Albena, Todor, Gergana, etc. The children are also talented and good in painting. They prooved it by drawing and colouring funny bookmarks. They are now preparing another surprise - pictures on glass plates.
All these pieces of art will be placed in the travel culture boxes which are going to travel to Girona, Spain first and then to all the partner countries. The boxes already contain interesting objects which present Bulgaria, Vratsa and our school. Our foreign friends will be able to cook meals from our collection of traditional Bulgarian recipes and listen to the Bulgarian children's favourite songs.
Be patient, friends, and you will soon see all the surprises we are preparing for you!

" A bookbinding workshop" in Slovenj Gradec- Slovenia

2010-01-07T19:40:00.003+01:00

The pupils of Druga osnovna scola Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, created aninteresting book with traditional chants and rhymes, also thoseincluding numbers, which is a part of the plan in our project. Theyworked on it in a workshop called " A bookbinding workshop". Pupilsthemselves collected the rhymes and chants, chose the suitable ones,wrote them down and bound a book.

2010-01-07T19:36:00.004+01:00

Those rhymes are hard to translatebecause some of them don't even have a real meaning in Slovenelanguage but are used just for counting out and other games for children. There were some more workshops going on the same they where pupilsworked on toys. But these toys will be a surprise until the meeting inSpain.The pupils and teachers from the Slovenian team of ComeniusInter-Cool-Ture wish you a very happy and successful year 2010.

The Bulgarian Inter-cool-ture team presented the Christmas and Bayram traditions in the six partner countries

2009-12-28T13:36:00.006+01:00

Each class (1b, 1g, 3b, 3v and 4v) told about the traditional celebration, decorations and meals in each country. The audience was interested to hear and see the Portuguese consoada, the Italian Befana, the Catalan Caganer, the Slovenian four-candle wreath and the Turkish kurban.

Christmas and Bayram traditions- from Bulgaria

2009-12-28T13:32:00.004+01:00

The participants had dressed up with "traditional" costumes and had made lots of preparations. The event finished with presentation of the book "Christmas and Bayram with Inter-cool-ture" which included all the facts sent by the partner schools and collected by the Bulgarian team.

Christmas and Bayram traditions- from Bulgaria

2009-12-28T13:29:00.004+01:00

The book has the form of a Christmas bell and will be shown to all the partners at the next meeting in Girona in March.

Christmas in Italy- primary- class IIIA

2009-12-23T08:49:00.004+01:00

Last week we drew some Christmas cards and we sent you by ordinary mail. They are a picture of our most important monument in San Lorenzo. They are coming!!

class IIIA

2009-12-22T16:24:00.005+01:00

For Christmas our teachers, Alessandra and Fiorenza, wrap some presents for every child in the class.

class IIIA

2009-12-22T16:17:00.006+01:00

At Christmas we decorate all the windows of the primary school of San Lorenzo...

class IIIA

2009-12-22T16:13:00.007+01:00

with white angels.

class IIIA

2009-12-22T16:12:00.005+01:00

We decorate the doors of our classrooms.

class IIIA

2009-12-22T16:11:00.005+01:00

We decorate a small Christmas tree in the hall of the school.

Christmas in Italy-from San Lorenzo- sec.school

2009-12-10T20:14:00.006+01:00

The mistletoe and the holly are evergreen, symbol of fertility and life: we kiss under the mistletoe to wish a happy wedding.
We also decorate the Christmas tree with coloured balls, flashing lights and a star at the top. Under the tree we put the presents that we will open on Christmas day.
We give our friends a nice plant as a present: it is called poinsettia, it has got exotic origins but it has become very common in Italy. Its leaves turn bright red at Christmastime.

Tombola is the Italian Bingo. We play it on Christmas Day at home after the big meal with all the family. The winner receives some prizes such as money and sweets.
Cards are a tipical Italian game. We play cards on Christmas Day with our relatives.

Midnight Mass is longer and more intense than usually. After the traditional Eve dinner every catholic family goes to church to take part in Midnight Mass and to share with the community of believers the big event of the descent of Jesus Christ on Earth. Midnight Mass closes the period of Advent and opens the great ceremony of Christmas songs, lights, greeting cards, gifts, which witness the deep joy of the presence of Jesus.
Befana is often described as an old woman who flies on a broom. She is usually smiling and carries a big bag full of sweets and gifts for the deserving children, and also with coal for the children who haven’t been so good throughout the year.
According to the tradition, Befana arrives in the night between the 5th and the 6th January and fills the stockings that the children have hang beside the fireplace.

On Christmas Eve in 1223, in Greccio, a little village in central Italy, Saint Francis recalled Jesus’s birth with a live nativity scene.
During Mass a baby in the flesh appeared in the crib, picked up by Saint Francis.
From this episode the tradition of the crib originated.

I don’t celebrate Christmas. I am a Jehovah’s Witness. I consider December 25th a day like all the other ones, I do my normal activities. Why don’t I celebrate Christmas? Because knowing what its origins are in my opinion it is a pagan feast. In fact December 25th was the holiday for the winter solstice and the Catholic church has adopted this date as the birth of Christ.Are there in your school any children who don’t celebrate Christmas? Are there any Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Christmas in Bulgaria- from Vratsa

2009-12-08T11:33:00.005+01:00

In the past in Bulgaria the newly married woman in the family had to get the whole dinner ready. She had to get up early, before daybreak. The preparation of the dishes (all vegetarian) took almost a whole day. The woman used to begin with preparing the ritual round loaf of bread, being decorated with different elements made of dough symbolizing all the living creatures in that house. So each one could get to know something about himself. The traditional leek pastry was prepared with cornel buds as fortunes indicating health, wealth and fertility. It was known in advance what each one of the fortunes was intended for. A white beans meal with many seasonings, sauerkraut leaves and peppers stuffed with rice were prepared too, all cooked with oil as people fasted until Christmas Day. The custom required the preparation of stewed dried fruits. Some juice of them was mixed with a little ground garlic. Everyone in the family tasted a teaspoon of it with the wish for good health throughout the year coming. The other members of the family had to clean the house thoroughly, the yard and all buildings used by them. After all was put in order and ready, everyone prepared himself for the Christmas Eve itself putting on their new clothes, while the young people trimmed the Christmas tree. The eldest one in the family brought some straw into the house and on the tablecloth, there were placed the dishes, this symbolizing the Nativity. On this day the whole family gathers, eat on straw and get off the table in the same time. The dishes are left on the table for the night. It is believed that the dead relatives will come to dine too.
In the past there were boys and non-married young men who were visiting the houses, singing carols for wealth and health for the hosts. They were rewarded with money, food and so on. They were bringing long sticks to put kravai (round bread with holes in it). The boys were called koledaris. Nowadays Bulgarians decorate a Christmas tree as all the other Europeans do.

Christmas in Portugal- from Samora Correia

2009-12-07T11:57:00.005+01:00

Christmas is undoubtedly one of the biggest celebrations of the Portuguese calendar. Currently, due to globalization, the Portuguese Christmas begins to be influenced by other cultures, especially by American films, one of the facts is the replacement of the Child Jesus by Father Christmas to deliver gifts. However, this does not mean that the Portuguese Christmas traditions have disappeared! On December 24, Christmas Eve, at night in certain parts of the country (especially in the north) takes place a Christmas dinner (called consoada), we serve cod, turkey or octopus, it depends on the region. Also at the end of supper, there is the midnight mass at midnight, although this mass is now falling into disuse. On the 25th, a banquet with meat several improved in some areas of the country in 25 days lunch is served the traditional “Roupa Velha” (old clothes), made from the remains of the supper of the day before. In some areas we burn the “Madeiro” (stump) of Christmas, particularly in churchyards, around which we sing traditional Portuguese songs.

Christmas in Catalonia 1

2009-12-07T10:18:00.008+01:00

Christmas in Catalonia is a fun event, in particular for the curious traditions unique to the Catalan region.
Most regions don't even get one poo-related traditional figure, but the Catalans get two (some of you might find the following a little distasteful): Caganer
A little porcelain gnome-like figure with his trousers down, defecating somewhere in the nativity scene. Children enjoy looking for the little guy, who is often hidden among the more traditional items. Caganer has been offering his unique presents to the nativity scene since at least the middle of the 18th or 19th century, depending on whom you believe, although in recent years the Catalan government has banned him from official displays. You can find the most popular people from nowadays politicians, sportsmen or actors disguised as Caganers.

Christmas in Catalonia 2

2009-12-07T10:12:00.006+01:00

Christmas Markets
The fair runs from early December until Christmas Eve and can be found in some streets and squares. Here you will find all sorts of hand made gifts, intricate nativity scenes and the Caga Tió log.
Christmas Eve
Midnight mass as Christmas Eve becomes Christmas Day is very important in Spain (presumably as the Catholics rush to confess to their Christmas gluttony!)
The biggest 'misa del gallo' is at the Benedictine monastery at Montserrat near Barcelona

Tió de Nadal or Caga Tió
A log painted with a smiley face and cared for from after El Dia de Inmaculada, which is December 8. Then, either on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve (it varies), the children beat the log (and throw him into the fire, if they have one) and sing songs enticing it to 'shit some presents', 'tió' is Catalan for 'log'.

Christmas in Catalonia 3

2009-12-07T10:07:00.004+01:00

Three Kings Procession
On December 5, as is the case throughout Spain, the Three Kings lead their procession through the city. The procession starts shortly after five o’clock.
On the night of December 5, children leave a shoe out for the Three Kings to fill (stockings clearly aren't so common in this Mediterranean climate!)

Nativity Scenes

The Catalan word for 'nativity' is 'pessebre' while in Spanish it is 'belén'.

Bayram and the beginning of the new year in Turkey

2009-12-07T09:56:00.006+01:00

Our religious bayram (festival) is about helping eachother and sharing. its name is Kurban Bayramı in Turkish. the people who have enough money make the animals (like cow , sheep) cut and they share the meat to the people who haven't got money.and in most of the houses the meats are cooked and are eaten.and also the people meet eachother (relatives, neighbours and friends), the younger people visit the older people ,they give presents eachother , they give candy and money to the children , the children kisses hands of their older relatives,and the people eat sweets especially baklava and şekerpare all together.

In Turkey , we celebrate 31th of December as a beginning of new year. we meet with our relatives or friends in houses or somewhere in outside,if we meet in houses we listen to music or watch tv programmes which are prepared for celebration new year , and we play tombola ( drawing the numbers and making all table with the numbers ),some of us drink alchol and we sleep that night very late...if we meet in outside we dances, make several animations which are prepared ...etc.Some of us decorate the pine trees, give presents eachother.

Penfriends!!

2009-12-04T19:57:00.004+01:00

Marta and Alessandra, the teachers, and their students of the classes III A of the primary school of San Lorenzo in Campo -Italy and the 4th class of the primary school in Girona, have started to exchange postcards, letters and messages.
This is the first e-mail message from Spain to Italy....

Hello boys and girls, the students of the 4th class of Bambini school in Girona sent you a letter yesterday by ordinary mail. We were very happy with your postcards..they were lovely!We have another surprise for you!!!!...as Christmas is coming very soon we send you this handcraft to do with Alessandra...we hope you like it and enjoy it...let's show us the results!!!! Hugs and kisses!

Marta and the 4th. class students.

Christmas in Slovenia- from Slovenj Gradec

2009-12-04T19:47:00.011+01:00

There are so many customs, beliefs, superstitions, traditions and magic related to Christmas in Slovenia that they would barely fit into a thick book. Christmas is the most popular religious and family holiday, its celebration having a long tradition. Slovenians are still keen makers of Christmas decorations. Archaic decorations include the marking of "god's corner" and the hanging of green wreaths (made of evergreens, box tree, ivy and mistletoe), branches or paper wreaths from ceilings or walls. Crafted doves hang from the ceiling to represent the Holy Ghost, as well as crowns and "chandeliers" made of paper and straw. Later, the hugely popular nativity scenes appeared. In Ljubljana and elsewhere, exhibitions of the most beautiful nativity scenes are staged each year. In the Postojna Caves, one of the most famous karst caves in the world, we have a live nativity scene accompanied by baroque music.Not only are Christmas decorations - and naturally the Christmas tree -characteristic of Christmas in Slovenia, food is very important too. Pigs are typically slaughtered before Christmas, so pork dishes are often on the table. There are also special Christmas breads and pies, with many different fillings, forms and names. One cannot but mention the most typical of Slovenian dishes, the potica. This nut roll can be sweet or salty, round with a hole in the middle like in the old days, or a single long roll. There are over 50 different types of classical potica, but people's imagination has increased their number so there are currently about 110 kinds of potica. The Christmas and New Year’s holiday season is a time that everyone awaits with special joy: children, because of the presents they expect to receive, and because they know they will not have to go to school for at least a week; adults, because they know they will bring people joy with their gifts, for giving is indeed a rewarding experience.

Christmas in Italy- from Pergola

2009-12-04T19:40:00.003+01:00

CHRISTMAS IN PERGOLA (ITALY)

Christmas time is a wonderful here!
At home we make Christmas trees decorated with balls, angels, bells...
Under the trees we usually put our Christmas presents and we open them at Christmas.
By the fireplace there are some Christmas stockings in which the “BEFANA”will put lots of small presents for the children on the 6th January.

On Christmas Eve we usually have a “great” seafood dinner.
At the end we eat lots of typical Christmas sweets: panettone, pandoro and torrone.
After dinner we sometimes play cards or other board games with our family.
On Christmas Day we have lunch at home with our relatives. We usually eat “cappelletti”(pasta filled with meat) with broth, meat, vegetables and sweets with “spumante”(sweet and fizzy wine).

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF AZUR AND ASMAR IN ITALIAN

2009-11-23T18:57:00.005+01:00

This is the official website of the film "Azur and Asmar" in Italian:

http://www.luckyred.it/azureasmar

and another interesting website about it in English

http://palais.wikidot.com/azur-et-asmar

ANOTHER SHORT FILM ABOUT INTERCULTURE

2009-11-17T20:28:00.010+01:00

La fune, The Rope - الحبل

Metaphoric tale, centred about a rope which connected two balconies overlooked the same road. The rope is used by two women, one Arab and the other one Italian, to hang out the washing. Sharing is not easy however. Entering the rope turns into a challenge and the relationship between the two becomes stormy and grotesque at time. In the meantime their respective children, an eight years boy and a seven years girl, learn to know each other just through the rope exchanging their drawings.

The film is at this address (the website in in Italian, English and French):

http://www.euromedcafe.org/ then click on "another look"- "winner 2004"- The Rope

The message can be understood in any language !

ITALIAN SHORT FILM ABOUT INTERCULTURE

2009-11-11T21:07:00.008+01:00

On the web there's a short film, about intercolture, that could be interesting. Everybody could use it in a very easy way because it's without any text!
The title is "The suitcase"
http://current.com/items/90330419_la-valigia.htm

the Bulgarian team has got an interesting idea...

2009-11-05T15:31:00.002+01:00

Dear partners, the Bulgarian team has got an interesting idea. We would like to invite you to bring to the work meeting in Girona some items which are typical for your country. They could be for example small souvenirs, embroidery, the country flag, a copy of a famous children's song or anything else you find suitable for the children to view and in this way to get acquainted with our countries. The items should be stored in boxes so that each guest team could be able to take it home and then use the materials for the International Market Place which will be held at the end of the school year - May 9, the Europe Day. We hope all of you will enjoy the idea and start collecting the most appropriate items.
We - pupils and teachers from Bulgaria look forward to exchanging the stuff!

ACTIVITY PLAN SECOND YEAR

2009-10-26T18:08:00.001+01:00

Project activities carried out in the course of the school year 2008/2009:
HOW WE INTRODUCED THE TOPIC:
Brainstorming about the topic;
Questionnaires for students (exchange of results)
Logo Competition: Invention of the LOGO of the project
Second step:
MUTUAL KNOWLEDGE:
§ Reciprocal knowledge activities: the students of every partner school introduced themselves, their own town and school and knew their partners through some detailed interviews/questionnaires;
§ Creation and exchange of multimedia products (Power Point) to introduce the partners’ schools/countries/classes/typical days…
§ Start pen friends: correspondence by e-mail and ordinary mail (creation of the classes’ mail boxes)
Third step:
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
§ Projects meetings: (Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal) to plan/evaluate activities and methodologies, share practices, know the different cultures, compare school systems, monitor the project during all its phases;
§ Elaboration of cross-curricular teaching units in order to involve the teachers of the different areas in the development of the project activities;
§ Articles published on newspapers to spread news about the project
§ Creation of the project weblog to display the results, report on the work, its most important events, its progress….
§ Creation of a notice board about the project inside each school.
§ Collect and exchange: legends/tales (about each country)
§ Carry out some different activities about the legends/tales chosen: drawings, dramas, masks…
§ Exchange of the products obtained
§ Creation of the book: “Old Legends for a New Europe”
§ Final questionnaire for students
Project activities we intend to carry out in the first part of the school year 2009/2010:
§ Prosecution of the school correspondence
§ Involvement of the school staff: monitoring the number of immigrant students in our schools and their origin, and/or the number of emigrant students and their destinations; list and compare the “instruments” each institution has already created to make the integration of the foreign students easier
§ Use of the data collected by the school office staff to share ideas and suggestions about the first layout of a "School protocol". It will give criteria about foreign students’ enrolment and integration, define roles and tasks of all the school staff, the different phases of the students’ welcome at school and propose useful activities about the local language learning;
§ Start planning a language course (by computer) in order to reach two important aims: improve the knowledge of our cultures/languages and lay the foundations of a useful instrument to be used with our foreign students;
§ Plan “listening time activities”: parents/grandparents and/or people coming from other countries tell stories belonging to their own culture; compare, without discriminating, the different values found in the texts/stories read and listened;
§ Plan some teaching units about cinema: significant movies can let our children know each country’s way of living in a more real way and can let them better understand the relationships with others;
§ Study and compare toys and games of the different cultures, find differences and similarities (younger children);
§ Collect and exchange: traditional stories, lullabies, chants and so on (younger children).

ACTIVITIES ABOUT "AZUR AND ASMAR"

2009-10-26T10:34:00.002+01:00

AZUR AND ASMAR
Suggestions about activities to carry out with students:
PRIMARY SCHOOL
LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES
- ask children to tell the story of Azur and Asmar using their own words, expressing their feelings about the two kids’ adventures.
- divide the story into sequences and make a synthesis of it in order to emphasize the meaning of the film.
LIVE TOGETHER
- analyse why Asmar refuses Azur and why Rospu’ criticizes the country that welcomed him. Let children say their opinions about it.
- Underline the values of welcome and of the respect of differences. Link them to the school life : listening to others, mutual respect, non-violence, understanding of difficulties…
DISCOVER THE WORLD
- find the Magreb on the map. Use the film and some pictures to discover its characteristics and its inhabitants’ lifestyle: climate, territory, food, traditions, clothes…
- think about the historical period in which the story takes place
ART
- make drawings of the sequences of the story.
- describe the scenery of the film: monuments, colours…
- make drawings referring to some aspects of the Islamic art, analysing pictures that show clothes, objects…

SECONDARY SCHOOL
FIRST LANGUAGE
- Analysis of the story of Azur and Asmar: description of places and characters.
- Activities on the topic of fantasy: fantastic characters, magic objects and powers, the heroes’ challenges, etc.
- Reading of other tales taken from the Arabian literature, such as the “The Thousand and One Nights”.
- Invent and write down the continuation of the story.
EDUCATION TO CITIZENSHIP
- Talk about the values of welcome and respect, found in the film.
- Analysis of daily situations of comparison/quarrel/exchange among people of different cultures, referring particularly to the teenagers’ experiences. Are there any values or behaviours through which it’s possible to conciliate the differences? Is it possible to let difference become a value and not a space of misunderstanding and prejudice?
- Analysis, in the Declaration of Human Rights and in the Italian Constitution, of the articles about liberty and equality without any distinction of race, sex, language, colour or religion and discussion about the topic.
HISTORY
- Locate Mohammed’s and Islam’s birth and the Arabian- Muslims’ conquests in the correct space and time. Compare these events with the history of our country from the 6th to the 10th century.
- Compare two maps of Europe, Northern Africa and Middle East before and after the Arabian expansion in the Middle Age.
- Talk about quarrels and exchanges between Christians and Muslims.
- Point out the scientific, artistic and cultural conquests carried out by the Arab people over the centuries.

GEOGRAPHY
- Look for the geographic characteristics of the countries on the South of the Mediterranean (climate, vegetation, cultures..).
- Study their inhabitants’ lifestyles (houses, food, clothes, traditions..)
SCIENCE
- Point out the Arabian-Muslim’s world contribution to mathematics (introduction of numerals and of zero in the Western world, invention of algebra), to astronomy or to medicine.
ART
- Look closely at the representations of the Islamic art in the film (architecture, decorations, handicrafts). Do some researches on the topic, studying the typical monuments of that architecture (mosques with arches, minarets, palaces..) and the decorations of buildings.
- Carry out activities such as paintings, drawings, collage, trying inspiration by the Islamic art.
- Find out the steps and the techniques of the film making

4TH PROJECT MEETING- ISTANBUL- TURKEY

2009-10-25T11:43:00.004+01:00

19th of October –Monday
08:30 = meeting in front of the hotel
09:00 = arrival at the school – greeting newcomers the Headmaster( Gazi Primary School )
10:00 = visiting the classes in the school
11:00 = show time in the school garden ( Turkish Folk Dance- Songs- variety dances )
12:00-13:30 = lunch in the school
13:30-14:00 = going to Eğitim Gönüllüleri Vakfı (the Charitable Foundation of Education Volunteer)
14:00 = visiting the classes in the Education Centre
15:30-17:30 = Project meeting in the conferefence hall
17:30-18:00 = going to the hotel
18:00 -19:00= having a rest
19:30 = meeting in front of the hotel ( we will take the Bulgarian Group)
20:00 = dinner in the Galata Kulesi (Galata Tower) ( it will be Folk Dance Groups, Belly Dancer , Harem Show )
20th of October – Tuesday
08:30 = meeting in front of the hotel
09:00-12:30 = arrival Sultanahmet Region ( it is called historical peninsula)- visiting Sultanahmet Mosque ( Blue Mosque ) , Ayasofya Müzesi ( Hagia Sophia Museum ) (20 euro) , Arkeoloji Müzesi ( Archaeology Museum ), Yerebatan Sarnıcı ( Cistern Basilica ) 12:30-13:30 = lunch in Sultanahmet Köftecisi ( a restaurant in Sultanahmet ) ( 8 euro )
13:30-14:30 = going to Dolmabahçe Sarayı (Dolmabahçe Palace)
15:00-17:00 = visiting the Dolmabahçe Sarayı ( Dolmabahçe Palace ) 17:00-18:30= free time
19:00 : meeting in front of the hotel
20:00 = dinner in Sabancı Öğretmenevi ( Sabancı Teachers’ House) in Beykoz ( it is in the Asia Continent)
21st of October - Wednesday
08:30 = meeting in front of the hotel
09:00= arrival to Topkapı Sarayı ( Topkapı Palace ) ( this palace is the centre of administration during Rome Empire, Byzantine Empire and Ottomon Empire )
09:00-12:00 = visiting the Topkapı Palace
12:00-16:00 = sailing on Bosphorus with the boat and visiting Kız Kulesi ( Maiden’s Tower )
Note : Lunch in the boat ( fish )
16:00-19:00 = having a rest or free time , if you want ,you can to Kapalı Çarşı ( the Grand Bazaar ), (we can take you there).
19:30 = meeting in front of the hotel
20:00 = dinner in the restaurant of Point Hotel in Taksim ( it is near Taksim Square , one of the centre of İstanbul)
23:00 = saying farewell to each other

First year final product

2009-10-25T11:19:00.009+01:00

The book "Old stories for a new Europe" is finally ready!! The book, edited by the Italian schools of San Lorenzo and Pergola (PU), collects all the stories written by teachers and children of the classes involved in the LLP project. This is the cover,...

...this is the cover's back...

...and the index.

Final products' website

2009-06-08T13:51:00.003+02:00

Bulgarian teachers uploaded a website that collects all the stories written and illustrated by the children involved.
Have a look at...

http://www.inter-cool-stories.hit.bg/

Message from Bulgarian children

2009-05-30T12:28:00.002+02:00

Dear Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovenian and Turkish partners,

we are your friends from Bulgaria. We are from classes 2b, 3v, 4g and 4d. We want to tell you about our life in March. On March 1 we the 2-nd graders visited an elderly house and gifted the old people martenitsi. They were so happy!
March is full of holidays for us.
1 – March – we pin “Martenitsi” on our lapels. They are a symbol of health (the red) and purity (the white). We sent you some martenitsi with your teachers.
3 March – the national holiday of our country-our liberation. On that day we commemorate and pay honour to our heroes.
8 March – the international day of women. It’s calebrated in Eastern Europe. On that day we give presents and flowers to our mothers, grandmothers and women teachers. The streets are full of women carrying bunches of flowers.
11 March – The holiday of our school. We celebrate the 270th anniversary of our patron saint – Sofronii Bishop of Vratsa. He was a religious figure, a poet, writer, translator and a revolution figure.
We had a big concert. Our school was 100.
Your teachers and 12 children from Slovenia came to our holiday. The Slovenian children performed interesting dances and games.
22 March – spring came … but with a lot of snow. This year March has been snowy. It only melted when the foreign guests came. Lucky them’
Last week 4g and 4d class went to the village of Chelopek. We visited the house- museum of an old woman who lived in the 1870s and rescued a revolutionary. We took lots of photos.
We also have pen pals from Texas US on another project
The American children are friend to our 4-graders.
The 2-graders love books. Yesterday we met a contemporary Bulgarian author. She told us how she had written her books. We asked her questions. It was very interesting.
For the school holiday there were a lot of contests. We received diplomas in music, art and poetry.
So, we are the children from classes 2 b, 3 v, 4g and 4d. We told you about ourselves in March. We will write you again to tell you what happened in April and May.
We are looking forward to receiving your emails.
When is your Easter? Are there any festivals in Turkey soon?
Bye

Greetings from Vratsa, Bulgaria

2009-05-09T10:22:00.002+02:00

SAMORA CORREIA PORTUGAL MAY 2009

MEETING May 4th
BOOK
Legend in flip album each country and in Publisher (all legends), landscape A4, comic sans, 12, space 1,5. 5 pages each legend (10 faces), all in English, title, name of school, country and class in the cover.
Main cover – logo of the project, names of schools, logo of schools, name of the project, class, on the cover’s back all the names of the teachers,
Mixed stories in alphabetical order
WORK SECOND YEAR
Intercultural films adapted to children is much more difficult, films we have are not made for children,
Intercultural film
- When he presents a different culture from ours, it is important to have the films of the different countries at school for the children who arrive at our schools.
- In the film we find the meeting of union or not (intercultural meeting) of two different cultures, dramatic, tragic, happy ending with a cultural side.
The vision of these films can help to overcome the pupils’ problems.

MEETING May 6th
Bulgaria needs all the names of all the teacher, the coordinator of the project will make the introduction to the book. Send all the stories to Bulgaria till the end of may, all school have to send their logos to Bulgaria.
Title of the book
OLD STORIES FOR A NEW EUROPE
Start to find the films. Azur and Asmar (cartoon translated in all the languages). Italy will send an e-mail with the title and all the information.
Final report in the end of the 1st year. Wait for the questionnaire and then we will exchange the information we need.
Questionnaire for students, the coordinator will write the questions, all schools will use the same.
Next meeting in Turkey – 19th to 22nd of October. Turkey choose a hotel near school then we directly can make the booking.

3RD PROJECT MEETING- SAMORA CORREIA- PORTUGAL

2009-04-25T11:48:00.004+02:00

2 May 2009 - Arrival of the guests from Bulgaria
3 May 2009 - Arrival of the guests from Slovenia and Turkey; check-in at Albergaria S. Lourenço, Porto Alto.
4 May 2009
9.00 – Arrival of the guests from Italy and Spain; check-in at Albergaria S. Lourenço, Porto Alto.
10.00 – Arrival at the school – greeting newcomers with the Mayor and the Headmistress (with some surprises…).
11.00 – Meeting and visit to Kinder garden and primary school. ¹
12.30 – Lunch of the whole group in Restaurante “Caçador” (price person – 7,5€)14.30 – Work meeting ¹ with pupils from different classes (7º C, 8º A, 9º B, 9º E) participating the project.
18.00 – Free time. If you want we can walk around Samora Correia, visit to Fonte dos Escudeiros, Palácio do Infantado, Igreja Matriz.
20.00 – Dinner of the work team with the foreign guests in the Restaurante “Os Grelhados” (price person – 12€).
5 May 2009
09.00 – Visit to Arts class, Teacher Ana Solange (8ºA, room 3)
09.30 – Visit to Chemistry class, Teacher Vanda Candeias (7ºA, room 1)
10.00 – Visit to Mathematics class, Teacher Teresa Pinto (5ºE, room 14)
10.30 – Visit to Project class, Teacher José Lima (6ºD, room 6)
11.00 – Visit to Music class, Teacher Vanda Gonçalves (7ºE, room 10)
11.30 – Visit to Gymnastic class, Teacher Filipe Dias (7ºB)
11.30 – Visit to Gymnastic class, Teacher Alberto Correia (9ºD)
12.30 - Lunch of the whole group in Restaurante “Nova Era” (price person – 6,5€)
14.30/17.00 – Visit by bus to “Companhia das Lezírias”², www.cl.pt
17.00 – Free time
20.00 - Dinner of the work team with the foreign guests in the Restaurante “Chico do Porto”. (price person - 13 €)
6 May 2009
7.30 – Bus to Lisbon.
9.00 – Visit to Palácio Nacional de Queluz ², (www.ippar.pt/monumentos/palacio_queluz.html)
11.00 – Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre, (http://cavalonet.com/epae/)
12.30 – Lunch (there are restaurants around so each one chooses where to eat) – Praça do Império.
14.00 – Museu do Oriente ²(price person - 2 €), (http://www.museudooriente.pt/)
18.00 – Arrival to Porto Alto – free time
20.00 - Dinner of the work team with the foreign guests in the Restaurante “Coudelaria”, Companhia das Lezírias. This dinner is on the Portuguese
team. ³ (http://www.acoudelaria.com/)
7 May 2009
Final meeting and leaving of the guests.

Inter-cool-tural stories- Turkey

2009-03-31T13:53:00.003+02:00

NASRETTİN HOCA
He was born in the village of Hortu of Sivrihisar and died in 1284 in Aksehir, a province of Konya, where his tomb is. His father was the imam(religious leader) of the village. Nasr-ed-Din, or "Victory of the Faith", was the name given by his parents to the author of the tales, and Hodja, meaning "Master" or "Teacher" is the honorific title which he subsequently acquired. It is obvious that Hodja was a witty man with sense of humor and he was a good conversationalist. Yet, based on most of the stories it is wrong to assume that everything he said was humorous. Over the years, the number of Nasreddin Hodja stories increased significantly since he was used as the main character in the new stories about other people. Among these, there are some that are easily recognized as not authentic Nasreddin Hodja stories. We can, therefore, say that Hodja and his stories were created by the natives of Anatolia in the 13th century, and the creation has lasted for centuries. Today, these stories belong to all Turkish people. Every year, Nasreddin Hodja Festivals are organized both in Sivrihisar; which is his birthplace; and in Aksehir where his tomb is. After reading some of the stories of Hodja, we think that you, too, will believe that Hodja will be living for generations to come...Just as Hodja did, may be you, too, will answer when asked "What do they do with the old full moons?", "They cut them up into small pieces and make the stars!.."

EAT MY FUR COAT EAT
The Hodja was invited out to dinner. He went in his old clothes and nobody was interested in him. When he found a few minutes to spare, he rushed home and collected his fur coat. When he came back, he was treated with great respect. Everybody wanted to speak to him. When they sat down for dinner he said: “Eat, fur coat, eat!” And he explained to the curious people: “If this regard is for my coat, it must eat also.”

WHAT IF IT BECOMES LEAVENED!
Nasreddin Hodja puts some food in his saddle – bag and sets out. At noon, he sits under a tree by Lake Akşehir. He eats some bread, olives and a bowl of yogurt merrily in the shadow. While he is shaking the bowl of yogurt, someone sees him and asks:What are you doing, Hodja? I’m leavening the lake. My God! Can the lake be leavened? Is that possible? I also know that it can’t, but what if it becomes leavened!

THEN, WHERE IS THE CAT?
A few times Hodja brought home some meat but never got a chance to eat it. His wife either ate it herself or gave it to her friends, and each time Hodja asked for some meat she said,"The cat stole it. I ran after it but I couldn't catch it."One day when his wife again told him that the cat had eaten the 2 kilos of meat he had brought, Hodja grabbed the cat and weighed it. It weighed 2 kilos. Hodja then turned to his wife and said,"If this is the cat then where is the meat? But if this is the meat, then where is the cat?"

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR INTERESTWE HOPE YOU ENJOYED

Inter- cool- tural stories Italy3

2009-03-28T14:25:00.003+01:00

THE LAST CACANIZZOLO

Nicetta, a ten years old girl, usually brought some pigs near the river so that they could “strufolare”(rub their snout against the grass) looking for something to eat, in this way she helped her family, a farmers family of the thirties. She was doing this even during that hot August afternoon. She was not alone because Peppe, her cousin, was in the field looking after some sheep and uncle Gioanne was cutting down some trees in order to have some poles for the vines and some wood to burn during the winter.
It was a big herd of swine, there was the sow, all her “cioncarini”(the youngest pigs), the “salvatorelli”(pigs who are about one month old) and the “salvatori” (pigs who are about three months old), from more than a brood and finally there was the last one of the “cacanizzoli”, that is the last born, the smallest, not for age but for size, the one who was the smallest either because the “matrana”( the sow who feeds all the little pigs) didn’t have enough teats or because his brothers, who were born before him and who were more expert than him, left for him the teat with less milk. He could survive the first difficult days and now, even if very small, he was part of the herd of swine. They were ugly, nearly disgusting, of a strange breed with dark skin, but if you could peer into their eyes, they were flashing and gentle.
During that afternoon there was a storm on the mountain but there it didn’t rain at all , even if the sky became dark and the swallows flew down in sight of a possible storm that could drive all the insects out. The pigs were scratching about and “sgaucciavano”(were searching something moving the earth) along the large shingle of the river near the dike where the water was diverted towards the miller and it let the millstones turn. There the river made a waterfall of ten metres, impressive and beautiful to see, so beautiful that some people used to come from the town to see it, when there was a lot of water.
A pouring noise was getting closer and suddenly the flood appears in front of Nicetta.
Water took some time to fill the bed of the river because first it filled the holes made by farmers coming by carts to take some gravel at the river: the little girl could step back but the pigs, more placid than her, were carried away one after the other by the strong current, they arrived at the waterfall and flew disorderly in a spectacular way on the water, they fell down again in the whirling whirlpool and were carried away again. Peppe and Gioanne had immediately rushed but in vain.
Everybody ran along the banks to follow the animals’ destiny, Nicetta, with a frightened look, saw the “cacanizzolo” disappearing among the cloudy waters. At last the weave weakened and the feverish rescue operations started . Slowly the pigs got up to the bank of the river, pushed by some poles and attracted by the cries and by the noise of the rattling iron “caldarole” (buckets). All of them except one: the “cacanizzolo”.
They went as far as more than half a kilometre from the waterfall towards San Lorenzo, but there was no trace of the “cacanizzolo” and, as it was getting dark, they reluctantly interrupted their search and went back home drenched to the skin, tired and sad.
The pigsty had remained opened: who was there crouched in a corner, half-covered by some straw? The “cacanizzolo”!
Pigs can’t talk or, if they can, humans don’t understand them, so no one will ever know how he could save himself and how he could found his way home by himself.
Nicetta felt her hearth ached by the excitement and happiness.
In the evening, at dinner, all of them were very happy.
The pigsty was crowded by dreams of flying and of finned animals and probably someone even thought about shooting a short film.

Inter- cool- tural stories Spain

2009-03-27T21:16:00.012+01:00

We have choosen three legends, each legend has been studied by different classes:
• The witch of the cathedral

. The lioness
• Saint Narcissus and the flies
THE LIONESS

There is a popular legend: If you go to Girona you have to kiss the lioness' bottom. It is an easy way to express a wish to come back to the town, or stay there forever or to become a citizen. It goes without saying that someone is not considered a good Girona inhabitant if they haven't completed the ritual. The final argument: this is the only place in the world where you can kiss a lioness' bottom without getting into trouble.
THE WITCH OF THE CATHEDRAL

A witch threw stones at people who attended the numerous processions which took place in Girona. On the day of Corpus Christi when she was about to throw a stone a voice thundered out across the town saying: “Throw stones, throw stones and stone you will become!”. And to this very day she can be seen as a gargoyle on the Cathedral.

SAINT NARCISSUS AND THE FLIES
During the siege of 1285, a group of French soldiers managed to penetrate the church of Sant Feliu. A swarm of big flies came from the tomb of the Patron Saint of Girona causing death to the French troops and their horses. Faced by this unexpected miraculous situation the French troops started to retreat. Since then, every time Girona was involved in a new conflict, the intervention of Saint Narcissus and his flies was assured.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR VISIT TO GIRONA… YOU’LL BE ABLE TO LIVE THESE LEGENDS “in situ”!!!

Inter- cool- tural stories Slovenia2

2009-03-25T20:02:00.003+01:00

WATER SPRITE
At first he lived in a stinky pond in a village. From an unknown reason he moved to mount Uršlja Gora. How he succeeded we unfortunately don't know…
His pond was exactly there where there is a church today, consecrated to St. Ursula. When St. Ursula came to Mount Uršlja Gora she really liked it there, so she called Water Sprite and asked him to move his lake. Water Sprite was bored on Mount Uršlja Gora because he didn't meet anyone but shepherds all year long, and they always sang the same songs which he already knew by heart. He liked St. Ursula's idea. When he promised her to move the lake and himself to another hill, he, as a typical man, didn't think of how easy it is to promise something to a woman and how hard to fulfil it. He didn't want to carry the water on his head as a woman. Not at all! At last he was the ruler of all the waters. He kept thinking and he got an idea. At a nearby farmer, who didn't like the idea at first, he borrowed two oxen, Suri and Muri, which helped him carry the water night after night to the other hill until the pond was empty. When he finished and moved away himself, he well repaid the farmer. The oxen had a bag full of gold on each of their horns. Don't ever say that it's not worth helping Water Sprite.
And now back to the first residence of Water Sprite, the stinky pond.
A shepherd tended his flock by that pond every day. He didn't know what to do, so he sat down by the pond, threw pebbles and tried to make them leap to the other shore. When he grew weary of this, he started throwing bigger stones into the middle of the pond. He admired the circles that occured on the water. Once he threw a very big stone. Big circles occured and they didn't disappear. They got bigger and bigger as if bigger and bigger stones were falling into the water.The shepherd thought there was a storm on the bottom of the pond. A huge storm! Water Sprite!!!Water Sprite raged: »Who has knocked the spoon out of my son's hands?« The shepherd ready-wittedly pointed to a poor animal: “It was this sheep.”
Water Sprite grabbed the sheep and dragged it into the pond.
That’s how we know Water Sprite really exists.

Inter- cool- tural stories Slovenia

2009-03-25T19:44:00.004+01:00

THE STORY ABOUT SLOVENJ GRADEC
It`s not about the real rising of the town but it stirs people`s imagination.
Once upon a time, when poeople lived together in concord and harmony, there was a big lake between Plešivec and the hill-side of western Pohorje. On one side of the wide water there was a castle and in the castle “Grad” lived a count, who had a very beautiful daughter. On the other side of the bank in a manor-house on Gradišče lived another count and his young and handsome son. By boat they often visited each other, the youngsters also in secret. One day when the contess was travelling again by boat across the water to embrance her sweet-heart, suddenly in the middle of the lake a strong north-east wind caught her, which raised high waves and turned over her boat. The young daughter drowned. The count wanted to find his daughter’s dead body at any price. They were searching for her day and night continuously for 14 days, however without success. At one point between Rahtel and the hill-side of Kremžarica the count ordered to dig through the hill and the water flew away. On the bottom of the dry lake in the middle of the arising valley he found in the mud the body of the young girl. In endless grief he ordered to build the church on the place where she drowned. Later, the town Slovenj Gradec arose around the church .

Inter- cool- tural stories Portugal

2009-03-23T18:57:00.003+01:00

Legend of the Lady of Alcamé
In the place where today is built the chapel of the Lady of Alcamé, lived some cattle shepherds in straw tents. One day a teeny snake appeared there and one of them took off the milk of the cows and gave it to the snake. Then he started to call the snake whistling. He whistled and the snake came and he gave it milk. This happened during much time.
One day, the shepherd went to other lands where he lived for a long time. Years went by and he came back to see the place where the cattle grazed, and he remembered the snake. He decided to whistle and it appeared. But when it appeared, it has become a wild and very big snake and it started creeping around him.
As he hasn’t got any milk to give it the snake attacked him.
Very frightened he screamed at the top of his voice:
- “Our Lady, help me”.
Then Our Lady appeared, and threw a mace to the mouth of the snake and She put Her feet on the snake’s head. The snake stopped and didn’t attack the man anymore, so Our Lady saved him.
To pay homage to Our Lady who saved the man, a chapel was built in the middle of the plains near river Tejo. It was called Lady of Alcamé Chapel. Every year a pilgrimage and a procession take place from the chapel to Samora Correia.

LEGEND OF THE SOUP OF STONE

One friar walked begging some food as he was very hungry. Then he arrived at the door of a farmer, who didn’t want to give him any food. The friar was so hungry that he said with a very weak voice,” As you don’t give me any food I’m going to make a broth of stone”.
He picked up a stone from the soil, cleaned it very well and looked at it to see if it was good to make a broth. The people of the house began laughing because of this strange attitude of the friar. “Then haven’t you ever eaten a rock broth? I only can tell you that it is a good meal”, the friar said. Laughing the people of the house replied: “I want to see it”! These were the words the friar wanted to hear. After having washed the rock, he asked: “Can you lend me a pot?”
They gave him an adobe pot. He filled it with water and put down the stone inside it. “Now, if you let me to put the pan near the fire… “ They said so. As soon as the water started boiling, he said very quietly:
“With a little bit of grease, the broth would be a beauty”!
They gave him a piece of grease. The broth boiled, boiled, boiled… and everybody was astonished with what they were watching. The friar, tasted the broth and said: “Oh! It’s a little bit insipid! With a lump of salt it would be wonderful!”
So they gave him the salt. He flavoured the broth, proved it and declared: “Now, with some cabbage the broth would be eaten by the angels!”
The owner of the house went to the kitchen- garden and brought two tender cabbages.
The friar washed them and cut them to pieces and put them inside the pan.
When the cabbages were already boiled said the friar: “A bit of sausage would give it a delicious flavour!…”
They brought him a piece of it and he put it inside the pan. While it boiled, he took off of his saddlebag bread and prepared himself to eat calm and quietly….
The broth smelled so good that he ate it licking his lips! He poured out the pan but the stone remained at the bottom of the pan! The people of the house, who were staring at him asked: “Oh, Mr. Friar what about the stone?”
The friar answered: “I’ll wash it and take it with me for another time.”
And so he ate where nobody wanted to give him any food!

Inter- cool- tural stories Italy2

2009-03-23T18:47:00.005+01:00

The poor man

There was once an old man who went around in search of alms, and fortunately had put a bag of chickpeas. So as not to show it to people he thought of leaving it over to a woman saying that it would be catch it again during the night. The woman took the bag and laid it in a room where she weaved in a beautiful cock’s company.
The old that night didn’t see. Then the cock, without the lady noticing, he ate the whole bag of chickpeas. She desperated for nothing. When the old man appeared at the end, the woman told him what had happened. The old shouted as a damned and wanted the cock. So he left with the cock. After walking a long way, he arrived in an isolated house and he asked the lady if she could keep the cock. She answered yes and put the cock in a stable where there was a pig. The day after this is that the old man appeared to recover the cock, but in the stable only some feathers were scattered on the ground. The pig ate him. Heavens, the punishment of the owner and the anger of the old! The poor man did not want to hear excuses and asked him in exchange for the pork. “What wickedness” said the woman crying, but she couldn’t do anything else that to give him the pig. After walking a long way, here is that the old man came to another house and asked the lady if she could keep the pig in the stable.
“Put him well there” she replied. “There is already a calf and they will bear them company”.At the beginning, the calf showed gentle, when left alone with the pig and this went to the shooting, gave him a kick in the stomach and made him to bring the soul to St. Anthony.It happened with the old the same story of past. The calf came to him in tears of the lady. After walking a long way, the old man brought the calf in the house of an acquaintance. He gave her some money to buy the straw and hay, then he left. During the night, the daughter of the mistress were strange pain.
Her mother sent for the doctor and he said that she had to eat a very warm calf’s heart. If she had not eaten it, she would have died. The woman became crazy to think where to find it. In the end, the daughter, wringing on the bed as if at any moment she kicked the bucket, said in a weak voice: “Mom, there is down below the calf that gave you the old man”. “It’s true! What a stupid I am! You’re right. I’m going to kill him”. And she really killed him. We didn’t to add that she had just eaten the heart of the calf, the daughter recovered. But no one thought that the old man would come.
When he arrived, mother and daughter didn’t know which way to turn in order to find a convincing excuse. The old would not care about the pains of the young lady. So there was a very big row and screams came up to heaven. “ Listen” cried at last the old ”I will take your daughter instead of the calf”. “ What?” said the furious woman. “ You don’t touch my daughter, and if you touch her poor you!”. And so saying, she seized a stick and began to beat him everywhere. The old man tried to escape, ran here and there and the neighbourhood cried because she stopped to beat him. At the end she was exhausted and stopped to stick. And then she gave the old man her daughter. The old put her into a bag and loaded it on his back. Then he went away. After walking a long way, suddenly he realized that he didn’t do more. He knocked at the first house he saw and asked for a place to rest. He was satisfied. The old man went into a room to sleep, leaving the bag in a small room near the kitchen, and he recommended they did not touch it. The old could not know that the family of the girl lived in the house. He just felt asleep, the women of the house, always curious, wanted to see what was inside the bag, and they remained in amazement when, instead of crusts of bread they imagined they saw their granddaughter, who, recognizing their relatives, she all told. “Now we need to think about how to save her” said the lady of the house. As you do, as there is, in the end another woman said: “We put inside the bag a cat and a stick with long branches, which seems that opens its arms like a man. In this way the old will remain deceived”. Then she turned to the girl:” In the meantime you run by your mother, who’s crying by despair. Goodness knows how she’ll give you a hearty welcome!”. While the girl ran from her mother the old awoke. He went to take his bag, he put it on his shoulder and went away all happy. Arrived near a fountain, he began to sing:
From chickpea has become cock,
from cock has become pig
from pig has become calf,
from calf has become a girl,
here, I open again slowly,
exit out and give me a kiss.
He opened the bag again and fell to the ground furious and frightened. The cat went out very angry and scratched him in all his body.
So the old man, twisting about in pain and blushing , went home and was left empty-handed.
This happens to whom wants too much.

Inter-cool-tural stories- Bulgaria

2009-03-20T20:47:00.009+01:00

The Old Bulgarian Tradition

The legends are as birds for the Bulgarians, preserved in the long 1300-year history - they will fly to you when you feel merry or sad, will perch near you when your sorrow has come to feed your faith. The folk customs are like the birds – they fly always wit the Bulgarians, because they are the spirit of our ancestors.

Where does the Martenitsa come from?

If you are fortunate enough to visit Bulgaria in the beginning of March you are certain to notice almost every person decorated with small tokens made from red and white woollen threads. Then from late March to mid-April, you will notice many fruit trees and shrubs decorated with these same tokens. March 1 is the Baba Marta (Grandma Marta) day in Bulgaria - on the first of March, and the days following, all people give each other red-and-white strips or small woollen dolls called Pizho (the male character) and Penda (the female one), also known as Martenitsi. They are named thus because they bring the name of March, or in Bulgarian - Mart. According to the tradition, Marta (the female variation of the word Mart) is an angry old lady who rapidly changes her mood from bad to good and back again. She is popular all around as Grandmother Marta (in Bulgarian Baba Marta). The colours of the martenitsa, whose symbolism comes from an old Bulgarian tale, represent blood and snow. Bulgarians are supposed to attach the martenitsa to their persons or clothing. Traditionally, the martenitsa were not removed until the first stork returned from migration to ensure prosperity and good health.

It is a symbol of the peace, love, good health and happiness. The white colour stands for cleanness and sincerity, the red is love, friendship and affection.
Old Bulgarians used to believe that children and little animals are threatened by evil forces. That’s why they make martenitsi and the children have them pinned on their lapels until they see a stork, a swallow or a bloomed tree. Then they put them under a rock. They lift the rock on the other day. If there is a worm or an insect near the martenitsa, it means that the child will be fit and healthy during the whole year.
“With beauty against the evil” the Bulgarian nation says!

The story of the Martenitsa

There are many beliefs and stories regarding the meaning of the red-and-white symbols of the Martenitsas – the most popular being the following one:
More than a dozen centuries ago, the proto-Bulgarian ruler Khan Asparukh left his home in the distant Asia in search of fertile land for his people to live on. He passed through many rivers and mountains until he finally reached the lands of the Slavs, who greeted him and his people as dear guests. Slav women, wearing white outfits brought drinks, while the tables were full of foods – everything that grows on that blessed land. But the Khan was sad and homesick and he missed his mother and his dear sister Kalina, also called Huba (Kalina means beautiful). He sat by the huge river and tears ran down hid sunburnt face, while he prayed to gods and the sun for a miracle to happen. And it did happen! A swallow landed on his shoulder and the Khan shared all his sorrow to her. Then the swallow flew away, back to the lands the proto-Bulgarians came from, and with a human voice it told Kalina, the Khan’s sister, that her brother found a new land for his kingdom but he is misses her so much and sends his best feelings.
Kalina was so happy to hear that – and she decided to send her brother a token that she had got the news. She made a small bunch from some green bush, she bound it with a white woollen thread, and made knots at the end of the thread as a greeting sign – and she sent the swallow to take that bunch back to her brother. The swallow flew fast as lightning and very soon it landed on the Khan’s shoulder again. But due to the long flight his wing was hurt and some blood drops dyed the white woollen thread. The Khan was so happy to see the green bunch, he got his sister’s greeting by the knots she had made, and so he pinned the bunch on his chest. The Khan ordered his men each to put a small bunch of twisted red-and-white thread on that day each year – for health and heavenly blessing. That happened on the first of March and remained as a tradition ever since. As the Bulgarian tradition goes, each morning on the first of March the mistress of the house decorates the young kids and the newborn animals with Martenitsas she prepared herself from woollen or cotton threads.

Grandma Marta and her brothers Big Sechko and Little Sechko
Grandma Marta had two brothers - Big Sechko and Little Sechko. They grew a vineyard together and made three oak barrels of wine. Big Sechko (the folklore name of January) wandered all the day, made snow and cold. So did Little Sechko (February). In the evenings they drank wine to warm up. Day after day their wine finished. They didn’t have even a drop. What should they do? It was still too freezing! They were ashamed but felt like drinking so much. One day they looked at Grandma Marta’s barrel. It was completely full. She hadn’t even opened it. So, the two brothers drank their sister’s wine and left the barrel totally dry.
On the other day soon after Marta had finished her housework, she went to the cellar and saw the empty barrel. Oh, how furious she was! She was green with anger. She made the wind blow and the rain and snow fall on the ground. But then she calmed down, since it was her own brothers who drank the wine. She smiled and looked at them with affection and love. Then, when she remembered their lie she got angry again. Thus March, her month, is both smiling sunnily and coldly furious – the same as Grandma Marta.

Inter-cool-tural stories- Italy

2009-03-18T20:08:00.007+01:00

CRYSTAL COCK

Once upon a time there was a cock that went around the world.
He found a letter on the road, he picked it up with his beak and read it. It said:
“Crystal cock, crystalline hen, countess goose, abbess duck, little goldfinch bird, let’s go to Pollicino’s wedding!”
The cock decided to go and along the way he met the hen and she asked him: “Where are you going, Mr. Cock?”
“I’m going to Pollicino’s wedding”, he answered.
“Can I come with you?”, she asked.
“Yes, if you are mentioned in the letter”, he said.
He checked : “Crystal Cock, crystalline hen, …. So he exclaimed: “You are here! Then, let’s go!”

So they set off again. After a short time they met the Goose.
“Where are you going, Miss Hen and Mr. Cock?”, she asked.
“We’re going to Pollicino’s wedding!”, they answered.
“Can I come with you?”, she asked.
“Yes, if you are mentioned in the letter”, he said.
He opened the letter again and read: “Crystal Cock, crystalline Hen, countess Goose …. So he exclaimed: “You are here! Then, let’s go!”
They walked and walked and after they met the Duck.
“Where are you going, Miss Goose, Miss Hen and Mr. Cock?”, she asked.
“We’re going to Pollicino’s wedding”, they answered.
“Can I come with you?” she asked.
“Yes, if you are mentioned in the letter!”, he said.
He read the letter: “Crystal Cock, crystalline Hen, countess Goose, abbess Duck, …. So he exclaimed: “You are here! So you can come too!”
After some time they met the little goldfinch bird.
“Where are you going, Miss Duck, Miss Goose, Miss Hen and Mr. Cock?”, he asked.
“We’re going to Pollicino’s wedding”, they answered.
“Can I come with you?” she asked.
“Yes, if you are mentioned in the letter!”, he said.
He read the letter: “Crystal Cock, crystalline Hen, countess Goose, abbess Duck, little goldfinch Bird, …!
“You are here too!”, and all five set off again.
At a certain point they met a wolf that asked them as well where they were going.
“We’re going to Pollicino’s wedding”, the Cock answered.
“Can I come with you?” the wolf asked.
“Yes, if you are mentioned in the letter!”, and the Cock read the letter again, but the wolf wasn’t there.
“But I want to come too!” exclaimed the wolf.
And because they were afraid they agreed: “Let’s go!”
After a while, suddenly the wolf said,
“I’m hungry!”
“I haven’t got anything for you to eat!”, the Cock answered.
“So, I’lll eat you!” and the wolf opened his mouth wide and swallowed him whole.
Further along the way the wolf said again:
“I’m hungry!”
the Hen answered him like the cock and the wolf swallowed her too.
He did the same with the Goose.
He did the same with the Duck.
Only the wolf and the little bird were left. The wolf said, “Little bird, I’m hungry!”
“I don’t know what to give you to eat!, the little bird said.
“So, I’ll eat you!!!”, and the wolf opened his mouth wide” … and the little bird flew onto the wolf’s head. The wolf tried to catch him, but the little bird flew about here and there, he jumped from branch to branch, then he came back onto the wolf’s head then onto his tail and he drew him mad.
When the wolf was tired out, the little bird saw a woman coming from a long way off with a basket on her head. She was taking the reapers something to eat. The little bird called the Wolf and said,
“If you spare me, I’ll get you to eat the pasta and meat the woman is taking the reapers. Because when she sees me, she’ll want to catch me, but I’ll fly away and jump about from branch to branch, So she’ll put the basket on the ground and you can eat everything.
And it happened in this way!
“Help! Help!”, shouted the woman.
The reapers arrived: Some, with their scythes, and some, with sticks, jumped onto the olf and killed him.
Crystal Cock, crystalline Hen, countess Goose, abbess Duck jumped out of the wolf’s tummy safe and sound and they went to Pollicino’s wedding with the little goldfinch bird.

2ND PROJECT MEETING VRATSA BULGARIA

2009-02-19T13:31:00.007+01:00

9 March 2009
9.00 – Arrival of the guests from Italy, Spain and Turkey at Vratsa bus station;
check-in at Chaika hotel. The Portuguese guests arrive on March 7 and stay at Hemus
hotel. The Slovenian guests stay at Chaika hotel and arrive by private bus directly
there.
10.30 – Arrival at the school – the tradition of meeting and greeting newcomers
includes gifting of a bunch of geranium, tied with a red thread for health. The
Bulgarian for the plant is “Zdravets” and comes from the word “zdrave” –
“health”. Everyone takes a chunk of bread, dips it into honey and eats it. The
meaning is “We welcome you! Make yourselves at home!”. Visit to the four classes
working on the project. They are 2b (class teacher Vesela Valcheva), 3v (CT –
Diana Alexandrova), 4g (CT – Liliya Gesheva), 4d (CT – Yordanka Todorova). The
other colleages from the project team are Emiliya Varbanova (the art teacher),
Kalina Nikolova (the English teacher and project coordinator) and Violeta Zlidolska
(peragogical advisor). Our headmaster is Mrs. Antoaneta Sirakova and deputy
headmaster – Mrs. Miglena Vasileva.
During the class visits you will hear about our holidays – March 1(Martenitsi),
March 3 (the national holiday of Bulgaria), March 8 (Women’s day), March 11 (St.
Sofronii Vrachanski).
11.30 – work meeting in the staff room on the 2nd floor
11.30 – art activities of Mrs. Emilia Varbanova with the Slovenian pupils and
their Bulgarian hosts
12.15 – seeing off of the classes participating in the bike march on an ecological
project of our school
12.30 – lunch of the whole group
14.00 – visit to class 3v
15.00 – walk to the Tourist Hut above the town – about a 15-minute walk along an
asphalted sloppy road or steps – you choose. It can be done on high-heeled shoes.
The whole town can be viewed from that place.
17.00 – free time
19.00 – dinner of the work team with the foreign guests in a tavern
19.00 – 22.00 – the Slovenian children have dinner at their Bulgarian hosts’
famiies

10 март 2009
8.30 – the Slovenian teachers and children arrive at the school
8.30 – 10.30 - the Slovenian children have classes with 4g and 4d class
9.00 – visit to the history museum where two Thracian treasures found near Vratsa
are stored
10.00 – meeting of the mayor of Vratsa Municipality Mr. Mladenov with the project
guests
10.30/11.00 – visit to the Ethnographical museum, visit of Emilia Varbanova’s
workshop where she deals with knitting and wok on a vertical loom. The Slovenian
children and their hosts are presents too.
13.00 – lunch of the whole group (including the children) at Hemus hotel restaurant
14.00 – free time
16.30 – ray march – groups of children from the school leave from different
parts of the town centre and direct to the concert hall
18.00 – official 100-th school anniversary concert “A planet of dreams”;
participation of the Slovenian children in the concert; cocktail

11 март 2009
8.30 – church ceremony in front of the school dedicated to the 270-th anniversary
of our school parton St. Sofronii Vrachanski – a prominent figure of the Bulgarian
national revival
9.30 – march to the monument of St. Sofronii Vrachanski
10.00 – holiday dedicated to the 270-th anniversary of St. Sofronii Vrachanski
organized by the Vratsa bishop (by the way he has a birthday too)
11.00 – concert in the town concert hall
13.00 – lunch
14.30 – visit of the Ledenika cave (some 20 km in the mountains above Vratsa; you
need hiking shoes and warm clothes; the name of the cave comes from the word
“led” which means “ice”, so it is cold inside – about 1-5 degrees)
19.30 – changing of the clothes and official dinner with the teachers from the
school dedicated to the school birthday; The bill is on the Bulgarian hosts.
19.00 – 22.00 – the Slovenian children have dinner at their Bulgarian hosts’
famiLies

12 март 2009
Final meeting, shopping and leaving of the guests.

News by Jerneja from Slovenia

2009-02-05T12:42:00.003+01:00

Our country is a republic. Our president is Mr. Danilo Türk. After declaring independence in Slovenia a lot has changed. First we got our own parliament and government. Slovenia has developed in many ways. We also joined the European Union and NATO. Our flag is: white – sky, blue – sea, red – the ground and the blood of those who gave lives for our country. Three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and rivers, and above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in an inverted triangle, which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands.
Our national holiday is on 25th June – The Statehood day to commemorate the country's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

FOOD
The dishes depend on the region. We traditionally eat a lot of potatoes, cabbage, and meat. Our national sweet is “potica cake”. Our Christmas dish is Potica cake. At Christmas we pay more attention to all the family coming together, spending time together, having a nice warm evening. We have no special traditional dish, but we usually make quite a variety of biscuits and we have a better dinner.
We like pasta, winner schnitzel, pancakes, pizza.

We like polka. The dances and costumes depend on the region. The old traditional dances were connected with the work people carried out at different occasions (they were mainly farmers). http://www.kud-tinerozanc.si/multimedija/glasba/mp3/koroski_02.mp3 - this is link to the music of a traditional dance at a wedding.
The most famous places of interest in our country are Ljubljana – the capital, The Postojna Cave, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, ptuj and its castle.
The most popular sports in our country are football, handball and skiing. Skiing used to be our national sport and the sport we were extremely proud of when our competitors were very successful. These days we can’t say that we really have a national sport.

SCHOOL
Our children can go to kindregarten at the age of 1 – it’s not obligatory.
Obligatory education starts at the age of 6 and lasts for 9 years.
Then the children can take 2, 3 or four year schools. 2 and 3-year are vocational schools. After a four year school we can study at different universities.
Our school was the first newly built school in independent Slovenia, it was built in 1992 – it’s 17 years old. It’s beautiful, quite big and it is always nice and clean. We try to decorate it with the things we do by ourselves. One of the characteristics of our school are corridors and corners which makes you feel that you are in a maze sometimes (until you get used to it).

OUR SCHOOL
Our school day starts at 8.15 and ends at 12.35. We sometimes have the so called 0.-period, it starts at 7.25, and sometimes we stay at school until 13.25. The older students sometimes have classes until 14.30. Our lessons last for 45 minutes, we have a 5 minute break between them and a 20 minute break after the 2nd lesson (9.50 – 10.10), when we have a snack. There is another 20 minute break before the 7th lesson, we can have lunch then. Slovene, Maths, Geography, History (the younger pupils have …), Physical Education, Music, English, Home Domestics (Cookery +…), Technology, Art, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. And in classes 7 - 9 a broad variety of subjects of interest (each pupil takes at least 2). There is a teacher and a kindergarten teacher for some time in class 1. In classes 2 and 3 there is one teacher. In class 4 we have a different teacher for English, in class 5 for English, Music and sometimes PE, from class 6 on we have a different teacher for each subject.
At school we wear usual clothes, we don’t have uniforms. There are no special rules about clothes at our school. Well, actually, one rule says “You have to be properly dressed for school.”
At the end of each class we visit a different part of our country. We also go to a camp: a summer camp for 6 days in class 4 (we go to the seside), a winter camp (we go skiing) and another camp which is not defined by a season in class 8. We call these camps (but we actually don’t camp, we stay in holiday homes) “school in nature”.
We play many different sports (very popular in our town is handball), a lot of us play a musical instrument. We have an ice skating ring in winter and we ice-skate a lot.
We have 3 one-week holidays and one 2 months-holiday. The so called “potato holiday” (the expressions is from the old times when there were many farmers and at this time was the season of picking potatoes) – around 1st November (31st October, 1st November are national holidays); Christmas holiday – from 25th December to 2nd January (25th and 26th December, 1st, 2nd January are national holidays).. The “1st May holiday” – the week around the 1st May (27th April, 1st, 2nd May are also national holidays). And the best of all – the summer holidays from 25th June (also a national holiday) to 31st August. In our town there is a second hand fare; there is also a fare of St. Joseph (19th March) and the Fare of St. Elisabeth (she is the patron of our town) – 17th November.
Our school marks go from 1 tp 5. We all love a 5!
We have mark books. Each class has its own mark book. There is one page for each pupil in it and there are little boxes for marks at different subjects. We also have e-mark books, so our parents can have a look at how we are doing at school.
Some of us get pocket money, some not. We can’t spend money at school. We don’t have breakfast at school (except class 1), we have a snack at 9.50, it is not free, our parents pay for it, but the school supports those with less income, so they don’t have to pay. We can also have lunch at school, parents pay for it as well.
Sometimes we leave our textbooks at school, sometimes we take them home to study. In lower classes we mostly leave them at school.
In class we have a green board and also a white one sometimes. So, we don’t understand our English teacher, who always says: “Come to the blackboard, please.” J
We take part in competitions. We take part in handball and football championship, some of us do judo and compete, we take part in athletics competitions, we also take part in competitions in music. Our school choir is very successful in a school choir competition that takes place every year. We also take part in different subjects competitions – English, Maths, Chemistry, Slovene, History…

TRAVELLING ABROAD
We know all the capitals, we know that all the countries are beautiful; we know that the Spanish were Football European Champions, we love Spanish language (RBD taught us it is beautiful), we know that Turkey has a wonderful coast, we like Italian pasta, we admire Portuguese football, we know that Bulgaria is quite close to our country. We don’t know much about Islam, we will learn at History. But we have some pupils from Islamic countries and we know that they don’t eat pork and that there was a month when they didn’t eat during the day. We know that women are covered sometimes. Why? We really are interested in Islam.

POPULAR NAMES
The most popular names in our country are: Jože, Marija, Franc – with older people. Peter, Andrej, Marko, Špela, Gašpe– with children.

FAMOUS ARTISTS
Painting: Ivana kobilica, Jože Tisnikar (he was from our town), Karel Pečko (he is from our town).
Music: Hugo Wolf (he was from our town) – a composer.
Contemporary musicians – Siddharta (rock group), Vlado Kreslin, Zoran Predin (singers, authors, poets), Avseniki (a famous folk music group).
Architecture: Jože Plečnik.
Literature: Ivan Cankar, Prežihov Voranc, France Prešeren (a famous poet).

RELIGION
Most of the people are Catholics. The Evangelical Church, which has its roots in the Reformation, is most widely spread in the eastern part of Slovenia. Around 38 other religious communities, spiritual groups, societies and associations are also registered.

News by Eda from Turkey

2009-01-25T20:18:00.003+01:00

FLAG
Our flag is red and white. Red means soldiers’ blood and white moon and star. During the Independence War, one night the moon and star’s light was reflected to the soldiers’ blood and at that time they defined our flag . Our country is a republic.

OUR SCHOOL
At five years we start kinder garten.At seven we start to primary school.eight years education is obligatory.
Our school is about fifty years old.
Our school has got three floors, 14 classes . But half of the students come in the morning and the others come in the afternoon. Two of them are kindergartens and that’s why there are 30 classes in our school. We have got one computer labratory , a garden, a sweet room of pedagogue, one room which is used for some activities such as; creative drama,scouting, art, music, folk dance.
We study english four hours a week in 6th,7th and 8th classes and three hours a week in 4th and 5th classes. In some schools , German, French ,Italian and Spanish are taught .
In state schools , we play flute , guitar , melodica. And in Private Schools we play piano, violin and guitar. We study Turkish Literature, maths, social science ( history,geography), science, sport-physical education, art, music, English, religion in our school.
In each class there are six hours a day , in the morning we start at ten to eight and we finish at twenty to one. In the afternoon we start at one clock and we finish at ten to six.
We have got two long holidays. One of them is winter holiday which takes 15 days. The other one is summer holiday. It lasts 2 months .Except these we have got new year, holidays, our special fast days holidays. We wear uniform. In primary school ıts colour is blue. In secondary and hıgh school male students wear suits , females students wear chequered skirts and jackets. Our school marks are from zero to one hundred. One hundred is the best mark.

The teachers have special cabinet but the pupils haven’t .
We have projection machines and computers in each class and the children learn how to use computers.

HOSPITABLE
Hospitable is very important in our country. We show our interest to our gasts very much.When we come across our friens we kiss each other twise.We take of our shose in front of our houses.We kiss old peoples hands and respekt them very much.In our traditional fast days children colect candies from the relatives and neıghbours.And also we have got just for children special children fast.Atatürk gave as a gift 23 of April to the childen.We make a big celabration,childen festival in these days.Also we invite the children from all around the world to celebrate together. You might have heard this.

FAVOURITE GAMES
We like playing hide and seek,football,catch and escape ,jump rope,hopscotch…….

RELIGION
We are Muslim and it teaches humanity,honesty,sharing and praying for our God like the other religions.
We have a lot of folk dances according to our regions like our food. For example zeybek, halay, horon…etc. when you come here our students will show you.

FAMOUS PLACES
We have lots of famous places in each region , some of them are Topkapı Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Sultanahmet ( Blue )Mosque and Square, Hega Sofia, Sistern Basilica, Bosphorus Bridge , Taksim Square, Çanakkale Monument, Capadocia, Sumela Manastry, the beaches of Aegean and Mediterrean, Ephesus , İshakpaşa Palace, Grand Bazaar…etc.

The most popular names are Ayşe, Fatma, Ali, Mehmet, Ömer, Ahmet, Zeynep, Aleyna, Can, Nur, Sude

News by Marzia and Roberta- San Lorenzo- Italy

2009-01-21T20:01:00.005+01:00

SCHOOL
Our school “Dante Alighieri” is quite new, it’s 8 years old! It was opened in 2000.
Dante is the most famous Italian writer in vulgar language lived in 1300. Our school is to him entitled.

In secondary school we study English and Spanish. English is our first foreign language, Spanish is our second foreign language.Our school opens in September and closes in June. Every day lessons last five hours from Monday to Saturday. But on Wednesdays we have eight hours from eight a.m. to five p.m. and have lunch in the school canteen at one o’clock. The marks of our school go from 4 to 10. The bad marks are 4 and 5 and the good marks are from 6 to 10. The best mark is 10.
We go on school trips but we don’t go on trips among the nature!... We usually go and visit Italian
Cities!

FLAG AND ANTHEM
Our national flag was born on 7th January 1797 in Reggio Emilia. It has got three colours: green, white and red.
But why these three colours? These colours result from the region of Lombardy and the civic guard of Milan. In fact, the red and the white appeared in the very old banner of Milan (a red cross on a white field), and the green was the colour of the uniforms of the Civic guard in Milan. These colours, combined, were adopted as the Italian flag.
Our National anthem: Inno di Mameli.
Its verses were written in 1847 by Goffredo Mameli, a young poet and patriot from Genoa , and its music was composed by Michele Novaro. It became the Italian official anthem in 1946, after the defeat of the fascism and the end of the second world war.

SPORTS
The most popular sports in Italy are football, volleyball and rugby.
Our national sport is football.

CARNIVAL
The carnival is a festival which dates back to the traditional rites of the winter season. The explosion of joy and the use of the mask had the task of removing the evil spirits. The mask, in fact, making men like animals, gave a symbolic power. The festival was inaugurated in Rome. During the Saturnali everything was permitted, in particular in use was the exchange of roles, wearing the clothes of others, the slaves were, for example, served by masters and could allow any freedom! After the advent of Christianity, the carnival continued to be celebrated, but lost its content and ritual magic.
THE CARNIVAL IN VENICE
Carnival of Venice. It is the most famous and important Italian carnival. The presence of the Doge (the supreme office in the republic of Venice and Genoa) and the Senate, gave special solemnity to the feast. The Venetian carnival is celebrated with fireworks, games, parades and simulated battles. The clothes, music and games tend to recreate the lost glory. The use of masks, now known throughout the world, went back to 1700, where, daily, the Venetian aristocrats wore white masks to adorn their clothing.
THE ITALIAN MASKS
Arlecchino
The Italian mask of “commedia dell’arte” ARLECCHINO is a poor servant, who has no money even to patch up his dress. Hungry and cold, with his cunning, he tries to escape the bullying of the rich and strong. The mask of Arlecchino is characterized by multi-pieces of cloth, sewn together
rist. On this occasion, celebrated December 25, families gather around the table and are living a moment of great communion, exchanging gifts and mutual love.
PULCINELLA
The name derives from the Latin, perhaps late, "pullicenus ", chick. Pulcinella is a poor farmer, who does not want to work. Cunning and clever, makes the effort to find ways to eat. Pulcinella wears a white coat and wide trousers. He covers his face and his long hooked nose with a black mask. He has two humps, one on his back and one on his chest.
PANTALONE
Pantalone is the caricature of the merchant, mean and suspicious. It has a red dress and a black cloak, such as Dalmatian merchants of the 15th and the 16th century.
COLOMBINA
She is the gossip servant, often represented as a pair with Arlecchino. Crafty and vain, she was the protagonist of many comedies, in Italy and France, since the sixteenth century.
BRIGHELLA
He is a wise and faithful servant, who warns the owners against the troubles and the lightness of youth, with maybe a good word between parents and children.
BALANZONE
Also known as Dr. Balanzone, he is a caricature of the doctors of the School of Bologna, one of the most prestigious Italian universities of the XVI and XVII century. He says many Latin quotations, not always accurate. Infact his speeches reveal a profound ignorance.

FOOD:
In our country we eat many foods. For example, pasta: tortellini, spaghetti, ravioli, cappelletti, gnocchi, bavette, lasagne, tagliolini, penne, maccheroni and many other kinds of pasta. Italians like pasta very much!!! Pizza is our favourite food, there are lots of tastes: Margherita, Capricciosa, Diavola, Quattro Formaggi, Vegetariana, Quattro Stagioni, Monte Bianco, Napoletana, Ciclista, Parmigiana, Ortolana, Fornarina, Sfiziosa etc…
We can also cook meat in different ways and vegetables, fish and cakes.
Our ice creams are fabulous, they are the best in the world!!!

We have never been to Turkey but we would like to come and to know you and your country.

News by Manuela - Pergola- ITALY

2009-01-21T19:11:00.001+01:00

This is the meaning of the three colours of our flag: green is the colour of our plains; white is the colour of our snowy summits and red is the fallen’s blood.
Our country is a Republic and the President of our republic is Giorgio Napolitano. His official residence is “il Palazzo del Quirinale”, in Rome.

SCHOOL
Our school “Galliano Binotti” – PERGOLA- ITALY goes back to 65 years ago.
In our country school starts in the first week of September and finishes in the first / second week of June. In my school, lessons start at ten past 8 a.m. and finish at ten past one p.m. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they finish at ten past four p.m.
We study two foreign languages: English and French.
We study Italian, History, Geography, Maths, Physical Science, English, French, Technology, Art, IT, Music, Physical Education (PE) and Religious Education (RE).
In ten days, on 20th December, we have Christmas holidays until 7th January; we have a week’s holiday for Easter; the summer holidays usually start in the first week of June and finish in the second week of September. During Christmas holidays we decorate our own Crèche and Christmas tree. We also sleep a lot! In summer, most of us go to the seaside in Fano or Marotta, not too far from our village. Every day our parents give us some money because we buy our snack (pizza) at school.

TRADITIONS
An important Italian tradition is the Christmas Eve dinner: we prepare a lot of fish dishes. These dishes do not contain any meat: this is due to the fact that the night before a religious feast is considered a vigil. During Christmas time, many families build their own “Presepio” (crèche) that represents the Nativity scene, the birth of Christ. In our village it is possible to see the living outdoor crèche. On Christmas Eve we have a great dinner, but we don’t eat meat. After that we usually play games, then we go to the church at midnight. At night Father Christmas comes to our houses and brings lots of presents. On Christmas Day we have lunch with our relatives, we usually eat: “cappelletti”(pasta filled with meat), meat, “panettone” and “torrone”.La Befana is onether tradition. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany children hang stockings up the chimneys and hope that La Befana visit their houses during the night. This kindly old witch leaves good children toys and bad ones a lump of coal in their stockings.
Another tradition is the Carnevale, from the Epiphany on January 6 to the beginning of Quaresima. In this period there are a lot of parades and masquerade balls, entertainment and music. Children throw “coriandoli” (confetti).
Pesce d’Aprile! April Fool’s Day. The traditional “pesce d’Aprile” consists of attaching a paper cutout of a “pesciolino” (small fish) to the shoulders of a school companion. Then everyone asks: “L’hai visto? – Chi? – il pesce d’Aprile!” have you seen? – Who? – The April Fool!).
Italian Valentine. “Il giorno della festa degli innamorati” is a celebration for lovers. Gift can be red roses, a perfume or the famous Baci Perugina: these small chocolates contain a small sheet of paper with a romantic poetic quote in four languages.
Our national holidays are: 25th April, 1st May, 2nd June, 15th August, 1st November, 8th December.
In our country there is the Neapolitan song, “canzone Napoletana”: a traditional Neapolitan song is “O sole mio”. The “cantautori” singer-songwriter traditions are also popular . Italian folk music is an important part of our traditional music : each region has its own styles, instruments and dances.

Some of the most popular names for men are: Andrea, Luca, Marco, Francesco, Matteo, Alessandro, Davide, Simone, Federico, Lorenzo, Mattia, Stefano, Giuseppe, Riccardo, Roberto, Enrico, Nicola, and Michele. Some women’s names: Antonella, Lucia, Giulia, Chiara, Alessia, Eleonora, Francesca, Federica, Silvia, Claudia, Anna, Ilaria, Elena, Giada, Cristina, Maria and Veronica.

NEWS by Joao Maria PORTUGAL

2009-01-21T18:50:00.002+01:00

The colours of our flag are: red (courage and blood of the Portuguese people that died in the battle), green (hope), armillary sphere (the world that the Portuguese navigators had discovered in the XV and XVI centuries and the peoples with who had changed ideas and commerce).
Our typical dishes are “Cozido à Portuguesa”, “Feijoada”, codfish. We have a very rich gastronomy. We have different kinds of folk dance, “Vira”, “Corridinho”, “Saias”, “Fandango” and others. Nowadays we wear what everybody wears in other countries, in the past the clothes were different according to the region.
The following are the names of some of the most famous artists in our country :
-Painting – Cargaleiro, Júlio Pomar, Vieira da Silva
- Music – Amália Rodrigues, Mariza (Fado)
- Xutos e Pontapés, GNR, Delfins and UHF (Pop/Rock)
MadreDeus, Rui Veloso, Vitorino (different kinds of music)
- Siza Vieira (architecture)
- José Saramago (literature)

The Portuguese educational system is structured in four levels:
Pre-school - not mandatory and destined for children from the age of 2 to 6;
Basic - which is organized in three cycles and constitutes mandatory minimumeducation:
1st Cycle- 4 years of schooling;
2nd Cycle - 2 years of schooling;
3rd Cycle - 3 years of schooling;
Secondary - 3 years of schooling;
Higher.
Some children start studying English in primary school. But all the pupils start studying English in the 5th grade, at 10/11 years old.
The activities in our schools are:
Football, music, riding, swimming, volleyball, basketball and we have different subjects: Science; History; Portuguese; English; French; Maths; Geography; Chemistry.
A Portuguese corrida de touros has three main events:
Cavaleiro - A horseman (rider), dressed in traditional 18th century costumes fights the bull from horseback. The horses are Portuguese Lusitanians, specially trained for the fights. These horses are usually skilled in dressage and may exhibit their art in the arena. The purpose of this fight is to stab three or four bandarilhas (small javelins) in the back of the bull. Horseback bullfighters are usually members of old aristocratic families.
Bandarilheiros - Akin to the Spanish matadores, but without the sword. These men simply play the bull with a red coat.
Forcados - The forcados are a group of eight men who challenge the bull directly, without any protection or weapon of defense. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de touros (bull catch). The front man secures the animal's head (usually it is a violent choke) and is quickly aided by his fellows who surround and secure the animal until he is subdued. Forcados were usually people from lower classes who practice their art through amateur associations.
Portuguese Bullfighting: the bull is not killed in the ring and the fight is accordingly referred to as a "bloodless bullfight". After these three sets, the bull is removed from the arena alive and is sometimes killed, away from the audience's sight, by a professional butcher. More often than not, many bulls are entered into other events, such as rodeos in California, or released to pasture until their end days. Nevertheless, tradition was so strong at the small town of Barrancos, where the bull was illegally put to death in the arena, that the government was forced to relent and permit the town to follow its ancient matador tradition and kill the bull in the arena. There are many forms of traditional, popular bullfighting in Portugal, differing from the "official" version, some of which involve groups of people doing a tug-of-war with young bulls, by holding large wooden structures into which the animals charge. In the Azores, bullfighting is often remniscent of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, in which those most at risk are human beings, not the bulls themselves.
In Portugal, some bulls have their horns severed in a way that they do not present sharp points. This practice is believed to have been introduced by King Joseph I of Portugal after a tragic event in a bullfight he was presiding. The son and heir of the Marquis of Marialva was fighting a bull on horseback when the animal wounded his horse. The young man fell, was kicked by the bull and killed. The Marquis himself, then around 70 years of age, jumped from the royal cabin that he shared with the king, drew his sword and killed the animal.
Also in Portugal, the main stars of bullfighting are the cavaleiros, as opposed to Spain, where the matadores are the most prominent bullfighters.

News BY Marta and Cristina- SPAIN

2009-01-21T18:08:00.003+01:00

BAMBINI MONTJUÏC- GIRONA SPAIN
ANSWERS TO SLOVENIA, BULGARIA, TURKEY, ITALY AND PORTUGAL’S QUESTIONS
We’ve tried to answer all your questions in this presentation, we hope we’ve achieved it!!!!
TRAVELLING ABROAD
• We’ve travelled to some countries such as Portugal, France, England, U.S.A, Africa, Italy, Andorra, Austria …
• We travelled there with our family and some of us have been to England with the school to improve our English!!!!
• What we liked the most is to meet different people and cultures.
• We also visited important monuments such as The Eiffel Tower, The Big Ben,
• The Vatican city, The Trevi Fountain, Disneyland, Buckingham palace
• We’ve never been to Bulgaria, Turkey and Slovenia, and we’d like to visit them a lot!!!
TYPICAL SPANISH FOOD
• Spanish people like eating “good” food very much.
• Our diet is called “Mediterranean Diet”, and is based on vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, bread, pasta, rice and olive oil.
• One of the most famous dishes is “La Paella”.
OUR FLAG
• Three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe.
FOLKLORE
• Our region is called CATALONIA (Catalunya), it’s in the North-East of Spain. So, our culture is slightly different from Spain. For example the traditional dance in Spain is “La Sevillana”, as in Catalonia is “La Sardana”.
FAMOUS PEOPLE
• Catalan people are very proud of having famous painters, architects, musicians, artists, sportsmen… such as Dalí, Gaudí, Pau Casals, Rafa Nadal, …
• Other Spanish famous artists are Picasso, Julio Iglesias, David Bisbal, Rocío Jurado, …
FAMOUS PLACES
• There are lots of nice places to visit around Spain.
• In the North os Spain we have The Pyrinees, where you can go skiing.
• La Costa Brava, with very nice beaches.
• In the South we have Andalucia with it’s very beautiful for its “white” villages…
• The capital city of Spain is Madrid, and the one in Catalonia is Barcelona.
EDUCATION
• Education in Spain is divided in 5 parts:
• Infant School (0-5 years old)
• Primary School (6-12 years old)
• Secondary School (12-16 years old)
• Batxillerat (16-18 years old)
• University (18-23 years old )
OUR SCHOOL
• Our School is an Infant, Primary and Secondary School (“future project”)
• We start our lessons at 9 o’clock in the morning and finish at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
• Almost all the students have lunch at school.
• The subjects that we study are:
• MATHS, CATALAN, SPANISH, ENGLISH, SCIENCE ( we study this subject in English), PHYSICAL EDUCATION, COMPUTERS, ARTS, MUSIC ,FRENCH and RELIGION OR SOCIAL EDUCATION (we can choose it!).
• We study English 4 hours a week and we study 4 more hours of Science in English as well.
Thank you a lot!!!!
We’ll keep in touch!!!!

QUESTIONS FROM ALL OVER EUROPE!

2009-01-07T20:15:00.007+01:00

QUESTIONS FROM SPAIN:
Do you wear a uniform?
What are your favourite games when you go to the playground?

Do you like living in your country?
Would you like living in Spain?
How is your school?

What kind of food do you eat in your country?
Would you like travelling to our country?
What instruments do you play?
What sort of extra activities do you do at school?
Do you study English? How many hours a week?
Have you ever been to Spain?

What are the most traditional songs in your country?
What other languages do you study?
When do you have holidays?
What are your traditions?
When does the course start in your country?
What subjects do you study?

How is your country?
What’s the thing that you like the most about your culture?
What’s your timetable?
Do you know any spanish words?
How do you celebrate christmas?
Do you like your culture?

QUESTIONS FROM TURKEY:

What is the meaning of your national flag ?
In which class do the students start to learn a second language ?
What are the names of your traditional folk dances ?
How are your traditional clothes ?

What kind of food do you eat in your country ?
What are the names of your the most famous artists in your country and in which part of art ?
Can you explain your education system shortly ?
Why were the buildings in Venice built in water ?
Have you ever been in Turkey ? if yes, where have you been? . Did you like it?

In our country among the young people rap music is very popular , what about your country ?
Which part of art are you successful ?
Which activities are there in your schools ?
What are your most famous historical places and can you explain the history of them ?
What is the length of Pisa Tower and why is it slant ?
Do you know anything about Islam?

QUESTIONS FROM BULGARIA:

Which is your national dish?
What age do the children start school at?
How many teachers teach in your class?
What is your favourite food?
Do you leave your textbooks at school?

What do you wear at school? Do you wear a school uniform?
Do you have any relatives or friends in our country?
When do you start and finish your school day?
What foreign languages do you study at school?
What is your school like?

If you could visit some of the partner countries, which one would you choose?
What is your religion and what does it teach?
When does your school day start and finish?
What is your favourite Christmas dish?
What are your traditional dances?
Do you know anything about our country?
Do you take part in competitions?

Which is the most popular sport in your country? Do you have a national one?
Do you go to school trips and schools among the nature (green schools)?
When are your school holidays? What do you do during them?
How old is your school?
What are your marks at school?
What do the colours of your flag mean?
Is your country monarchy or republic?
What are your typical customs and traditions?
Which are the most popular names in your country?

What subjects do you study at school?
What is your typical school day?
What do you like doing in your free time?
What are your national holidays?
Are you given pocket money by your parents for school? We receive free breakfast at school. What about you?
What are the most famous places of interest in your country?
What board do you write on in your classroom?
Is there a fair in your town?
What do you do in technology?

QUESTIONS FROM PORTUGAL for students

1. Have you already been abroad?
- Yes
- No
2. Who did you travel with?
- Family?
- Friends?
- Others?
3. Why did you go abroad?
- Holidays?
- Studying?
- Others?
4. Which countries did you visit?
5. Which one did you like most?
6. Which one didn’t you like?
7. Have you had any problems with the language?
8. Would you like to visit a special country? Why?

QUESTIONS for teachers

1. Have you already been to Portugal?
- Yes
- No
2. Who did you travel with?
- Family?
- Friends?
- Others?
3. Why did you go to Portugal?
- Holidays?
- Studying?
- Others?
4. What did you like most?
5. What places did you visit?
6. What other places would you like to visit?
7. Have you had any problems with the language?
8. What is your opinion about Portugal?

News by Kalina- BULGARIA

2008-12-30T12:03:00.004+01:00

We – the children and teachers from 2b, 3v, 4g and 4d grades from VRATSA- BULGARIA - introduce our country through our answers to your questions (short summary by admin)

The national flag of Bulgaria consists of three horizontally lined colours – white, green and red. White is symbol of purity, peace and hope. Green symbolizes freedom, faith, nature, fertility. Red – courage, love, the blood of heroes.

The motto of our town is “Vratsa – a town like the Balkan – ancient and young.” The monument of the Herald – a Russian soldier, who playing a bugle announced the liberation of our town. The poet revolutionary Hristo Botev was killed at the peak of Okolchitsa, near out town. The Meschii tower in the central town square is a medieval tower which dates back from the 16th century. There is an ethnographic and revival period complex in the town. It is named after St. Sofronii Vrachanski, the patron of our school. The House of tourists built in 1926 with the voluntary work of tourists from Vratsa is on a hill above our town.
The old Bulgarian capitals Pliska, Preslav, Veliko Tarnovo are connected with our history. They keep the memory of past distant times and memorable events. There are monuments erected in the towns of Pleven and at Shipka peak connected with the Russian-Turkish war of liberation.

Bulgaria is a piece of heaven. Our country is more that 1300 years old. It has rich past and cultural heritage. We are proud of having unique nature – high mountains, cool forests, crystal clear lakes, mineral springs, lovely Black sea, attractive to us and the foreigners resorts, monasteries, natural formations. Our people are hard-working and hospitable.

We love our customs, the traditional holidays, the folk dances and songs, the legends, connected with historical and geographical places of interest.

The most traditional songs for Bulgaria are the folk songs. Our country is divided into seven folklore districts and each has its specific songs. The region of Vratsa belongs to the Northern folklore district. Our songs are characterized with unequal rhythms and impress the music fans all over the world. A Bulgarian song is recorded and sent to space with the spaceship Voyager in the 1970s.

Our traditions are mostly connected to the Christian faith – for Easter we colour eggs, on St. Nikola’s day we eat fish, and on Chritmas – we eat banitsa (pastry with cheese and eggs) with lucky charms. We also celebrate Sty. Lazar’s day when little lasses dance in the house yards for health and fertility. We make survachki (as the ones we sent you) for patting our backs for health on the New Year’s Day. Our mummers (kukeri) dances are very interesting too. They are danced by young men who wear mask to scare away evil.

Our folklore garments consist of a long white gown with embroidered sleeves, typical trousers for the men (poturi), waistcoat, red wide textile belt, and a fur hat (kalpak); for the women – skirt ot sleeveless dress, apron, peabold stockings, kerchief and flowers for the head. People used to put on pig skin shoes. The typical colours of the folklore garment are red, white, blue, black and green

We eat various foods in our country but we, the children mostly like chips, banitsa, soup, beans, pizza, spaghetti, doner, baklava, cakes although we know that vegetables, fruit and dairy products are best and healthiest for us. We have typical dishes eaten on traditional holidays. They are vegetarian stuffer peppers and cabbage leaves on Christmas eve, kapama and sore cabbage dishes for the New Year’s Eve, fish for St. Nikola’s day, banitsa and halva on the first Sunday before Lent, kozunak for Easter, lamb meat for St. Georgi’s day.

The typical foods we eat are banitsa, soup, musaka, beans, lentils, peas, hand-made bread with cheese, kosunak (sweet Easter bread with raisins).

Our school has a 100-year history. There are children from 1st to 4th grade to study in it. It has two floors and large light rooms. We have a music and arts studies, two computer rooms and a gym.
We start studying English from the 2nd grade – at the beginning twice a week, and in 3rd and 4th grade – three times a week.
All the children at the school study English, a child attends Spanish language training; there are children with little knowledge of Italian and German.
We are not taught musical instruments and we don’t play any at school. We have a classmate who studies the Bulgarian folk instrument kaval. We have facultative study of maths, athletics, art, choir, folk dances. Our compulsory subjects are – Bulgarian language and literature, maths, man and society, man and nature, music, art, English, sports and technology.
Sometimes our curriculum is easy, sometimes difficult. We have five or six lessons a day.
We start our compulsory education at the age of 6 with a preparatory class and then start school at 7. Primary education includes 1-4 grades, secondary – 5-8 and high school is afterwards until 12th grade. Then the good and ambitious adolescents study at universities and pass hard exams.

2008-12-29T22:25:00.003+01:00

CLASSES' E-MAIL BOXES

News from Slovenia school website

2008-12-26T11:31:00.001+01:00

Have a look!!

http://www.druga-os-sg.si/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=468&Itemid=115

by Jerneja- SLOVENIA

2008-12-25T22:46:00.001+01:00

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

1) Have you ever been to another country? YES NO

2) If yes, where?

3) What did you like most?

4) Have you got any friends of other nationalities? YES NO

5) If yes, are you interested in their culture? YES NO

6) Do you think it’s important to know other cultures? YES NO

7) Why?

8) Have you ever talked at school about traditions and cultures of other countries?
YES NO
9) How do you think it’s possible to know a different culture?

2008-12-25T22:14:00.000+01:00

Project activities we intend to carry out in the course of the school year 2008/2009

HOW TO INTRODUCE THE TOPIC:
• Brainstorming about the topic;
• Questionnaires for students and for parents to use throughout the project to evaluate its impact.
• (It’s important to translate the answers and send the results to the co-ordinator that will spread the results, in order to compare the different cultures);
• Logo Competition: Invention of the LOGO of the project (a picture or a symbol that represents the most relevant aspects of the project):the students will be asked to draw a symbol, then the teachers of every school will choose and send the most meaningful to the coordinating school that finally will choose the best one among the four pictures coming from the different partner schools.
MUTUAL KNOWLEDGE:
• Reciprocal knowledge activities: the students of every partner school will introduce themselves, their own town and school through photos/drawings/texts/videos….
• These products will be exchanged among the partner schools.
• Start pen friends: it would be interesting and motivating for the children to start corresponding with their partners by e-mail and/or ordinary mail.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
• during the meeting we should choose among the following activities, those we intend to carry out during the first year. Then we have to think about methodologies, instruments, times …
• Elaboration of cross-curricular teaching units in order to involve the teachers of the different areas in the development of the project activities;
• collect and exchange: traditional stories, lullabies, chants and so on (younger children);
• collect and exchange: legends, tales about the creation of the world, passages about daily life, historical or contemporary passages about our system of social and professional organization. (older students).
• Creation of a website to display the project results, report on the work, its progress, chat on forum.
• Creation of a notice board about the project inside each school.
• Involvement of the school staff: monitoring the number of immigrant students in our schools and their origin, and/or the number of emigrant students and their destinations; list and compare the “instruments” each institution has already created to make the integration of the foreign students easier
• Plan “listening time” activities: parents/grandparents and/or people coming from other countries tell stories belonging to their own culture; compare, without discriminating, the different values found in the texts/stories read and listened
• Stimulate students’ creativity through the creation of intercultural tales, mixing words and contents inspired by texts of different origins
• Plan some teaching units about cinema: significant movies can let our children know each country’s way of living in a more real way
• Comenius “Inter-Cool-Ture Day”: final meeting, held in each institute, with all the students involved in the project.

2008-12-25T18:48:00.000+01:00

RULES FOR A GOOD PARTNERSHIP:

to establish common rules about the partnership communication:
vehicular language (English), type of communication (by e-mail and/or by telephone, by fax, by letter), frequency of communication (weekly or more intense according to our needs), quality of communication (each message sent to every partner to ensure each one’s full involvement in every project decision);

to share the most suitable itineraries for the topic of each year;

to exchange products, results, data…

to decide together the criteria for the project evaluation.

FOR THE VISIBILITY OF THE PROJECT:

to insert it in each institute activity plan, integrating it with the main values and aims on which the culture of democracy is based (European citizenship, inter-culturality, respect for the children’s rights).Moreover the project will have a cross-curricular aspect and will be integrated in the regular didactic activities

to plan school meetings to illustrate the project activities and/or show some of the products, to parents and to all the teachers of each partner school.

Each partner school will have to establish a “cultural exchanges commission”, share responsibilities, distribute tasks and plan recurrent meetings useful to evaluate the activities.
FOR THE DIFFUSION OF THE EXPERIENCE :

to create “project corners” inside the schools showing most of the materials produced and exchanged between the partners;

to plan a didactic exhibition with all the products obtained;

to produce: cd-rom, audio and videotapes, photos, books, questionnaires, web pages on the schools’ websites.

to publish articles on local and national newspapers about the main events of the project (project meetings…).

FOR THE IMPACT ON THE WIDER COMMUNITY :

to organise a “project day”(at the end of the school year) involving all the children and teachers of each school, during which they will share their experiences working together; it will represent the conclusion of the activities for the first year. At the end of the Day we’ll give the children a certificate of participation in the Project.

TO MONITOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN’S APPROVAL about the whole project development:

at the end of the school year we should propose them a final evaluation questionnaire, whose results let us know their level of satisfaction about the activities of the project.
(The project meeting in Poland will represent the chance to decide together the criteria and the means for the project evaluation.)

TO IMPROVE THE CHILDREN AND TEACHER’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE ICT, through the direct usage of:

PC to communicate with partners and to document works ( writing texts and inserting images, using software such as Power Point, creating hypertexts looking for information in Internet...);
Camera to take photos;
Video camera to film objects, places, people…

2008-12-25T18:19:00.001+01:00

PROJECT SUMMARY
In our complex modern society it’s necessary to bring up children to meet and discover the differences and similarities typical of reality. To reflect upon diversity let them overcome superficial judgements and get used to comparison, it contributes to create a positive atmosphere where each one can feel accepted and can express himself/herself at his/her best. It’s important to create occasions to let children reflect, face each other and talk about these topics, aiming at promoting every day the education to life in common and to peace, meant as: research of solidarity attitudes, learning through experience and comparison, research of solutions to conflicts. In order to plan interculture, it’s important to have a strong identity and to show sense of responsibility; with this deep motivation school becomes a place where it’s possible to learn to make interculture, giving value to history and research, improving analysis and invention, accepting and recognizing other people, creating the premises for a culture of tolerance, stopping the cultural homogenization and making diversity a real treasure, a new educational paradigm.

2008-12-25T17:45:00.000+01:00

SCHOOLS involved:

ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE "G. BINOTTI"
Viale Martiri della Libertà 12 Pergola (PU) ITALY
tel 0039 0721734322- fax 0039 0721734322
email: ic.pergola@provincia.ps.it
http://scuole.provincia.ps.it/ic.pergola

ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE “D. Alighieri”
ad Indirizzo Musicale
Via Pietro Nenni, s.n. - 61047 SAN LORENZO IN CAMPO (PU)
tel 0039 0721774076 – Fax 0039 0721776817 email: ic.sanlorenzo@provincia.ps.it ; http://icsanlorenzoincampo.it – http://scuole.provincia.ps.it/ic.sanlorenzo

Nachalno uchilishte “Sv. Sofronii Vrachanski”
Ul. Stoyan Kyaluchev 2 - Vratsa - BULGARIA
Tel: 359 92656665 – 359888567847
e-mail: sofronii@m-real.net

Druga osnovna sola Slovenj Gradec
Kopaliska, 29 – 2380 – Slovenj Gradec - SLOVENIA
www.druga-os-sg.si
e-mail: group1.ossgii@guest.arnes.si

Casa dei Bambini S.A.
Carter Bellpuig 8-10 – 17007 – Girona - SPAIN
www.bambini-montjuic.com
e-mail: bambini_comenius@hotmail.com

Gazi Ilkogretim Okulu
Deniz Abdal Mh. Necip Asim Sk. 29 – Capa / Fatih
34080 – Istanbul – TURKEY
www.fatihgazi.com
e-mail:fatihgazi@hotmail.com

Agrupamento de Escolas de Samora Correia – ESCOLA BASICA
DOS 2° E 3° CICLOS PROF. JOAO FERNANDES PRATAS
Bairro das Acacias – 2135-236 Samora Correia – Lisboa - Portugal
www.a-e-s-c.info
e-mail : info@eps-prof-j-fernandes-pratas.rcts.pt