Mobilities
Five amazing mobilities...
(They were six, but Germany left due to COVID)
These were the five different locations of our mobilities during the project corresponding to each of our countries. In this section you will find the dates and a little summary of the programme.
Therefore in chronological order these are our meetings and mobilities.
Germany: October 2020 (cancelled due to Coronavirus)
Lithuania: June 2022 (postponed from May 2020 due to Coronavirus)
Mobility to Spain. October 2019.
Being the first mobility of our project, this mobility had a great importance as we established the basis of what we were going to do for the following two school years. Students participated in a design-thinking workshop, which is the methodology used during the creation of the gamification programme. Knowing what gamification consists of and how fun activities can motivate students to read is the foundation of our project. During these days, the teachers who are the responsible of running the programme at their schools, had the opportunity to learn what gamification consists of, how a narrative is needed to support the adventure, and how a rewarding system and a set of dynamics are needed so everything works.
Participants presented a short presentation about their national literature which had been previously prepared and rehearsed in their schools. They also participated in a literature walking route in Seville, the capital city of Andalusia. The cultural programme also included a visit to Cádiz, the capital city of the province. In the farewell celebration both students and teachers had the opportunity to watch a "dancing horses show" in Chiclana de la Frontera.
Apart from this, participating in this event, helped students learn to work in international contexts, thus improving their social, interpersonal and communication skills. A sense of belonging to a united Europe and promoting active citizenship can also be considered as important benefits for the participant.
Mobility to Slovakia. March 2020.
During the mobility in Slovakia, one of the main tasks was to participate in a competition in creating a narrative utilizing the elements of gamified activities (a narrative is the context story which supports the whole process of gamification). Students competed in international groups of five in order to create, illustrate and present their stories to an audience. Subsequently, each group was judged by a jury, also consisting of an international committee, and the rank was determined based on the number of points won. The teams finishing in the first, second and third place, received a small reward.
Activities connected to Sherlock Holmes stories also enjoyed great popularity. These activities required reading the above mentioned stories before the actual mobility took place, in order to allow successful completion of the prepared tasks. Various board games and fun activities were presented by each participating country. Winners were rewarded once again.
Students also took part in a reading marathon activity, during which, using English as the communication language, they read folk tales from their own country to each other.
In addition to these, participants participated in various art activities such as T-shirt painting or the creation of bookmarks.
During the mobility week, the participants also visited Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. They paid a visit to Bratislava Castle, one of the country´s most significant landmarks. The trip also included a walking tour of the city´s historical centre where students had the opportunity to see some of the most famous, beautiful and important sights of the capital. Another day trip was realized to the city of Štúrovo offering a wonderful day of sightseeing and fun. Visiting a spa was also an enjoyable way of spending free time.
Unfortunately, some of the planned activities had to be cancelled due to the complications caused by Covid-19. These activities included an excursion to the library of Anton Bernolák, an important Slovak author, the visit of the birthplace of Ľudovít Štúr, the codifier of the Slovak language and lectures with a librarian who was supposed to deliver science fiction literature alongside with a lot of other interesting activities.
Participants in this mobility had the opportunity to compete and cooperate in international groups. They had to work together in order to create their own narratives, thus gaining confidence and skills in the social as well as the interpersonal area. Moreover, they had the chance to improve their communication skills in English. They learnt about the topic of narratives, as an essential element of gamification.
From this mobility, each school will implement the winning narrative in their schools, therefore starting to gamify not from intuition, but from a solid knowledge of what gamification consists of.
Using activities based on reading put great emphasis on the importance of reading. Utilizing the elements of gamified reading showed students that reading can be a truly enjoyable activity. As a result, they are eagerly awaiting the continuation of such activities which was the overall goal of this mobility.
Mobility to Belgium. February 2022.
The main goals of the meeting in Belgium was to give hope to all students, parents and teachers from the partner school. It was the first meeting after the pandemic and COVID was still hanging around with covid safe passes, mouth masks, vaccins, limited entrance and evening clock.
But we decided to go on with the meeting. Not all partners attended the meeting because some of them where prohibited to travel.
On the first day we had a warm welcome in the town hall by our major. It was the first time in a very long period they organised a reception for an external group.
In the afternoon we held presentations wherein each country presented his country, region, city and school. Partners who were not allowed to travel participated in video conference. They presented their country online and it really worked well. The magic of technology.
Afterwards we had a mini market where local specialties where presented and could be tasted. Information leaflets and posters were also presented.
On Tuesday we visited the Predikherenlibrary in Mechelen. This library was awarded last year in the top 5 of most beautiful libraries in the world. Unfortunately an Norwegian library won this contest. The link with the project was obvious.
Due to internal problems we could not organize an actionbound. This is an app that combines tourism and gamification. On a pleasant way you can discover a city and see and discover what you have read.
On day 3 we organized for students several workshops and an Escape Room. To Escape they had to answer questions from a book they could have read. We also made an Ex Libris and we organizes a Bibquest in the local library in Sint-Niklaas.
These workshops where a combination of reading and gamification. Teachers also participated but they also have got a workshop on “gamification in your lessons” by an external expert.
On Thursday we visited the Royal Library. Our partners could visit a place where all books who are published in Belgium are kept. Afterwards we had a comic book walk in Brussels. You can find in Brussels a lot of mural paintings from several comicbooks. Students really enjoyed this trip.
On the last day we held a guerilla tour in Plantin Moretus. The oldest book print factory in Belgium. Afterwards they could relax and enjoy the city of Antwerpen.
The goodbye was there to soon. After a COVID safe Boom ball and a singalong of 2 songs of each partner country, we wished all partners a safe trip home.
Mobility to Poland. May 2022
The fourth mobility of the project was organised by the Academic Secondary School in Gliwice in the days: 15th May – 21st May. The students were taking part in a number of activities related to the main topic of the project, which was promoting reading in various languages via gamification:
The students took part in the “treasure hunt” organised in the Old Market Square in Gliwice, as well as a dramatized historical tour of the town.
As for the promotion of the national literature, students learnt about the Nobel Prize Winner – the poet Wislawa Szymborska. They saw the exhibition devoted to the poet and participated in the museum lesson on the connection of visual art and poetry.
The book of the mobility was Anne’s Frank Diary. Students took part in the workshop devoted to its literary and historical context.
Finally, students experimented with the form of a diary. In the international groups, they edited together the diary’s entries describing each of the visit days.
Mobility to Lithuania. June 2022
The last meeting of the Erasmus + project „Let's Read“ partners took place on June 12-18 in Klaipėda Vite Progymnasium. We started the meeting with an interpretation of Lewis Carroll‘s book Alice in Wonderland and our guests‘ presentations. The week of the meeting was full of various cultural and educational activities. Before the mobility, the students and teachers of each partner country read the book Between Shades of Gray by the Lithuanian author Rūta Šepetys. During their visit to the Cold War Museum, the partners further reinforced the feelings evoked by this book. During a trip to Nida, the beauty and tranquility of which inspired many famous creators, we visited the museum of the writer Thomas Mann. The activity in the library for the blind allowed participants to understand how important it is for everyone to have the opportunity to read. Not only did we learn about Braille writing and its origins, but we also learned more about people with dyslexia. During the meeting, teachers discussed the activities implemented during the project and their impact on encouraging students to read books.
Participation in Erasmus + activities allowed students to improve their communication skills in English, broadened their cultural horizons and introduced them to people from different cultures. Citizenship was developed and intercultural communication was encouraged. Pupils worked in international groups, analyzing the project novel Between Shades of Gray and answering the quiz questions. The winners were awarded with symbolic commemorative gifts.
