Collaboration

Cross curricular project: the Olympics 

What is the project going to be about?

The project is going to be about the Olympics. Because about this topic you can work in almost every class.   This is a very big project but for this task we are only going to  focus on flags.

What are the students going to learn? 

Flags: meaning of the Olympic flag, meaning of ceremony, meaning of the rings , meaning of the colors, flags who represent the participating countries.

Why have we chosen this subject?

Because about this topic you can work in almost every class.  And also because the Olympics is something that is all over the world. Everybody in the world has heard about it.

Why is it suitable for international collaborative work?

It would be nice to have contact with teachers off the countries where the Olympics have been hosted.

How are we going to plan the project?

Every fourth year we are going to work with this topic for a month. ( in the year  of the Olympics). First we have to make contact with teachers off another country, than agree about what you want to find out about the Olympics in this country, exchange information.

Flags:

Search for a contact person. ( maybe a teacher who lives in the place where the Olympics are held that year or has been held in history).
Brainstorm with the children about the flags and what they already know or want to know about it.
Let children formulate some questions that they want to ask the teacher from the other country.
contact your contact person.

How are we going to organize it – timetable – dividing into smaller groups?

A whole week about the flags ( depending on how fast your contact person answers).
Group work: divide the class in smaller groups of 4 students. They can look up one specific matter about the flag. ( the meaning of the colors, the meaning of the circles, …) then they can contact some children of the other class ( the partner ) and then they can tell the whole class about what they found. 

How to evaluate the project?

Quiz about everything they have learned.  The winning group gets the golden medal, …
The quiz will be a sort of summary of all the information the groups have looked up and what they taught each other. Afterwards you  send a film to the contact teacher.

How can the students learn something?

Use the internet, go to the library, ask questions to the contact persons.

how are you going to show the project in school or the parents?

In an art class you can make your own class flag. You can use the Olympic theme, you can make an Olympic flag by using all the handprints/footprints of the children in all the different colors.

who is going to participate?

All the children of the fifth grade of your school and also the children  of the fifth grade of the school you contact.

who is going to have which tasks:

• -          Look for project partner

We would look for a partner from a school in Barcelona, London, Berlin, Peking, Sydney, Athens… because all of these cities has ever hosted the Olympics.

• -          Making different arrangements

make sure that you are going to exchange information, photo’s, films about everything you work about in the Olympic project.

• -          All the paper work for the parents.

Explain how this is going to be a collaborative project and that the children will get a lot of  responsibility to look things up and to contact other persons.

When is the project going to take place in the school year planning.

Every fourth year we are going to work about this topic for a month. ( in the year the Olympics are held). A couple of weeks before the Olympics take place.

When are we going to involve the different participants

During the whole process, we will share all the things we worked about in class.

When is the project going to start and end

Every fourth year we are going to work about this topic for a month. ( in the year the Olympics are held). A couple of weeks before the Olympics take place. It has to end before the Olympics take place.

When can we say the projects is a success

It is a success when the children’s curiosity has been raised. When they want to find out more about it and keep in contact with the other students.

Where to be – at school – at other institutions – at home etc.

The project runs at school and also at home because the students have to look up some things.