eTwinning Camp 2008

We had a great time in Vimeiro in Portugal! We really enjoyed our stay and our contacts with the other European students from Italy, France, Sweden, Lithuania, Spain, Poland and Germany. This stay was a great first prize for our project 'Planète @dos'!
So we made a blog with pictures, videos and our diary. We wrote this diary for our local school magazine in Poperinge, in Belgium: KIJKOP.
Thanks to Silvia Spinoso, Anne Gilleran, Evita Tasiopoulou, Benedicte Clouet and Christina Crawley from European Schoolnet!

Jasmien, Charline, Lieze, Jolien, Marlien, Marlies, Ancy, Eva, Astrid and Ria De Wilde.

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Over the 3 days of the camp, we took many photographs of all the workshops, events and activities...
This short movie gives a flavour of the experience. It plays in Quick Time (and might take a few minutes to download).

PLAY THE MOVIE

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To access all camp photos taken by the eTwinning Team, go to the camp's PHOTO GALLERY.

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On the last evening the Italian group presented a wonderful movie reflection on the lessons they took away with them from the camp. They started the work in the video editing workshop and spent all Friday afternoon completing while the other groups swam, enjoyed the sun and completed the treasure hunt:

Download the presentation file here

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The Italian class had a great performance between a video presentation, a song and three dances. Linking their performance to the 2008 Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the students also gave an inside look into their new eTwinning project in 2008 called "Penser l'Autre".

After the presentation, the dance number then began with one student doing ballet (see the great jump on the right!) followed by two students dancing hip hop. All three then danced together, mixing both styles to give the overall sense of the beauty of mixing different styles and cultures together.

The entire Italian group then finished together in song.

Have a look at the short VIDEO CLIP we have so far of the ballet number. There are more to come!

Congratulations on a job well done and good luck with your new project!

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Pupils from Galicia, Spain, started off their talent slot with a lovely traditional song from their region which they sang with the help of cymbals and clapping from the crowd. The song reminded some of us of traditional indigenous songs. It was really nice!

Following their song, everyone turned to the back of the room to watch them perform a lively dance routine. All dressed up like skeletons, the song and dance together gave us a nice overview of Galician culture.

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As the closing ceremony of the eTwinning Camp 2008, everyone gathered together to give special awards and to enjoy the final "Talent Show". Each school prepared their performance in advance and so it was a real treat to experience singing and dancing from across Europe.

In the photo on the right, pupils from Berlin, Germany, performed an amazing Egyptian dance that they learned from their class assistant, Dina. The performance was absolutely breathtaking and the costumes were gorgeous!

You are all stars!

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Just before heading to Expo '98, we all had a chance to have a short walk around Lisbon.

Our guides took us to a lovely neighborhood where as from the beginning of May, students celebrate the end of the academic year. Singing, dancing and various performances are taking place every day but we where lucky enough to be greeted by this wonderful song performed by a group of students. We have no idea what they're actually studying but if they ever decide to go for a singing career, we'll be there to cheer for them :)

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ad-mrFBxTvQ

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On the last day of the camp we had a treasure hunt! The pupils with their teachers were split in 3 teams and they spent their afternoon doing their best to follow a number of clues, solve tricky riddles and perform some complicated calculations in order to find the treasure!

The Spanish-Polish team was the first to find the big treasure and as you can see (on the left) they're so happy and proud of themselves!

The German team got pretty close to the treasure so they got the second prize while the Swedish-Belgian team got the third prize.

All teams did a great job and worked wonderfully together! Well done guys!

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Spanish pupils met up with Thomas Maier from the Central Support Service for eTwinning to learn how to make podcasts.

Not only did they have a great time, they created some AMAZING and FUN podcasts in English and Spanish. Have a listen - they are GREAT!

Spaniards: The CSS think that you all have a future in broadcasting!

Without further ado - the SPANISH PODCASTS:

	1. We lost our luggage!
	2. How's the hotel?
	3. Making friends...
	4. Our visit to the Oceanario
	5. A little about our eTwinning project

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	Pupils from Germany and Sweden learn how to create digital animations from Oscar Stringer. Using plasticine, the kids made little digital stories which were then presented on screen during the closing ceremony.
Here are the videos of the animations!

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Some of the guys from Italy show us what it means to get dolled up for an Italian disco....

while the Italian girls give us a great group pose.

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After a full day in Lisbon, we headed back to Vimeiro and - after another great dinner at the hotel - kicked off the camp disco with a full dance floor.

In the picture on the left, students formed a circled while two students from Poland showed everyone how it's done.

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The main tank at the Oceanario contains approximately 5000 litres of water, that's how huge it is. With such a big tank it was great to be able to get right up to the glass and have a close look at some of the big fish in it.

On the right, German pupils get to see a real shark close up. Pretty cool! As most of the fish are used to divers going into the tank, they were very happy to come right up to the window and see the kids.

In that sense, who's looking at who?!

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After meeting Mr. Sun Fish, we headed onto the penguin area where we got to see at least 10 penguins hanging out.

As our guide explained, penguins keep the same partner for their entire lives which we thought was pretty amazing. He also explained that at one point, there was one penguin without a partner, and it really seemed to cause trouble with the whole group. Thankfully, they found it a new partner for it not long after.

A real society!

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The Spanish kids with their two teachers had a great time at the Oceanarium! They were all taken by the various fishes, sharks, little Nemos and penguins. Even the jelly fishes were so cool!

In a great demonstration of intercultural dialogue, our wonderful guide answered all our questions in a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and English so everyone was happy. :)

On the left you can see the kids in the tropical forest while on the right the whole team (apart from me and Benedicte) is posing with the mascot, little Vasco!

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The classes from Lithuania, Poland, France, Belgium and Italy headed to the Science Museum "Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Ciência Viva" to learn science in a fun way.

The entire science museum in Lisbon is interactive, so the students kept themselves busy between reading, pushing buttons here and there and even biking along a tight rope!

Photo by: Marina Marino

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One of the first amazing creatures we saw once we got into the Oceanario was the Sun Fish. Some of us thought it looked more like a giant portobello mushroom!

In any case, Mr. Sun Fish seemed very interested in all of us since he spent so much time by our window. Or perhaps he was just taken by our lovely camp organiser from the CSS, Silvia Spinoso (see picture on right).

Awww... how cute!

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While waiting for the tickets to get in, the German students and their teachers made a human diamond in hope of ending up with a perfect picture. The verdict: not bad at all!

So many smiling faces. They must have been as excited as us to get in and see what underwater creatures were waiting for us to discover!

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After lunch and a bit of freetime to walk around (and to take advantage of being in Lisbon to do a bit of shopping!), half of the group headed to Lisbon's "Oceanario" to see some pretty amazing creatures!

The Lisbon Oceanario is the 3rd largest oceanarium in the world (after Japan and Spain).

The kids that visited the oceanarium were from Germany, Sweden and Spain.

(On the right: students from Sweden and Germany are already impressed by the Oceanario mascot - and they haven't even gone through the front door yet!)

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As Mothers Day is just a day away, the girls from Belgium decided to dedicate a part of their free time on Friday in Lisbon to finding the perfect bouquet of flowers for their teacher, Ria De Wilde.

"After all, she is our mother for the weekend!"

Ah! What a great group of kids!!!

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With flags from around the world in the backgroup, members of the Central Support Service and Portuguese National Support Service give a wave to the camera.

From left to right: Alexa Joyce, Evita Tasiopoulou, Rita Salles Caldeira, Ana Paiva, Anne Gilleran and Silvia Spinoso.

(the one taking the picture, me! Christina Crawley)

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In order to have lots of energy for the afternoon activities, we stopped for a great buffet lunch at the 'Buffalo Grill' which had a great view of the docks and the cable cars above.

The buffet had a little bit of everything with a wonderful assortment of seafood, although it seemed that spaghetti was a popular choice amongst the younger kids! As you can see in the photo of a young Spanish pupil on the left, he's pretty satisfied with his pick :-)

Many thanks to Ana from the Portuguese National Support Service for choosing the restaurant and arranging the details. It was perfect!

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After a quick tour of the city, the buses dropped us off at the site of the international EXPO '98 where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

To the right, you can see the Belgian girls enjoying the sun and fresh air as they stroll through the streets.

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As the first stop of the day, we got to see the famous "Torre de Belém" (Belém Tower). The tower was built at the beginning of the 16th century and was originally a fortress to protect the city from invaders. In 1983, along with the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos which is just next to it, the tower became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tower is one of the biggest symbols of Lisbon so it was great to be able to see it first hand and under the sun. As you can see in the picture, it is currently decorated with colourful balls for a local festival. Very nice!

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Once we got to Lisbon, each bus picked up its personal Lisbon tour guide and we went for a drive around the city.

One of the first highlights once we got going was to see the traditional Lisbon trams. First imported to Portugal from the United States in the late 19th century, the trams are much smaller than the modern trams of the 21st century.

We all found them very cute and they really gave an added flavour to the narrow and colourful streets.

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After a full night of performances, music, singing and yummy national treats, the entire group managed to be ready at 9am on Friday morning to head to Lisbon for the day.

We left from the hotel in Vimeiro in three buses and throughout the trip (which was just under an hour) each group did a good job of entertaining themselves through song. And for those who were still a bit sleepy, a nap was possible as well :-)

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Wow! After half of the Lithuanian group had to wait a day for their lost luggage, what came out of the bags was a HUGE assortment of chocolates, biscuits, etc.

The entire table was full of yummy food to eat - now all we have to do is finish it all before we leave on Sunday!

(But judging from the appetites so far, this shouldn't be a problem!)

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Students from Poland performed a traditional Polish dance as one of the final numbers of the first evening.

Dressed in traditional gowns and costumes, the students could have been doing it with their eyes closed, because the routine was perfect! Graceful and very nice.

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Students from France first sang a regional song from their village near Nimes called Milhaud.

Afterwards, as they are learning Italian at school, the French students sang a song in Italian, which was quite impressive as they sang very quickly (!) and the accent was very good.

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Pupils for Berlin, Germany, introduce their city and their country by doing a rythym with plastic cups to one of Bach's Brandenburg concertos.

The children also sang a traditional song and prepared a really nice slideshow with photos from their capital city. The slideshow was also cued perfectly to another piece by Bach.

Well done!

Stay tuned for the video! Coming soon...

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As one of the kick-off activities of the first evening's theme about "Celebrating Our Country", each school brought a selection of national and regional treats and sweets to share with everyone.

In the picture on the right, Aurora Gay Mendez from Galicia, Spain, cut up slices of a regional pie filled with eel (!!!) for everyone to try.

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A gincana consists of a series of obstacles that one must overcome. For this, the kids had a number of activities to carry out in teams and they all did them really well!

First there was the three-legged race. At first the concept seemed easy, but once everyone got going they realised that it wasn't as easy as they'd thought! Finding that you can't control your own leg meant that a few groups tumbled over - but in the end, that was the fun part!

Then there was the egg and spoon race. As you can see from the picture, it was a real test of balance and speed! Thankfully the eggs were boiled in advance ;-) Following the egg race, pupils paired up for a human wheel barrow race which in some cases was very well balanced while in others it got pretty wobbly!

And finally, the blind apple bobbing race. Trying to find an apple in water with your eyes covered is - quite obviously - not an easy task, however, the kids supported each other throughout and managed to keep the race tight almost right to the end.

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Students from Italy work on their golf swing during an introductory golf lesson during the first day's leisure activities.

Is that a golf swing, or a baseball swing?! ;o)

Photo by: Marina Marino

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In the first workshop session of the day, teachers and pupils from "The Two Wooden Dolls" project had a fun time together learning about culture and communication.

Starting with the fact that with 6.6 billion people on earth with a total of approximately 6800 different languages, it became clear that there are many different ways, as the pupils pointed out, "to see life and talk to others".

Through a number of images and quizzes, the students shared information about their own cultures. As we soon realised, the room was full of people with cultures and ways of communicating in over 13 different countries! Even comparing how to count with one's hands was a fun discovery as everyone had such different ways of doing so, based on the cultures in which they lived.

The pupils also had a good time testing their own perceptions, knowledge and stereotypes about the world around them through pictures and stories.

By the end of the workshop, each pupil came up with a new name for themselves (often based on famous people in their culture!) and got to know each other a bit more.

Many thanks to all the pupils for their enthusiasm and to the teachers for helping out!

(in the picture, the pupils are doing an exercise about the culture of getting into an elevator and the concept of personal space in different culture)

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In the first opening address to the eTwinning Camp 2008, Teresa Evaristo, Vice-Director for Innovation and Curriculum Development at the Portuguese Ministry of Education, welcomed all camp participants to Portugual and wished them a successful and enjoyable four days together.

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Pupils from Germany show off their new badges while waiting for the opening session to start.

Participants to the camp come from:
Spain
Germany
Sweden
France
Belgium
Italy
Lithuania
Poland

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As the entire group has arrived safely, the eTwinning Team is working on the last finishing touches for the opening programme tomorrow morning.

From the Central Support Service for eTwinning (although you can't see their faces very well!):
Anne Gilleran, Silvia Spinoso, Christina Crawley, Benedicte Clouet, Evita Tasiopoulou and Alexa Joyce. On Friday we will be joined by Thomas Maier, Emile Vassallo and Oscar Stringer.

Stay tuned for more to come!

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From 7-11 May, the winners of the eTwinning Prizes 2008 are in Vimeiro, Portugal, for the eTwinning Camp 2008

Awarded on 14 March 2008 in Bucharest as the top eTwinning projects in Europe, teachers and pupils from the four winning projects are spending the next four days together in sunny Vimeiro to meet their project partners face-to-face and learn about ICT tools.

What's on the programme?

Workshops
Pupils and teachers will learn about fun and easy ways to create animation movies, record podcasts and edit video clips. In addition, participants will discover intercultural dialogue in a fun and interactive session.

Sports
Participants will get to take advantage of the sunny location to play a number of sports, go for a swim and take part in some fun games.

Cultural Activities
As Vimeiro is just outside Lisbon, we will also head to the capital for a day excursion which will include a trip to the interactive science museum Ciência Viva for older pupils and the Oceanarium for younger pupils.

Celebrating our Country & European Talent Show
To learn about each other, each group will also have the opportunity to present themselves and their culture to everyone during the evening programmes.

We're all looking forward to the week ahead, so be sure to check back here from time to time to see how we're doing!

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