Art lesson with Jussike in the 4.form

Jussike told about his journey and project book pictionary to the pupils of 4.form in Sõmeru Põhikool. Children got many drawing ideas and they made nice pictures.

Art lesson with Jussike in the 3.form

Jussike visited art lesson in the 3.form in Sõmeru Põhikool. Boys and girls drew food for our project-book´s pictionary.

Castelejo is a small village about 10km from Fundão, Portugal. It has 1480 inhabitants. Although it is small it has a well known group of typical drum players and a group of folk dance called “Romeiros de Santa Luzia”(photo). Every September Castelejo celebrates Santa Luzia with a huge fest which last four three days. People from all over this part of Portugal come to honor Santa Luzia.

Castelejo also has some old chapels and a house museum where the younger generation can see how their ancients lived and some of the tools they used.

Castelejo has a kindergarten and a Primary school which are both actively involved in our project “Johnny’s Seven Friends”. They are busy writing out Johnny’s story and working on the puppets. They kindly made some typical paper flowers which were given to the Project Partners when they were in Fundão last November.

Porta Aberta Kindergarten -Portugal - posting

The Project partners from the different countries paid a visit to the town’s public kindergarten which is called “Porta Aberta”. They were welcomed by the children who sang some Portuguese traditional songs and they were given a small handmade basket full of products from this part of Portugal – Fundão.
They were able to see some of the activities that the children in the four different classrooms were doing and the children were excited to meet these teachers from the different countries in Europe.

In November, it is traditional in Portugal, for people to get together to make a fire outdoors to roast chestnuts. After they are roasted people eat them and play tricks on each other by rubbing their hands on each other’s faces as their hands are covered with ashes from pilling the chestnuts. Everyone enjoy the fun and the lovely soft chestnuts. This tradition is known as “Magusto”.
So on November 11th both Porta Aberta Kindergarden and Srª Conceição Primary School were together to make a huge fire to roast hundreds of chestnuts which were then eaten by the students, teachers and school helpers. Everyone had a great time!

Portugal posting

Last November (18th – 21st) the Project Partners met for the first time in Fundão, Portugal. It was a very interesting experience as no one knew each other and had no idea what it would be like. At first there were five different partners but as time went by the five partners became one big group, one big partner. Everyone got acquainted to each other, there were smiles and laughs. People exchanges experiences and information about each other’s countries, culture and school systems.

During this pleasant week, meetings were held at Serra da Gardunha School to establish what was necessary to do in order to develop our marvelous project. The highlight of these meetings was the exchange of puppets which was something out of the extraordinary. They were just fabulous!

Teachers were able to mingle among the students in one of the Music classes where everyone had to participant lively but attentively: playing musical instruments, singing and even dancing. By the end of the class students and teachers had a very enjoyable lesson.

At the puppet workshop teachers were able to see and learn with the students how some old typical Portuguese toys were made by using recycled materials, a puppet stage made of wooden boxes that are used to transport our lovely cherries and how puppets are made of old newspapers, magazines and clothes.

There were visits to the town’s Town Hall, Porta Aberta kindergarden, Souta da Casa’s Kindergarten and Primary School where we all had the opportunity to see the village’s typical house museums where the students played very important roles. Where ever the five partners went students were delighted to meet them and welcomed them with songs, music and even with a traditional snack. There was also a cultural visit to one of Portugal’s typical villages – Sortelha – and to a well known castle in Belmonte and home town of Pedro Alves Cabral who discovered Brazil.

It was really nice to have all the partners at our school – Serra da Gardunha School. If it wasn’t for this project we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet these wonderful partners, gain more knowledge about the different school systems, cultures and countries within the different countries in European Union including Turkey. It is also an opportunity for our students to develop and gain knowledge in different areas which will make them better citizens within the European Union and in the world.