eTwinning “My Childhood Bucket List_Primary Edition” – Part 2

 

December was a month full of creativity, celebration, and meaningful collaboration for students and teachers from all partner schools. A series of shared festive activities sparked off the learners’ imagination, strengthened teamwork and gave the children the opportunity to experience a rich cultural exchange.

To begin with, the students from all participating schools took part in a transnational voting process to choose the “Dream School Day.” The idea that received the most votes was joyfully celebrated during our online meeting: a pyjama party with board games! It was a day filled with smiles, relaxation, laughter, and plenty of fun, perfectly capturing the spirit of togetherness.

During this month, the children created handmade greeting cards, which were uploaded to a shared collaborative digital noticeboard, allowing students to exchange festive wishes with their European partners.

A true highlight of the month was the much-anticipated online meeting of all schools. During this live session, students connected in real time to exchange wishes and dreams for the future. Together, they also contributed to a word cloud of New Year wishes, beautifully reflecting the shared hopes, values, and optimism of all participants.

During the same meeting, the winning project logo and poster were announced following the voting process. We are incredibly proud that both winning designs came from our school, created by the imagination, creativity, and enthusiasm of the 3^rd Grade students.

The programme concluded with a joyful cultural exchange, as partner schools shared festive songs and, in some cases, traditional dances from their countries. This experience gave the children the chance to discover different traditions and truly feel the power of European cooperation.

Once again, these activities highlighted the role of eTwinning as a bridge of communication, creativity, and cultural connection, bringing schools from different countries and cultures together and proving that learning knows no geographical borders.

eTwinning “Hidden Voices, Stolen Minds” – Part 2

 

Our dynamic eTwinning journey continued in December with new activities that highlighted the value of collaboration, intercultural communication, and creative expression.

To begin with, students carried out research using carefully selected sources in their mother tongue. Their focus was on important women from their own countries who stood out in different fields. The children gathered key information and notes about the lives and achievements of these women. Working in groups, they subsequently wrote short texts in English, which were brought together in a shared collaborative presentation. Through this process, the students discovered not only inspiring women from their own country, but also from all the other participating countries.

This was followed by a school-level poll, with the aim of selecting one personality from each school for the creation of a collaborative 2026 calendar. In this way, nine personalities were selected, one from each participating school. For the remaining three, a transnational poll took place, and the results were announced during the online meeting. These women were presented in the calendar through the collaboration of learners working in transnational teams.

Browse through our calendar in the presentation below:

BLOG - Calendar 2026 από Theofani Iatropoulou

As December is dominated by a festive spirit, students additionally created Christmas/New Year cards inspired by the women featured in the calendar. These were also created in transnational groups. Their wishes drew on the lives, values, and achievements of these remarkable figures.

Browse through our cards in the presentation below:

BLOG - Sparkling Lights, Voices of Women από Theofani Iatropoulou

At the same time, students exchanged holiday wishes through a shared playlist of songs on a digital platform (wakelet) used for collecting, organizing, and sharing content. The songs which were uploaded, both in the students’ mother tongues and in English, were proposed and voted for by the children themselves.

The month concluded with a joyful and energetic online meeting. After initial introductions, students took part simultaneously in an interactive online quiz related to the personalities from the collaborative presentation. They also shared ideas on an audience-response platform, creating a word cloud which highlighted the characteristics of successful women. The meeting ended on a festive note, with students singing holiday songs both in their native languages and in English.

Through cooperation and creativity, inspiration travelled beyond borders, filling the holiday season with joy and meaningful learning.

European Quality Label for our eTwinning project “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea”

 

We are incredibly proud and delighted to announce that our eTwinning project “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea”, carried out during the 2024–25 school year with the enthusiastic participation of classes D1 and E1, has been honoured with the prestigious European Quality Label!

A huge BRAVO to our students! With their imagination, enthusiasm, and outstanding work, they helped elevate the project to a European level. Our project fully met the high standards and demanding quality criteria of eTwinning, highlighting the meaningful learning, innovation, and teamwork that defined every step of this journey.

We move forward with excitement and enthusiasm, eager to continue creating impactful and memorable learning experiences together!

eTwinning “My Childhood Bucket List_Primary Edition” – Part 1

Our new eTwinning project, “My Childhood Bucket List – Primary Edition”, involving classes St2, D1, and C is a project that invites pupils to dream big and express their hopes for the future through creative activities. Children create their own childhood bucket lists and reflect on how important it is to have goals, imagination, and aspirations from an early age.

As part of this project, we are collaborating with schools from Turkey, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, and Greece, building a vibrant European learning community.

From the very beginning, the students actively collaborated and got to know their European partners through a wide range of creative and engaging activities. As a first step, each child designed their own digital avatar using an artificial intelligence tool, based on a personal description they provided. Along with their virtual self, students wrote a short introductory text about their interests and preferences, helping everyone to get to know one another better. The teachers followed the same process, so both students and educators proudly presented their digital identities.

At the same time, all students introduced their cities -the places where their dreams are born- by contributing to a shared collaborative digital book, offering a colorful mosaic of cultures, places, and stories.

During this month, students, teachers, and parents were also invited to complete introductory questionnaires, aiming to explore trends, experiences, dreams, and expectations connected to childhood aspirations.

In addition, each participating class designed its own project logo and poster, creatively capturing the children’s ideas, excitement, and sample dreams through graphic design. All logos and posters were uploaded to digital notice boards, where a voting process will take place next month to select the designs that will officially represent the project.

This dynamic start has set the tone for an inspiring journey -one filled with creativity, collaboration, and big dreams across Europe.

 

eTwinning “Hidden Voices, Stolen Minds – Part 1

Our new eTwinning journey for the 6^th grade (St1) began in October with a strong spirit of collaboration and discovery.

“Hidden Voices, Stolen Minds!” is a project designed to help students discover women who made major contributions to science, art, literature, medicine, and many other fields, yet were overshadowed -or even erased- by history. The project aims to raise students’ awareness of gender equality, bringing together partners from Italy, Turkey, Romania, France, Jordan, and Greece.

The opening activities focused on getting to know one another in a creative and engaging way. Students created avatars using an AI tool, guided by descriptions they had written themselves in class. Alongside their virtual personas, the students shared a short text about their interests and preferences. The teachers followed the same approach, creating their own presentations to introduce themselves to the group.

During the same month, both students and teachers completed initial exploratory questionnaires, focusing on their perceptions, prior knowledge, and expectations with regard to the project.

Our activities continued with great enthusiasm in November. All partner schools presented their countries and cities through a collaborative digital book. At the same time, and in line with the project’s theme, they introduced a well-known female figure connected to their city. This step laid the groundwork for the next phase of the project, which will gradually lead students to explore women whose contributions were lost, underestimated, or overshadowed over time, often by men of their era.

This inspiring journey has only just begun and many hidden voices are waiting to be heard!

 

Discovering empathy through stories: A book about learning difficulties

 

Reading has the power to open our minds and hearts — and a collection of short stories about learning difficulties can do exactly that. The book “Help them shine! – 4 short stories on learning difficulties” invites readers to step into the shoes of children who face challenges in their learning journey, helping us see the world from their point of view.

I wrote these stories to shed light on different perspectives, as explained in detail in the foreword section, and foster empathy for all learners. The stories don’t shy away from the frustration or misunderstanding that often come with learning difficulties, but they try to celebrate resilience, kindness and inclusion. Teachers, classmates and families are shown not as perfect but as people who can learn and grow, too. The ultimate aim is of the book is not to provide an in-depth explanation of learning difficulties, but to nurture the power of empathy in readers.

EU code week October 2025

 

In October, some classes took part in the European Code Week, a Europe-wide celebration of creativity and digital thinking! Although the activities were unplugged, students had the chance to explore the basics of coding through pixel art, discovering how simple patterns and logical steps can bring images to life in a fun, hands-on way.

Let’s code food!

This activity acquainted learners with the idea of art in pixels so that they could realise how digital pictures are created bit by bit and how each pixel represents one specific colour. 6^th grade explored the theme of food, a sub-topic within the shopping unit in their coursebook while celebrating World Food Day, which is observed on October 16^th.

Bit by bit, they decoded colourful, food-themed pixel pictures — from juicy fruits to delicious pizza— uncovering how digital images come to life through colour coding.

But that wasn’t all! Along the way, they explored a list of fun and surprising facts about the kind of food they were decoding. From quirky fruit trivia to astonishing snack secrets, each student chose the fact that impressed them most and shared it with the class.

Draw just like Mondriaan

Younger learners were introduced to the idea of pixel art and coding/decoding in order to realise how a picture is digitally created. At the same time the acivitiy aimed at acquainting them with Mondriaan's art and the primary colours he used.

The learners decoded animals painted in the famous Dutch painter's style, realising how a number corresponds to a specific colour on paper and seeing the image revealed in their eyes "pixel" by "pixel". At the same time they cultivated their logical, observational and aesthetic skills, while consolidating colours, animals and shapes in English.

“S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” at the 2nd Pedagogical Conference of the Directorate of Primary Education of Western Thessaloniki

As part of our commitment to the goals we set as an eTwinning School regarding wider dissemination of eTwinning projects, we shared our eTwinning project “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” at a thematically related conference which took part at the Cultural Centre of Ampelokipi and the Auditorium of the 12th Primary School of Ampelokipi. Specifically, on Saturday, October 11, 2025, we participated in the 2nd Educational Conference organised by the Directorate of Primary Education of Western Thessaloniki, titled: “Teaching and Learning – Education and Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Reflections.” There, we had the opportunity to present our students’ creative work, which focused on promoting the 14^th Sustainable Goal titled ‘Life below water’. We also shared ideas and educational practices, attended interesting presentations by colleagues and engaged in a creative dialogue that helped us enrich our teaching methods through innovative ideas and practices.

 

National Quality Labels for both our eTwinning projects implemented during the school year 2024-2025

 

2024-2025

We are absolutely thrilled and proud to share that our eTwinning projects, “Do you need me? Because I need you” and “S.O.S.: Save Our Sea” have been honored with the National Quality Label!

This prestigious recognition celebrates the hard work, creativity, and teamwork our students poured into these projects throughout the 2024-2025 school year. The National Quality Label isn’t just an award—it’s a stamp of excellence, highlighting the innovation, imagination, and collaborative spirit that made our projects stand out.

A huge round of applause to our amazing students for their brilliant ideas, relentless enthusiasm, and extraordinary dedication! This achievement belongs to everyone involved, and it fills us with energy and inspiration to continue creating, learning, and reaching new heights together.

Tapping into Learners’ Creativity through Poetry

 Tapping into Learners’ Creativity through Poetry

When learners are given the chance to play with words, poetry becomes a doorway to creativity itself.

Poetry is not just about rhyme—it’s about voice, imagination, and seeing the world through fresh eyes. When learners are invited to create simple yet powerful poetry forms—like cinquains, list poems, 5W poems, or two-voice poetry, to mention but a few—something wonderful happens: their creativity awakens. Suddenly, words become paint, and the classroom turns into a canvas where ideas and feelings take shape.

By connecting these poetry activities to themes from the curriculum, students discover that poetry isn’t something extra or separate: It’s a way of living their learning! They also realize that such kind of poetry writing isn’t something unfeasible.  A description of the characteristic parts of their neighbourhood or city can transform into a flowing cinquain; Romeo and Juliet’s story might inspire a two-voice poem between the legendary figures; even a list poem about items in their wardrobe can bring out the wonders of new vocabulary in a foreign language.

The benefits are countless:

·         Creative Expression: Students find personal, imaginative ways to engage with classroom topics.

·         Language Development: Playing with words enriches vocabulary, structure, and fluency.

·         Critical Thinking: Condensing big ideas into short forms promotes clarity and focus.

·         Confidence: Even hesitant writers manage to  contribute as they see that poetry can be short, simple, and still deeply meaningful.

·         Joy in Learning: Poetry taps into emotion and playfulness, making the curriculum come alive.

At its heart, poetry empowers learners to see that knowledge is not only something to be studied—it is something they can shape, reimagine, and express in their own words. And when that happens, learning stops being a task and becomes an adventure.

Below you can have a look at a presentation of various types of poems that have been implemented in my classes from 3^rd to 6^th grade. They are followed by the worksheets that the students were provided with and a couple of samples in each category regarding learner output. The majority were carried out over the school year 2024-25 with the exception of some, which were carried out one or two years earlier.

Take a look and let the ideas spark new adventures in your classroom!

Prompting young EFL learners to write poetry από Theofani Iatropoulou