Italy October 2017

The second LTTA took place in October 2017 in Italy, as planned. Teachers and students worked on what had been done before and on the feedback received after the first LTTA. During the first part of the exchange the group of foreign students and a group of Italian students (44 in total) spent three days camping in a scout base nearby and experienced first hand what it means to cooperate. Everybody had tasks to do and everybody was supposed to help each other to make things go smoothly. Each country presented materials about their contexts and games and simple activities with inclusive focus developed at home. The focus of this part of the LTTA was a consequence of the results of the baseline questionnaire administered at the start of the project. It was decided to help children understand and focus on their emotions and attitudes, so after some
cooperative games and activities carried out in mixed groups, under the supervision of an expert the children expressed their feelings of happiness and fear, feelings that were video-recorded by impersonating monsters. The objective of this was to understand that we can appear monsters to other people, but it's always us, and even those that we perceive as "monsters" (= ugly or different)
are exactly like us and share the same emotions. Then there were activities meant to sensitise the participants towards some global problems, such as migration, and the importance of cooperation to make sure that everybody - far or near - has the same opportunities. After the three camp days, the group moved back to Castel San Giovanni and took part in activities at IC Casaroli premises, including a night treasure hunt organised as an animated reading activity. The students had the
possibility to interact with special-need children and do activities with them, thus consolidating the peer-led learning modality established during the first exchange. Dissemination was possible thanks to the local media that published two articles in the province newspaper during the visit, and also thanks to the local authorities that met the project delegations both during the 3-day camp and when back in Castel San Giovanni. Then there was also the possibility to visit a nearby pedagogical farm specialised in pet therapy where people with special needs are welcome and can find a job and life opportunities. Teachers had a dedicated meeting and agreed on how to continue managing the eTwinning space and blog and to upload the new activities carried out using a common report sheet.