Non-formal method of teaching Anyksciai r. Svedasai Juozas Tumas-Vaizgantas gymnasium, Lithuania Svedasai, 2014

Projects help students and teachers to gain and improve their skills not only in the subject related to the topic of the project but also encourage using ICT, strengthen relationships with the local community, other schools, governmental and non-governmental organisations. We implement short- term and long-term projects at school. Project method Svedasai, 2014

Project work is a way of work and studies which encourages students to relate learning with reality, to look for connections between the things and the phenomena. It also teaches students to work in a group solving one problem relevant to everyone. Why Do Project Work? Svedasai, 2014

 help children learn patience, organisational skills, cooperation  enable children to exercise leadership in a variety of ways  require teamwork and collaboration among children of the same and different ages and both genders  help to identify new talents and skills  involve challenges  result in strong feelings of satisfaction and achievement on part of those who contributed Value of projects Svedasai, 2014

Project work is useful as a means of generating positive motivation

The students are writing about their own lives – their house, their town, their family, their dreams and fantasies, their own research into topics that interest them. Firstly, project work is very personal Svedasai, 2014

Students aren‘t just receiving and producing words. They are:  collecting information  drawing pictures, maps, diagrams and charts  cutting out pictures  arranging texts and visuals  colouring  carrying out interviews and surveys  making recordings. Secondly, project work is a very active medium Svedasai, 2014

It enables all students to produce a worthwhile product. Lastly, project work gives a clear sense of achievement. Svedasai, 2014

Decisions and conclusions Planning and process Analysis of the problem Experience Svedasai, 2014 The main stages of project work

Short – term project. Our gymnasium is named after the writer Juozas Tumas - Vaizgantas. We celebrate his birthday on the 20 th of September every year. As there are still a lot of flowers in our yards, we create different flower arrangements. Examples of project work Svedasai, 2014

Our aim is to involve all students in this activity Svedasai, 2014

Students from every class have to weave 1-2 meters garlands, which are connected into one. Then students bring this long garland to the Vaizgantas monument. Decorating of Vaizgantas monument Svedasai, 2014

A long-term project on citizenship education “We Create a Republic” encouraged our students to remember the past of their native place - Svedasai. We Create a Republic Svedasai, 2014

Students visited and took photos of historical places, collected the information and organised a photo display at school and in the town library. Svedasai, 2014

Project group members together with the local community tidied neglected historical places.

Svedasai, 2014 Dictionary of plants in Svedasai dialect

It was a long-term project which lasted for one semester. The aim of the project was to write down folk names of the plants in Svedasai dialect and create a dictionary. Svedasai, 2014

While collecting material, students were asking their mothers, grandparents, neighbours; they were also reading Vaizgantas works. Then they arranged words in alphabetical order, put stress on each word, wrote down the Latin name and illustrated with the photos. There are 86 words in the dictionary. Svedasai, 2014 Work process

Svedasai, 2014 A page from the dictionary

Most modern school curricula require all subjects to encourage initiative, independence, imagination, self- discipline, cooperation and development of useful research skills. Project work is a way of turning such general aims into practical classroom activity. Svedasai, 2014