Books, envelopes and stamps: an epistolary correspondence between two primary schools in Veneto

giovedì 23 aprile 2020

Dear Reader,
let us introduce ourselves! We are Anna and Anna Chiara, two students of Primary Education Sciences at the University of Padua who share the dream of becoming teachers.

Anna Chiara came up with the brilliant idea of ​​connecting our internship experiences through an outdated medium, sometimes uncomfortable and slow, but indelibly emotional: a letter.

While fourth grade students (9-10 years old) of a primary school in the province of Padua were facing the difficult discovery of places and spaces in their city-province, through the book "Mistica Maëva and the Starry Tower" by Laura Walter, in a primary school in the province of Verona, other pupils were deepening the reading and understanding of written texts, through the story of "Mistica Maëva and the Venice Ring" by the same author.

Thanks to Mistica Maëva, her funny friends and incredible adventures, we have found an exciting common story to live and share in our letters with our pen friends in order to get to know each other better, between Padua and Verona.

Anna’s VERSION: FROM VERONA ...


Our didactic project was focused on the promotion of reading, with attention to understanding written information.

In order to achieve those competences, we planned listening activities (Night of Tales), reading activities (analysis of the book "Mistica Maëva and the Venice Ring" by Laura Walter) and writing activities as means to motivate and develop the understanding of the text (epistolary correspondence with a primary school in the province of Padua).

The "Night of Tales", a Swiss project that has been repeated yearly since 1991, has involved girls and boys aged five to eleven, accompanied by their parents, in an evening dedicated to reading books at school. 

Nearly eighty children joined, carrying a comfortable pillow from home, and found a group of twenty parents and two fifth-grade students who read and acted stories about "All colours!", the slogan of the evening. The readings continued in the morning classes with fourth graders, where the children had the opportunity to read the book "Mistica Maëva and the Venice Ring". 

Through cooperative learning, silent or multi-voice reading, guided reflection on reading techniques and strategies, the pupils read the entire book, which became the object of games and challenges. Finally, fifth graders, involved in a peer tutoring activity, were called to help their fourth grade classmates to learn how to write a letter. 

Epistolary correspondence with the Paduan school began and allowed a precious space and time to mature the reading of Mistica Maëva's adventures, to give birth to stories and to share life stories.

ANNA CHIARA’s version: ... TO PADUA


In the meanwhile, in the Paduan area, two fourth grade classes have made the discovery of the city of Padua and all its wonders. Three parallel and different paths have accompanied us in this great adventure with a specific purpose: preparing the children for the sightseeing of the city, which will soon take place. A question guided the moments that quickly followed one another in our lessons together: how can our minds of explorers imagine Padua? Here is when the children began to immerse in this great challenge with trust and joy in a surprising way.

A first path took place with the reading of the book "Mistica Maëva and the Starry Tower" which guided us inside the city of Padua, to discover its smaller secrets. We looked at photographs and videos, paintings and drawings, and we imagined the beauty of this city. The analysis of the chapters read in the classroom, helped us to divide narrative (the story of Mistica and Giaki), structural (streets, squares and buildings of the city) and cultural elements (idioms, typical foods, legends and tales).

The second path, intertwined with the previous one, involved the children in a unique correspondence: the epistolary one. The children sent several letters to the two fourth grade classes in Verona, writing about themselves and the adventure of Mistica Maëva, that in the meantime they were listening to in the classroom, and they slowly discovered the beauty of having an unusual friend, a pen friend.

The third path, again linked to the previous two, uncovered the children’s creativity and artistic skills. We created a city model of some of the most famous buildings in Padua, where little Maëva accompanied us step by step. We also created small paintings with different painting techniques, representative of the story that we read and listened to in the classroom. A small museum will be made for these works: "Padua in miniature", open to families interested in visiting it, accompanied by children's stories.

Their great minds and small hands created much more than what we could have imagined and the discovery of Padua through reading, imagination and correspondence was truly surprising in every aspect, for them, and for me.

DEAR TEACHERS,

we hope you enjoyed our educational project!

Would you be interested in knowing more?
Or in sharing your experiences with us?

Do not hesitate to contact us, 
we would be happy to listen to you and tell you 
about even the smallest details of our great adventure.

ANNA CHIARA: annac.mastropasqua@gmail.com

ANNA: annafaccioni.af@gmail.com

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