Journal #2

[comics] Comenipede ‘s adventures in Europe

Modern history: Discoverers, scientists, inventors, creators

http://slaveykovoto.org/comenius/clips/

Virtual Meeting

Two weeks ago, the six countries members of the project had a "virtual meeting" by skype. Pupils could show their work to their friends from others countries. It was a wonderful experience, children enjoyed it a lot. We hope we can  repeat it soon!

About our meeting in Burgas in local paper

Sharing news from Burgas meeting.

As always we had a special meeting with teachers and told them about our last meeting in Burgas, Bulgaria. We shared news, ideas, memories and photos. Basia, Gosia and Jola who were lucky to take part in the meeting prepared famous SHOPSKA SALAD which we had nearly every day in Bulgaria. We did very well and even used original Bulgarian cheese so everybody enjoyed it. Our pupils told about their experiences in Bulgaria in classes too. 

Medieval Warriors

The students from 3c class with interest and enthusiasm took part in activities of the project "Europe in our thoughts, Europe in our lives." They had acquainted with a variety of weapons, armor, warrior fighting techniques and skills in Medieval Europe. With the help of parents and teachers, they drew swords and shields. With great effort the little artists participated in the design and coloring book, medieval warfare - wiking , proto warrior , templar ... " and a horse, knowing that the basic military unit in the Middle Ages was cavalry.

Princess for a day

Especially emotional was the visit to the Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Burgas where the students from 3c and their teacher Mrs. Dragieva is brought up in the Middle Ages. Third graders are transformed into knights and princesses with costumes depicting typical weather clothing. The small actors played romantic, fighting and dancing scenes .

Medieval exhibition

Comenius Open Day - April 2013 Presenting the materials, photos, pictures, dramatization of the play "The Legacy of Khan Kubrat", power point presentation "Medieval Bulgaria" to students, parents and guests.

Medieval castles painted by students of Class 1A

Medieval architecture

In workshops of Club "Tourist Resources of native Black Sea" and 'Geography and economy " led by Aleko Stoytchev were made models of " Golden Church "in Preslav and " Krum's palace " in Pliska from Zhasmina Vulcheva -5a class and Antonia Angelova - 6c class. The Round/ Golden/ Church Founded in 681 as a pagan state, Bulgaria was formally Christianised by Byzantine clergy in the 860s, under Prince Boris (r. 852–889). The Round Church was constructed during the rule of Boris' son and successor, Simeon (r. 893–927), whose successful campaigns established Bulgaria's temporary superiority over Byzantium, at times threatening the Byzantine capital at Constantinople. He extended the territory of the First Bulgarian Empire over most of the Balkans, to the Adriatic and the Aegean. Simeon also conquered the lands of modern Serbia and Montenegro and efficiently eliminated the Magyar threat from the north. Counted among Bulgaria's greatest leaders, Simeon was a benefactor of literature and the arts; his reign is considered the "Golden Age" of medieval Bulgarian culture because of Bulgaria's literary influence over contemporary Slavic Europe. The city of Preslav was made the capital of Bulgaria early in Simeon's reign. Simeon turned Preslav into a cultural centre, a true rival to Constantinople. Тhe city boasted impressive architecture, including a large number of characteristic palaces and dozens of churches. Among them the Round Church, regarded as "one of the most impressive monuments of medieval Bulgarian architecture" and an "expression of the highest achievements of Old Bulgarian culture", stood out.

About our meeting in Burgas paper.

THANK YOU very much to our Bulgarian friends.

Thank you very much for great meeting in Burgas. The teachers and pupils from Poland enjoyed the visit, made new friends, met interesting people and saw lovely places. We learned a lot, admired Bulgarian traditions, especially folk dancing and costumes. Here are a few photos we took.

Welcome with bread, paprica and salt

Performance

Project Meeting

Comenius Team

Talking to pupils

Peacock Farm and Polish pupils with their Bulgarian friends

Nessebar

Goodbye at the railway station

Comenipede

At last meeting in Italy, our spanish colleagues,  brought with them, a T-shirt for each coordinator  with this picture. It shows our mascot, Comenipede and the different countries members of the project. 

A year full of great moments.A day to remember in the railway museum during our meeting in Charlton- on-Otmoor.Cool!!

Tired but satisfied, enjoying the last morning.

Bulgarian clothing in the Middle Ages

4a class pupils with their teacher Mrs.Frangova learned about materials and patterns of  Bulgarian medieval clothing. The information was taken from local clothing, compared with wall-paintings and descriptions in the documents.

Fabrics

      There are fragments of silk,cotton,linen and woven fabrics and less used-wool.The use of silk and linen has not been defined on the class-sign/in King Kaloyan’s burial was found linen./The women decorated their heads with silk ribbons and cords. There was a variety of silk fabrics and veiling. They are usually painted in red, brown, green, white and blue. In the murals appeared yellow and orange clothing. High-ranking people from the portraits wore brightly woven clothes.

        Due to the climate the most common was “sarma”/tinsel/-a kind of woven fabric with thin metal stripes/”lame”/ or textile fibres. It was used  for the clothes of people with different social status. Poor people used it for decoration on the head. It was made by cotton, silk, linen and metals such as silver, gold, copper.

      Another kind of material for clothing was leather.

Decorations on fabrics

      The traditional  decoration was embroidery - flowered or geometric. Ordinary embroidery was in blue, gray, black, red, green. As decoration were sewn fabrics, woven stripes, pearls, metal plates.

      There was a variety of the female hats decoration: beads, caps, silver and gilt stripes, silk cords.

Belts

      The belts of the noble and rich people were expensive, with beautiful silver decoration. The items were on silk or woolen red-colored fabric. The highest-ranking Bulgarian wore covered with gold belts. Poor people wore belts with iron, lead or copper decoration.

      During The Second Bulgarian Kingdom was developed the female-fastening of the belt-“pafti”.They were  beautiful  round relief buckles, made from bronze, with small hooks and loops for junction.

A Medieval fortress wall

Third grade pupils made a model of a fortress wall. They learned a lot of new things about ancient  medieval settlements.The villages were encircled by  walls to protect them from the attacks of enemies. That’s why these walls were stronger, higher and more impregnable. The most used material was stone. At the top of the wall there were loopholes. In the middle of the walls and in the corners rose high towers. In front of the wall  people dug trenches and filled them with water. There was a drawbridge in front of the fortress gate.

The legacy of Khan Kubrat

The pupils of class 3a dramatized the legend ‘’Legacy of Khan Kubrat”/by Angel Karalychev/.The small actors acted in roles of wise Khan and his five sons: Batbey, Kotrag, Asparuch, Kuber and Alcek. As the request of his father, Alcek  broke a cornel stick without any effort. Then  Asparuch tried to break all the sticks in the bundle but he couldn’t. In  this way Khan Kubrat bequeathed to his sons the lesson:  to be strong and invincible they need to stay always together.