'To all the students, teachers, families, communities and collaborators (with a special mention to Garbiñe Larralde for her illustrations!) who have made this eTwinning story become a reality. Thank you all! This certainly Will be with us forever....'
Book from the eTwinning project:
Don't Judge a Person by a Face
200 students from all over Europe!
And all their teachers:
Alicia Diez (UK) Northampton High School
Marie Fournès Kyrylyszyn & Sebastien Kyrylyszyn (France) Collège Louisa Paulin in Muret
Jose Daniel García Martínez (Spain) Agora Portals International School
Gabriela Krížovská (Slovakia) Základná škola s materskou školou
Eleni Lekka (Greece) 1st Junior High School of Grevena
Nena Mandelj (Slovenia) Osnovna šola Litija
The story of
How eTwinning
Came To Life
THE LAND OF "E" (SPAIN)
Once upon a time, there was a little being. It did not have a name, an Ethnic group, a colour or a shape.
It wandered through space and time just Enjoying being Little Being, and time went by smoothly until one particular day Little Being landed on an Especially Estranged Enclosure. It was what seemed to be the Entertaining land of E, also known to many as the land of España!
.
Since this was the very first time that Little Being had found something meaningful in its existence, it decided to look around and see if it could maybe learn how to belong to that world.
In España, Everybody was very smart but Little Being didn´t know anything about that. It was considered strange, as Everybody around it was different. This was how it first Experienced the feeling of not being Equal!
Little Being had never tasted any food before, but in España it found an Enormous Exhibition of Exquisite ‘Ensaimadas de Mallorca’, a typical pastry from España! Excited about the Experience, Little Being decided to have a go and Embrace the new Exotic taste, but people around it looked at it Evilly because of the way Little Being was Eating it.
Thankfully, Eager Enthusiastic Elena, a girl from Seville, came to the rescue with Enthusiasm and Explained to Little Being how to eat the Ensaimada in an Elegant way. From that very moment, they became best friends!
Eager Elena decided that she wanted to End with all the Envy and Egoism that was so Evident in the World of E and that way she would also Expect to help Little Being to learn about Excitement and Empathy instead. She really liked her city and the food, she also knew how to dance the Ethnic ‘sevillanas’ of España and she couldn´t think of a better way to Enrich Little Being's Experiences in the world of E´s than the two of them Embracing the dance together.
Little Being started to feel Entertained and Excited about España and this new Enjoyable feeling, and it walked around, curious about what Else it would find.
On the way around España, it met Eduardo. He was a very Eloquent chap, who loved Everything about Electricity. Eduardo was Euphoric to Educate Little Being about Electricity, and so he decided to teach Little Being what Electricity was by Exploring some Electrical experiments. But trying to Execute the Experiment itself, poor Little Being got Electrocuted!
Little Being learnt a lesson, it learnt to listen to others to be able to learn from the unknown!
Little Being was Extremely Exhausted after all the Entertainment in the world of E and without much further ado, it decided to Explore its feelings by sitting down and Enjoying this special time on its own.
It put its thoughts together.
Excitement, Exploring, Elegance, Entertainment, Electricity, Envy, Empathy.
And off it went again to the world of no space and no time. Enjoying ... being ...
Until one day...
THE LAND OF "T" (SLOVENIA)
One day Time Took its Toll! And on That day Little Being arrived in a land with the strange shape of a T!
There were Totally new Things in the land of T´s and Little Being suddenly found... a Tin with a Tangible Treasure map in it.
Tempted and Thoughtful, Little Being decided to follow the directions on the mysterious Treasure map.
Little Being Took the Twisted Train and on the Train it met Tina the Turtle. They drank Tea Together and Talked about the Things Little Being had learnt in the world of E´s.
Tina Took notes about Empathy, Excitement and other emerging experiences and thought she would Talk about Them to her T fellows next Tuesday!
They stopped in the Tiny Town of Tintilinti, and Travelled through the Land of T for about Ten days.
Little Being was Thankful for the Time Tina Took to Take it around but it remembered that it had a Task to complete! So, it Told Tina it had a Treasure to find and They went their separate ways from There...
The Tangible Treasure map had a Tiny Text at the Top, and it seemed that the Treasure was Theoretically near the Tower of Truth. But before Little Being started its Trip, it had to understand how to become a Truthful person in the world of
T´s.
There was no Teacher but rather some Tips. Little Being followed the Tips to find a really Tiny and weird steel stick There. Little Being Took it Thoughtfully, while at the same time Trusting itself and experiencing Excitement.
Taking some Time to Think, it saw that the map led it to the next clue, which was hidden under Three Trees. The clue showed it the way to a Thai restaurant where Little Being ordered Tortillas, and this Time it used its knowledge of Elegance and ate them feeling Totally Thankful.
But the tortillas contained something Tremendously suspicious. It was something Tricky to taste. It was ... another Tiny steel stick! Little Being was very confused. But it Took the Tiny stick anyway.
Little Being then Thought for Twelve seconds and, Totally unexpectedly, a Turquoise Tarantula came up and handed it a Tacky Tee-shirt. But it wasn't just some ordinary Tee-shirt. It had a new Tip inside! It was another Tiny steel stick!
Little Being kind of got used to all these Tricky crazy Things happening, so it just Took its newly acquired Tokens and continued Through the land of Tintilinti. Thoughtful, Thankful and Tempted Towards the Tower of Truth where the Treasure was supposed to be!
There was some Tricky Truth to be learnt Though. There was no Treasure around the Tower of Truth and the Tower itself was locked. There was, however, some Transcript written on the door: “Only music can open me”. So although it was Tired, Little Being stopped for a while, looked at the Three sticks it had and... it occurred to him!
Little Being created a Tiny Triangle out of those Three sticks, it Touched it to make a sound and the doors... opened! On the other side there was a portal to the land of W.
Little Being was Thankful for experiencing Time with Tina the Turtle, for learning about Truth and Treasures, for the Tortillas and the Tee-shirt it got from the Tarantula.
How fantastic life was becoming through all these new experiences and learning and how Tempting Travelling back to the world of E´s and T´s was!
But Little Being was desperate
to find the Treasure
and it was sure to find it
in the world of W´s
THE LAND OF "W" (GREECE)
Little Being picked up the three sticks and placed them in its pocket. Without thinking twice, it stepped through the door to find the land of W.
It found itself on a Winding road surrounded by Whole new breathtaking scenery. To its left there was the crystal clear sea, whilst to the right stretched a Wonderful olive green Wood.
Squinting its eyes, it spotted a Wee little girl in the distance. She was sitting on the White sandy beach, gazing at the blue sea. Little Being came close to the girl.
“Excuse me, what is this place?” it asked in a gentle voice.
“Hi!” replied the Wee girl who was enjoying a slice of a mouth-Watering red and green fruit.
She split her fruit into two and offered Little Being some.
“Here!” she said. “Have some Watermelon. But be careful with the seeds! If you swallow them, they might get stuck into your throat.”
“Thanks for giving me half your fruit” it said.
“I like to share my things” replied the girl. “Sharing is fun”
Little Being had never thought that sharing was fun. Looking back on its past, it remembered how kind the people in España had been to it. Yes, it had experienced the joy of sharing before but now it was all clearer to him.
All of a sudden, the earth started to quake, the sea became rough and a giant Wave splashed on the girl and on Little Being. A massive Whale emerged out of the water.
“I can hear you’re having a Whale of a time!” the Whale said.
“Hello, Wise Whale” the girl replied.
The Whale came closer to Little Being and she gave it a White shell. “Welcome to Wonderland!” she said in a soft kind voice. “This is my gift for you. Use it Wisely!”
Little Being took the shell in its hand. On the shell it read the Word “Wishes”. It held it tight on its chest. It felt really lucky! “I really like being here. I don’t feel different” said Little Being.
“Different? You’re in Wonderland.
Here everyone is different. In their own special way” said the girl in a kind, friendly voice.
Little Being remembered all the adventures it had had, the world of W was Weird and Wonderful, it was once again Thankful as it learned about the Wonder of Wishes, and Sharing.
Looking back, it had now a Wide range of Experiences: Empathy, Truths and Wishes were some of the amazing new feelings it was able to recount. Life was so full of joy!
And suddenly, the feeling of Wishing came Widely in its thoughts.
Where was the treasure gone??...
Exhausted as it was,
Little Being
fell into a deep sleep...
THE LAND OF "I" (SLOVAKIA)
With a sudden Itch, It woke up... and Little Being found Itself in the world of I. There was an Indicative Isolated sign with the name of Itiva on It. The Indication pointed to the North of the country. There was an Incredible Icy Igloo and Little Being decided to Initiate Its Investigations and hopefully find the treasure In there!
It had to move on In Its quest to find the treasure. So It decided to travel to other places, using its experiences on Sharing and Truths and Wonders and Wishes to meet new beings and tell them all about It! Little Being had accumulated an Inventive Imagination by now, and It knew that when you follow your dreams, they can become true Indeed!
Little Being decided to build an Imaginative Ingenious Interstellar ship. After a few days, the starship was completed. Immediately, It took some food from the world of I, some famous Icy Ice cream and then It got into the starship. It travelled in space for days, months...
But It didn't find the treasure anywhere.
One day, when It woke up, It found out that Its starship had landed on the planet Icee. Little Being decided to Investigate the planet. When It got out of the ship, It didn't see any animals, but some strange creatures. They were Identical Iguanas.
Little Being tried to make friends with them, but they didn't want to be Its friends. Little Being wasn't from their planet, so the Identical Iguanas started making fun of It.
Little Being was very sad.
Luckily, Inclusive Iguana came to help. His name was Ivan the Inclusive Iguana. Little Being found out that they had a lot In common. Mr Ivan was complaining that the other Iguanas were laughing at him and didn't want to be his friends because of his middle name, Inclusive.
Yes, it knew It was not a common name in the World of I , but hey! It was nice to be different from others. Little Being and Ivan became really good friends.
One day, the other Identical Iguanas started observing the two of them, how they laughed and how happy they were. So they decided they wanted to be friends with them. The Iguanas apologized to Little Being for not being kind to It. It forgave them for as long as they accepted to be Inclusive at all times.
After some Idyllic time in Icee World, Little Being remembered the Importance of finding the treasure!
It was so sad that It had to leave Its friends, particularly Its best friend Ivan, but yet It had learnt a lot about Inclusion and It had eaten so much Ice cream that It was ready to go.
Ivan and the Identical Iguanas (now also known as Identical Inclusive Iguanas) waved an Immense Goodbye.
And suddenly, with the power of Intention, Little Being found Itself in the world of Navi.
But this is another story...
THE WORLD OF "N" (FRANCE)
So Little Being arrived in a whole new place. It had a Novelty shape. It was the land of N, also known as the World of Navi.
Nevertheless, In Navi everything was Nebulous, dark, cold and scary. Little Being thought how difficult it would be to find the treasure in there!
Little Being saw many little cubes in the distance. It decided to go there and see what they were. Were they houses???
Once it was Near them, it Noticed Nervously that in Navi there were some Nameless Cubes. Little Being looked at one of the cubes' sides. There was a door... It could read “For you” on it. Not knowing what to make of this, Little Being went in.
There was Nothing inside but a Normal bed. Little Being looked through the window but it didn’t understand why this Nameless cube was separated from the other cubes Nearby. It felt Neglected, Non-important and almost Non-existent compared to the rest of the cubes again!
But before going to bed to have a rest, it went outside to have a better look at what was around it, hoping to understand a bit more where it was. It was just curious to discover a bit more about the place it would have to blend in this time!
What it saw was distressing: there was No one, No sun, No heat, No Noise, No flowers, No trees. Was the world of Navi the world of NOTHING? It felt lonely and lost! It Needed a friend, someone to talk to! It Needed to feel included!
That’s why it decided to push its cube to get closer to the other ones! So it tried and tried and tried again, but with No success. Its cube Never moved an inch! Little Being felt so sad and disappointed! Nothing made sense.
Suddenly, Little Being remembered the magic shell the whale had given it in Wonderland. So it took it out of its pocket and held it tight, wishing with all its heart not to be alone anymore.
It used its knowledge of Encouragement, Trust, Wisdom and Intention, and suddenly It turned its head to the right and noticed another isolated cube, and inside it, there was another Being but it was, it was, it was so Naturally Green!!!!!
Little Being joined it and asked: “Hi! Are you alone too? What’s your name?”
Mr Naturally Green answered: “Yes, I am; so I was Never given a Name. This is a land of Nerds, but none of them has ever given me a Name.”
As they were talking and getting to know each other, they Noticed that their cubes were moving towards each other!!!
All of a sudden, Little Being understood how it worked in the World of Navi: its inhabitants Needed to talk and accept their differences in order to gather together. In fact, they didn’t Need to push their houses towards the others, No physical strength was Necessary. They only Needed to communicate and want to discover New things, New cultures, New relationships and for all that No book is Necessary!
Little Being had learnt about Nerds and Nameless cubes. In the World of Navi things were rather New! And it was that Novelty feeling that suddenly made it feel Nearer than ever to the treasure...
Never say Never ...
Treasure I´m coming!
THE WORLD OF "N" (FRANCE)
It was funny how, from a distance, the cubes together looked like a Nest! Little Being and Mr Naturally Green stopped, wondering where a Noisy Noise was coming from. That was a voice ...
This voice was coming from behind a Nest. They decided to take a look. You’ll never believe what they saw.
They were face to face with another being who was different! He was... orange!!!
They asked him: “Hello! Who are you? What are you doing?”
Orange Being answered: “Hi! My Name’s Notorious Oscar. I’m reading a story.”
Mr Naturally Green said: “ Your story sounded strange to us. You said: ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ,7’ What does that mean?”
Notorious Oscar looked surprised! He replied: “It’s very simple! 1+1 makes 2, just like the 2 of you. And + me, it makes the 3 of us! And if we add all the beings living with me in the village, it makes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc !”
Little Being was fascinated and it got really curious.
It asked Notorious Oscar: “What’s your village like?”
“In my village, we all come from different places, we’re all of different colours but we’ve learnt to live together, accepting our differences. And today, we help each other to have a better life!” replied Notorious Oscar.
Notorious Oscar added: “Would you like to come with me to the village? We’re 41. With 2 more, we’ll be 43!”
Little Being and Mr Naturally Green answered with No hesitation: “What a fantastic idea! But what if the others don’t accept us?”
Notorious Oscar reassured them: “Don’t worry about that! My friends are kind! And you know, each of them were in your place at some point!”
The World of Navi was becoming Nicer and Nurturing!
Little Being was getting Nervous, as it still had to find the Treasure! But before it had to leave the World of Navi to continue its quest, Notorious Oscar that was a bit of a Nerd, decided to do a Nice Name surprise to it. Oscar turned to Little Being, thought for a while and said: "You have come to Navi, and shared your Experiences, your Truths and Wonders, your Ideas and Nurture, and for that I think the Name Will would suit you well, Will the Narrator and treasure hunter!"
So, as Oscar and Mr Naturally Green started walking in the direction of the village, Will decided to return to Icee to find its friend Ivan the Inclusive Iguana, promising Oscar and Mrs Naturally Green to come back as soon as he could.
So off he went
with his Newly-Needed Name, happy as a Newlywed!
Will the treasure hunter!
THE LAND OF "I" (SLOVAKIA & GREECE)
“Wake up! Hurry!” Will felt someone shaking him. He opened his eyes. He was In his Ingenious Interstellar ship once again, and he saw a creature crawling over him. First, It looked blurred. Then, he could see It clearer.
“Ivan the Inclusive Iguana!!!!!!” Will shouted.
He stood up In no time and gave his friend an Incredibly Impressive Immense hug!
“I missed you so much!!!” continued Will! “I have so many things to tell you!! Incredible things!! First, I have a name!! WILL! My name’s Will the treasure hunter!! Isn’t that Ideal?! I’ve discovered a wonderful place called Navi. And I’ve met new friends! I want you to come with me to Navi! Please, say yes!!!”
Ivan was Immensely Involved In joy to see his friend again! He had missed him too! Of course, he would love to travel to Navi with Will but first, he needed Will’s help to solve an Important Issue In Icee.
Will followed Ivan Into the Igloos. After a while, the two of them reached their destination. On the one side there was Checked-hat Wizard of Wonderland with a huge box next to him. An incredibly immense amount of ice creams were Inside It. On the other side there was Wonderful Woman holding his magic wand.
“Would you be willing to help me In the Ice cream War?" Ivan the Iguana asked Will. "Checked-hat Wizard of Wonderland has Initiated a war against Wonderful Woman. He wants all the Ice creams in Icee for himself. Square, round, heart-shaped, club-shaped, diamond-shaped, spade-shaped, star-shaped... the lot.”
Will remembered how In the world of I, beings and people felt Independent and Isolated at times, so he needed to help them with his own experience this time. Will followed his Impulsive Intuition and spoke. “Why don’t you share the Ice creams, Checked-hat Wizard of Wonderland?"
“And who are you to speak? You are not one of us, nor Is she! I’m not sharing my Ice creams with any weird stranger!” Checked-hat Wizard replied angrily.
“Don't expect to use your magic wand this time!” Wonderful Woman Interrupted.
“Give it back!” the wizard demanded.
“Don't you understand?? In the world of Icee, you need to use Inclusion or you’ll never be able to open the Ice cream box!
So, you’re not going to have any ice cream unless you learn how to Include all Individuals and share!” she said.
Will remembered the shell the whale had given him before. He instantly placed It Inside the Iguana’s hat and Intentionally he Inserted the Instructions to Inspire the Iguana to share.
“I wish there were Ice creams for everyone In every shape and flavour!” he wished.
The box Immediately opened and all sorts of Ice creams started popping out. Inclusion Invaded all beings In the world of Icee, and now Will and Ivan were ready to return to Navi once again. Was the treasure to be found there?
Will was just Incredibly Impatient about it all!
THE WORLD OF "N" (FRANCE)
Will and Ivan landed back in the world of N, the land of Navi. Will couldn’t wait to meet Notorious Oscar and Mr Naturally Green in the village and introduce them to Ivan the Inclusive Iguana.
The World of Navi was hardly recognizable! The sun was shining bright in the sky and in their absence, flowers and trees had grown so much! The air was filled with New exquisite fragrances they could smell with their tiny Noses and Numerous Noisy Nymphs were Navigating around every corner of Navi!
Will was happy to be back and more determined than ever to find the treasure.
Will began by introducing Ivan to his friends and then he told them all about the ice cream war and how only Inclusion was Needed to Negotiate it! They were all so refreshed and Needing this News of Magic and Wonders that Notorious Oscar decided to organize a big party in the land of Navi, gathering every villager to celebrate their return.
During the party Will met all the different beings living in the village: it was a festival of colors - purple, blue, red, brown, pink, small, tall, slim, fat - all Nicely Networking.
Will still had the magic shell and the magic wand in his pocket - or so he thought- so he Needed Notorious Oscar to find a safe place to keep them for Now.
Notorious Oscar offered Will to keep them in the Nation´s Narrow Nest which was the safest place of all! But when Will wanted to take the shell and the wand out of his pocket... they were Not there anymore!!!
Oscar felt so unhappy and Naturally Negative!!! Could there be any Negligent and Nosy beings in this Nation who could have robbed them?! He could Not believe it !!
Oscar said to Will: "Even if it's hard to accept, I think that while you were telling me about your magic shell and your magic wand, some Nosy people stole them from you!"
Will Nodded adding: “Not to worry my friend! These objects can only be used for good and kind deeds. If it's not the case, they'll ...” At this very moment, they were blinded by a Numbing flash of light from a Nebula, and they heard a big Noise. “GRRRRRR”.
When Oscar could see again, our Little Being was No longer there.
He looked up at the sky
where he could read
an enormous G.
What was the meaning of it ??? Was it some sort of doorway?
THE LAND OF "G" (ENGLAND)
“Grrrr!!!” . “CHSSSSS!!!” sneezed Gregory the Giant.
And with that Gigantic noise, Will found himself in the Great land of G´s! Curious Gnomes and Guinea pigs gathered around him, Grabbing and Greeting Will with Glory. This was the land of Gust, a land where especially Guinea pigs liked to Giggle and Gossip! But Will had really had enough, he just was exhausted, and he wanted desperately to find the treasure!
He had gone through many lands so he Gathered all the Great creatures from the land of Gust, and started to tell them his story, hoping to find some help.
He spoke about Ensaimadas, the Electrical shot and the Empathy he learnt in España, and the Guinea pigs were Green with Envy! Will went on to explain about the Treasure to be found from the land of T and the Whale in Wonderland with the tasty watermelon!
At this stage some Geeky looking Gruffalos joined in to Grasp more of Will's stories. Will couldn’t forget the Incredible stories in Icee, the Ice cream war and his beloved Ivan the Iguana and the curious land of Navi with the Nurturing Cubes and his dear Notorious Oscar and Mr Naturally Green. So many Gifts he had Gained and so much Gladness he was starting to feel!
All of a sudden, all the creatures Gathered together looked Greatly Glad. Giselle the Gerbil of Greatness was to be instantaneously called! She was a Galaxy of knowledge and she surely knew about the treasure... The Treasure!!
Will Grew happier and Grasped his last strength to find Giselle the Gerbile of Greatness. He had to Go to the Glittering Golden tree where Giselle awaited, with her Glowing Globe in her hand. She smiled widely and sincerely, and invited Will over to some Green Gingerly Grapes.
Without further ado, a Glinting Gem-studded chest appeared in the tree.
Giselle the Gerbile of Greatness kindly asked Will to place his Gatherings next to her Glowing Globe. Will was somehow hesitant. They were his memories, his gainings, his wisdom, his treasures! What would his friends think if he gave them up?
But Giselle told him in a Gentle and Generous voice that he would have to exchange his learning if he was to Get the treasure. He would have to be Gentle and Gracious if he was to succeed in solving the final Glorious Riddle on the Gem-studded chest:
'The Treasure to find you must be clever,
Inclusion is Needed more than Ever'
And with a Guiltless feeling of Gratitude, Will Gradually Gathered the Gigantic amazingness of what he had achieved!
He had Gifted everything and everyone in his universe with the power of “eTwinning!”
Excitement, Truth, Wonder, Inclusion, Novelty, Nurturing, Imagination, Networking and Gratitude amongst many many other concepts!
Because all the worlds were one, and one world was them all!
The power of the newly discovered concept helped Will´s universe to be full of eTwinning for all!
The End
'To all the students, teachers, families, communities and collaborators (with a special mention to Garbiñe Larralde for her illustrations!) who have made this eTwinning story become a reality. Thank you all! This certainly Will be with us forever....'
Book from the eTwinning project:
Don't Judge a Person by a Face
200 students from all over Europe!
And all their teachers:
Alicia Diez (UK) Northampton High School
Marie Fournès Kyrylyszyn & Sebastien Kyrylyszyn (France) Collège Louisa Paulin in Muret
Jose Daniel García Martínez (Spain) Agora Portals International School
Gabriela Krížovská (Slovakia) Základná škola s materskou školou
Eleni Lekka (Greece) 1st Junior High School of Grevena
Nena Mandelj (Slovenia) Osnovna šola Litija
The story of
How eTwinning
Came To Life