Sabina Grabar, OŠ Martina Konšaka, Maribor

Cooperative learning, web page browsing, use of electronic dictionaries, critical thinking, reading learning strategies, web classroom – the forms of work I have included, when I discussed Prešeren’s poem Apel in čevljar with my eighth-grade students. The students worked in pairs and they received the instructions for work in the web classroom. First they went online (they were given links) to read about Jernej Kopitar and familiarize with the story behind the poem. By applying a comparative matrix they compared Prešeren’s and Kopitar’s views of language and literature. By using electronic dictionaries they explained unknown words they came across in the poem. After second reading they analysed the poem, whereby one half of the class analysed the poem in terms of its content, and the other half explored the language and the construction of the poem. After that, a student from the first group worked with a student from the second group. They showed their findings to each other and learned about all elements of interpretation. This was followed by critical thinking. On the forum the students discussed the contemporary character of the poem’s message. At the end they engaged in some creative work. They used the reversed dictionary in an electronic form to find rhymes and write poems about Prešeren. Reflexion has shown that students as active participants of class realized the planned objectives through their cooperative work and by modern technology.