Kids Can Make a Difference
How does collaboration with diverse individuals make our voice stronger as we address a local need?
Photo Credit: Dani. By Ana Campos is licensed under CC by 2.0
Students write letters to pen pals in a very different community from their own and develop a joint project over long distance that benefits their own communities.
Adaptation: Whether teaching in person or in a virtual classroom, teachers can help support student self-regulation with the goal toward helping students manage big emotions and improving educational outcomes.
The classroom is matched up with another classroom (or any group of people) in the country or the world. The students communicate by letter or e-mail and compare characteristics of place such as methods of transportation, weather, resources, and culture. Students will eventually work with their pen pal classroom to design and implement a service project.
Note: While this lesson was designed to partner students with other children who live in different communities, for those who are teaching virtually a possible adaptation is to partner students with other classes in your building as a way of building community locally.
Students write to pen pals in a different community and discuss ideas related to a service project. For example, the pen pals may plan and monitor a canned-good donation project.