International pen pal programme for students Helen Meyrick

International pen pal programme for students Helen Meyrick

Background Information • Second year Beginning Teacher at New Lynn School • Year Five and Six class of 28 students • Overall school focus for 2011: Asia Awareness • During Term Two and Term Three, I set up and ran a pen pal programme via email between my class and a class in Selangor, Malaysia

Have you ever had a pen pal? • “” – Margaret Laurent

Why do this? • Primary Reason: School Focus 2011: Asia Awareness • Secondary Reason: Basic computing skills

How did I start? • www. studentsoftheworld. info • www. epals. com

Student Buy-In

Student Buy-In

Student Buy-In

Form for Parents • • What are we are doing in class Why are we doing this Address privacy concerns Make yourself available to discuss the programme

First Emails • • On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 4: 11 PM, Tengku ariff zaquan wrote: HI, how are you ? My name is Tengku Ar. Iff Zaquan bin Dato' Tengku Azmi. I am from Malaysia. Now I am 11 years old and I go to primary school nearby my house. I live in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Peninsular of Malaysia. Have you ever heard about Malaysia? Malaysia is a very beutiful country. Malaysia consists of 11 states in the peninsular of Malaysia which are : 1. Johor 2. Malacca 3. Negeri Sembilan 4. Selangor 5. Perak 6. Penang 7. Kedah 8. Perlis 9. Kelantan 10. Terengganu 11. Pahang whereas in the east Malaysia , there are Sabah and Sarawak. Malaysia is an islamic country. There are 3 major races which are Malay (the biggest population), Chinese and Indian. In Sabah, Iban is the biggest population, whereas in Sarawak is Kadazandusun. Malaysia is a multy racial country, rich with cultural heritage and religion tolerance. In Malaysia, there are many varieties of Malay, Indian and Chinese. There are many places of interest such as beautiful island beaches, highlands such as Cameron Highland is located in the state of Pahang 1500 m above sea level. There are many fruits and vegetable farms. There also tea plantations. I will tell you more about another state in my country. Hope to hear about interesting place in your country. Good bye!

First Emails • Dear Shania, Hi my name is Sophia and I am 11 years old girl. I live in Malaysia. My hobby is playing computer game. My ambition is doctor. I like to eat chocolate. My father's name is Nor Hisham. My mother's name is Zuriati. I have a sister, one little sister and one little brother. My favourite subject is Math. The weather at Malaysia now is hot. That's all for just now

Next Steps • We send our emails to Malaysia • Each child is set up with a pen pal buddy and charted • Malaysian students email back • My students reply with photos

DO NOT PUT IN YOUR EMAIL: Your home address Your home phone number Any email, Facebook, Skype or on-line contact details Any intimate details about your life Too many details about your family's life, eg: where mum and dad work, where family members live

What was gained by this programme? Malaysian students: Room 13: • Opportunity to practice their English • Opportunity to learn about New Zealand • Opportunity to connect with someone in another country • Opportunity to learn more about Malaysia • Opportunity to learn basic computer and email skills • A real connection to Asia Awareness

Key Points • • Commitment from both teachers Buy-in from students Model everything! Regular and extended computer access

What did I learn? (what would I do differently? ) • Limit the emails to three paragraphs to ensure emails are typed on time • Create a chart to track which students have sent an email to their pen pal buddy and which have not received one yet • Ensure there is plenty of regular access to computers

In student’s own words: • “I liked the idea of having a friend in another country that I haven’t seen” – Iris • “You can meet other people in a different country and see what its about, we should Skype them” – Ali • “Its strange that we are posting to someone we have never seen – but it’s a cool feeling, it’s a cool journey”- Anuncia