SCHOOL PEN FRIENDS – 3 WAYS TO GET STARTED

There are 3 ways in which you can start a pen friends project in your classroom (we will help you throughout this process):

Option / It is great because… / What is needed..
State language
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  • Children can write letters in their state language
  • Easiest way for them to express their own ideas
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  • Find schools using your state language which show interest to share letters with us – try to match grade/ batch size so that every child finds a pen pal
  • Connect with your pen pal teacher to discuss details of your class, agree on how you will stay in touch with each other throughout the project
  • Begin the project - Classroom discussion on the themes (with the help of supporting material); Writing letters; posting the letters to the school address

India
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  • A good way to learn about the diversity across the country – families, way of life, weather, travel, famous places, food habits…
  • Learn English for a purpose.
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  • Find schools of other states which show interest to share letters with us – try to match grade/ batch size so that every child finds a pen pal
  • Connect with your pen pal teacher to discuss details of your class, agree on how you will stay in touch with each other throughout the project
  • Begin the project - Classroom discussion on the themes (with the help of supporting material); Writing letters; posting the letters to the school address

World /
  • Expand the horizons of children, learn about countries and cultures very different and still have a lot in common as human beings.
  • Learn to use computers, basic typing of messages
/
  • Connect with a school around the world – Enrolment date – 22nd Jan
  • Begin the project - Classroom discussion on the themes (with the help of supporting material); Writing letters; uploading them on the website
(You can help children learn basic typing on the school computer OR use Teacher Resource Centers for typing and printing letters)

TOPICS FOR THE SIX WEEKS – WORLD / INDIA

Week 1: Daily Life - Family, work, travel and education around the world.

Week 2: Food - How food can tell us the history of a place, favorite dishes, recipes

Week 3: History – Local histories, famous explorers, inventors, leaders

Week 4: Art & Literature – Paintings, famous buildings, musicians and authors.

Week 5: Popular Culture - Famous athletes, movie stars, and musicians.

Week 6: Reflection - Reflect on what you learned during the course.

* For students writing within a state, teachers can vary the topics based on mutual consultation with the partner teacher

INDICATIVE CLASSROOM PROCESS:

Getting all children involved is critical to ensure everyone benefits and learns from this exercise. The teacher needs to support this process through orientation, dialogue, information sharing and scaffolding the writing process. Here is a suggested process for the pen friends exercise:

  • Introduction to pen friends project - Please introduce the idea of pen friends to the class –
  • They can write letters to children in another city / state / country.
  • There will 6 letters we will send – 1 letter every week. The topics for the six weeks are daily life, food, history, art and literature, popular culture, reflection
  • They can freely express themselves. The letters may be written in <______> (Please mention the language you have chosen to write letters in)
  • Please be polite, no bad words. Do not share your full name, home address, phone numbers or any such contact details. For your safety, the letters will be sent from the school address to the corresponding school
  • Orientation on the topic of the week – there can be a 30 min discussion on the topic of the week (e.g. week 1 – Daily life). This will help children understand various aspects of daily life and how it varies from place to place. Teachers can develop / collect supporting materials on this topic. For the world project, support materials are available on the website –
  • Discussion in the class – children can then share their personal stories on the topic. This process is necessary to encourage children to express themselves. Speaking activities come more naturally to children, after this they are more confident to write down their thoughts. During this discussion, the teacher can play a supportive role – e.g. probe for more details, ask for clarifications, prompting them with additional areas if children are running out of ideas. If children are writing in English, they can use a mix of English and their mother tongue in this discussion. The teacher can repeat the sentences in English to help the children. new vocabulary words can be written on the board without distracting the flow of the discussion.
  • Pair / Group discussion – Children could pair up and discuss what they would like to write in the letter. They can ask each other for clarifications, probe further, discuss. This process could be done in pairs / groups depending on the class composition
  • Individual writing – Children can spend 30-60 mins writing down their letter based on the discussion in the previous step. They can again seek help from their partner / teacher. The teacher could write down the word on a card and pass it to the child (instead of writing for them in the letter). The whole class should agree that this help should be given only when asked for. Teachers should avoid showing judgment / frustration when children ask for help. Encouragement at this step of writing is necessary for building their confidence.
  • Pair / Group editing – children can share their letter with their partner. The partners read the letters and ask for clarifications where the writing is not clear. This helps children correct their mistakes before the teacher sees the letters. This process could be done in pairs / groups depending on the class composition
  • Review of drafts by the teacher – the teacher can take the letters back for a review of the draft. Children can be given comments on this draft for clarifying their writing / correcting important mistakes (teachers should focus only on those mistakes which affect the meaning of the sentences). The teacher should then share this feedback with children individually.
  • Final drafts – children can write a final draft based on this feedback. They can add drawings and illustrations.
  • Collection of final drafts – the teacher can collect the final drafts, read them to ensure there are no non-shareable details in the letter. The teacher can post all the letters in one envelope to avoid misplacement of individual letters. The teacher can also keep a photocopy of all letters to be displayed at the school learning festivals.