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 Printable Version
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Title - Keypals - Electronic Penpals
By - Clarissa Crisp
Primary Subject - Language Arts
Secondary Subjects - Social Studies, Computers / Internet
Grade Level - 2-4
Time Frame - 4 weeks/1 semester
Michigan State Standards(s):
English Language Arts: (Early Elementary)
- Content Standard 1: All students will read and comprehend general and technical material.
- Content Standard 3: All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak,
view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.
- Content Standard 10: All students will apply knowledge, ideas, and issues drawn from their lives and the lives of others.
Outcomes:
Students will enhance their awareness of societies and cultures from around the world by maintaining communication through email correspondence with students from other schools, states and even countries all while practicing and composing letters in the proper electronic format.
Materials:
- Technology:
Students will need to use a computer that has access to the WorldWideWeb.
- Other Materials:
If students are able to choose which site to create a penpal from, the teacher should provide acceptable sites for the student to pick from with acceptable subject matter to discuss.
Prerequisite Knowledge:
Students should be able to read/write and know basic typing skills.
Learning Environment:
Since students need access to a computer, this lesson needs to be done in either a computer lab or a classroom that has computer access.
Teaching Procedure -
Motivation:
Gain the students attention by pumping them up for writing to others. Read a short story on long distance communication or other cultures. Not only will the students gain appreciation for the people they will be writing to, they will get excited to be in contact with someone that is outside of their own school.
Examples of books to read: Pen Pals (All Aboard Reading) by Joan Holub or Spanish and English Friendship by Catherine Bruzzone, Lone Morton
Teaching Procedure - Body:
- Gain students attention through the use of a short story.
- Explain what a keypal is: a person that communicates
back and forth with another person on a regular basis.
- Explain who can be a keypal: anyone that can write.
- Where are keypals located: anywhere, in the same or
different school, city, state and or country.
- What is communicated with a keypal: anything that is appropriate to discuss, like your hobbies, interests, favorite subjects, animals, books etc. (What is proper and what is unproper should be discussed.) Let the students know that as the teacher you are able to view their communication interactions at anytime and consequences explained later will occur if the communication is not acceptable in the school setting.
- How do you find keypal? Give the students a choice to what type of keypal they might want to have. Many sites for age appropriate keypals are available free of charge. A list of trusted and safe site should be provided to the students.
Following are some examples of teacher approved keypal sites for students;
- Once student’s find a keypal, make sure they turn in what site they are using and some basics on the person that is their keypal, name, grade and location at a minimum.
- Student’s should spend at least twenty minutes reading their mail received form their keypal and responding to their keypal. Before submitting their keypal message have the student either print or email you the message they wrote. This way the teacher can control the message being sent and make sure it is appropriate and also assist student with their grammar, punctuation and computer etiquette. It will be up to the teacher to grade on grammar or just on participation.
- Length of the keypal assignments is up to teacher, but it is suggested that in order for the student’s to form a bond and rhythm of sending letters back and forth, that the keypals continue for at least one month if not more. It should be encouraged that students do not need to stop communicating with their keypal just because the assignment has ended but rather encourage them to keep communicating with their keypal on a long term and regular basis.
- Teachers should schedule regular updates that the student should give on their keypal communication. Have the student share with the rest of the class details about their keypal and what information that have been exchanging.
Teaching Procedure - Closure:
- Remind students why they are taking part in the keypal assignment, which is to gain knowledge of people outside of their school, state or maybe even county. Learning about people outside your community give allows for a better appreciation of other cultures. Students also learn computer etiquette, typing, grammar and speech skills as part of the keypal assignment.
- If the teacher finds particular keypal individuals that their students are communicating with, follow up with a short story or factual information that culture. For example, if one of your students are communicating with a person in Australia, share some facts with the rest of the class on Australia.
Teaching Procedure - Assessment Activity:
Have each student keep a personal running journal of their keypal communications. When the assignment is completed for classroom purposes, the student must give an oral presentation of their keypal adventure including what keypal server they used, who their keypal partner was, where they were located and any other interesting facts they can share with the rest of the class. Students must also hand in a written or emailed essay (up to the teacher which format) that includes a written reflection on their keypal experience.
Performance Indicators:
Does not Conceptualize the Lesson:
Student does not turn in or turns in an incomplete essay that shows no evidence of a reflection of the assignment and oral presentation is short with little or no information on their keypal and/or keypal experience.
Is Developing Conceptualization of the Lesson:
Student turns in an incomplete essay that shows some reflection on their keypal assignment, but is not in depth. The student’s oral presentation lacks full in-depth information on their keypal experience, but does show effort.
Fully Conceptualizes the Lesson:
Student turns in an essay that well reflects their keypal experience and also gives an oral presentation that covers in-depth detail about their keypal and keypal experience.
Assessment Rubric
| Criteria |
| | Strong | Adequate | Inadequate | No Evidence |
| Essay that included reflection was submitted to teacher | | | | |
| Student’s gave oral presentation including information on their keypal | | | | |
Follow-Up for Students who did not Conceptualize the Lesson:
If any students did not understand or "get" the lesson try the following:
- Buddy a stronger student with one that is struggling. Sometimes having a peer teach another peer is a great way for the student to learn.
- Give the struggling student a list of ideas and questions that they can ask their keypal. Sometimes students just need a little assistance to get the ball rolling.
- Show struggling students an example of well written reflection essays so they understand exactly what is expected of them. Sometimes students need specific directions to feel capable of completing the task.
Adjustments for Special Needs Students:
Dyslexic Students: Many dyslexics have good visual spatial skills. Print out assignment directions on colored paper, and use steps by step instructions and bold key items. Use visual aids, for example: do a presentation in class on the keypal assignment showing students actual keypal sites and what it looks like to communicate online. Give the student extra time needed and most importantly, consult the student on how they feel they can learn best.
Vision Impaired Students: Screen-reading, text to speech programs are great, but pricey. If your school can invest in this, the vision impaired student can speak what they want typed to their keypal. A less expensive method would be to buddy up vision impaired students to non vision impaired students and have them collaborate on what they want communicated.
Hearing Impaired Students: Visual aides are key. Showing a hearing impaired students is the best way for them to learn. Follow-up with step by step instructions for the assignment. If giving the oral presentation is a problem, have them write down what they would present and read it aloud or have another student read it aloud to the rest of the class.
Physically Impaired Students: Make sure all parts of the classroom or computer lab are accessible to all students. Adapt the classroom to enable physically impaired students to engage in the same activities as other student. Using the buddy system is another great way to assist physically impaired students.
Lesson References:
Books:
- Pen Pals (All Aboard Reading) by Joan Holub
- Spanish and English Friendship by Catherine Bruzzone and Lone Morton
- Polly's Pen Pal by Stuart J. Murphy, Illustrated by Remy Simard
- Arthur's Pen Pal by Lillian Hoban
- My Pen Pal Pat by Lisa Papademetriou
- A Pen Pal for Max by Gloria Rand and Ted Rand
- The Spaniel Family's Pen Pal Adventure by Sharon Ellsberry, Ellen Schweers and Amy Fox
World Wide Web (URLs):
E-Mail Clarissa Crisp!
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