As a whole school, we are studying various parts of the globe in Social Studies for the next two months. Each grade has a different continent to focus on: Kindergarten - Australia, 1st - Africa, 2nd - Europe, 3rd - South America, 4th - Asia, 5th - ancient Middle East, 6th - ancient Egypt, 7th - ancient Greece and Rome.

I thought it would be fun and interesting for students to use Skype or Voice Thread to share with people on those continents. The project is somewhat open ended since A) this is the first time I've done this, and
B) it somewhat depends on the connections I make. The concept I'm tossing around is the idea of a short conversation about similarities and differences between us and them. I plan on asking my students what they would like to learn from people who live elsewhere, but I don't want to ask my students and get them excited about it if I don't have a connection.

I've got a couple teachers already in England, France and Australia who have signed on to cover Kindergarten and 2nd grade. I wondered if you might have connections to help with the other continents. For 5th-7th, it's a bit different since they are studying ancient world history, so it would be cool to talk about the ruins, archeology, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Sumerians, etc. that lived there. My ultimate dream would be connect to an expert, like an Egyptologist for example, and allow kids to ask questions.

I know this is very vague and I'm sorry about that. I am just throwing a bunch of ideas out there to as many connections as I can think of to see what might "stick." If you think you could help, I would REALLY appreciate it!

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  • Bernadette,

    You are on to a great idea; however, I think your project needs to be scaled down somewhat. Limit your scope and limit the number of students and develop a prototype, otherwise things can get out of control and impossible to manage.

    Lorne
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