I was wondering if anyone out there would be willing to help us out, and at the same time hopefully give your students a new experience and possibly start a bit of a collaboration going into the future.
We are about to conduct an inquiry into how Australian identity has been shaped by Australian history. For this, our Grade 5 and 6 students (ages 10-12) need some sense of what Australian identity is, and I thought that a good start might be to get our students talking to students from around the world and identify things that makes Australians different from students from other nationalities.
My thought is to do this through Skype. Our school uses Skype extensively to access outside experts in various fields, as well as link up with other schools for online discussions. Of course, I'm not wedded to this idea, but I think it would have great impact if it could be done. So if you have a group of students who would like to talk about their identity to our kids, we'd love to talk to you. We are planning on making some links in the week starting April 12th. Some questions for you to consider...
• What festivals are important in your country?
• What did you have for dinner last night?
• What sports do you play?
• Describe your dwelling
• Describe your city or town
• Where we you born? Where were your parents born? What is your ancestry?
• What sorts of jobs do your parents do?
• Who are considered heroes in your country?
• Who gets to go to school in your country?
· Who lives in your house?
· What do you think makes your country special to you?
· Who leads your country? Do your parents vote?
· What do you want to be when they grow up?
· What religions are in your class?
· What languages do you speak at home? In school?
Finally, not that we're fussy, but if there are any Asian schools out there who'd be interested in hooking up with us, that would be fantastic, as our curriculum outcomes specify comparisons with Asian countries. And the time difference problem would be easier too!
Many thanks,
Rob Sbaglia, Castlemaine North Primary School
Replies
My name is Mark Fijor and I am a Technology Facilitator in Arlington Heights, Illinois outside of Chicago. I have a 5th grade classroom that would be interested in working with your class. I would love to be able to set up some times that we can work together. You can email me directly at mfijor@sd25.org if you would like.
Thanks,
Mark