Using Email/Key Pals to Enhance Instruction

5 Potential Instructional Uses:

1. Math: Collaborate with another class (in your school, county, another state, country) to conduct surveys. Pick a topic, survey your key pal class, organize the information in a graph, and display it on a website. Reading: Another collaboration idea is sharing book reviews with each other. After students read a book, they can write a review, and post their review on their collaborative web page. Be sure to come to consensus among the two classes what should be included in the book reviews. These two topics could be adjusted to fit any elementary grade.

2. Writing: Choose a political topic or a topic that effect students (i.e., more money for school textbooks, year round school, stricter gun laws). Students can write a persuasive letter to a local congress person through email. This could be the cumulative project in a persuasive writing unit. I would recommend this activity for grades 2 and above.

3. Writing: Simply use email to be pen pals with another student. This activity allows students to practice their letter writing and communication skills. Any grade-level student would be able to take part in this instructional use.

4. Writing: Have students interview their key pals. The two classes should create a list of questions that should be asked in order to gain information about your fellow student. Then, each student can write a biography about the student they interviewed. The biographies could be published on their collaborative web page. Again, this is an activity that could be adapted for any grade level by simply adjusting the number and types of questions, as well as the biography requirements. For instance, a first grade class could complete a class biography instead of individual biographies.

5. Assessment/Evaluation: Teachers can use email as a tool for assessing and evaluating student learning. At the end of the week, students visit the computer lab and email their teacher something they learned this week or a question they may still have about a concept. This is a way to summarize, or bring closure to, the week of learning. The summarizer can pertain to a specific subject area (secondary) or anything taught that week (elementary). This activity is structured for grades 2 and above. Grade 1 students should be able to participate in this activity during the second semester.

2 Recommended Sites:

ePals – This site allows teachers to locate other classes that would like to participate in ePals. In addition, there are numerous project ideas that correspond to the age level that best suits your class. The projects include already created questions/surveys/worksheets that students can correspond with one another. Also, the project descriptions allow teachers to relate the projects to the curriculum.

http://www.epals.com/community/

Ask an Expert – This site hooks students up with experts from a variety of different fields. Students learn how to locate information through sending emails to experts. I like this site because it better correlates to the science and social studies curriculum, which is often forgotten. This site allows teachers to integrate two subjects, such as science and writing (for example: writing an informative paper about the inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay).

http://www.askanexpert.com/