Activity

Penpal Program

Do you want to start a penpal program and don't know where to start?

Do you want to start a penpal program? Use my base materials to connect with schools in foreign countries and have all the information needed. Early summer is a great time to get connected with American/foreign schools since their school years typically start in September. You can also use this time to start planning class time with your JTE and ask for funding to send the letters via Snail Mail if your school allows.

I used it with my 2nd year JHS students, so annotations are used for the first few programs in the Sunshine 2 textbook. Other activities can be used based on your students skill level. I also planned for snail-mail, but this can easily be adapted into a virtual email penpal activity.

The Doc for Teachers includes American standard Common Core objectives, which is what schools use for their curriculum, as well as example letters, guidelines for students and other information! Highlighted in yellow is items you should change based on your school and schedule.

The Powerpoints are for use with the first classroom activity. In the first class, I went over the powerpoint and had students start on their first letters. In the second class, they continued the letters and rewrote it on nicer paper when they were finished. Note: this may take longer or shorter depending on how long you take with the powerpoint and the language level of students. Make sure to read the information in the notes on each slide for discussion points/notes on what needs to be changed. Future powerpoints could be omitted for time, or made by the students to showcase their schools/areas/culture etc.

Document for students is adapted from ALTInsider/EigoGanbare for ease of use and printing.

Hope this is helpful! I've been working on compiling information since I'd be starting from scratch in my school and from my experience, American schools will work with you much easier if you already have everything ready to go! It is a super adaptable activity for schools.

Files:
Small files
  • ALT Pen Pal for Teachers.docx (28.8 KB)
  • ALT Pen Pal print for students.docx (236 KB)
  • Medium files (requires an account to download) -
  • ALT Learn About American Schools.pptx (14.4 MB)
  • ALT Learn About Japanese Schools.pptx (6.04 MB)
  • 13
    Submitted by MinamiCat July 26, 2022 Estimated time: 1-2 classes each exchange
    1. kirbystar July 27, 2022

      Thank you so much for compiling this information! I am really excited to give it a try this year.

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