Edmodo+Pen+Pal+Project

Project Coordinator - Tina Schmidt - @MrsSchmidtB4

Students will engage in discussions with other students in the project about their country, school, hobbies, favorite activities, etc. Students will learn to respect and appreciate the opinions, cultures and customs of others. Students will be able to see the differences and similarities between themselves and others around the world.
 * Project Goals: **


 * Duration : Round 1: **Starting Sept/Oct 2013 **Round 2**: Starting February/March 2014


 * Targeted Grade Levels/Age Groups: ** Ages 7 and up. Classes will be grouped with others in a similar age range. I will do my best to connect classrooms in different areas but it all depends who signs up.

Students will use Edmodo to communicate with the other students in their group. Edmodo is a social network that allows students and teachers to create groups that are closed to the public. Once a teacher has signed their class up, I will link them will 3 other classrooms from different regions of the world. That cluster will create a group on Edmodo and have their students chat to learn about different aspects of each others’ lives. Teachers in the cluster will be responsible for providing discussion topics and moderating the chat. Sample topics might include favorite foods, holidays, school subjects, free time activities, sports, etc. Upper grades might discuss current events or topics for a certain historical event. Teachers in a cluster may decide to put students into small groups for a book discussion or to collaborate on a writing project. Be creative and have fun with these interactions!
 * How This Project Works: **

1. Please make sure your students are using proper grammar and spelling and not using “texting” language. This is an educational group. **Teachers should moderate all comments in the group.** If you see anything anything inappropriate, take a screenshot of it and then delete it. Share the screenshot with that students' teacher and use it as a "teachable moment" to explain what postings should look like.
 * Guidelines: **

2. Please be committed to commenting in the group about once a week. It is not fair to the other group members when classrooms don’t follow through after signing up for a project.

1. Fill out THIS FORM.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How to Join: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Students and teachers will each need to create their own individual Edmodo account with a username and a password. Classroom teachers should create their own group first and allow students to try it out with classmates if they have never used Edmodo before. Clusters will be created as teachers sign up for the project. I will do my best to connect classes with others in different areas, but it will depend on how many teachers join the project. Once clusters are formed, I will email links to a Google Doc so an Edmodo group can be created and teachers can get when they are ready.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. View Edmodo Netiquette Prezi below and have a discussion with your students about proper behavior in the group.

4. Check out this list of Sample Chat Topics and add your own ideas to share with other clusters.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DM @MrsSchmidtB4 or <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">or email me direct (email address on the K-3 Teacher Directory) This project is for registered #globalclassroom participants.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For further information **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read the Global Classroom Blog Post describing this project.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For Help with Edmodo visit the Edmodo Help Center

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