Global Awareness Discussion

For the Global Awareness Lesson I chose to use the resource EPALs. In my classroom we do an activity called Christmas around the World back in December. During this time the students learn about various countries and cultures. Since we learn about so many places, it is all very brief. The students were very interested in learning about Africa, so I thought I would extend that lesson for my global awareness lesson. For this lesson the students will all have a pen pal from Africa through the EPALs tool. They will be communicating with this person over the course of 8 weeks. During this time they will be gathering information about food, dance, culture, music, etc. At the end of the 8 weeks each child will create a Power Point consisting of the information they have gathered. We will have a celebration day where we will come in share our presentations, listen to the traditional music, eat African food, and even practice some of the dances. I thought this was a perfect global assignment because it extends on an activity we have already done and is very kid friendly for the students. As the teacher I also am able to monitor everything that is said between my student and their pen pal. The students are able to learn so much from these other students while they learn from my students as well. I think it will great learning experience and will also help clear up any misconceptions they may have.