I am a 3rd grade teacher in Connecticut. For the past 3 years my class has made kites in the spring as part of our math curriculum. I started using kites as a way to teach measurement and symmetry, but have since expanded it to applying division and fractions. The students love the chance to use math to make something functional. And, of course, It's great fun to get outside to fly them!
Last year I wanted to add cultural exchange and reading and writing into the unit, so I set up a website where classes around the world could share their experiences and cultural traditions around kites. In the end seven schools from four continents participated. Here is a link to
last year's site.
This year I hope to build on last year’s project. I will use a wiki to host the project, as it is much easier for multiple participants to add and edit content on a wiki. Also, the wiki has some great resources and ideas for how to use kites in education. Here is a
link to the wiki, although it is only in the beginning stage.
The main goals of this project are:
1. For students from around the world to learn about themselves and others by sharing kite traditions.
2. For students to use digital media to share their experiences of building and/or flying kites.
The wiki contains several further ideas of ways to meet these goals, but really it could be worked into your curriculum however you see fit. And video conferencing is certainly a possibility. I would love to have many participants from around the globe. If you are interested or have any questions please respond.