Mystery Skype
Some classes have met their GRA partners through a Mystery Skype call. Each class asks yes or no questions to determine where the other class is located (think 20 questions, but with a world map). I was part of one of these calls and I heard grade 3/4 students asking questions like "Do you live in the United States? Is your school in British Columbia? Is your town south of Brandon, MB?" Mystery Skype is a great way to build communication skills, apply mapping skills and learn about other people and places.
Book Discussions - Gone Global (or National or inter-city!)
Thanks to tools like Skype and Google Hangouts, our students are able to participate in book discussions with learners in other locations. Many of our PWSD classrooms have had the chance to discuss their GRA book with a partner class in another province or country. Through these discussions, students often hear new perspectives. Students practice communication skills and learn how to collaborate using technology. There are also opportunities for students to learn about other cultures, traditions and communities as learners are typically eager to get to know the partners that they will be learning with.
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| Mr. Langlois and his class at Waywayseecappo Community School meet their GRA partner class in Ohio for a book discussion. |
Collaborative Learning
Students and teachers are using a variety of tools to support collaboration and cooperation between classes. One example is having students from different classes respond to a discussion question or prompt using Padlet or FlipGrid. These tools provide an option for posting online so that students can share their ideas with a wider audience and also gain from reading or viewing others' ideas. Having students' ideas viewed by an "audience" outside of the classroom often motivates students to share their best work - whether it is a written response or a video response.
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| Grade 7/8 students in Miniota share ideas with other classes by writing responses on a Padlet board |
Twitter Chats
Each week, a GRA class somewhere in the world leads a slow chat on Twitter for each book. The class posts discussion questions using a hashtag and other participating classes from around the globe respond with their answers. Again, students have the opportunity to share their ideas with a wide audience and they can read/view others' responses. If you want to check out an example, search #GRAWild3 on Twitter.
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| Grade 8 students in Binscarth respond to Twitter chat questions about The Wild Robot |
Some classes have written postcards for their partner class or even set up pen pal exchanges. The postcards are often designed by students and some have even included a QR code with a link to more information about the class, school or community.
