A Traditional Postcard with a Modern Twist

The postcard activities enable pupils to connect with one another through the use of traditional and modern technology. Linguistic identities are preserved due to pupils being able to communicate in their own language.

Opportunities for interaction with one another, through questions and responses, are possible. Most importantly, pupils will develop an understanding and appreciation of differences and similarities through real-life engaging activities.

The Postcard Project

Hello and happy World Postcard Day! We are celebrating by kicking off our 2023-2024 international postcard exchange. If you would like to participate, you would be committing to sending at least three postcards with your class to other participating schools throughout the school year. The goal would be to send your first postcard in the Autumn, another in Winter, and the last in Spring. You may choose to send to more than three if you would like. The postcard project is open to all age levels and countries.

Remember that this should be a student-led project. Be sure to involve students as much as possible. For example, students can design, or choose the postcards. Students should also create the message that goes out on the postcard. Even young children can be a part of this process with your guidance.

Postcards should be written in the students’ first language. Postcards MUST include a QR code that the recipient class can scan to hear the students’ voice and language/dialect and to read the English translation of what is written. You may choose to also link information about your school and culture.

To sign up for the project, please fill out the information using the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xV-g3q2_1tD3Icmyv6FHZNF2FI-r0gE6QfTKMtZMo4Q/edit?usp=sharing

When you are ready to send out your first postcard, choose another school on the list and mark accordingly on the google sheet that you have sent the postcard and to who you sent to. Whenever you receive a postcard, please indicate that you have received it using the google sheet as well. Also, you are encouraged to show off the wonderful postcards you receive on our Voices of the World Facebook page.

Getting Started

CREATING POSTCARDS: The children can purchase or make a postcard (this is for the class to decide alongside practicalities of cost).

The postcard should be handwritten in your country's language.

VIDEO/ AUDIO RECORDING: Next, record a video or just audio of what has been written with the words said in your own language.

SHARING: Create a page on your classroom website or a padlet where you will post your audio/video message along with a written English translation of your postcard's message. You may also inlcude any other information you would like recipients to know about your school and culture. Then, create a QR code to link to your webpage. Print out the QR code and attach it to the postcard before sending.

Take a picture of the front and back of the postcard in case it gets lost in the post. You could place these pictures on your class Postcard page.

Sit back and wait three weeks for a response. If you have not heard from the school by three weeks, please contact the teacher to find out if they have received your postcard. If not, you may wish to send them the two pictures you took of the fron and back of the postcard.

TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS PART 2 - RECEIVING POSTCARDS
AND NEXT STEPS
When you receive a postcard, let the Postcard Team know, this could be by email or the FB group, and also let the teacher who sent it know. This is important if you wish to send or receive more postcards.
Share with your pupils and capture the exciting learning that happens. You can place these on your class Postcard School Page. At this stage, place a link to your Postcard School Page on the Postcard Map: CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE MAP.
Contact the teacher who sent the postcard and decide how you would like the pupils to respond to the question that ws on the postcard - email, another postcard, video, video conference etc. The choice is between the two teachers.

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Postcard Map

School Padlet Pages

Links to individual school Padlets:

https://padlet.com/ruth_e_sanders/HOTWpostcards - Ysgol Hendrefelin, Wales, UK

https://padlet.com/ulianablossom/w2rwgq20tftf - Ukraine, Obroshyne Lev Shankovskyi School

https://padlet.com/emanton/nnu15qwlil8m - Loreto Grammar School UK

https://es.padlet.com/eestrad4/cklrwtj0k93c - INS Ponts, Spain

https://ca.padlet.com/eestrad4/q6aslyeeqx2a - INS Ponts, Spain

https://ca.padlet.com/eestrad4/1nc5x8pjnos5 - INS Ponts, Spain

https://padlet.com/anezina123/ndwh5uwod4ezvck6-'Jeanne d' Arc' School , Piraeus,Greece

https://sites.google.com/view/hotw-postcards-we-received/po%C4%8Detna-stranica - Osnovna škola Antun Gustav Matoš Tovarnik, Croatia

https://padlet.com/eleanorfigures/drwxj94x6t9i - Dunbarney Primary School, Perth, Scotland, UK

https://padlet.com/Georgia_Maneta/hotwproject- 2nd Primary School Mileon-Kalon Neron, Greece

Project Overview

In the following video, Elaine Manton from Loreto Grammar School in England, one of the Postcard Project Co-ordinators provides an overview of the project where she explains:

How we started the postcard project
How we communicated with each other
What we put on the postcards
The technology we used
How we shared what we learnt with our schools

Project Overview

Sarah Ashborn, another Postcard Project Co-ordinator from Oregon in USA provides an overview of how the project was managed in the following video.

She talks about

How we created the postcards
How we organised who sent to who
How to keep the communication channels open between different countries
How her pupils created the messages on the postcards
How she shared new postcards that arrived with her pupils
How we overcame difficulties with postcards being lost in transit.

Impact of Postcard Project

The postcard project was highly successful with all partner schools who were involved. The following presentations provides information about:

how the project enabled communication and collaboration
the journey through the project from some of the teachers involved.

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