Pen Pal Project Research Articles

Sick of It! A Zine and Pen Pal Project

Sick of It! A Zine and Pen Pal Project

Foreign-born TESOL Instructors Assisting Adult Immigrant Learners to Develop Civic Literacy Skills: A Pen Pal Project

This article discusses the contributions of foreign-born TESOL instructors helping adult language learners develop literacy skills through a pen pal project, which lasted 10 weeks and consisted of writing letters back and forth weekly. The project provided adult immigrant learners with an opportunity to practice meaningful writing to support their English literacy development. The research questions include how do foreign-born TESOL instructors support adult immigrant learners develop literacy through a pen pal project? and what components of the pen pal project promote the development of civic literacy skills? Data for this article come from 159 letters product of the writing exchange between instructors and learners, and individual conversational interviews with the instructors. Study findings are presented through four themes: teachers as cultural informants, emotional connection, life and learning advice, and adult ESL learners’ linguistic competence. Study findings add to the body of literature focusing on the powerful contributions of foreign-born TESOL instructors to the education and language-culture acquisition of adult immigrant English learners.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PEN-PAL PROJECT TO TEACH WRITING SKILL OF RECOUNT TEXT AT THE EIGHT CLASS OF SMP NASRANI 1 MEDAN

The purpose of this study to determine the implementation of the pen pal project in teaching recount text writing skills to eighth grade students. Moreover, this study also intends to determine students' responses to the learning strategy after the implementation of correspondence with their pen pals. This research used descriptive qualitative. The subject of this study was eighth grade students of SMP Nasrani 1 Medan. This study used an observation sheet to observe the implementation of a letter with pen pals in the learning and teaching process, for more accurate data, researchers distributed questionnaire sheets to students to find out the responses of students and conducted interviews with teachers of English studies on the implementation of the pen pal project. The results of this study indicate that exchanging letters with pen pals can trigger students' enthusiasm and desire to learn to write, especially writing recount texts. The results of this study also show that students can communicate effectively in English to express their ideas and thoughts about certain topics they like in their letters based on experiences they have experienced in the past. The students approved that using the pen pal project could help them to improve their writing abilities.

Critical Global Literacies: Gaining More Global Perspectives: “The People behind the Words”

Two teachers in New York devised a pen pal project to encourage cross-cultural understanding.

Reflections from the Field: Reduce Age Stereotyping through Experiential Learning: An Intergenerational Pen Pal Project

Misconceptions about the aging process and the negative stereotypes associated with older adults can impede positive social interactions and discourage meaningful conversations between younger and ...

Developing preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and knowledge through online experiences with English language learners

ABSTRACTThis quasi-experimental study explores changes in preservice teachers’ reported self-efficacy and knowledge of instructional strategies in supporting English language learners (ELLs) after participating in an electronic pen-pal project. Seventy-four preservice teachers (experimental = 35; control = 39) participated in this study. The intervention involved a semester-long online letter exchange between the experimental group and ELL pen-pal partners in public schools. The study addresses two questions: What are the effects of an E-Pal project on preservice content-area teachers’ (1) reported self-efficacy in supporting ELLs, and (2) knowledge about the nature of instructional supports for ELLs in mainstream classrooms? Questionnaire data were analyzed using several ANOVA tests. Overall, results suggested that the E-Pal project had a positive effect on the reported self-efficacy and knowledge of instructional support of preservice teachers who participated in the experiment compared to those who did not. These results suggest that incorporating technology in field experiences in teacher education programs is worth the investment.

A Pen Pal Project Connects Preservice Teachers and Urban Youth

Preservice teachers experience the rewards of working with urban youth through a pen pal project.I shuffled through the papers on my desk again. Surely, 13 of my 15 preservice teachers had not written that they would not consider an urban teaching position? My path was clear. I had six months to help my students see the joys and rewards of urban teaching. A project began to form in my head.I shared this experience at a faculty meeting of middle childhood education professors. As an assistant professor of teaching, learning, and curriculum studies at a Midwestern university, it is my job to help students see the benefits of teaching in all types of schools. Apparently, our most recent urban field experience had not been a success. Our students witnessed apathy on the part of the teachers and students in the school. They saw teachers on cell phones to spouses and friends while students were in the rooms. Worst of all, they saw hopelessness. They compared this experience to their other field experiences in suburban and rural areas, and the contrast was great. I wanted to develop a positive urban experience for my students, so I contacted a former colleague of mine who was an exemplary teacher in an urban school district and together we crafted a plan. In this article, we describe a pen pal project we created to provide preservice teachers positive experiences in urban settings, and we offer suggestions for carrying out a similar project with your own preservice teachers or middle level students.Pen pals in preservice teacher preparationPen pals have been used to foster preservice teacher learning in a variety of ways (Marshall & Davis, 1999; McMillon, 2009; Moore & Ritter, 2008; Rankin, 1992). Rankin identified ways that both parties-the preservice teachers and the students-can grow through the practice of writing letters. In her preservice, special education course, the preservice teachers focused on observing the development of writing skills of their special needs pen pals. They were made aware of the cooperating teacher's instructional strategies and looked for manifestations of these strategies in their pen pals' writing. The cooperating teacher, meanwhile, found a key benefit in the unseen audience that the preservice teacher pen pals created. Her students strived to write in increasingly sophisticated ways to impress their pen pals, giving them an authentic reason to develop as writers.Moore and Ritter (2008) focused on the benefits to the preservice teacher, having them analyze letters across space (Montana to Kansas) and age group (university to 8-year-olds). Similar to the current study, Moore and Ritter wished to expose their mostly white, suburban, female preservice teacher population to a diverse population of students. Their letters provided a safe place for both populations to learn about one another. Preservice teachers learned to move beyond cultural identity and respect each individual child.Pen pals in young adolescent educationPen pals have also been used to explore friendship, culture, and reading and writing practices with children and adolescents (Barksdale, Watson, & Park, 2007; Shulman & Sieffge-Krenke, 1994; Teale & Gambrell, 2007; Ziolkowska, 2010). Benefits have included deep self-reflection, awareness of the world around them, and stimulation to learn more about new topics (Barksdale, et al.; Shulman & Sieffge-Krenke).Teale and Gambrell (2007) and Ziolkowska (2010) specifically addressed how pen pal letters between adults and upper elementary students allowed for the students to engage in authentic literacy practices. Children participated in traditional learning activities, like genre study, and then would read and discuss a book with an adult member of the community (Teale & Gambrell), or they would simply hold literature discussion via letter with a university student (Ziolkowska). Children were able to take what they had been taught in class about the content of their shared book experience and write about it for authentic reasons as they discussed the book with someone. …

Putting Mathematical Discourse in Writing

A problem-solving pen pal project between preservice teachers and sixth graders presented a lens through which a teacher could view students' work and her instruction.

Teaching rural place: pre-service language and literacy students consider place-conscious literacy

Attention to place-based pedagogy in teacher education is needed if we value a conceptualization of citizenship wherein people assume responsibility for their community and its physical setting. Place-based pedagogy seeks to prepare citizens who understand their local lives and are thus prepared to participate in the democratic processes of its creation and sustainability. It is explicitly learner-centred and in its most mature form seeks democratic participation spiralling from the local to the global. In this study, I describe my own efforts with place-based pedagogy: a pen pal project between teacher candidates and local, rural second graders. Within the project, the children embraced the opportunity to explore and assert their out-of-school literacies, but the pre-service teachers' responses to the children point to the complexity involved in shifting away from decontextualized teacher education toward a model where place matters.

Project Pen Pal A Win-Win Service Learning Project for College Students and First-Grade Children

This study explores a pen pal project in which college students studying human development are matched with first-grade students beginning to learn letter-writing skills. Analyses of college student final reports indicate that this project facilitated learning by offering an enjoyable authentic learning experience. Furthermore, teacher reports indicated that the first-grade students were highly motivated by the pen pal experience. Recommendations for further developing a pen pal service learning activity are provided.

Pen Pals: Practicing Problem Solving

What is a good mathematics problem? What is a good mathematics problem for students at a particular grade level? How can I make mathematics interesting to students and fun? Preservice teachers explored these questions as they participated in a pen pal project with fifth and sixth graders. The teachers presented the middle schoolers with custom-made, meaningful mathematics problems. The students honed their communication skills and received personalized feedback about their learning. Along the way, many became more motivated by mathematics than they had been, and some, stimulated by the interaction with college students, began thinking about the future and college.

Interpreting Children's Constructions of Their Ethnicity

Drawing upon post-structural and post-colonial theories, this study is an investigation into the ways in which five classes of first-grade children (six and seven year olds) in Florida and Hawaii talked about their ethnicities in a video pen pal project. The qualitative methods utilized in this research were participant observation, interviews, and videotaping. The resulting analysis notes that the children in the five different schools talked about their ethnicities differently (ethnicity only, hyphenated ethnic-national identity, or national identity only). Four themes emerge from the analysis related to multicultural education, real-life racism, national identity, and shifting subjectivities. Emphasized in the analysis and interpretation is the importance of situating children's talk about ethnicity within local contexts, acknowledging the multiple and fluid nature of individual subjectivities, and recognizing their location within ideological discourses.

Moving between literacy theory and practice with preservice teachers: Listening to their voices

The purpose of this study was to investigate two research questions: What literacy learning did preservice teachers experience through a Penpal Project embedded in an early literacy course? What sense did preservice teachers make of the Penpal Project?—with an overarching focus on bridging literacy theory with practice. Data were gathered in a university classroom setting, situated in a small Western town, over a period of one school semester. Data methods and sources included videotaped participant observation during weekly penpal letter‐sharing, preservice teachers’ reflection journals, focus group interviews, and preservice teachers’ Penpal Project Summaries. Patterns emerged from the data and were conceptualized under three broad categories: discourse, discovery and dilemmas. In the discourse category, cultivating relationships and learning through collaboration emerged as themes. Discoveries included meaning‐ and skill‐centered interpretations and professional learning. With regard to dilemmas, preservice teachers reported feelings of inadequacy in decoding their penpals’ letters, in finding topics to pique their penpals’ interests, and in making logical speculations. Conclusions highlighted the importance of including field experiences in teacher education courses in order for preservice teachers to integrate early literacy theory and practice. A focus on forming relationships, working in collaboration with others, and acknowledging and solving challenges revealed added benefits for the preservice teachers, including a deeper understanding of young students’ early literacy development.

Audience Matters: A Junior High-College Penpal Project

The idea behind this project created by two teachers of different age groups was that providing students with penpals would give students a real audience to write to and change their attitudes about writing. Seventh graders and college students exchanged letters and were required to send working drafts of some class assignments to each other to receive feedback on their writing. By the end or the project, each student had given and received feedback on several letters and drafts of a composition. The two groups did for one another what the teachers could never do: they engaged one another as writers because they personalized the act of reading and writing and, consequently, developed in ways that the teachers had not expected. Because th:%y cared about being understood, they were motivated to pay attention to mechanics and content. Students learned thsf instead of ceremonially giving the teacher what she wanted, writing required effort. Tips for a successful penpal project include: make ..-. easy to do; make it pelt of what would be done anyway; be flexible; be committed to seeing it through; be sure each person sends and receives a letter; build some time to step bac:: and look at what is going on; and have a purpose in writing beyond the letter exchange. (MG) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** Penpals and Keypals--Networks for Student Writers