Syllabus
Essential Question In what ways are communities around the world more similar or more different than we expect? Week 1: Daily Life Students start the World Explorer course learning about daily life around the world. Through an emphasis on the similarities and differences between urban and rural communities, students discuss family, school, and all the little things that make life interesting. Students learn about geography, religion, transportation, and have the opportunity to discuss these topic with their PenPals. Sample Discussion Question: What do communities look like where your PenPals live? Compare your PenPals’ communities with your community. How are they similar and different? Week 2: Food In Week 2, students explore and compare food and eating habits around the world. Students discuss the foods that are grown or manufactured in their communities, common ingredients, and national dishes. PenPals will also learn about the impact of globalization on what and how people eat. Sample Discussion Question: How do international influences impact what people eat where your PenPals live? Week 3: History Week 3 is all about the past. During this unit, students learn about ancient civilizations, significant inventions, and influential people from around the world. Students will discover important events that shaped the world where their PenPals live today. Sample Discussion Question: What was an important event in the history of your community? What effects from that event are still visible today? Week 4: Art and Literature In Week 4, students study art from communities around the world. Not only will students learn about the visual arts like painting, sculpture, and fashion, but students will also learn about music, and literature. The Art and Literature unit gives students the opportunity to build on what they learn in Week 3 and think about how art represents their culture and community. Sample Discussion Question: In what different ways does art reflect your culture? Give specific examples. Week 5: Popular Culture PenPals love talking about popular culture! This week is entirely dedicated to the sports, celebrities, movies, and television shows that your students love. After learning about popular activities and famous people, PenPals have the chance to compare and contrast the things that appeal to young people all around the world. Sample Discussion Question: Explain how technology and international influences impact pop culture around the world. Week 6: Reflection In the final week of World Explorer, students discuss what they learned during the course before saying goodbye to their PenPals. Not ready for the learning fun to end? Your students can always sign-up to take a new course! Sample Discussion Question: How has your opinion of the part of the world where your PenPals lives changed? Are people more similar or different than you expected? Classroom Project Build a classroom atlas! Each week students should work to report and share with the class and school community what they are learning about their PenPals and their PenPals’ regions of the world. The atlas might include maps, recipes, profiles of historical figures, art, music, and literature, and examples from popular culture. Join at: www.penpalschools.com using the code provided by your teacher. We connected with students from:
6 Comments
caiden herstein
10/24/2017 05:52:57 am
I really like traveling so I am studying both the maps and cartography article and this one because it can help you learn from your experience.
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10/24/2017 06:15:01 am
Me gusta mucho viajar, así que estoy estudiando tanto el artículo de mapas como el de cartografía, y éste porque puede ayudarte a aprender de tu experiencia.
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Annika Baumler
10/27/2017 07:11:30 am
I want to learn new things.
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Izzie Hill
10/27/2017 10:14:31 am
When I started World Explorer I thought it would be about famous explorers that found new and important land like Christopher Columbus. After reading the article and watching the video it turned out it was about new places and how they are different. My penpals are Adele J. from US, Hunter M. from US, Izabella D. from South Africa, and, Jess s. from US.
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Cy Steele-Cobb
11/4/2017 04:51:00 am
I had never spent much time thinking over the food I ate, the music I listend to and the people I admired so this project was really very helpful in terms of making you mindful of what you do and why you do it. My penpals were from the U.S. and India one of them like pasta the other McDonalds.
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Madeleine Harmony Wares 3.5
11/17/2017 09:07:40 am
before this i never really thought about the food i ate and the people that went long disances and crossed oceans just to give me a complete stranger some lunch it really makes me hungry
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