Electronic Postcards from Around the World

Project Coordinator:
Roberta Gray
rgray7@alltel.net
Spencer Elementary 4641 North Ridge East
Geneva, Ohio, 44041
440-466-4831
http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/index.htm
http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/internet/index.htm

Project URL: http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/internet/electronic/

Dates:
Session I - October 1, 2001, December 21, 2001
Session II - February 18, 2002 - May 17, 2002

Subjects:
Language arts, math, geography, communication, social studies, technology, foreign languages

Grade levels: All grades, ages 5 to 19

Project Level: Basic

Summary:
Participating classes will explore the world by exchanging Electronic Postcards with other classes. Electronic Postcards are created by attaching a scan of a postcard, photo, or drawing in .gif or .jpeg format (no greater than 4 inches in width or length) with an e-mail message (250 words or less). This message would include a brief description of the class/school/community. Further details will be sent to classes when they register. Classes who do not have a way to create a scan of a postcard, photo, or drawing may send the item to the project coordinator, Roberta Gray, for scanning. She will send you the scan in a .gif or .jpeg format via e-mail.

Number of Participants: Unlimited

How to register:
To register for this project please send an e-mail message to Roberta Gray, electronicpostcards@alltel.net, with "Registering for Electronic Postcards" in the subject field. Please include the following information:
*Full name:
*Title:
*Grade or Class:
*E-mail address:
*School:
*City, State/Province:
*Country:
*School/Classroom Web Site Address:

You will receive a confirmation of your registration and further details about this project within seven days. If you do not receive a confirmation within that time period, please resubmit your registration as I may be having problems with your e-mail address.

Full Project Description:

This project offers a fun and exciting way to learn geography and map skills plus provide an increased social awareness of schools/communities around the world. It also requires a commitment to send and exchange Electronic Postcards to fellow participants. YOUR POSTCARD, PHOTO, DRAWING

Have your class decide which postcard, drawing or photo to use for their Electronic Postcard. Scan the item and save it in a GIF or JPEG format with an approximate height and width no greater than 4 inches.

If you do not have equipment to scan an item, you may send the item to me via regular mail: Roberta Gray, Austinburg Elementary, 3030 St. Rt. 307, Austinburg, Ohio, U.S.A., 44010. Please write your name, school address, and email address on the item. I will scan the item and send it to you via e-mail in a GIF or JPEG format.

If you wish the item returned, please include a stamped, self-addressesd envelope. If you send a photo Postcard please make sure any child in the photo has a signed permission slip from both the child and parent allowing that photo to be sent and placed on a web site on the Internet. If you are using a drawing Postcard and wish the artist's first name to be displayed, that child must have a signed permission slip from the child and parent allowing his/her drawing to be sent and displayed on the Internet.

YOUR MESSAGE

Depending on the age of your children and the subject areas you want to emphasize, your class may create a single group message to send to all schools or you may choose to have small groups or even individuals compose messages. The message should be a brief description of your classroom/school/community. It should be 250 words or less and include the following information:

*Age/grade of classroom/school
*Number of students in classroom/school
*Favorite food of class
*Favorite playground or gym game
*Favorite computer program or activity of class
*Interesting facts or information about class/school
*Location of school (city, state, province, country) if possible include latitude/longitude
*Something unique or special about your community or area
*Classroom/school web site if you have one

SENDING YOUR ELECTRONIC POSTCARD

You will receive a list of participants the week of September 23. Please do not send any Electronic Postcards until October 1. You may send Electronic Postcards until December 21.

When sending your Electronic Postcards please put "Electronic Postcard" in the subject line. This allows the receiver to immediately recognize your message as an Electric Postcard. You may send an Electronic Postcard to more than one participant at a time. Please do not send to more than five participates per e-mail. Many people like to print their messages and do not want pages of e-mail addresses.

RECEIVING ELECTRONIC POSTCARDS

Please reply to all classes that send you an Electronic Postcard. Also please remember to always check any e-mail or attachment for viruses. For all practical purposes a virus can not be attached to a GIF or JPEG file. A virus must be attached to a program file, so it can be executed or run. A GIF or JPEG is simply viewed. If there was a virus in it, you would just be viewing the program code of the virus, not actually executing (running) it. Nevertheless sometimes a virus will attach itself as an attachment to an e-mail message even without the sender's knowledge. It is always best to be careful whenever opening any attachment.

OTHER POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES

On a world map/United States map locate and mark the various locations of your Electronic Postcards. Copy Electronic Postcards and display by your maps and/or place them in a notebook for sharing.

Note and record the comments about age, grade, number of students, favorite food, and favorite computer program/activity. Chart and graph one or several of these items.

Visit some of the classroom/school web sites. Discuss the differences and similarities between your classrooms/schools.

To locate where their Electronic Postcards are coming from, have the children visit map web sites like "Map Quest", http://www.mapquest.com . Visit web sites about flags from around the world such as "World Flag Database", http://www.flag.net and 50 States, http://www.50states.com which also include basic information about these countries and states.

PROJECT WEB SITE

I am planning to display all of the Electronic Postcards my class receives on our classroom web site, http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/internet/electronic/index.htm