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SWBAT:^*  Use appropriate vocabulary and grammatical forms studied in class to express themselves in the TL in order to carry on a personalized conversation with a native speaker or another peer studying the TL.

Standards targeted: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3; 5.1, 5.2

Description of activity: This activity requires a series of steps and, above all, relies on the organizational skills of the teacher.

1.  The teacher locates a partner classroom of either native speakers of the TL or other students of the TL who are at approximately the same level as the home classroom students.  Ideally, the students should be peer-aged to maximize the possibility of having common interests.  A few suggestions for finding partner classrooms are: (1) investigate the options available through the  the Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections ; (2) post a notice on a discussion list such as  FLTEACH stating the parameters of the project or e-mail exchange; (3) network at local and regional conferences to meet other teachers who would be interested in this type of activity.

2.  Even before locating a partner class, establish the ground rules for participation, and lay out the requirements the students must meet to complete the assignment or activity.  IOW, will participation only occur during class or in a supervised session in the computer lab?  Will communication outside of class among students be permitted? Will the teacher need to review all messages that come and go to ensure appropriateness and adherence to activity requirements?  You, as the teacher, must have a "game plan" -- you must have a clear picture of what you want your students to accomplish, what information you wish them to offer and ascertain, and what will constitute successful completion of the activity.
 
3.  Explain the activity clearly to your students.  Make them aware of your rules and give them an example of acceptable interaction.  You could do this by showing them printouts of email messages you have written in the TL to friends; the class could also brainstorm some typical message components and formulaic expressions that they might want to use.  For example, they will need to know greetings and closings, how to ask questions, how to respond appropriately to new information offered by their partner.  The activity is quite flexible in that the  information they seek can be tailored to the particular vocabulary and structures being studied in class at the time. For instance, beginning level students can describe themselves, their families, their homes, schools, and free-time activities and ask for the same information in return.  More advanced students can use their language skills to engage their email partners in detailed discussions or debates about topics that are current and germane to their respective cultures (e.g., legal age and requirements for obtaining a driver's license or the reason for frequent student strikes).

4.  Develop and explain your method of evaluation of their participation ahead of time.  You might want to use a rubric that accounts for those elements you particularly wish to focus on such as, possibly, creativity, ideational fluency, grammatical competence, incorporation of vocabulary pertinent to the material being studied, etc.

5.  Be c re at iv e yourself and have fun with this activity.  I suspect your students will really enjoy it, and you will most likely notice an increase in their written TL production!  They may even make some lifelong friendships that will enable them to continue using the TL well past their schooling experience.