5 kids with technology on grassy lawn
Grade 3

Pen Pals

Global Collaborator
Figure carrying red envelope

Overview​

PenPal Schools is now Go Pangea. It is a global learning community where teachers can foster global awareness and understanding of a variety of cultures. Students are able to practice reading and writing skills, learn more about digital literacy, and gain social and emotional learning skills. 

Go Pangea connects students from over 144 countries to learn together through collaborative online projects! The website is a safe environment that only registered students and teachers can take part in. 

Students will:

  • Be able to connect globally to learn and share perspectives through collaborative projects.
  • Understand different perspectives from students in other cities, states or countries. 

Vocabulary Words:

  1. Collaborate:  To collaborate is working together as a team. 

  2. Global: Global is relating to the whole world.

To prepare for this lesson:

  • Teachers should go to Go Pangea and create an account. 

  • Teachers will create a new class and/or new group of students. 

  • Then, teachers will invite their students to join their class using the class code provided. 

  • You will create or assign a question to your students. Questions include videos and texts that help students to answer thoughtfully. Teachers can choose questions to assign or create their own

  • It would be a good idea to watch the Intro video to Go Pangea and learn more about it from its founders. 

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

  1. Invite your students to go to Go Pangea and provide them with the class code to get started. 

  2. The students will access the question that has been assigned to them by their teacher. All posts and comments are moderated for safety and positivity.

  3. The students can include up to six slides to share their unique perspectives and support their opinions with facts.

  4. All comments are moderated to ensure a safe and healthy community.

Different options for assessing the students:

  • Observations
  • Check for understanding
  • With the teacher dashboard  teachers can read every message that is sent and received and provide feedback.  
  • There are also built-in assessments to help improve reading and writing, digital literacy and social-emotional abilities.  

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Global Collaborator
7a. Students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning.
7b. Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.
7c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.
7d. Students explore local and global issues and use collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions.

Device: PC, Chromebook, Mac, iPad

Browser: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, ALL

Websites:
Go Pangea

Go Pangea Student/Teacher Access

Go Pangea Intro Video

CONTENT AREA RESOURCES

Each content area can be found in the projects.

Each content area can be found in the projects.

Each content area can be found in the projects.

Each content area can be found in the projects.

Report a bad link, inappropriate content or out-of-date content. 

Credits
This task card was created by Jacki Zawierucha, Utica Community Schools, February 2018. Updated October 2023. 


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