How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? The students recognised the poems and related that to how they themselves had spent time creating one.

“What a fantastic activity. I have been able to take the ideas and incorporate into other writing activities (eg looking up synonyms to add stronger words to our writing).”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? Learn more about another school. We got to do one and see another one. Good to see how they described the same item as we has. Good to see how other kids write poems.

“Fun getting poems from other schools. Using sticky words with items (being able to hold the item was important) was cool. It was fun to colour in the postcards. We liked having a format to put our poems together. It was helpful to do a collaborative poster first.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? It didn";t really this time. Last time we received theirs first, so it was more inspiring. They'd put a lot of work into it.

“We renamed ";sticky words"; wow, juicy, interesting words. It was a good start to generating interesting word banks for writing. The kids didn't consider the word lists to be ";real poems";. They weren't as inspired as last year e.g found poems etc. Still glad we did it though. Thank you for the resources.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? My kids loved the idea of giving and receiving, and having a connection with another school in NZ. Thanks so much to our buddy school for their package...better than a bill by a mile!

“This was a wonderful activity, slightly more brain work for my new class than I think they were expecting.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? Loved sending our postcards away and receiving from our buddy. Made the task authentic and taught the kids some geography along the way. Not many have been further north than Christchurch, let alone out of the South Island.

“Our class really enjoyed this, although did struggle with the poetic writing. Very hard not to write complete sentences when that has been drummed into you all through school! Loved the 'sticky words' and that is now commonplace talk in our class.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? As above, it gives authenticity to writing by identifying an audience. The class is so excited to send and receive the package. That is the part that I like the best, the sharing.

“I love how the step by step instructions support us through the process to complete the final poems. You can take it as far as you like, do the bare minimum if you are pushed for time, or extend it wherever the children decide to take it. We loved learning about the school we are sending ours to before (we researched the town and school as well). The kit gives authenticity to writing as it creates an audience for the final product. This is my second year completing the kit and I will continue to do so as long as you are creating them.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? Swapping with another class really added to the experience - a purpose for doing the writing, a geography lesson and the excitement of real snail mail!

“The children found it challenging to write single words/phrases rather than whole sentences. It took lots of talking, group and paired learning, which was great. I liked the ideas, the way it was planned for us to follow. The pressure was on a bit with all the stuff happening at school over the last couple of weeks, but we managed to get it completed. Just.”

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Posted 6 years ago

How did the swapping of mail with another class add value to the GNZW experience? Where are still awaiting ours, but they class are waiting with anticipation.

“Once my class fully got into describing the objects that could see the potential (and the easyness) of being poetic. They became excited when they were using all the 'sticky' words, as they have rarely used them. Seeing and helping them complete a poem, you could see the pride of accomplishment on their faces.”

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Posted 6 years ago

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