Sister School Project

The Sister School Project is an initiative of the AIFS Global Awareness, Meet Your Global Neighbor program.

The Sister School Project partners classes in different countries with classrooms in the U.S. to create a fun learning experience for young children in pre-school through grade 5.

Classrooms will write letters, work on projects, or decide on other methods to exchange information about their country’s way of life in a way that a young child can appreciate.

Teachers are free to develop their own topics as well as determine the frequency and method of exchange.

Teachers are certainly not limited to these ideas and should feel free to use their own creativity in the development of projects.

Sample Topics to Explore

• Food/meals—Describe foods enjoyed at meals and holidays. Share recipes, make the other’s recipes, take pictures and share results.
• Global Lunchbox—Share with your partner classroom where and what children your age have for lunch on a school day and on weekends.
• International Mother Goose—Exchange stories, nursery rhymes, and songs from your countries.
• Classroom Description—Introduce the classrooms to each other. Send pictures of the classroom, uniforms, buses, etc. Describe the room and materials. Share differences and similarities.
• Flags—Go to Kids Culture Corner and look for each other’s flag. Are there any similarities? What are the customs surrounding the flag? For example, do they salute the flag as we do? What do the colors and design represent?
• Music—Share your national anthem as well as other favorite songs.
• Pets—Write about common household pets and exchange photos of them. Does anyone have an unusual pet?
• Birthday celebrations—Describe games, foods, and activities.
• Television shows
• Map search—Identify the capital, landmarks, tourist attractions, and hemispheres, and exchange pictures.
• Crafts—Do a craft activity that is popular in the other’s country. Provide directions and take pictures.
• Sports—What sports are popular in your country? What sports do children like to play? Do you play the same or different sports?
• Neighborhood activities—Compare and contrast activities, such as bike riding, skate boarding, jump rope, etc.
• Homework comparisons
• Days off from school—Describe holidays and vacations.
• Scrapbook Exchange—Classrooms exchange scrapbooks that include pen pal letters, photographs, drawings, and other illustrative materials that allow students to get to know one another and share information about the day-to-day life in their community and other areas of cultural interest.

How to Become a Sister School Classroom

Contact Program Developers:

Gail Tomanelli
gtomanelli@comcast.net

Patricia Jacob
Patricia.jacob@pobox.com