Une classe des amis (Mod 11 )

After taking time to explore the ePals site, I found many ways that I can incorporate ePals into my teaching. ePals helps connect learners from all over the globe through project-based learning. Teachers can search for classrooms in a variety of countries and can also search by language. By adding in the keyword "culture" and searching within France, I was able to locate 527 classrooms who are interested in collaborating online. Starting an online dialogue with native French speakers who are learning English would be a great way to make connections and comparisons about culture.

There are also collaborative National Geographic projects that could be very useful in a second language classroom. Students explore and study other cultures by researching, collaborating, and sharing. "The Way We Are" focuses on culture, geography, and climate. "Holidays and Festivals Around the World" is another great project idea that would help students to share information about their culture and traditions while learning about others. I've posted a photo below of a gâteau des rois, a cake traditionally made to celebrate the Epiphany in France.

One of the main benefits of the site is the large scale of countries that are connected by classrooms. As a French teacher, it is important to make sure I am not always centering my cultural lessons on France. By providing a link to many other Francophone classrooms, ePals makes it easy to expose students to different varieties of Francophone culture. I could use one of the aforementioned projects to allow students to study different Francophone cultures and share their findings with each other.