Zimbabwe Pen Pals Project Begins Anew

Our letters to Zimbabwe are finally on their way! Last May, Bennett's second graders wrote pen pal letters to students in Zimbabwe. These letters tied together classroom and library learning. The second grade curriculum includes friendly letters. The library curriculum includes teaching students how and when to use the district purchased databases. For this project students used CultureGrams to learn about life in Zimbabwe. Students used notes on Sports, Food, School, Holidays, and Life as a Kid to write a friendly letter to a student in Zimbabwe. Then I had the difficult task of getting the letters to Zimbabwe.


Starting in 2005, the organization House of Stone organized a pen pal project between  Bennett's students and students at  Mupumbu Primary school in Zimbabwe. Our correspondence continued for several years. When Zimbabwe destabilized the pen pal project fell apart. Last year I joined the board of House of Stone and decided to resurrect the pen pal project. Without a functioning postal system, I couldn't mail the letters. Fortunately, House of Stone has found a contact who will be delivering our letters next month. Hopefully our now third graders will receive answers to their letters in early 2011.