Welcome to the Virtual Vacation module of Kidlink's Who-Am-I? program. You will find many discussion questions and classroom activities in each weekly lesson. No one is expected to do them all! We give you many ideas but feel free to use those that are appropriate for your class.

Module Description:

The students begin the eight week project by preparing an invitation, inviting friends that live in other areas/countries and want to come on a visit. They find out what places, events and other things of interests are to be found in their area by reading books, finding information on the net and interviewing people.

In the third and fourth week the students read the invitations and decide where to go.

In the fifth and sixth week of the module the students help each other to plan for a three day visit. These plans will include both the visit and the reception by the hosts The students will discuss different cultures and the importance of accepting and celebrating our world's cultural diversity.

Are there things/events that are so different from what the visitors are used to at home that they have to see/join in them? Is there some special food that visitors should try? any traditional food?

The topic of the seventh and eighth weeks is the Virtual Vacation itself. The students have to write a diary about the 3 day visit. How did they travel? Did everything work out? What did they see? What did they eat? How did they enjoy themselves? Where did they sleep? What places did they visit?

Right from the beginning there should be a lot of interactive talk. Students are to use E-mail or IRC to contact each other and exchange information and discuss interests and possibilities.

As pointed out previously, you will find many discussion questions and classroom activities in each two-week lesson. No one is expected to do them all! We give you many ideas but feel free to use those that are appropriate for your class.

Teachers are encouraged to use their own imagination and ideas within this module. The description is only a guide but other things related to the topic are always welcome.

Module Goals:

Goals for participants are:

1. To learn more about their own surroundings and those of other kids around the world.
2. To appreciate the value of communication with kids that live in other areas/countries.
3. To collaborate with and learn from other students online.
4. To become creative and critical thinkers.
5. To develop a sense of inquiry and thirst for knowledge.
6. To gather and evaluate information from electronic and printed sources.

Objectives: - Connecting to your curriculum

Students will be able to:

1. Read E-mail messages and respond to peers.
2. Work together in groups within their classrooms and also with groups of online students.
3. Use the writing process to inform, express personal ideas and to persuade.
4. Engage in real time interactions using IRC or KidSpace Chat.
5. Search for information on the World Wide Web.
6. Analyze and interpret data using charts and graphs.
7. Classify information into categories.
8. Compare and contrast information from several sources.
9. Apply information for problem solving in new contexts.
10. Evaluate the reliability of WWW resources.
11. Express ideas using art as well as text.
12. Justify and defend their opinions.
13. Gather information about their surroundings from various sources including communication with people in the travel business.

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