Get To Know You: Virtual Exchange

Activity Objectives

Students will prepare to meet their partner class for the first time by predicting what similarities and differences they may share, thinking of fun facts and stories to share, and planning questions to ask each other
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Through this activity, students will build a friendship with peers from their partner class and learn more about their community, experiences, and interests
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This activity supports the development of the following social-emotional skills: relationship skills, self-awareness, and social awareness.

Imagine

Engage students in a conversation about meeting your Empatico partner class. You might explain: “We have an exciting opportunity to meet a class that is located in another part of the world. When we meet them, we may discover that we share some things in common, and there may also be some differences between us! To learn more about each other, we will introduce ourselves, describe our class and community, and share some fun stories!”

Ask students the following questions:

What do you think our new friends will be like?
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Do you know anything about the city/country where they are located? What do you want to learn about their community?
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What fun facts and stories can we share about ourselves?
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What questions do you have for students in our partner class?
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Do you think we will share anything in common with each other?

Learn

Facilitate a live virtual exchange between both classes. Guide students through introducing themselves, sharing fun facts and stories, and asking each other questions. Students might ask:

What is your favorite thing to do in your city? Why?
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Do you have a special holiday or festival that you celebrate in your community? What is it?
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How do you usually spend your free time? Do you like to play any games?
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Do you have a favorite book, movie, or animal? What do you like about it?
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What is your favorite food? Do you have any special memories about making or eating this food?
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As students interact, remind them to practice curiosity and kindness, listen carefully to each other, ask thoughtful questions to learn more, and take turns speaking.

Empatico Exchange

Reflect

Guide students through a post-activity reflection by asking the following questions:

What did you learn about our partner class and their community? Were you surprised by anything?
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What did you have in common with members of our partner class, and what differences did you notice? How did you feel when you learned about these similarities and differences?
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Do you have more questions for our partner class? What else would you like to learn about them?