🏫Sister school 🚌

Project Overview

The Sister School Program with Lafayette Elementary School in the United States is an international collaboration designed to promote English communication, cultural exchange, and global citizenship among students. Through meaningful, student-centered activities, the program provides learners with authentic opportunities to use English while connecting with peers from a different cultural background.

By participating in this program, students develop confidence in speaking English, learn to express their ideas clearly, and gain a deeper understanding of both their own culture and others. The project emphasizes mutual respect, cultural awareness, and real-world language use, helping students broaden their perspectives and build connections beyond the classroom.

Activity 1: Student Self-Introduction

The first activity of the Sister School Project involved creating a student self-introduction video to share with Lafayette Elementary School in the United States. A total of 22 students participated in this activity, and each student introduced themselves in English by talking about their name, grade level, school, hobbies, and future ambitions. Students practiced speaking clearly, using complete sentences, and expressing their ideas with confidence.

This activity provided an authentic opportunity for students to use English in a real-world context rather than only in the classroom. It also helped students develop presentation skills, teamwork, and digital literacy as they worked together with their teachers to plan, record, and review the video. By sharing their personal stories, students were able to connect with their American peers and begin building meaningful international friendships.

Jhong Siao Sister School Video.mp4

Activity 2: Lunar New Year Spring Couplets Cultural Exchange

The second activity focused on cultural exchange through traditional Lunar New Year customs. Students learned about the meaning and structure of Spring Couplets including their cultural significance and how they are traditionally written and displayed during the New Year. After learning the basics, students created their own Spring Couplets and prepared simple English explanations to share with students from Lafayette Elementary School. Through this activity, students practiced explaining cultural concepts in English, which helped strengthen both their language skills and cultural awareness. The activity encouraged creativity, critical thinking, and pride in local traditions, while also promoting respect and curiosity toward other cultures. By teaching American students about Spring Couplets our students experienced the role of cultural ambassadors and gained confidence in sharing their heritage on a global platform. The school also sent brushes and drawing materials for the sister schools students to try and draw out their own spring couplets.

Spring couplet video.mp4

Spring Couplets Cultural Exchange Video

After creating their Spring Couplets and Dofang, students were encouraged to continue the cultural exchange at home by recording short videos with the help of their parents. In the videos, students explained in English the meaning of Spring Couplets and Dofang, shared their wishes for the Lunar New Year, and practiced presenting cultural traditions in a meaningful way. These individual clips were later combined into one collaborative video and shared with Lafayette Elementary School, allowing American students to learn about Lunar New Year customs and appreciate our students’ cultural heritage through authentic student voices.

American Snack Tasting Cultural Exchange

As part of the Sister School cultural exchange, Lafayette Elementary School kindly shared a selection of popular American snacks, including Goldfish, S’mores, Fruit by the Foot, and Cow Tales Minis. To make the experience both educational and enjoyable, students first learned simple tasting vocabulary and sentence patterns in English to help them describe flavors, textures, and personal preferences. During the tasting session, students practiced expressing their opinions in English and later participated in a collaborative video where they shared which snacks they enjoyed most and described their tastes. This fun and interactive activity created excitement among students while promoting authentic English communication and cross-cultural appreciation. Canva presentation link: canva.link/5afgws3bwh0o4iv

snacks trying.mp4

Baseball Learning and Cultural Exchange

As part of the Sister School cultural exchange, students received baseball cards featuring famous teams and players from the United States. To help students better understand the sport, a teacher from Jhong Siao Elementary School kindly introduced baseball through an engaging lesson where students learned about field positions, MLB teams, and how scoring works in the game. Along the way, students were introduced to new English vocabulary related to baseball, making the activity both educational and enjoyable while deepening their understanding of American sports culture.

Dajia Matsu Cultural Exchange Activity

To further strengthen cultural exchange, students at Jhong Siao Elementary School, with the guidance of their Art teacher, participated in a creative activity inspired by the Dajia Matsu pilgrimage. Each student designed and created their own Dajia Matsu flag as a way of sharing local culture, traditions, and religious practices with their sister school partners.

An Example for the students

Art teacher explains

Students drawing

Student continues to explain

Through this activity, students learned to express cultural identity while introducing the significance of the annual pilgrimage, which traditionally takes place in April, promoting greater cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

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