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Inter-School Activity: Background Information
Inter-School Activity: Background Information
As a participant in the 2025–2026 Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program, I had the privilege of partnering with fellow cohort member Lisa Jarvis, an educator from rural Kansas. Tasked by Fulbright to design an inter-school collaboration, Lisa and I met virtually for several weeks to co-create and coordinate a joint lesson tailored for both of our student populations. Throughout this partnership, we engaged in continuous reflective practice, evaluating instructional successes, and identifying areas for pedagogical growth. After months of remote collaboration, we finally had the opportunity to meet in person in February 2026 at the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Symposium in Washington, D.C.
Cheryl and Lisa meet for the first time in person at the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Symposium, Washington, D.C. | February 2026 .
Inter-School Activity: Lesson Plan
Inter-School Activity: Lesson Plan
Coordinating Educators: Cheryl Graff (Chicago, IL) & Lisa Jarvis (Rural, KS)
Global Frameworks: OECD Global Competence & UNESCO Global Citizenship Education
Learning Goal:
How do our personal experiences impact how we handle crisis situations? To explore this, high school English students from urban Chicago and rural Kansas engaged in an asynchronous digital exchange using Canva Whiteboard and photojournalism from World Press Photo.
How It Worked:
Cultural Icebreakers: Students built a shared digital community by exchanging regional insights, highlighting unique lifestyle contrasts between their urban and rural environments.
Global Photo Investigation: Using photojournalism of a human-wildlife crisis in Thailand, students practiced visual literacy to infer perspective, analyze details, and summarize the text.
The TAG Peer Review Exchange: To promote perspective-taking, students crossed state lines to review each other's work using the structured TAG Method (Tell a strength, Ask a question, Give a suggestion).
Circles of Action: As a formative assessment, students mapped out how to apply their global empathy to take real-world action within their families, local communities, and the world.
Click here to review our lesson plan or click on the embedded document below.
Inter-School Activity: Artifacts
Inter-School Activity: Artifacts
Click here to access a PDF copy of our Circles of Action graphic organizer or click below on the embedded document.
Circle of Action.pdfClick here to access a PDF copy of our photo reflection graphic organizer or click below on the embedded document.
World Press Photo Reflection.pdfWant some inspiration? Click here to access a PDF copy of our Canva Whiteboard or click below on the embedded document.
JarvisGraff InterSchool Activity.pdfInter-School Activity: Student Responses
Inter-School Activity: Student Responses
Below are sample student responses collected during our Inter-School Activity.
KS = Kansas Cohort (Ms. Jarvis’s students)
IL = Illinois Cohort (Ms. Graff’s students)
Student Sample - Cultural Icebreaker
If you could describe your favorite spot in Chicago, what would it be?
IL Student A:
"My favorite spot is lake view football field because it is where I go to play football."
IL Student B:
"My home because this is where I feel safe."
IL Student C:
"My favorite place in Chicago is downtown because there’s a lot of buildings and places to explore there’s a lot of places to eat and shop at."
IL Student D:
"My favorite spot in Chicago is the lake front because it's nice and I like the water sound."
Student Sample - Cultural Icebreaker
Describe your favorite outdoor activity in Kansas.
KS Student A:
I like working on lawnmower and I like welding."
KS Student B:
"I like playing basketball it is my favorite sport and I've played it sense I was 3."
KS Student C:
"Like to go swimming and my favorite stroke is back stroke."
KS Student D:
"I like to play disc golf."
Student Sample - Learning Posts
KS Student A:
“I learn that the more that people kept feeding them the more they would want more from the and that the government had to step it to help.”
IL Student A:
“One thing l learned from the story was that the monkeys kept begging people for food outside.”
Student Sample - Feedback Posts
KS Student B:
T: "I like when he noticed that the monkeys are thieves."
A: "What makes you think they are thieves?"
G. "He could have added a little more then they are just thieves.”
IL Student B:
T: "I like how they were saying that the more they feed the monkeys the more food they want."
A: "What did the government do to help and step in?"
G:- "Be more specific.”
Student Sample - Circle of Action Formative Assessment
KS Student C:
Inner Circle - "Calm them down"
Community - "Volunteer"
World - "Create awareness”
IL Student C:
Inner Circle - "Care for family "
Community - "Create a neighborhood watch"
World - "Share videos"
Inter-School Activity: Reflection
Inter-School Activity: Reflection
Overall, this inter-school collaboration was highly successful. The initial icebreaker on the Canva Whiteboard immediately sparked engagement. My students were fascinated by the unique hobbies of their Kansas peers, finding it eye-opening that welding was a favorite hobby of choice—a sharp contrast to their own experience growing up in a large urban area (Chicago).
In terms of literacy skills, the students successfully identified the central challenges featured in the World Press Photo and article. Furthermore, our previous two months of scaffolding the TAG feedback method paid off, resulting in high-quality, constructive peer feedback.
The primary challenge was guiding students to make deep personal connections to a foreign crisis. To bridge this gap in real time, I utilized localized "what if" scenarios (e.g., imagining wild monkeys disrupting a CTA commute and grabbing their food or Chromebooks). To build on this insight, future activies and lessons will feature a local "scenario-preview" activity. This will allow students to unpack a relatable community challenge closer to home before applying those same analytical frameworks to a global context.
Bring This Activity To Your Space!
Bring This Activity To Your Space!
Pairing World Press Photo with interactive tools like Canva Whiteboard or Padlet is an engaging way to facilitate collaborative discussions across a classroom, between grade-level teams, or throughout a school district. Below you will find suggsted steps you can take to replicate this activity in your educational space:
Select a Visual Prompt: Choose a compelling photo from the World Press Photo Archive to serve as a real-world entry point.
Build a Shared Canvas: Embed the image onto Canva Whiteboard, Padlet, or another digital discussion tool of your choice alongside an overarching question or problem statement.
Brainstorm Together: Have participants use digital sticky notes, mind maps, and reaction stickers to share insights, unpack global issues, and brainstorm solutions in real time or asynchronously.
Feedback System/Thinking Routine: Use a feedback system or thinking routine where everyone can provide immediate feedback on all participants ideas. I like the TAG Method. I also recommend Artful Thinking by Harvard Project Zero. They have a collection of thinking routines and feedback structures designed for deep discussions around photos, art, and visual media.
Disclaimer - This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the participant's own and do not represent the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, the U.S. Department of State, or IREX.
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