Here you can find the instructions you will need to carry out the task with your students. Furthermore, you can find a summary of the Can Do Statements our collaborative task addresses, and you may also get an idea of a possible assessment method. Finally, our tentative schedule can help you organize a collaborative project.
The collaborative task can be described as a problem-oriented task and is designed for 8th/9th-graders.
at least 4 sessions (1 session = 60 mins)
Set up the groups: 4 students/group - 2 from Germany, 2 from Israel
step-by-step: Make sure to not give your students too much information in order to avoid overextension. Also, make sure that you do not open the quiz until they actually have to complete it
Preparation: What should your students know before they start working with students from another country? Prepare them with important information without anticipating too much
Create a tool (e.g. Google Docs, Padlet) that enables your students to make contact with each other
Design an 'Introduction Session': Explain the task, enlighten your students on your expectations and inform them about the learning objectives
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First step: Padlet
The first zoom session helps your students become familiar with the other country and culture
1) Preparation for the first zoom meeting:
Every student chooses a place in their hometown/a city in their home country. They research the internet for a nice photo and upload it with a short description on Padlet
2) First zoom meeting: Get to know each other, presentation of places, discussion:
The students meet each other in breakout rooms for the very first time. They introduce themselves and present their places to each other. The photos, the short descriptions and the map function already give rise to an interesting discussion. They can see the distance between Germany and Israel and thanks to the pictures get an idea of possible differences between Israel and Germany regarding nature, food and culture.
You could give them some guiding questions that help them start a conversation:
Why did you choose this place? What is so special about it? Describe your personal connection to that place, and maybe share a personal/defining/ funny experience.
Do you prefer spending time in nature or in the city? Which regions in your country would you recommend to the others?
What can you do in the city you chose/ you live in? (culture, food, street-art, free-time activities, ...) How do Israel and Germany differ from each other?
How will you get around there? By bus, train, car, or foot?
When is the best time to travel to Germany/Israel? Summer or winter? Why? (... etc.)
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2) Second step: collaborative task
In the third session they have to complete a cross-cultural quiz together online via zoom. The quiz is designed in a way that fosters their communication competence as well as their ability of critical thinking and analyzing. They cannot skip questions if they do not know the answer which means that they have to work on problems together in order to move on.
It would be best if one student could share their screen with the others so that they can really work on this task together
The students work together in breakout rooms. Make sure to pop in every now and then to help them if they need you
Besides the fact that they have to communicate in order to solve the task, they also practice their listening skills thanks to a video which is included in the quiz
After each question they will be given a single letter. They have to collect those letters throughout the quiz. In the end, they should come up with a solution word
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3) Third Step: Written reflection
After the Wrapping-Up Session, the students write a short reflection on their collaborative project (250 words). You could provide them with some guiding questions that set them thinking, for instance:
What did you learn by working with the students from Israel?
What did you like about the project?
What did surprise you?
What challenges did you face? How did you overcome difficulties?
Did you have any language problems during the collaboration?
What would you do differently/better next time?
Learning objectives:
The students should learn to actively engange in conversations using a language that is not their L1 (--> overcome the language barrier)
Communication and social competence: The students should be able to work together in a team in order to solve a problem-oriented task
Intercultural communicative competence: The students should develop an awareness of their own culture, and skills that will allow them to become successful communicators in a globalized world
The students should develop intercultural empathy and tolerance by sharing facts about each others' countries, and personal thoughts and ideas which is quite important as to the fact that we live in the 21st century which is characterized by diversity
The students should become aware of cultural diversity, but also possible similarities of both cultures
Each student should become aware of their role in the group (what can I contribute to the group? How do I perceive the group dynamic? What can I personally do to advance the group work?)
The students should be able to critically question and reconsider possible stereotypes or prejudices they might have
New media sources increase the pool of teaching materials and help motivate students. The students should develop media competence by using different online tools/digital media properly (e.g. Padlet, Genial.ly, but also zoom)
Can Do Statements:
The students...
can engage in real-time online exchanges with more than one participant, recognising the communicative intentions of each contributor, but may not understand details or implications without further explanation.
can post online accounts of social events, experiences and activities referring to embedded links and media and sharing personal feelings.
can post a comprehensible contribution in an online discussion on a familiar topic of interest, provided that he/she can prepare the text beforehand and use online tools to fill gaps in language and check accuracy.
can make personal online postings about experiences, feelings and events and respond individually to the comments of others in some detail, though lexical limitations sometimes cause repetition and inappropriate formulation.
The assessment includes ...
collaboration, meaning the students' ability to work in a team, and their active participation in the group work
the completion of the collaborative task (Quiz)
a written reflection in the end
For you to be able to assess your students' work, you should make sure that they are actively participating in their group work. We decided to not give them a grade and instead focus on the assessment of different skills by using an assessment chart that leaves space for detailed feedback. If you want it to be a pass/fail task you could also say that each category has to be marked "satisfactory" or better in order to pass.
Follow the link to our assessment example:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cn1syPRQ3O7YiMl89wHxYa98-CGHzD6JtEBdIcuK5sc/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zlempcQqH2pYb4kpjJhf8_k6QYYDoyQG3Wfa924s4Mk/edit?usp=sharing
Make sure that your students know which group they belong to
Do what you can in order to avoid technical issues, i.e. make sure that the zoom link works and that your classroom is equipped with the technical decvices necessary for the online meetings (good audio quality + internet connection, ...)
Make sure that the instructions are clear: Avoid ambiguity. Choose words your students are familiar with. The task should be accessible and suitable for your class. Keep the language simple in order to keep the learners motivated --> the students should learn something without being overwhelmed
The cooperation between you and your colleague from the other country is important for the project to be sucessful
Depending on the grade, you could provide your students with useful phrases for discussions that will help them express themselves clearly --> scaffolding, language support
A collaborative project needs preparation and also post-processing. This is should not be underestimated. In addition to an introduction session, it would thus also be great if you planned a reflection session afterwards. The sudents should be asked to reflect on their group work (written or oral form) which helps them question and analyze their collaboration. (Hint: You could also let them prepare short presentations as a collaborative final product: reflection of group work, what was good, what could be done better next time, advantages, possible hindrances, ... etc.)
Here are the links: