Classroom Connection Program

Class-to-Class International Partnership Program for Social Studies and Language Arts Classes

CLICK HERE to view our Classroom Connection brochure in PDF Format

Classroom Connections, the flagship program of Creative Connections, features the formation of "sister class" partnerships between 8-to-18-year-old students from the United States and countries around the world. Students in the paired classes share with one another their way of life first through the creation of letter and video scrapbooks. And new this year, all participating teachers and students will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and insights with one another on our specially designed ExchangeOnline Website. Topics explored by partner classes include such topics as: school and community life, family life and roles, traditional holidays, free-time activities and sports, music and dance, local folk tales, food, clothing and fashion, and social concerns.

Here is an Overview of the Classroom Connection Program

From early January through late February, partner classes exchange cultural insights through the creation of two distinct letter and video scrapbooks.

By late-February, partner classes produce colorful letter scrapbooks comprised of thoughtful letters by each student, photographs, drawings, stamps, coins, labels, and other "flat" items. These provide partner classes with a variety of cultural clues to ponder and enjoy. Classes also produce a video scrapbook. Each video scrapbook contains presentations of aspects of the students' lives that are unique or special to their culture.

In past years, our international partner classes' came from: Argentina, Alaska (Athabaskan village), Bangladesh, Botswana, Canada (Eskimo village), Chile, China, Colombia, England, Finland, Gambia, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico(Mayan village), Nepal, New Zealand, Paraguay, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Taiwan, Togo, and Uganda.

In April (technology permitting) classes are encourage to interact with one another on our newly designed ExchangeOnline forum.

After receiving their partners' letter and video scrapbooks partner teachers and classes reply to their partner's questions and continue the dialogue.

To see Online scrapbooks created for our participant partners, Click Here

"Dual Language" Version of Classroom Connection
Specially designed for Foreign Classes

Give your classes experience in reading/writing and hearing/speaking with real live partners from overseas. We have partner classes in Spanish, French, and Russian speaking countries. This unique program allows English languages classes in these countries to practice their English while your class gets to try out a foreign language. How? The scrapbook letter and captions are written in both English and the foreign language and the videos are narrated in both languages. These dual language programs are very successful providing learning and cultural context.

Click Here to see the Dual language 2006-7 brochure

Rainforest Connection

This innovative new program is an exciting collaboration between The Rainforest Alliance and Creative Connections. Rainforest Connection features the formation of unique classroom partnerships between 3rd through 8th grade students from the United States and countries in the Rainforest regions of Latin-America. Partner classes exchange a pair of scrapbooks that include pen pal letters, photographs, drawings and other illustrative materials that allow students to get to know one another and share information on how the environment affects the day-to-day life in their communities. Areas explored will include personal, cultural, and environmental topics. Click Here for more information

What it costs:

What our programs cost?

All US classes pay a $350 exchange fee which covers all international shipping costs. Our non-US partner classes pay no fees but are usually responsible for mailing their scrapbooks to our office.

Interested in joining us? Please fill in the enrollment form. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

We support our partners by:

• Identifying and linking classes according to grade, age and teacher specifications and providing full details of the partner class
• Providing materials. Our Classroom Connection Handbook includes deadlines, clear guidelines on what is expected of both exchange partners, suggestions for scrapbook projects, and approaches to the teaching process when dealing with culture. Our Video Sampler includes sample projects from our worldwide partners.
• Giving live introductory workshops to local classes, and introductory workshop packets for non local classes, helping open the students' minds to the excitement of cultural exploration.
• Facilitating the exchange process to support our partner teachers' every step. We keep in regular communication with teachers, convert video tapes to the correct local format, and take care of all shipping.
• Building Virtual Community through online global communication, enabling teachers and students to exchange ideas and best practices.
• Supporting classes in financial need through scholarships and absorbing shipping cost when needed.