PBL Example: Students Share About Life in Lithuania

Are you ready for PenPal-A-Palooza 2019? Join our biggest PenPal exchange of the year for a chance to win cool prizes, including a free school license! We’re challenging students around the world to write to as many PenPals as possible to see which school can send the most messages by the end of February. It’s easy to join- simply sign up and explore one of our many topics by the end of February to participate!

​PenPal-A-Palooza is a great opportunity to discover the benefits of global project based learning. Today’s PenPal Stars exemplify the power of project based learning. Meet Gerda, Karolina, Rokas, Karolis, and Leva from Lithuania who recently explored the popular topic World Explorer!

These English language learners developed reading and writing skills as they learned about different countries and created projects to share about their life in Lithuania. Check out their awesome work in this project based learning example:

Gerda

Karolina

Rokas

Karolis

Leva

Did you notice that the students chose to present their information in different ways? PBL encourages students to have choices when creating and presenting projects. Although each project is different, they all show advanced writing skills and provide a detailed description about life in Lithuania. Additionally, each student developed digital citizenship skills by creating their multimedia presentations. In order to publish these Prezi presentations and Animoto videos, each student had to keep track of their accounts, protect their privacy, and be aware of the digital footprint they were creating.

We caught up with Gerda, Karolina, Rokas, Karolis, and Leva to learn more about their their life in Lithuania and their experience with PenPal Schools:
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PENPAL SCHOOLS: What do you like to do after school or for fun? Are you in any clubs or activities?
Rokas: After school I like to play basketball.
Leva: I play tennis ? this is my favourite activity. But I [also] like play computer games.
Karolis: English lessons, because I like to speak English and work with penpal.

What is your favorite subject in school and why?
Rokas: Math because it's interesting for me and fun.
Leva: My favourite subject is English because I watch movies in English language.
Karolis: Maths

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Rokas: To Spain because it's warm there and they have beautiful cities.
Leva: I would travel to USA ?? I love a lot of cars and people. I love lots of malls, jobs and restaurants. I like [traveling] in bustling cities. I would like to see NYC. This is my dream.
Karolis: Dubai, because it's a very rich and beautiful country.

Why do you think it's important to learn with other students from around the world?
Rokas: Because you can practice your english.
Leva: We get to know new people.

What has been your favorite thing about learning with PenPals?
Rokas: The videos and chatting with people from other countries.
Leva: [My favorite things were to] watch the videos and communicate with different people. [I learned} a lot of information about different themes. For example food or history.
Karolis: [I learned about] people's daily life.

Congratulations Gerda, Karolina, Rokas, Karolis and Leva! Your multimedia presentations will help students around the world learn about life in Lithuania. Keep up the great work and have fun meeting other students in this year’s PenPal-A-Palooza!

Do you want your students to have PenPals like Gerda, Karolina, Rokas, Karolis, and Leva? By making global connections, students will learn about important topics from a variety of perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the content. Start the new year off with a bang and explore one of our topics, like World Explorer, today!

View Syllabus: World Explorer

Want more project based learning examples to inspire your students during PenPal-A-Palooza? Check out some of our most popular PBL examples:
PBL Example: Create a Budget this Holiday Season
Teach the SDGs: A student from Ukraine speaks out for the environment in this project based learning example
PBL Example: Student Investigates Fake News Examples from Around the World
PBL Example: ELLs from Hungary Showcase their School Pride