LC Virtual Exchange Document - Flipbook - Page 9
Cultural projects
Students could work on cultural projects together. When exchange students come to Ireland, they tend to be
introduced to a ceili, which is group dancing. Now is a good time to look at sean-nós dancing rather than ceili
dancing because you can do it on your own, you don’t need a partner. Could one of the Irish teachers host a
Zoom type sean-nós dance class for both Irish and exchange students? https://youtu.be/KADISWonmdM
Could the students create a how-to video for their partners? Perhaps along the lines of some of the
#ThinkLanguages workshops.
Sometimes teachers do a traditional Irish
music class with exchange students. Again
you need to think outside the box. The
exchange students won’t have tin whistles,
etc., so maybe singing would be better than
musical instruments. Maybe something in
Irish? https://youtu.be/Hz63M3v11nE
Amhrán na gCupán is a nice example. Then
record it and edit all the pieces together. It
might not look quite as professional as this
but along these lines:
https://www.timeout.com/news/you-cannow-sing-along-with-strangers-in-thesevirtual-choirs-032420
There are lots of virtual cookery classes out there, and schools sometimes do a home economics class with
soda bread, scones, or their local speciality for exchange students, so maybe the home economics teacher could
do something along these lines: https://www.healthyeverafter.ie/kids
If you have a “famous” parent in the school, invite them for an online interview which both classes can attend.
Students could prepare a presentation of the person and translate any questions from the partner school.
Students could create “How to play hurling/Gaelic football” videos in the target language. This is great cross
curricular activity. You could even organise a virtual sports day with challenges. Ask your partner school to come
up with something similar, so that everyone learns a new sport.
Using a variety of different media is probably the key here, so face to face on video chat, videos, photos, music
recordings and don’t restrict yourselves to PowerPoint.
Seeing how people live in other countries is a huge part of a regular exchange. Use this video on “How the
Germans live” https://youtu.be/yUSLuVVxS3o to try and explain to students how people in Ireland/your area
live. Irish students could create a project or a short video, and their partner students could do the same.
Students could give their partner student a tour of their house.
languagesconnect.ie
9
