Culture In A Box
An e-Twinning Project
Israel – Korea
2011
What is a Culture Box?
In this project, students will gather
information about their own culture
(country, area, school, religion etc.) and
send it in a box to their partner school,
which will produce and send a similar box.
Pedagogical Value
Students will have a chance to look for,
classify, talk about, share, write, compare
and present information on their culture
and that of their partner.
Objectives:
Students will:
• Consider the definition of culture and reflect
on what it means to them
• Share relevant information about their
culture with their partners
• Create a real box with items and
explanations reflecting their culture
• Learn about a different culture (compare and
contrast with their own)
• Use English in a meaningful way
Process:
Step 1 – Getting Started
1. Decide on the target class
8th grade AA level class
2. Find a twin class around the world
ESLprintables.com
3. Brainstorm with your students
Ask your students:
* What is culture?
* How would you present
yourself to others?
* How do you think other
countries see us?
4. Pair students and Exchange first letters
of introduction by “snail mail.”
(Later communication is done by email).
Israeli kids
opening Korean
letters
Abbey, their teacher writes:
Hi Sharon,
My students had a really good time opening the letters, too. They
showed them to each other and compared pen pals… They really liked
looking at the pictures… Most of the students are very impressed that
their pen pals are older than they are, and they think that these kids
are very handsome and pretty. They would hold up their letters and
say, "My pen pal, so pretty!“
I told them about kibbutzim, and they got really excited when they
looked in their letters and found the word kibbutz. They are really
curious about that, and they were asking me lots of questions about
Israel. I told them to ask their pen pals in the next letters…
Step 2 – Collecting Information
Instructions:
1.
Items must reflect our culture
(country, area, school, tradition,
religion etc.)
2.
Try to make it interesting,
attractive, and relevant.
3.
Do not “Copy & Paste”
information from the Internet.
4.
Each item must have a clear
written explanation in English.
Students came up with the following ideas:
1.
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16.
Israeli songs on a CD
A short video of our school
The Jewish calendar + holidays
A daily newspaper
Tallit + yarmulke
Shells from the beach
Sukkot: ornaments + instructions
Purim: rattle, mask, costumes
Hanukah: menorah + candles
The Israeli flag
School uniform
A map of Israel + names of Hof
HaCarmel settlements
Famous Israeli inventions (Taki, Bamba,
drip irrigation system)
Bookmarks with Hebrew ABC
Name tags – English & Hebrew
A “Shalom” poster with pictures of
students
Step 3 – Preparing and Exchanging Culture Boxes
Koreans opening our culture box
Israelis opening Korean culture box
Step 4 – Further research of partner’s box
As the students get their friends’ culture box,
they need to examine its content:
1. They choose one or two items they find
interesting.
2. Use email to ask their friends more questions
about the items.
3. Present the items and all the information they
have been collecting in class.
Follow up:
Students must reflect and evaluate what they have learned from the project. They
can do it by:

Writing an essay

Oral presentation
The essay and the oral presentation must include:
1.
A short description of the project
2.
A description of their own task – what they put in the box, why they chose
it, what it means to them.
3.
The item they chose from their friends’ box – what it is, why they chose it,
what they think of it.
4.
Compare and contrast one aspect / idea / item regarding the Israeli and
Korean culture.
5.
Reflection – answering the following questions:
◦ What did you think and how did you feel before, during and after the project?
◦ What did you like best in the project. Why?
◦ What did you learn?
◦ What would you like to know more about?
◦ General comments
General information:
Age group: junior high students with a
sufficient level of English
 Duration: 3-4 months
 Tools: Internet, email, (Skype, camera –
optional) time and patience.

A flight to Hof HaCarmel School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr81eveZpFU