[MissMe]

I hadn't heard of the post card exchange before visiting this site. It sounds interesting and like something my kids would enjoy. I'd love to know what some of you "veteran exchangers" do in these groups. For example - how often do you exchange, what information do you put on the post card, do the kids fill them out or the teacher.... and any other info you feel might be relevant if I can get a new group together. Thanks for your help!!

[GraceK]

I did one for the first time this past year. We all were supposed to send out our postcards by a certain date. One postcard for each school from each school- so we sent out 46 because we had 47 total schools in the exchange (including us). I had the kids write them, giving them guidelines about what to include, but allowing them freedom (I teach 4/5). We did a unit about the 50 states and these were great fun to receive and read.

Some schools attached typed paper with info, some had students write them. Some had a lot of info about their state/town, some had very little info. The classes ranged from Kindergarten to 7th grade. All in all, it was a good experience.

We put down some state information (we had researched ahead of time), interesting facts about our community that were unique, whatever else we wanted to include.

[Socks]

Last year was the first year I did a postcard exchange. It was great and my kids loved it! For most exchanges, you will send out 49 postcards. One to a classroom in each state. I sent mine out all at the same time last year. It was easier for me that way. After receiving a few postcards, we began to make a list of some of things we'd like to put on our postcards. Once we narrowed it down, we put it in letter form together. I typed up the letter we made and printed it onto labels. I also typed the addresses onto lables.

We got some postcards that the kids had written themselves, some were more informative than others.

Ours had A LOT (probably too much) of information. I had to make the font super small. Most people tell a little about their state or the town they live in, like the state bird, tree, flower, the city they are near, or any other information they'd like to put. Here is what our postcards said:

Dear Friends,
We live in Pennsylvania. Our state capital is Harrisburg. Our state bird is the Ruffed Grouse. Other animals that live in our state are skunks, snakes, groundhogs, turtles, deer, squirrels, frogs, chipmunks, freshwater fish, and lots of different birds.
We live in the city of Pittsburgh, home of the Superbowl Champion STEELERS! We also cheer for Penguin Hockey, Pirate Baseball, and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. In Pittsburgh there is a place called The Point. This is where the Allegheny, the Ohio, and the Monongahela Rivers meet. We live near an amusement park called Kennywood and a waterpark called Sandcastle. We have our school picnics there.
We go to a Pre-K to 8th grade school. Our classroom has 20 students. Our principal is going to eat a fried worm omelet if every student in our school reads 4,500 minutes by March.
We love getting postcards from all over the country. Each time we get one, we sing a song called “Fifty, Nifty, United States”. We hope to get your postcard soon!

I told you it was long! Hope this helped!!

[amita]

where did you get in touch with the schools from? could you give some pointers how to get started. Thanks

[MissMe]

The best time to get involved in a post card exchange is the beginning of a school year. You find a post that is asking for a school from your state and respond. Generally, the original poster will ask for contact info from you and send you an e-mail with instructions and addresses for the other schools. Good luck! We had a lot of fun with ours.