I have always loved geography. As a very young child, I remember my grandparents having this little map where I could stick the countries into their correct places. I didn’t know the names of the countries or continents since I couldn’t even read yet, but I could recognize the outlines of several countries on every continent.
Later on in school, I had the capitals of every US state, Canadian province, and country around the world memorized. It’s no wonder I’ve been obsessed with travelling and experiencing different countries and cultures for most of my life.
Way back in 2010, I moved to South Korea to teach English. I had seven ESL classes filled with kids ranging from 7 to 12 years old, plus another middle school class of older students. Some were almost fluent in English and wanted exposure to things that were a bit more exciting than workbook pages covering nouns and verbs and adjectives.
While surfing the Internet for ideas, I stumbled across postcrossing.com. It’s a postcard exchange website where you’re assigned an address somewhere in the world to send a postcard, and then you receive one in return from someone else. From somewhere else in the world. Total strangers exchanging postcards. It’s always a surprise to see where the next one is going to or coming from.
My first classroom in South Korea had a big map of the world covering the back wall, so I decided to start constructing a mural of postcards. When one arrived, I would choose a class and ask if anyone could tell me where that postcard had come from on the map. I discovered that Korean kids were generally pretty good at geography, so at least one of them always knew where to find the correct location.
Once we had found the city or country, I would stick the postcard to the wall and attach a string to wherever it was situated on the map. It was a fun way to learn some geography alongside the English names for cities and countries around the world, as well as reading the little messages from people if they had written in English.
I always wrote the postcards myself, but I’ve included some other ideas on how you could adapt this activity to your classroom.
Locate where the postcard is going to or coming from on a world map.
Choose one or two students to write each postcard. Double check what they’ve written before you send it off in the mail.
Choose one or two students to write a paragraph or short report on the city or country the postcard is being sent to.
Do the same with the postcard that you have just received.
You could incorporate this project into your regular geography lessons or assign as extra credit.
I’ve designed this little workbook to guide kids through researching the place on their postcard. It should generally be appropriate for students in 3rd to 6th grade.
And here are a few additional activities that could be done with larger groups or an entire classroom.
Measure the distance between your classroom and where the postcard is going to or coming from.
Group postcards by continent, country, or region.
Identify any famous landforms or cultural sites pictured on each postcard.
Plot a trip connecting multiple postcards into one logical travel route.
Infer the climate from people’s clothing, vegetation, or architecture as seen on each postcard.
Determine the season in the postcard and give reasons to back up that choice.
Identify cultural elements, such as food, clothing, festivals, and buildings.
Identify any languages used in signs, stamps, or written messages.
Compare postcards from cities to those from the countryside.
Research the symbols on the country’s stamp.
If possible, track where and when the postcard was mailed.
Compare the city’s time zone to your own.
Estimate how long and how far the postcard has travelled or will travel.
Analyze how postcards may idealize or stereotype locations.
Create a postcard for your own town, state, or region.
Create a travel story using a sequence of postcards.
Show part of a postcard and have students guess the location.
Discuss economic development clues that can be seen in the postcard.
Identify and compare transportation methods visible in the postcard.
Compare building styles and materials to those in your own city or country.
Have a great Wednesday! And catch you for Freebie Friday!