[etni] A letter from abroad

Dear ETNI folk.
Do you have family or friends outside Israel  who would be willing to help us? 
It demands very little and in my view could contribute a lot. 
We are working in Migdal Hamemek (and other places in the central Galil)  to 
raise the level of English in Elementary and Junior High this year.  
Have a look at what I have written below and see if you know anyone who would 
like to help. 
Get back to me.
Thanks
Jack Pillemer
jackpil@xxxxxxx
Keep the subject line:        A letter from abroad            when replying
__________________________________________________________________________________

Dear partners, 

In order to bring the world of English in an authentic and meaninful way into 
Israeli  elementery school classrooms , we would appreciate your help on a 
personal and individual basis.

We would like you to adopt a class (or more ) and become the  a regular 
correspondent from abroad, writing about your life and the life of your family 
and friends as you move from event to event, season to season, issue to issue 
in the the country where you live. These brief simple letters accompanied from 
time to time by pictures (or even artifacts sent by mail), would introduce a 
living text into the English lesson on a regular basis. 

The English teacher would receive your e-mail message, enlarge the font and 
print it  - either to be handed out or put up on a notice board. The teacher 
would read it through, go over the vocabulary, point out on a map where you 
live, get the pupils to ask questions (which you would answer in your next 
letter) and so on. In short, your "presence" in the class would be a regualr 
feature continually changing and developing.  Hopefully, when you come on a 
visit to Israel you will visit your class and talk to those who have learned 
English with your help. 

This assistance you would give would probably demand less than  15 minutes a 
week or every two weeks on your part. You would compose a simple text of around 
10 sentences at a time. You don't have to be a talented writer or an English 
teacher. All you have to do is imagine an 8-10 year  old Israeli  child, bright 
-eyed and full of curiosity. Whatever you write will have a freshness that the 
teacher will be able to exploit.

To help you, here are some ideas: 
Write about your self, your family, your children, their activities, your 
routine, the weather, the TV programs you watch, the national holidays, the 
sport events, the news, the foods you eat, mealtimes, your car, your pets, 
travel, vacation etc.
Write short simple sentences sticking to one or two topics.

Here are three examples:

Example 1

Hello,
My name is Sara Lee. I live in Chicago, U.S.A. with my husband Ted and two 
sons, Ben   and Danny .  Ben is fourteen years old. He is  playing baseball 
outside with a friend. Danny is much younger. He is only six years old. Right 
now he is eating pancakes in the kitchen. He loves sweet things. He has syrup 
all over his face. What a mess! 
I'll write again next week and send some pictures.
Have a nice day.
Sara
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Example 2

Hi kids,
Wow. Today is very, very cold. It started snowing yesterday morning and it is 
still snowing. Everything outside is white. Does it snow  in Migdal Ha'emek in 
winter? Skippy, our dog likes running outside in the snow. She is crazy. She 
digs and barks and rolls over and now she wants me to let her inside. No way! 
Skippy will have to stay in the garage until she is dry. Here is a picture of 
Skippy and my son Danny. 
Have a great day.
Sara
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Example 3

Dear children,
I'm sorry I didn't write to you last week. I went away to New York to visit my 
sister Sharlene. New York is such a busy city. There are so many people in the 
streets and the buildings are so tall. Sharlene lives very near Central Park. 
It is a  very big green park in the middle of the city. On the weekends, people 
jog there, play frisbee, ride their bikes or just sit around and have picnics. 
It is fun. 

Sharlene is going to be in Israel for a visit next month. She will visit your 
school and show you lots of pictures of New York. If you want, you can write me 
a letter about yourself and give it to Sharlene and then she will give it to me.
Bye
Sara
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If you think you would like to give this a try (You can back out in the middle 
if you find it too problematic) please let me know and I'll get the ball 
rolling.
Yours,
Jack Pillemer 
Keep the subject line: A letter from abroad             when replying
jackpil@xxxxxxx

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