How do I engage students and families?

Reach the World’s online journeys take travelers and collaborating classrooms to remote areas of the world, and bring to life the people, places, and environments that we usually only read about in textbooks. There are many ways that you can engage your students and their families in these Journeys:

Bulletin board and World Wall

You can generate interest in your classroom about the Journeys by dedicating a bulletin board or wall space to the expedition. Most teachers incorporate a large map into this area, and add a vocabulary area for new words used on email or on the website. You may also allow space for pictures, data, detail maps, charts, and graphs. A classroom display is critical to sustaining a connection with the expedition.

Field Trips

Reach the World offers field trips once per year for all Collaborating Classrooms. Please monitor your email for more information about field trips!

You can also plan your own field trips to link Reach the World to your established curriculum. Field trips help students develop interest in the world outside their classrooms and neighborhoods. Field trips related to the Journeys include trips to museums, aquariums, and zoos; trips to cultural events; and any activity that might introduce students to the local history of boats.

Activity Center

Creating an Activity Center is a way to have ongoing, interactive activities related to the Journeys, which students can complete independently. Some centers might be stationed around computers and involve students reading the Logbook, answering questions about Field Notes, or writing an email to the travelers. Other centers that are not stationed at a computer may have students independently practice related skills, such as plotting points, using longitude and latitude, or using writing prompts for journals or creative writing activities.


Build a Model

One way to assist children in gaining a spatial understanding of life on a boat is to locate a space in your classroom or school where you can outline a rough model of the boat on the floor, using masking tape. For a diagram of a sailboat, go to the How We Travel section of the website.

Involving students' families

Involving the parent community is another way to generate and sustain interest in the Journeys. Here are some tips that teachers have shared with us:

1. Send a letter to parents explaining the Journeys and their role in students’ classroom experience.
2. Invite parents to attend class when the travelers visit, or invite them to accompany students on the field trips. They will have great questions for the travelers that will help engage students.
3. Provide parents with the URL of the Reach the World website and explain how they can follow the Journeys online via using computers at home, school, in libraries, or at community centers.