E-Pals: Using E-mail to Connect Pre-Service Teachers, Writing, and Rural Alaska Students

Abstract

To a certain degree, every teacher is a teacher of reading and writing. No matter the content area, all teachers need to be skilled in the areas of reading and writing instruction, especially today in light of the wave of standards currently driving the curriculum in many states. The project detailed in this paper was used in a secondary education literacy course where only a handful of the students were going to go on to be English teachers. Throughout the academic quarter, the preservice teachers featured in this paper learned about a common language used among many practicing teachers in the Pacific Northwest-the language of6-Trait writing assessment. Not only did these pre-service teachers learn about the benefits of using 6-Trait language, but they also put their knowledge to work connecting with young writers from a rural fishing village on the edge of the Bering Sea. Together, these pre-service teachers and secondary students appreciated the specificity of using the 6-Trait language, but they also learned a great deal more. Personal connections were made, and a greater appreciation for differing cultures was achieved, as these students collaboratively learned within the vehicle of simple email technology.