Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

LEAD-IN: In pairs, ask and answer the questions below.

1) When was the last time you sent a postcard/ used snail mail? 2) Can you remember the last postcard you received? 3) What do you prefer: postcards or e-cards? Why? 4) Have you ever heard of Postcrossing? What do you think it is about? WHAT IS POSTCROSSING?

Postcrossing is an online project that allows its members to send and receive postcards from a random person somewhere in the world. Where the postcards come from is always a surprise! Postcrossing is the union of the words "postcard" and "crossing" meaning "exchange". Joining the project is completely free; however, the postcards themselves and postage fees to mail them are the responsibility of each user. By June 2015 Postcrossing had more than 554,570 members in 213 different countries who had registered and exchanged over 30 million postcards that have traveled over 151 billion kilometers.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Read the following text and fill in the gaps with the titles below.

Request an address and a postcard ID Wait to receive a postcard Create a

Postcrossing account

Mail the postcard to the address Register the received postcard and write a

message to the sender

Taking part in Postcrossing is really easy! Follow 5 STEPS:

1) ________________________________________________:

Go to https://www.postcrossing.com/

Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

Click SIGN UP and enter a username, your email address, a password and your complete address, including: name, address, city, postal code and country name.

Once you've done this. LOG IN to the website with your username/email address and your password.

2) _____________________________________________ (You can send up to 5 postcards at a time!)

You will be given an address and an ID starting with ES (Spain). Include them in the postcard.

Read the receiver's profile and write him/her considering his/her preferences.

Every time one of the postcards you send is registered, you can request another address.

3) __________________________________________:

The member receives the postcard and registers it using the Postcard ID that is on the postcard.

At soon as your postcard is registered, you will receive a postcard from another user.

4) ___________________________________________: Check your mailbox daily! The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises!!

5) ___________________________________________________________:

When you receive a postcard, you need to register it. To do that, you need to click REGISTER A POSTCARD and enter the Postcard ID written on it.

You can also write the sender an online message to say Thank you!

*What if the postcards do not arrive or are not registered? This is not common. But, if your postcard is not registered after 60 days of being requested, it is set to expired in the system. Every time one of your postcards expire, you get back a free "slot" so that you can send a new postcard. To know more click on this link: https://www.postcrossing.com/help or watch this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzXNUhgjlxo

PROJECT WORK: "FROM OURENSE TO THE WORLD": POSTCROSSING AT PADRE FEIJOO-ZORELLE You are going to embark on a collaborative project to travel the world and meet new people without having to leave the classroom!! 1. We will use a collective Postcrossing account! Username: padrefeijoozorelle

Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

Here's our PROFILE DESCRIPTION: https://www.postcrossing.com/user/padrefeijoozorelle

Hi all!

We are a group of students from Padre Feijoo Zorelle

school in Ourense, Galicia (Northwest of Spain).

We really like the idea of exchanging handwritten

postcards with people from so many different places! It's

a fantastic way to improve our English, travelling the

world and meeting new people without leaving the

classroom!!

We would like to know about the cultural background of

the place you are from/live in: traditions, beliefs,

gastronomy, art, sport, anything you are keen on!

We'll be happy to receive postcards featuring beautiful

landscapes or cityscapes to have an idea of what your

village/town/city/country is like.

Have a nice day and happy Postcrossing!

2. The teacher has already sent the first six postcards so six postcards from random places in the world are on the way!! 3. We will take turns to write postcards. The teacher will give you a postcard with an ID, an address and the receiver's profile. You need to write a message on it including:

Your name

Why you are studying English

A short description of the landmark featured in the postcard

4. Choose an available slot from the list on the link below and write in your name.

5. All the postcards received and sent will be published to our blog. http://postcrossingatpadrefeijoozorelle.blogspot.com.es/

Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

6. But this is not all! Perhaps the most interesting aspect of our project is the possibility to explore faraway places. For such a purpose, we have created a section EXPLORING PLACES that we’ll all update. How? http://postcrossingatpadrefeijoozorelle.blogspot.com.es/p/exploring-tthe-world.html

Every time we receive or send a postcard, one of us (we can also work in pairs) will be in charge of looking for information on the web about a given destination and write a short text including the information below:

Where is the city? This city is famous for… Places to visit (4 places) Lifestyle Sources (Wikipedia or other website with useful info.)

So far, teachers have explored six different places: Essen (Germany), Perm (Russia), Kent (the US), Ijmuiden (Holland), Minsk (Belarus) and Hangzhou (China). You can use the text below as a reference:

Next stop...PERM, the hometown of Olga, the recipient of our second postcard.

WHERE IS PERM?

Perm (Russian: Пермь) is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. The Karma river is the fifth largest river in Europe after the Volga, the Dabube, the Ural and the Dnieper. The length of the Karma is 1805 km and it is the largest tributary of the Volga.

Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

Perm's population is approximately 1000,000, which makes it the thirteenth most populous city in Russia. Perm has a humid continental climate, which means very cold winters and hot summers. PERM IS FAMOUS FOR…. Perm is a major administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center. The leading industries include machinery, defense and oil production. During Soviet times, Perm was a proper fortress because of the huge military industry in its region. Nowadays, it is one of Russia's fastest growing cities because of its prosperity.

PLACES TO VISIT Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre

Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre is one of the oldest theatres in the country. Its ballet company is one of the most popular in Russia and has performed most works by the country’s best known ballet composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Perm State Art Gallery

Colexio Padre Feijoo-Zorelle, Ourense

This gallery houses outstanding collections of art, including paintings from the 15th- to 18th-century art movements, and wooden sculptures from the region. The Walking Bear

The Walking Bear is a sculpture in Perm which depicts a walking bear (the symbol included on the coat of arms of city). It is situated in the central part of city, at the Lenin Street and was opened in September 2009. Recreational Gorky Park

A beautiful natural spot to go for a walk or have an entertaining time in its attraction park. LIFESTYLE

Perm has a well-trained and skilled young population. There are more than 30 research institutes such as the Institute of Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms, the Heart Institute. In the Soviet times Perm scientists contributed a lot to the development of rocketry and space engineering. WANNA TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF PERM? Watch this video created by high school students from Perm! https://youtu.be/3a9UuUqQAKM Sources: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perm Administration of Perm City: http://www.gorodperm.ru/en/ If you want to learn about the other five destinations, visit our blog! Welcome aboard and HAPPY POSTCROSSING!