Classroom-to-Classroom Poster Exchange

One of the goals of the SnowSTAR 2007 Barrenlands Traverse is to connect Northern kids and classrooms with other kids and classrooms in distant locations so they can discover similarities and differences in the places they live and the lives they lead. With this goal in mind, participating classrooms are invited to create a display poster describing their school, their class and their community. We will then help classes share these posters with other classes. This exchange program is modeled on a small program we ran many years ago in the pre-Web, pre-digital photo era. Even then, it was quite successful, with a lot of enthusiam on the part of kids to share what their northern lives are like with others.

To avoid the delay and expense associated with mailing, we plan to do the distribution of posters electronically using high quality digital photographs of each poster.  Each class will create their poster (instructions below) in a normal way (glue, paste, magic marker, etc.) but will then photograph the poster and send the file to the Base Camp Manager in Fairbanks. He will re-create the posters digitally and print large copies that we will carry with us on the journey and which we will share with schools along the way. We may also put the posters on the website if we have your permission. In this way, classes may retain their own original poster as part of their classroom display. All participating classes will receive one or more exchange posters from other participating schools.

 Poster Guidelines

Theme:“Our School, Our Community, Ourselves.” 

What goes on the poster (the content) is whatever your class thinks they want to tell other classes about themselves, their lives in and out of school, and their community. Some ideas are listed below to help guide the process.

Size: Finished posters should be approximately 24”x 32” and may be oriented horizontally or vertically. We suggest using poster board, cardboard, or foam-core as your poster platform.

Identification: Be sure to give the name of your community, the name of the school and the teachers name. Also tell where you are (i.e., northern Alaska). It would be good to include a picture of the class*, perhaps in front of your SnowSTAR-2007 traverse route map. Provide a contact email if you want direct feedback from other schools. Include Teacher’s name and grade level in large (1-2”) letters. Have students draw a picture of their school.

Content Suggestions for “Our School ”: Use a small part of the poster to tell the size of your school, the grades that are attending, and maybe attach a picture of the school or playground.

Content Suggestions for “Our Community”: Use one-half of the poster to describe your community. Include the community name in large (1-2”) letters, attach postcards, student drawings or magazine cut-outs to illustrate community scenes and events. Have students write a paragraph about what makes their community special or unique.  What things would they show a visitor to their community? Include your national and state/provincial flags if you like.

Content suggestions for “Ourselves”: Use the remaining poster space to have students describe what they like about their school and class, and what they do for fun and with their families, what seasons they like (or don't like) and why. Tell why the class likes (dislikes) snow.   Have students list some of the things they are studying in class. Have students list or draw pictures of things they like to do when they are not in school.    

Digital Submission Process and Deadlines: A digital photo of your completed poster should be submitted to the Base Camp Manager by March 1, 2007, though earlier is better. Take a full-frame digital photo of your poster in good light using your camera’s highest resolution setting (5 megapixel resolution or better is preferred) and send it via email to [email protected]. If there are detailed sections, perhaps take one or two close-ups of these sections and send them too. As soon as posters are available, we will share via this website. Your poster will be reproduced digitally and carried on the expedition to share with schools along the way.  Participating classes will also receive an exchange poster from another classroom as well.

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