Australian Connection
Grade: 5
Ongoing? No
Do you know what "vegemite" is? Neither did a group of Canadian fifth graders, that is, until they started corresponding with a group of enlightening peers in Tasmania, Australia. This simple Web page lists all sorts of amusing facts gleaned from a month of trans-oceanic e-mail exchanges.

Charlotte’s WebFun
Grades: 2-3
Ongoing? No
A simple but useful language arts keypals project based upon the book Charlotte’s Web. Students at each school read the book, kept a journal, and collaborated electronically with a peer at another school while they were doing so. They then posted collaboratively written book reviews at the Web site. Especially useful for the language arts teacher are the instructions for helping students create a response journal for the project.

How People Live in Europe and the Middle East
Grades:  6-9
Ongoing? No
Click on this site see one way to "advertise" a keypal project.  On this Web page, an eighth grade English teacher in Israel invites European schools to start an e-mail exchange with his students.  The purpose?  To compare life in two cultures, as well as to help students practice their English skills.  The teacher's plan is focused, yet seems flexible enough to accommodate the needs and interests of potential keypal partner schools.

Math Pen Pals: Communication Through Numbers Project
Grades:  4-8
Ongoing?  No
This site shows a variety of ways keypals can be used in a specific content area.  You'll see how math keypals have help students learn more about weather data analysis, graphs, comparison pricing, and more.  If you work with special needs students, you may be interested to know that that learning disabled students played a key role in organizing this project.

Keypal Locator Services

Dave's ESL Cafe
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students can make friends and discuss topics that they find interesting (e.g., pets, cinema, hobbies).  In this example, the keypal relationship is built mostly through online threaded discussions.

Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
This site is a goldmine if you're looking for a keypal project, but don't know where to start. Register for this free service, then view any of the site's mailing lists to find eager keypals around the world.  Looking for a class to exchange survey data with?  Check out the IECC-SURVEYS mailing list.  In search of folks over age 50 to communicate with your students?  Try the IECC-INTERGEN list. On this site, you'll also find links to many high-quality keypal projects already in progress.

ePals
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
ePals calls itself "the world's largest classroom keypal network," and from the looks of things, it probably is.  This attractive site makes it easy for teachers and students to search for keypals by region, language, grade level, and topic.  A particularly powerful aspect of this site is its availability in three languages--English, Spanish, and French--making it truly accessible to a wide audience.  (The site features information on non-European languages as well...a search for "Hindi" produced 4 potential keypal matches!)  In addition, you will find chat rooms and a well-annotated list of resources to help you as you plan your keypals project.