If you haven’t checked out EPALS, your students are missing a world of learning. I started using EPALS last year, and my students enjoyed getting to know students from places like France and Slovenia. This year the students have emailed students in Germany and Kansas. We have a couple of other schools but we are waiting for their school year to start. If you are looking for an educational tie in to account for the time, you could use it for letter writing, research projects, interview skills, history lessons, culture building, and much more. I am looking forward to my students collaborating with the Germany students when we get into the World Wars later on this year. I highly recommend taking the time to check out EPALS. It is definitely worth the investment and the children will love it, guaranteed.