Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Writing a Friendly Letter

Our school hosts a "Grandperson Day" luncheon every year and this year I thought it would be fun for the kids to write their grandperson a letter so they could give it to them at lunch that day. For Kindergarten and 2nd grade this took us two weeks to complete and for 1st grade it took 3 weeks to complete each part.

I started out this lesson by teaching about the 5 different parts to a friendly letter. For first and second grade, I modeled how to write a friendly letter and then I gave the students a graphic organizer to complete first so they could get all of their thoughts down on paper. Once they finished thinking of what to write, I had them type their letter in Microsoft Word. I taught them how to add a border, change the font style and size, and add clip art. Once they were finished we talked about Print Preview and Print and the students were able to print their letter to take with them. Below is an example of the graphic organizer and letter they created.

My "Parts of a Friendly Letter" poster.

1st and 2nd grade Graphic Organizer


1st and 2nd grade example

For Kindergarten I did something similar but modified the text. They all wrote to same thing on their letter. "Happy Grandparents Day! I love you so much. Love, (insert name here)"
This made it easier for the students to type. I walked them through the steps on adding a border, changing the size and style of the text, and adding a shape to their letter. Once they printed their letter, I allowed them to color in their heart to add their personal touch. :) They turned out precious! Here is one before they were colored.



This lesson was a great way to incorporate lots of skills into a fun activity. The students favorite part was that it allowed them to take their work home and share it with their family.

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