Although we live in an age that is centered on communications in technology, writing a friendly letter is still a practice among those who desire to be more personal in their communication, whether to a friend afar or to thank a potential employer after a job interview.
As a teacher, I still wrote thank you notes to my students who provided me gifts of appreciation. The children loved to receive them. With the small gesture, they knew the appreciation was returned.
My own children love to receive cards and letters in the mail.
I know, I’d sing atop a mountain if I was to receive one that isn’t a bill.
While business communications make the most of the efficiency of an email or messenger program, nothing says “tender love and care” like a hand written letter.
Here, I have put together some resources for teaching and applying the art of letter writing through the friendly letter.
Letter Generators
We recently picked up a book from the library in the children’s non-fiction section called How to Write a Letter. It included format, conversation topics, and how to address a letter . They have a series on different types of writing that we have been checking out one at a time. One of the things I love about using books over something online is that my 5 year old will see my 7 year old using it to learn how to write a letter and then she begins pulling out paper and pencil with him. Nevertheless, we find many useful tools on the internet for learning to include four interactives for writing last year when my son was less than willing to put pen to paper. One of these focuses on writing a friendly letter.
We love having a book in hand and I encourage the keeping of a journal in at least one subject. However, we have less space now, so online learning is convenient , but also fun and interactive. I’ll talk more about online learning in another post.
I love the Read Write Think site! Here is an interactive template or Letter Generator guiding the student through each step of the letter writing process.
Step-by-Step Guides
Here is an activity for writing a friendly or personal letter including a step by step visual guide and other friendly letter links.
Wiki How provides another step-by-step guide to writing a friendly letter. This is for the more mature writer as the content of the sample letters includes great depth and detail.
Lessons and Literature
Read Write Think and ABC Teach both have templates and instructions for addressing the letter.
I haven’t paid the bills via snail mail in so long that it wasn’t until my daughter and I both began writing someone out of state that I realized I no longer remembered how. Very humbling.
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I love these grammar books and find it difficult to say which I love more. They are simple and to the point but each of the authors has been so creative in the way grammar is approached, making it a lovely experience for all involved. These can be read aloud by the parent or used for independent study. For those that have questions and exercises, I found most are handled well with an oral discussion. Few lend themselves only to a written response. Both of my older students are using their for independent study this year. I let them choose the one they wanted, so grammar is never a subject they avoid. Many of these darling little books only contain 35-40 exercises allowing them to be the perfect supplement to your writing curriculum. My children usually focus on the lesson 1-2 days which opens the rest of the week to writing assignments for other subjects. Other books in this collection are teacher guides for oral exchange and have daily lessons including theory and practice.
The Good Goat Momma 