Secret Pal Letter Writing Lesson Plan

You need:

• A letter you mailed to the class
• Addressed envelopes from previous lesson
• Overhead copy of letter you mailed to the class
• Paper for letter writing
• Pencils
• Butcher paper
1. Review the envelope addressing information.
2. Open up and read the letter you mailed to the class a week before (see envelope lesson plan). (Make it fun! The kids will be thrilled.)
3. Show the overhead copy of the letter. Point out the five parts of the letter: a heading, a greeting, the body, the closing, and the signature.
4. Model how to write a letter on large butcher paper or the overhead. Be sure to identify the five parts of the letter.
5. Provide students with a form page that has a space for the heading, a short greeting line (Dear ____), lines for the body of the letter, a short closing line, and a short signature line. This will serve as a visual aid as you guide them through their own individual letter writing. (You could ask students to use a different color crayon for each part of the letter. This will help differentiate between the various elements.)
6. Encourage the students to write a kind message to their secret pal. You may want to brainstorm some ideas before starting or put a list of words on the board for reference.
7. Show students how to fold their letters and put them into the envelopes.
8. Mail the letters in a classroom mailbox (such as a shoebox with a slit on the top) or, if using real stamps, put the letters in the real mail and ask students to keep an eye on their mailboxes at home.
9. Follow up this lesson by asking students to write thank you notes to their pal.
10. Consider inviting the school mail carrier to visit your classroom.