Spring Break : Writing Letters and Postcards to Distant Relatives

Because my children are in three different grades, I have to approach this project three different ways. During spring break this year, we don't have the opportunity see distant relatives, nor do they have the opportunity to visit us, so we're going to write letters. Not only will this project bring them closer to their relatives, but it also gives them some extra writing practice.

Before we sit down to write, we figure out how many letters each child will write, who they will be written to, if drawn pictures are going to included and if things like stickers or other art materials are needed. I address the envelopes and get their materials together while the kids pick the paper they'd like to write their letters on.

Pre-school project:
My youngest is in preschool and is good at copying from another paper. So, he tells me what he'd like to say in his letter and I write it out on a separate paper. I encourage him to write about what he liked best during spring break or what he plans to do during spring break. Then, he copies the letter on to his paper and adds drawings and stickers to the page.

Kindergarten:
While my preschooler is working on copying his letter, I work with my kindergartner with her letter. She heard me encouraging my pre-schooler to write about spring break, so she decides to write about She knows how to spell the majority of the words she wants to write and, the words she doesn't know are spelled out aloud by me.

First grade:
My first grader can pretty much work on his letter alone. He sounds out words to the best of his ability and, when he gets stumped, he'll ask me to help him with his letter sounds.

The letters written are pretty basic and don't take too long to complete, but it's worth it in terms of learning about words, how they look, how each letter sounds and how they work together in a sentence. I encourage them to write between three and five sentences in their letters so they don't become too frustrated or overwhelmed. All the left over space is used for art work, stickers, rubber stamping and glitter glue swirls.

Each child also draws a "self portrait" and a picture of their favorite thing to go along with their letters. We use half sheets of construction paper for this part of the project and they're encouraged to use any medium they'd like to create their pictures. On the bottom or back of the page, they write what the picture is and why they chose to draw it. For example, on the back of my first grader's picture was:

Truck
I like trucks.

It's very basic, but it gets the point across. Don't get too complex with the sentences in the letter or the descriptions, otherwise they'll associate negative feelings (the frustration) with writing and reading projects. When we're finished our letters and our pictures, each child takes turns reading their work out loud to each other.

They love sticking everything in the envelopes (with help folding) and licking them shut. Then, they each take turns putting their envelopes into the mailbox.