Pen Pal Letters

A very special part of being in our 1st grade classroom is having a penpal!  Ms. Walsh, one of my best teacher friends and I are excited to begin exchanging penpal letters again this year.  This week, students worked hard to complete their introduction letters to their new 1st grade penpal in Chelsea, MA.  Students LOVED this writing project.  1st graders were so engaged in their letters. With a huge smile on one of my 1st grade friends face, he exclaimed, "I'm so into this".

 

Our letters are signed, sealed and delivered!  We're anxiously waiting to hear back.

Knock Knock

Who's there? Justin.  Justin who?  Just-in time to be my Valentine!

If you don't know this already, I love cheesy jokes!  The cheesier the better.  Every morning in 1st grade we start our day with a joke so we always begin with a smile on our face.  We decided we would share our love of joke telling with our pen pals.

0 because they were all copycats!

This week, 1st graders have been making valentine's for their pen pals. Students looked up jokes in joke books (a great way to practice our reading) and picked the funniest one they could find. Some students came up with their own jokes and others picked one they remembered. 

After students found jokes, they wrote and illustrated them on their valentine hearts.  Their pictures were just as cute as the jokes! Students then wrote a little message to their pen pal on the other side.

Here are some jokes to put a smile on your face...

Penpal Letters

As many of you have probably heard we have been writing penpal letters to 2nd grade students in Chelsea, MA.  This has been so much fun for the students and myself!  There is still something to be said about the good old fashioned snail mail.  Towards the end of October we were the first to send off letters introducing ourselves to our penpals.  There were resounding cheers within the classroom before Thanksgiving break when we received our first letters back.  Students were SO excited to read and learn about their penpals, they wanted to share with everyone.

Last week was such a wonderful week in Writer's Workshop.  1st graders were begging for writing time so they could write back to their penpals.  Having my announcement that it's writing time answered with cheers couldn't make me happier.  Students wrote about some of their holiday traditions, their favorites and made sure to ask a question with a question mark.

Student's excitement and curiosity shined through their lengthy writing pieces.  Our letters have been mailed and we're waiting patiently for our next batch.