With the onset of email, texting, and instant messaging, many students have not written a proper friendly letter. However, it is still a wonderful way to communicate with friends, relatives and teachers.
Parts of a Friendly Letter
Before beginning the lesson, review the parts of a friendly letter. There are a few differences from the business letter format. A friendly letter places the header, closing and signature on the right side of the paper. The salutation and body are aligned on the left margin. The body paragraphs should be indented and a space should be skipped in between each paragraph. The Letter Writing Guide has a nice example letter with the correct format.
Make sure to include the following parts in this order:
- Header – This includes your address and date
- Salutation – Example: Dear John,
- Body – Paragraphs
- Closing – Example: Your friend,
- Signature – Sign your name
Friendly Letter Lesson
This lesson will ask students to write to a friend or relative who lives in another state or town. It should be someone who the student does not see on a regular basis. Students will need to bring in a stamp, envelope and an address of a friend or relative who their parents have approved.
Select Parent Approved Friends or Relatives
Step 1: Ask students to select a friend or relative to write a friendly letter.
Brainstorm Personal and School News for Letter
Step 2: Direct students to brainstorm personal news and/or information that they want to tell the relative.
Step 3: Brainstorm with the class school or class news that a friend or relative would find interesting. Leave this information on the chalk board so that the students can use it in their letters.
Write a Draft of Letter Using Friendly Letter Format
Step 4: Tell students to write a draft of a letter that includes personal and school news and information. Students need to make sure to follow the proper friendly letter format.
Step 5: Students should peer-edit the letters and then take them home to parents to edit. Then, the teacher will grade the draft.
Step 6: Last, the students will write a final copy of the edited letter. Students should address the envelopes and mail the letters.
Address Envelopes and Send Letters
Make sure to show students how to address an envelope. It is surprising to find out how many students don’t know how to do it.
This post is part of the series: Letter Writing Lessons
Try these different types of letter lessons with your students.
