[included are ideas for sympathy letters, thank you notes, formal and informal invitations, and the friendly letter.]" />

Put it in a Letter


Even though electronic mail has definitely earned itself a permanent place in the world of correspondence, there is still a time and place for the a well-written letter in the business and private world. It is possible to incorporate letter-writing skill-building lessons into an existing curriculum if the instructor budgets time for the tasks. To keep the lesson stimulating, try one or all of these tips:

THE INVITATION
INFORMAL:
Have students imagine a situation in which they would be writing to a friend, acquaintance, or family member to invite the person over or on an outing. Then, pass out postcards, plain stationery, or simple notecards (even homemade from construction paper!) to write a friendly, informal invitation to the person being invited. Remind students to space correctly, to indent appropriately, and to include a greeting, to give ample information about the event, time, and place, and to provide contact information in the body of the note. Let students trade notes with a classmate to "peer evaluate" to check for spelling and/or punctuation mistakes.

FORMAL:
Show students samples of formal invitations ie: graduation, wedding, housewarming party, dinner party, baby shower, etc. and have them use the computer to design a formal invitation for a make-believe occassion either given by them or given for them. Remind students that in the formal invitation, full names are used, dates and other numbers are often written out in full, and double envelopes are used. Display the invitations on a bulletin board.


THE THANK YOU NOTE:

After the holidays is a good time to incorporate the lesson on thank you notes. Why not have students write an actual thank you note to someone for a gift that they actually received? [to offset the cost, I collect $1.00 from each student in advance to cover the cost of 2 boxes of thank you note cards and postage stamps.] Remind students that a good thank you note specifically names the gift or, when money is received, what the recipient plans to do with the money and expresses sincere appreciation for the gift, as well as for the thoughtfulness of the giver. Thank you notes may be brief, but should be long enough to avoid seeming rushed or careless. As with any letter, proper format, punctuation, and spacing are important. This lesson may also be an opportune time to go over the correct way to address a letter, state codes, etc.
The copyright of the article Put it in a Letter in Teaching Language Arts is owned by Kelley M. Rubben. Permission to republish Put it in a Letter in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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