KEEP CALM! Letters to Next Year's Teacher


How many days do you have left? We have 16, and we still have SO much to do!!! Some of my second grade bloggy friends and I have decided to team up and bring to you a little blog hop:
There are 15 of us that will be sharing some end-of-the-year ideas for those, "ahhhhhh!!!" moments, when you aren't sure what to do, but you need something to keep those kiddos' brains fired up!

Here's a little writing project my kids do every year. Actually all the kids in my school do this, kinder through 6th grade, so it's definitely adaptable if you don't teach second grade. We write letters to our third grade teacher! The kids won't find out who their teachers will be until the end of August, but the teachers will get the letters over the summer. I LOVE getting letters from my incoming class! It gives me an idea of what kind of writers I will have, and it's always fun to learn about what they like and what kinds of questions they have about second grade!

We started by reviewing the Parts of a Letter song. We use this song, sung to the tune of the Addams Family theme song, but there is also a cute version sung to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (not my class, but these kiddos sure are cute!).

I then model what kinds of things to include in the body of the letter. Start with an introduction, tell a little about yourself, ask the teacher some questions about third grade, and don't forget to end with a conclusion sentence. Check out a few of our finished products!
This is a letter from one of my higher students.
I couldn't be prouder of this guy's work! He has come such a LONG way from the beginning of the year :)
We focus on using our very best handwriting, spelling, and conventions to impress our third grade teachers! I don't do much teacher editing of the students' letters, because the goal is for the third grade teacher to get a glimpse of each student as an independent writer. I will quickly glance over them, and make comments, such as, "You might want to go back and make sure you have all your capital letters and end marks."

I uploaded my letter template into Google Drive if you want a copy for yourself! Click on either image below:

Two styles of paper: regular lines and handwriting lines
Two versions of each style: boy and girl!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are able to use this idea in your classroom. Now make sure you hop on over to see my girl, Jaime at Bright Concepts 4 Teachers by clicking on the button below!

3 comments

  1. Thing Number 1) Thanks for the cute freebie. It will come in handy in a couple of weeks...and saves me from having to whip something up!
    Thing Number 2) Thanks for organizing this hop! You are amazing!
    Jean
    Diving Into 2nd Grade

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  2. I love the idea of writing to the new teacher! This is perfect for that last crazy day!! All of these ideas are making it hard for me to decide which one to do!!!

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  3. Thanks for sharing your super cute end of the year idea! Also, thank you for being so awesome and organizing all of us for this event! You rock!
    -Jaime
    Bright Concepts 4 Teachers

    ReplyDelete

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