I teach a 2nd grade class of 20+ students in an overcrowded school full of students that come from all socio-economic levels. While many students come to school knowing how to read, most of them have trouble composing simple stories and friendly letters.
After noticing the deficiencies in my student's writing skills, I have teamed up with a school in another state (that happens to share the same name as our school). That teacher and I have come up with a plan for our students to exchange letters monthly. We hope this will help us build our letter writing skills as well as general writing skills. This is important because when my students reach 4th grade they will have to take a state mandated writing test.
My classroom is in need of a safe place to keep our letters (as well as letters they write to each other as part of our character education program) so that they do not get "shoved" into their desks and ultimately thrown out with the trash. If the students work hard to create their letters and take pride in what they receive, they are more likely to hold on to them. One of my classroom jobs is mail carrier and it is one of the hardest (yet highly coveted) jobs because in addition to being able to read handwriting and having to sort things in ABC order, they get to be the one who is the "bearer of good news". A classroom job is to sort the "mail" and pass it out to each student or their cubby. With backpacks taking up much of the cubby space, many items get bent and damaged before it gets seen. It would be easier if we had a mailbox area to sort the mail so the papers remain intact.
Your help will ensure that my students continue to the lost art of letting writing in an age where children use abbreviations and emoticons. You will make it possible for my students to have a safe place to keep their "prized" letters in addition to building the skills they need to be productive in today's society.
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