| Pen Pals - The Incredible Teaching Tool | |
Pen Pals are an effective program that you can easily implement with your students. Pen Pals tie into Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology (if you do it through email rather than pen and paper), and many other subjects, depending on how you set it up in your classroom.
The beginning of the school year is the best time to find pen pals for your children; that way, you can have the entire school year to exchange letters.
For a detailed look at how and why to develop a Pen Pal program, take a moment to read the article "How to Design a Pen Pal Program." There are many ways you can find Pen Pals. I found Pen Pals for my third grade class right here on our Elementary Educators Message Board. Simply post a message that you are looking for a class to partner up with, including information such as grade level, location, how many kids, etc. You will soon hear back from other interested teachers and, from there, you can move the conversation to personal email and set up the details. It's just that easy! As an alternative, you should visit my collection of Pen Pal links. These are the best links for K-6 teachers from all over the web. Be sure to follow the rules and guidelines of the individual sites. As your Pen Pal program continues, one of the keys to success is keeping in close contact with the teacher you are working with. Drop him or her a quick email to let them know when they can expect your letters to arrive. Determine ahead of time if you are going to send each letter individually or in one big batch. I would recommend sending them in one big batch just to keep it simpler for you. If you have any questions or need further support in developing and implementing a Pen Pal program for your classroom, please visit the Elementary Educators Message Board. We're always here to help you help the kids! Happy Teaching!
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