A Letter Writing Idea

I wanted to share with you a letter writing activity I do with my class every year.  It is so much fun and the kids love doing the activity.  I read the book, “I Wanna Iguana” to my class.  If you have not read this book I would highly recommend it.  It is absolutely adorable.  It is about a boy who wants an iguana for a pet.  So he decides to write his mom a letter telling her why he should be allowed to have the pet.  The mom then writes the boy back, and so begins the book.  The two characters respond back and forth throughout the book with letters.

After I have read this book to my class we get busy writing our own letters to our parents.  I have them to think of any animal that they would love to have as a pet.  It can even be as far fetched as a zebra.  Most of the kids pick a crazy animal they would love to have and run with that idea.   But I do get a few who take this very serious and ask for something like a dog.   The have to give 3-4 reason why they should get to have their pet {this covers persuasive writing}.  They also have to compose their letter in correct letter format.   They draw a picture, and then we place both letter and picture in an envelope.

As a class we discuss how most of their parent’s responses will be no {I don’t want any tears when the letters come back} and that it is ok because this is just for fun.   I attach a small note to the envelope telling the parents what we are doing and ask them to respond.  

Finally, after a few days of their parents working on their homework {the kids get a kick out me telling them this is homework for their parents} we get all the letters back.  First, I have the kids to stand up and read their letter that they wrote to their parents.  Then, they get to read their parents letter for the first time to the class.

The kids have so much fun with this activity.  They love getting a letter back from their parents and getting to share the surprise with the class.   I have never had one to break down when the answer is “no”.   Like I mentioned most ask for silly pets.  So if you are looking for a fun writing activity that covers persuaive and letter writing keep this idea in mind.   

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