Tag: letters

The Letter Project: Spreading good to girls through handwritten letters

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The Letter Project: Spreading good to girls through handwritten letters

The last week has been heartbreaking to watch unfold. My heart aches over the fear, the divisiveness, the “us” vs. “them” mentality. The stripping away of humanity. As an educator I know that when we take away all of the labels that we use to categorize each other, when we look each other in the eye and listen to each other’s stories, we find out that we are all human after all. When I feel despair over the state of how we treat others, I look for ways to combat that. I look for those doing the hard work of caring for others. The Letter Project is one such organization spreading good.

 

What it is: The Letter Project has one primary objective: to teach women and girls that they are enough. They are driven by the belief that we flourish by supporting each other, and seeing the good in each other first. How do they do this? by writing letters to girls and women around the world who need a little bit of extra encouragement.

How to encourage girls/women with The Letter Project: If you know a girl or young woman who is going through a tough time or needs some extra encouragement/confidence, you can request letters through the Letter Project. She’ll receive a bundle of letters from women around the US who want to build her up and support with words of encouragement.

Wondering what is considered a “tough time”? It could be girls having trouble finding friends at school, feeling lonely or sad, experiencing family turmoil, having trouble with how they look, feeling anxious/nervous. Really, the topics can be limitless. The letters are meant to encourage and show these girls (ages 6 to 20) that they are not alone. To request letters, just fill out a short survey about the girl you are requesting for. In about 4 weeks, the girl will receive 10 to 15 handwritten letters from women across the US.

We all know those girls who could use extra TLC. Maybe they are dealing with body-image issues, maybe a divorce in the family, perhaps they are nervous about moving on to [middle school/high school/college]. Maybe they are overwhelmed with school, or believing lies about themselves. The Letter Project is for these girls, all of them!

I love the heart behind this organization, empowering women and girls to believe in themselves. To remind them that they aren’t alone, we are all in this together!

Tips: The Letter Project is a Christian organization, although they will write to any girl (Christian or not). If you are requesting letters for one of your students, you might specify that the letters be faith-background neutral. If you are requesting letters for a student, please get permission from a parent/guardian first.

You can help: You can support the good work of The Letter Project by partnering with them to write letters, or through monetary donations that go toward stamps, envelopes, and stationary.

Crick Web Literacy Resources

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What it is:   Crick Web Literacy Resource is an excellent collection of interactive games for language development and practice in students.  The resources are excellent for individual student play, literacy group student play, or whole classroom play with an interactive white board.   Games include hangman, alphabetical order, collective nouns, compound words, sticky letters, matching pairs, street scene labels, seaside postcard, spelling checker, story sequencer, instruction sequencer, verb links, word dice, spelling word tester and word selector.  Yes, it is a treasure trove of literacy activities!

 

How to integrate Crick Web Literacy Resources into the classroom:  The Crick Web Resources can be easily integrated into your current literacy curriculum as an enrichment.  The activities fit right along side lessons you are already teaching but make them interactive for students.  I really like the Word Dice activity because students (or teacher) can add their own words to the dice to roll them.  The dice would be great for teaching nouns and adjectives (or any part of speech) on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector.  The dice are also outstanding for playing games unique to your classroom (maybe one that you created!)  The Sticky letters lets students create their own word wall or can be used with a projector for a class word wall.  I was also very impressed with the Spelling Rule Tester which helps students learn the rule for making singular nouns plural.  Students can input their own singular nouns and type what they think the plural is and then click on the tester to see if they are correct.  Take a look at the activities and see how they fit into your curriculum… my guess is that you will find at least one keeper in the group!

 

Tips:  If the Crick Web Literacy Resources look too difficult for your students, click on the Key Stage 1 tab at the top of the site for additional resources for younger students.

 

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Crick Web Literacy Resources in your classroom.

Writing Repeater with Loopy

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What it is: Writing Repeater with Loopy is a virtual piece of paper that lets you write letters or words and plays them back with looping.

How to integrate Writing Repeater with Loopy into the classroom: The Writing Repeater is ideally used with an interactive whiteboard. Teachers or students can demonstrate handwriting and the Writing Repeater will play back the correct letter formation in a loop. This is perfect for teaching handwriting, you can show the technique with your infared pen and the Writing Repeater plays the formation of the letters over and over while students practice on their own. It is also ideal for students who are struggling with handwriting, they can use the Writing Repeater and you can replay their formation to see where the disconnect is.

Tips: The online site will save your handwriting sample (even if you close your web browser) until you create a new sample.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Writing Repeater in your classroom.

Childtopia Learn to Draw the Letters/ Numbers

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What it is: Childtopia is like 10 websites in one…they have so many cool things going on that I am going to break it down into sections so stay tuned… The Childtopia Learn to Draw the Letters shows students the correct way to “draw” the letters of the alphabet. Students can learn how to print, write capital letters, and cursive. Childtopia Learn to Draw the Numbers teaches students how to correctly “draw” each number. This is a great option for your visual learners!

How to integrate Childtopia Learn to Draw the Letters/ Numbers into the classroom: For students who struggle with handwriting, Childtopia Learn to Draw the Letters/Numbers is a great site to use. Students watch as the Childtopia bird draws each letter or number. The site is perfect for using with your visual learners! Set up a handwriting center where students can practice forming letters with Childtopia. Provide a fun writing surface such as a small whiteboard or chalkboard where students can follow along.

Tips: This is one that you will want to bookmark for easy access!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Childtopia Learn to Draw the Letters/Numbers in your classroom.

Email Santa

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What it is: Email Santa lets your students email Santa directly. The best part…Santa emails the students right back! This site is completely safe, it is all web based and does not require email at all. Students fill in a letter form to send Santa and he sends back an appropriate response. They are each a little different and unique.

How to integrate Email Santa into the classroom: This site is best used with students who are believers in Santa. The older kids are not so impressed! This is a nice activity for that last week of school before Christmas break. It requires students to read and follow directions. For struggling readers, pair with a strong “helper” who can assist. The students really love this! Students can even write letters to Rudolph from their pets.

Tips: Set up Email Santa as a center during the last day before break when the kids are wound up and ready for break. Students can also check the naughty or nice list for their name, get Santa’s autograph, vote for the reindeer who should lead the sleigh, watch the Rudolph cam, read elf jokes, and play some other fun Christmas games.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Email Santa in your classroom.

Let’s Say Thanks

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What it is: Let’s Say Thanks is a website that allows students, parents, teachers, and everyone to write messages to our troops serving around the world. By submitting a message through this site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women. Students select a student created image from the site and then type in a personal message of thanks. Let’s Say Thanks prints the messages and sends them around the world to our troops.

How to integrate Let’s Say Thanks into the classroom: Let’s Say Thanks is a wonderful activity to do around Thanksgiving as an activity in being thankful. What a perfect way to teach students gratitude while making an impact on those serving around the world. You could also integrate this activity into social studies learning about our troops, or current events. We live in a global world and this activity could open up discussions about where our troops are serving and what the culture is like where they are stationed.

Tips: Encourage your students to read the messages on Let’s Say Thanks “From the Troops”.