Author Topic: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves (Read 5462 times)

lianney · « **on:** February 14, 2014, 12:46:44 PM »

I teach all of the grades, so they'll already be familiar with me on the first days of school. I'll go over the rules again and things like that, but am thinking about having 5th and 6th grade write letters to themselves. Have them format the date correctly and teach the grammar "This year, I hope to...". They can fold their letters up in a cute way and seal with a sticker. I'll give them their letters on the last day of English class in 2015.

Did anyone have success with this and have any ideas? I'm a little concerned with language levels, but maybe it'll be good for students to see that they progressed in English over the year (hopefully).

aklimkewicz · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2014, 01:14:16 PM »

I've never done this, but I like the idea. The very first chapter of my new second grade (middle school) is titled Dear Future Me, so this activity is fitting. Only I've got just one semester left before I leave, so I'll have to hand off the letters to my coteachers.

jlehmke · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2014, 04:22:56 PM »

I think this is a good idea too!

I only have one semester left for this contract too, but I like writing lessons that are not straight from the book so this is a great exercise.

I will prob develop this into a ppt.

I have to give the students examples and ideas because most of them would not know where to start.

ahnh87 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2014, 04:45:36 PM »

This is a fantastic idea! I was wondering what I would do on the first day since my students already know me.

I've whipped up a really simple letter template. Students write their names, date, and some goals for English class, as well as a place to write some English words they know (so they can see how much they learn at the end of the year). There's a sample letter in the second page of the document.

Please feel free to add, change and improve!

Arwen87 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2014, 09:57:17 AM »

I really like this idea! I think setting goals is a great way to start off the year. I too will be leaving (mid-semester, actually), but I don't think that's a problem. In fact, if the letters aren't sealed, it could be helpful for the new teacher to look at a few of them to get an idea of the students' skill levels and areas where they want to grow. When I got here I had no idea where to start with my lessons because I didn't know what would be a reasonable level of English to expect from my students.

bird212 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 26, 2014, 09:40:04 AM »

Great idea! I too will be leaving after this semester, but agree it will be good for the new teacher to look over as well. If anyone develops any materials in the next few days, definitely post! I'm lesson planning and think my classes may or may not start on Monday so trying to gather a few things! If I get anything made I'll post as well. Love this idea!

AdamGreenberg · « **Reply #6 on:** March 03, 2014, 04:58:32 PM »

This sounds like a great lesson idea Lianne. Keep us posted.

patthebunny · « **Reply #7 on:** March 03, 2014, 05:19:37 PM »

Great idea! I'm at a HS and I am sure my third years are tired of my introduction lesson (even though the second year intro is totally different)

I can hand it back to them right after the K-SAT.
Or maybe a good luck letter to themselves to give out right before the K-SAT.

I will post lesson when created.

Zeeto · « **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2014, 11:34:57 AM »

Here is the quick template I threw together for my 6th graders. I'll be making a .ppt to go along with it.

Zeeto · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2014, 12:58:51 PM »

This is the slideshow to accompany the above template as I explain it all to the kids.

kimjones · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2014, 02:08:57 PM »

Zeeto Looks really nice! I was wondering if you could upload the .pub file as a .doc? I don't have anything that will open the file and I plan on editing it for middle school students. Thanks.

Zeeto · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2014, 09:37:12 AM »

Saving it as a .doc loses the border and messes with the formattting a little, but here you go.

lianney · « **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2014, 11:06:26 AM »

Quote from: AdamGreenberg on March 03, 2014, 04:58:32 PM

This sounds like a great lesson idea Lianne. Keep us posted.

Thank you, Adam. Let me know how it goes if you do it with your classes

Zeeto · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2014, 11:42:01 AM »

Update since I've used the stuff I posted twice: As expected, the open-ended questions were difficult (lower-level school). I had the students try their best in English, but I also had them include a Korean version of their answers (to make sure they understand what they were trying to say when they get the letter back next February).

If I were going to re-do this lesson again, I would pre-prepare word banks using common responses and insert them into the ppt.

lianney · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2015, 02:00:06 PM »

Bumping this thread back up. I did the lesson with 6th graders on the first day. I want to give them their letters back this week, but not sure if I'll make a whole lesson around that. Any ideas?

traveler · « **Reply #15 on:** September 05, 2016, 03:24:18 PM »

Thanks for this material!!

Author Topic: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves (Read 5462 times)

lianney

First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

aklimkewicz

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

jlehmke

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

ahnh87

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

Arwen87

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

bird212

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

AdamGreenberg

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

patthebunny

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

Zeeto

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

Zeeto

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

kimjones

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

Zeeto

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

lianney

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

Zeeto

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

lianney

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

traveler

Re: First Days of Class - Write a Letter to Their Future Selves

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