Building Letter Writers with Mentor Texts

The other day my daughter wanted to write a letter to her favorite You Tuber. I jumped on the chance to engage her in what was one of my favorite things to do as a child. We worked together to write a perfect letter, at least for a second grader.

Flashback to my past. I wrote my cousin a letter every single month. She lived 6 hours away, and I only saw her 3 times a year, if I was lucky. We kept in touch via letters and loved it. Writing letters for different reasons helps children better understand what the world around them has to offer. Using books to help students better understand letter writing is a great way to get them motivated to write the perfect letter.

My friends from The Reading Crew and I have a link up full writing mentor lessons, freebies and prizes you don't want to miss!

Affiliate links may be present in this post. This means when you click and purchase, I get a small amount of money at no cost to you.

Letter writing is always a fun unit to teach. I always loved hearing what students had to say to each other as we wrote letters to each other or even other people in other schools.

Finding great books to teach letter writing is also amazing, and this gem, Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings will give students a good reason to write letters.

And guess what?! It's the first Virginia Readers' Choice book I'm reviewing! That means, Book Talk Thursday is back!

The book consists of a stray dog, Arfy, who really wants to find a home. He asks various people around the neighborhood, including the butcher and the fire station. Everyone writes back with a valid reason for not having him as their dog. Finally, someone finds a way to take him in as a pet, but who?

Most of the time, students write a friendly letter, but this book really changes that and allows students to find a new reason to write a letter ~ to persuade someone to do something.

What fun for students to think of something they can write a letter about to try to get what they want!

So, I have created a free letter writing unit for students. It includes a letter writing anchor chart in both color and black and white, letter labeling, reasons for writing a letter, letter writing planning page, and letter writing paper. Click {here} or on the picture below to grab it for free!

Now, head on over to the other posts to find out more writing mentor texts with freebies for each one!
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