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The Inspiration Behind the Prekindergarten Letter Writing Project

Lisa Martin’s prekindergarten class read a story called Dear Annie by Judith Caseley, which was about a little girl writing to her grandpa as a pen pal. The children enjoyed the story so much that they decided to begin their own Prekindergarten Letter Writing Project! The students planned to write to their family members and ask them to send letters and/or picture postcards from the places they lived. “We sent a letter to each pen pal explaining our class project, and the children drew a picture and dictated a personalized letter on the back,” said Mrs. Martin.

The Excitement of Sending and Receiving Mail

According to Mrs. Martin, “Sending and receiving mail is always a treat, and it was the first time for many in the class to have that experience which was exciting!” Every few days, Prekindergarten Teaching Assistant Jessica Durdin would accompany a student to the school mailboxes to check if any post had arrived. Additionally, small groups of students would visit the Moorestown Friends mail room and Front Desk Coordinator Chuck Viggiano to learn about the process of sending out a letter. The prekindergarteners were quite impressed with the school’s machine that automatically sealed and stamped the correct postage to each letter.

What Is the Learning Potential Behind a Prekindergarten Letter Writing Project?

Through this activity, the students learned about the parts of an address, such as street, town, and zip code. Secondly, the prekindergarteners were introduced to geography as the class studied the origins of the letters and postcards. Some mail arrived from California, New York, Florida, New Hampshire, and from many New Jersey and Pennsylvania towns. As each pen pal sent mail, the class pinned the sending towns on a map. Lastly, with the Prekindergarten Letter Writing Project, the students had an opportunity to sharpen their math skills. The class graphed the locations from which they received mail from and they counted the number of letters and postcards received.

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