Productive Pen Pal Phenomena

Dr. Wendy Ghiora –Posting #117-February 21, 2013

In this age of e-mails, instant messaging, texting and social networking, would you believe students actually love receiving old-fashioned letters from pen pals? 

The initial question most children write in the first letter to their new pen pal is:

“Dear Pen Pal, will you be my friend?”

“Yes, I will be your friend,” is the response, and then the magic starts.

"Can we open them now? Can we please open them?”  The teacher hands out letters that have just arrived for her fifth-graders. Some students are actually jumping up and down.Could it be the anticipation of waiting for the letters to arrive by “snail mail,” and the personal human connection that only hand written letters can offer?

Students in pen pal programs write about themselves, their families, pets, favorite subjects in school, music and movies. Unbeknownst to them, they are fulfilling several skills that correlate with state standards for their grade level.

Smart teachers at all grade levels from first grade through high school have discovered this unique way of getting students to learn while they are having fun and meeting new friends from across the country or around the world.

Here are a few first-grade standards the pen pal program meets:

·         Select a focus when writing

·         Write informative/explanatory texts that name a topic, supply some facts about the topic and provide some sense of closure

·         Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking

·         Print all uppercase and lowercase letters accurately.

·         Use common, proper and possessive nouns.

·         Recognize the ways in which they are all part of the same community, sharing principles, goals, and traditions despite their varied ancestry; the forms of diversity in their school and community; and the benefits and challenges of a diverse population.

Many of us had the delightful experience of writing to a pen pal. I thought it was a lost art and was thrilled to discover the program still exists and continues to bring the same joy and friendship to children today, as it did to me many years ago. 

Yes, today it’s mostly Facebook, texting and Skype. But there is still something about that anticipation, about receiving pages and pages of handwritten letters that allow you to really get to know someone. A letter is just more intimate than a phone call or text. Having a pen pal is special and can provide very positive phenomena in one’s life.

If you’d like to get started, here is a website that lists several pen pal programs for students:

http://www.worldwide.edu/travel_planner/pen_pals.html

Happy Writing!