Free Friendly Letter to Santa

Your children will love this free letter to Santa printable! 

Whether you are a teacher or a parent, you can print out and use this letter to Santa for free! Teachers can use this friendly letter to Santa during writers’ workshop or parents can let their children write a letter to Santa at home.

Notes to Teachers and Parents about Friendly Letters to Santa Claus…

Knowing the children’s family traditions is important. Referring to the Family Tree (which can be completed at the beginning of the year) can help determine the students able to do this assignment. For students who do not celebrate Christmas, or as another activity, here is a Friendly Letter to Frosty the Snowman.

Materials:

• Letter to Santa
• Pencils
• Colored pencils or crayons
• Pens
• Dictionaries  

Instructions:

Prior Knowledge Assessment

Ask each student to write a friendly letter to Santa. Do not explain or show the students the proper format yet. If you have in the past, assess their retention and let the students write the letter by memory. Remove any helpful posters you had which they had been referring to. It’s important that they know they are not being “tested”. Just explain this will help you determine what they actually need to know before you design your instruction. When the letters are completed and students are dismissed, review the friendly letters to check for accuracy. Use their letters as a guide to your instruction and keep all the letters for your files. After you complete instruction, you can show the students and parents exactly what the students learned!

Check for proper placement (indentation) of the following for each student, and keep it in the student’s file.

Friendly Letter Pre-Assessment:

•Date
•Greeting
•Body
•Closing
•Signature
Does the student need more help with proofreading, such as spelling, grammar, capital letters, punctuation, run-on sentences or sentences that are cut short?

Friendly Letter Instructions:

•Decide on small group or large group instruction. After reviewing each student’s prior knowledge, you can determine your instruction. It’s helpful to make notes regarding areas of specific need for each student.
•Read aloud a Christmas story about Santa, such as The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
•Decide if you would like to split the students into small groups and/or instruct as a large group. Create your own letter in front of the students (either as a large group or in small groups).
•Demonstrate proofreading steps.

Students Create Friendly Letters:

•Give each student a Friendly Letter to Santa Claus template.
•Students work independently or in small groups as they write.
•Separate into small groups for peer proofreading.
•Students make revisions.
•Students complete letters for teacher review.
•Teacher helps with any revisions.
•Students make any needed additional revisions.

Santa Wrote Me A Letter Back!

Imagine how excited your child would be to get a letter back! I can e-mail you a letter from Santa for your children. You can print it on your home computer, stuff it in their stockings or leave it on the empty plate of cookies. Here’s more about the personalized Letter from Santa for your child.

Letter Writing Song

Here’s a teacher who taught her students to sing a letter writing song. The words for her friendly letter formatting is a bit different than ours, but it’s a great idea. Maybe your students could wear Santa hats and sing the letter writing song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1RQ7R742lA