Writing letters is still a common activity for youngsters who believe in Santa Claus. Many kids at the Toronto Santa Claus Parade have their Santa Claus letter in hand to deliver to the walking post office. Since many children are excited about Christmas and the arrival of Santa Claus, teachers can educate students on how to write a personal letter and be sure to have the student’s attention.
Introduction to Writing a Letter to Santa Claus
Gather the children on the carpet and read a story about Santa Claus. Once the story is finished ask the students who would like to write Santa Claus. Most if not all hands will be eagerly waving in the air.
Ask students what they would need to write a letter to Santa Claus. On the blackboard or chart paper record all of their answers. You may need to prompt the children to complete the list for letter writing. The Santa Claus letter list should include; date, Santa Claus’s address, writer’s address, salutation, closing, body of the paragraph, stamp, and envelope. After you have all the information on the list, it is time to write a letter to Santa Claus.
Begin the lesson with reading a letter you wrote to Santa Claus when you were a little girl or boy. In the letter include all of the appropriate information for a letter. After the letter is written ask the students if they are ready to write a letter to Santa Claus.
Shared Letter Writing
Together as a class, write a letter to Santa Claus. Have students refer to your letter to write the classroom letter. Always ask open ended questions to allow children to problem solve. Begin the letter and emphasis capitals, spacing, and punctuation. You may wish to make mistakes on the letter and have students assist you in making the corrections with a different marker. Once the letter is written, the class will read the letter.
Independent Letter Writing
Students will write their own letter to Santa Claus following the outline during the shared activity. After the letter is written students are to reread and make any corrections. Once students are self-edited, the teacher will edit. Students will write a second copy with the absence of errors.
Stamps
Students are given a small piece of paper that they will create into a stamp. The stamp may be coloured or be a symbol of Christmas. Students will decide on how to decorate the stamp. Some stamp suggestions; candy cane, Santa’s hat, or a Christmas tree.
Mailing Santa Claus Letters
Students will address the envelope to Santa Claus and will glue their stamp to the envelope.
Santa’s Address: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H OH0
Teachers are asked to send the letters by December 4th to ensure students receive a letter from Santa Claus before Christmas. Over 1 million children take advantage of the program all over the world, and letters are answered in the child’s language including Braille.
Writing a letter to Santa Claus is an excellent Christmas activity to start the Christmas unit for the primary grades. Late November or early December is the time to begin the letters to ensure there is enough time for the letters to be delivered to the North Pole and for students to receive a response from Santa Claus.
How to Write an Apology Letter
Debbie DeSpirt - Debbie DeSpirt is an Elementary Teacher for the York Catholic District School Board in Ontario, Canada. Her post secondary education ...
