"I Got a Letter!"

In the last week, many second graders have arrived at school eagerly waving a letter that they received from their family pen pal.  These responses are shared with the whole class and allow us all to hear a variety of family stories.  Pictures have accompanied most letters, so we have also gotten to "see" who each classmate is writing to!

As we waited for these replies to our first letters to arrive, the students have been exploring the place where their pen pal lives.  A big, blank map of the United States is on the wall outside Sandy's classroom, and each student traced their state and made a colorful copy of it to add to the map outline.  Using books, websites and fact cards, students are collecting an assortment of information, such as state capital and state bird, to add to their research packet.  In the future, this information will be used to create a large postcard as a way to share what they have learned.