Teaching Tips

Celebrate Thanksgiving and Practice Handwriting

There is something to be said about opening a crisp envelope with a delightful card and a thoughtful, handwritten thank you note inside. In an increasingly digital age, handwritten cards and notes may be few and far between in your mailbox, but the excitement surrounding receiving a handwritten letter or thank you card still evokes appreciation and attention.

 

Although emails are the 21st century’s answer to the letter, it is still important to share the effect and meaningfulness of a handwritten thank you card with your students. Handwritten thank you cards display good manners, empower writers, and are still as important for students to learn how to write today as they were 100 years ago.

 

As Thanksgiving approaches, now is the perfect time for your students to practice handwriting by writing a thank you card to someone or something they are grateful for! 

Here’s how:

  1. As a class, write a sample thank you card including the date, a greeting, body, closing, and signature on double line paper
  2. Tell your students it is now their turn to write a thank you card using double lines.
  3. Remind children to include the date, a greeting, body, closing, and their signature.
  4. Invite students to read their thank you cards to the class or to a partner.
  5. Send the thank you cards out.

 

Although this activity is a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving and practice handwriting, creating handwritten thank you cards for special guests who have visited your classroom or to school administrators is a fun year-round activity!

 

Check out our double line paper and don’t forget that good grip is essential for writing handwritten thank you cards! Watch our free on-demand Get A Grip! webinar to learn more about teaching and remediating pencil grip. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kathryn Fox's picture
By Kathryn Fox Kathryn received her Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication from James Madison University. She is an experienced editor, copywriter, and technical writer and has worked for the government and in the IT, music, and telecommunications industries. She is currently a writer and editor for Learning Without Tears and loves providing content that empowers young writers and teachers. Kathryn lives in Arlington, Virginia with her best friends.