Greetings!
With the holidays approaching, why not do a mini-lesson with your students on the importance of writing thank you notes? Have a quick discussion with your students about what thank you notes are for, who they might write them to, and how they are formatted.
Remember the six parts to a thank you note:
1. Greeting
2. Expression of gratitude
3. How gift will be used or why it is special
4. A sentence relating to the giver
5. Expression of gratitude again
6. Closing with signature
Discuss the fact that thank you notes are normally handwritten. Do a quick writing demonstration of a thank you note on a piece of chart paper and hang it up in your room as a model. A thank you note for something intangible might look like this:
December 15, 2007
Dear Ms. Jones,
Thank you for helping in our classroom every day. I love doing flash cards with you. You always make it fun. I hope you have a wonderful winter break! Thank you again for your help.
Yours truly,
Ben
Practice this very useful skill by having students write a brief thank you note to a parent or other family member to include in a holiday card. Other options would be to write a thank you note to send to a soldier in Iraq, or write thank you notes to the staff in your building such as secretaries, nurses, custodians, paraprofessionals, or other teachers.
Right after the holidays, you may want to model a thank you note for a more tangible gift. For instance,
January 2, 2008
Dear Grandma,
Thank you for the Super Sonic Ranger Rocket kit. I can't wait to start building it! Mom is going to help me. I'll send you pictures of it when it's finished and we are ready to launch. I hope your holidays were as much fun as mine! Thank you again for the gift.
Love,
Jack
Plan some time for students to write thank you notes for gifts they received. Provide some printed blank thank you note cards, often available on sale after Christmas, that students may use for writing their final copies.
