After a year of passing journals back and forth, about 20 letters per student, we finally met our penpals in person. On a special Forest Thursday, a bus arrived with our 19 penpals from Sharon Elementary School. This idea began as a way to motivate my students to write in a variety of ways. Penpals have exchanged friendly letters, informational reports, persuasive passages about their own sit spots, as well as maps, drawings, and data charts that all relate to their forest classroom. We had a fantastic time hosting our penpals and may just continue writing next year in the fourth grade!
