Today we discussed the 5 parts of a Friendly Letter. In addition to discussing the parts, I shared a friendly letter that I wrote you! I hope it gave you an opportunity to know me better.
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29125 Evergreen
Southfield, MI 48076
August 28, 2007
Southfield, MI 48076
August 28, 2007
Dear 7th Grade Writing Students,
My name is Jennifer Lynn Ehle and I am excited to begin my fourth year teaching at Shrine Catholic Academy. It seems as thought I have been in school forever. I hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit Mercy. After my four years at the University of Detroit Mercy, I traveled to County Clare, Ireland for a summer to study photography. When I returned, I decided to attend the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) to earn my masters in education. After living in White Lake, Detroit, Hamtramck, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, and Washington state, I now take residence in Southfield, Michigan.
My family is very important in my life. My father and stepmother live in Commerce Township, Michigan, and have for the past 15 or so years. My mother passed away three years ago, but her spirit is always with me. My brother, Jason, lives in Clarkston as well as my stepsister, Nichole. Nichole also has four children, which means I am Aunt Jenny to three nephews and one adorable niece. I recently married a wonderful man, Aaron. We now live together with our two cats, Bailey and Murphy. I am sure you will hear me talk about my family throughout the year! Everyone in my family likes to joke and all have very good senses of humor. My brother Jason and I usually hit the theatre when a new comedy comes out. Some of our favorites include “Blades of Glory” with Will Farrell and “What About Bob?” with Bill Murray. I guess you could say that my family is somewhat competitive too. We enjoy good rounds of tennis and frisbee golf. We also own quite a few board games. Aaron and I have been playing a lot of Battleship and Clue lately.
I have many interests and hopefully many will be apparent as I teach this year. I have a great love for photography and visual arts. I enjoy film, theatrical performances, live music, and the like. I like to read mostly contemporary fiction, and write, mostly poetry and short stories. I also enjoy traveling. This past summer Aaron and I went on a cruise to the Mediterranean, porting in Spain, Sicily, three cities in Italy, and France. I came back with 15 rolls of film! It was one of the most amazing vacations I have ever been on. In my free time you can find me riding my bike, viewing a movie on the big screen, shopping at the GAP or Target, capturing a few photos with my Pentex, working out at the Farmington YMCA, or gearing up lesson ideas for you!
As for English, I love teaching writing and literature. I think I was very fortunate to have excellent writing teachers throughout school and college. I remember many of the interesting and creative ideas they brought to me, and I hope this year to share them with you. My goal for this year is to make writing something you actually like to do, instead of it being a chore. In order to accomplish my goal, I will try my very best to present the information in a creative, yet challenging manner. Also, I will need each and every one of you to participate by listening attentively and by asking questions when you have them.
I hope this letter provided some information about me to help you get to know me better. I look forward to a terrific year and reading your letters as well.
Most Sincerely,
Mrs. Ehle
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Now it is your turn! You are going to write me a letter! Here are your directions:
Writing a Friendly Letter
In this assignment you will be writing a friendly letter to me. Each letter must include a heading, salutation, body, closing, and signature. This letter must be typed and double spaced with a point size of 10-12 (no lower or higher please). Please use Times New Roman or Tahoma as your font. Here are the subject matters for each paragraph:
- The 1st paragraph will contain an introduction (name, age, previous school, where you were born, where you currently live, or anything else that you would consider introductory information).
- The 2nd paragraph will contain information about your family life (# of members, pets, what you like to do as a family, vacations you have been on, or, again, anything you would like to tell me about your family).
- The 3rd paragraph will contain information about your hobbies and interests (favorites, abilities/gifts/talents, what you do in free time, favorite subject in school, etc.)
- The 4th paragraph will contain information specifically about writing/english. Tell me what your goals are for this class. Why do you like English? Or why don’t you like English?
- The 5th paragraph Give a small summary/closing to your letter. In addition, you may chose to add two “P.S. questions” and pose them to me.
HOMEWORK:
Today in class you began your rough draft of your friendly letter to me. You need to finish your rough draft tonight at home. Make sure you have included all 5 parts and that it is double spaced either on notebook paper or typed. Realize that eventually you will have to type it all for your final anyway, so typing your rough draft may not be a bad idea. But I will except either handwritten or typed for tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will have very important editing sessions. If your rough draft is not complete tomorrow you will not only miss the points for the homework, but also the points for the editing session during class. You will not be invited to the editing session if you have nothing to edit!
