Great Mail Race

Learner Objectives
•Research one of the 50 states
•Present an oral report about their state to the class along with a visual
•Locate an elementary school within that state
•Write a letter sharing information about their home state and requesting information in return

Time Frame
Approximately four weeks

Standards
Students will be expected to write a friendly letter using the correct five parts of a letter. The letter should contain accurate information about our school and city. The information should include both historical facts and personal opinion. At the same time the student will be locating pertinent information about their chosen state for a report which will be given to the class at the end of the project. The report should include both an oral and a visual presentation with correct information about the state. (The students will actually write to two different states, however, the research and presentation will be done on only one state.)

Motivation
The teacher will introduce the project as an opportunity to take a virtual visit into a new state. By sending out photos and information of our own state, students will establish a relationship with another school and create an opportunity to “visit” that state by way of the photos and information sent in response.

Lesson
During the first week, the students will choose two of our fifty states to write to. Students will use the internet to locate a specific school within each of their states and obtain the mailing addresses for those schools. The teacher will teach the five parts of a friendly letter using both visuals and movement. The teacher will model writing a friendly letter and give students an opportunity to create a practice letter on their own.

During week two, the students will begin research on one of the two states for their presentation. Research will be done using both the internet and encyclopedias. A form will be provided for recording the information.
A planned field trip will provide students with the opportunity to take photographs of some of the historical sites within our city. They will also take photographs of one another at these sites. Printed photos will be included with their letters when mailed out.

Week three will give the opportunity to draw it all together. Students will use their field trip experience to write letters about our historical city to their chosen schools. Photographs will be printed. Research on the chosen state will be completed.

In the last week of the project, corrected letters will be rewritten and envelopes will be correctly addressed. Printed photographs will be included with each letter along with a questionnaire for the recipient school to fill out and return. Posters or other visuals will be prepared for presentations about the different states.

Closure
Letters will be mailed to the chosen schools, and state presentations will be given in the classroom.

Resources
Encyclopedias, internet, informational texts on the states, transparency of letter format for overhead, research form and printed questionnaire