Hello!
You are now enrolled in the Global SchoolNet Foundation's Fall 2004
Project Letters to Santa. Welcome aboard!
You're registration has arrived early, so there won't be much action on
this list until Santa arrives somewhere during the last week of October.
Until then, accept this message as confirmation of your registration and
file these lesson plans someplace where you can find them.
This is the thirteenth year that we have conducted this project..... it
has become a time-honored favorite!
This file contains the original project announcement along with all
procedures, suggestions, and writing prompts you will need to do this
project with your students.
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The Global SchoolNet Foundation presents the
Thirteenth Annual Letters to Santa Project
=====================================================================
Please print and distribute this call for collaboration to teachers
you know who may be interested in participating.
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Project Name: The SANTA LETTERS (c) October 1, 2004
By Dennis Cowick, Global SchoolNet Foundation
A favorite annual GSN project since 1984.
Date: November 4, 2004 to December 13, 2004
Purpose: Improve writing skills in primary and upper grade
students, and produce many student-authored papers for
reading.
Subjects: Language arts
Grade level: Students in grades K-1 or 2 write letters to "Santa."
Students in grades 7-12 reply as "Santa."
Summary: This letter exchange, pairing classes of elementary
students with Jr/Sr High students is one of the oldest
and most successful telecomputing projects. Best of
all, it is simple:
1) Primary students write letters to Santa using a word
processor.
2) Secondary students write back, pretending to be Santa.
3) The letters are exchanged as electronic mail
Number of participants: Unlimited
PROJECT COORDINATOR:
Dennis Cowick
Mark Twain Junior-Senior High School
San Diego Unified School District
San Diego, California
619-111-1111
Email Address: santa@gsn.org
WITHDRAWING FROM PROJECT:
It is ESSENTIAL that you notify me IMMEDIATELY if you are unable to
complete your part of this project. If I have already matched you with
another classroom then you'll have to negotiate the terms of your
release with the other teacher... since the success of this project for
the other classroom DEPENDS ON YOU. Once you've made a commitment,
please don't let us down.
PROCEDURE:
Registration deadline is Nov. 1.
On November 4 I'll start notifying participants of the classroom they'll
be working with. As soon as you receive notice from me you should
contact your partner teacher both by telephone, if possible, and by
email. This first contact is crucial to reassure you that you have a
reliable partner. If you are having problems, with your partner, send
mail to santa@gsn.org as soon as possible. I may be able to find you a
new partner
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.... NOT!
This project generates a huge response. Last year, I worked with almost
400 classrooms. As a volunteer Santa-meister there is just so much that
I'll be able to do to help you solve your individual problems.
You are welcome to post your questions to the santa-L@gsn.org address,
where your question and my answer will be read by all participants. But
I would prefer that you not call me. And under no circumstances will I
be able to help you with technical problems. If you need help, please
contact somebody in your own community.
PROJECT MATERIALS
Below are the following project materials which you will find very
useful:
* Project time line
* Complete project outline and procedures
* Guidelines for preparing and transmitting files of
student writing
* Writing prompts for primary students
* Writing prompts for secondary students
* Samples of student writing
TIME LINE
=========
November 1: Deadline for Registration
November 4: We send you information about your partner school.
November 4-7: Send your first message of greetings to your
partner teacher.
November 10-21: Practice sending files to yourself and to your
partner.
November 10-21: Primary pre-writing activities
November 24-26: PRIMARY STUDENTS SEND LETTERS TO SANTA VIA EMAIL
November 27-28: U.S.A. Thanksgiving Holiday
December 1-5: Secondary students reply as "Santa."
December 5: SECONDARY STUDENTS SEND REPLIES VIA EMAIL
December 8-12: Primary teachers: give feedback to their partner
Secondary teachers: have your students write to
the Global SchoolNet Foundation and to the primary
teacher a summary of their experiences and an
evaluation of the project's impact on their
learning, etc.
As you can see, there are only two weeks of school between the
Thanksgiving and Winter vacations. That is why it is important,
especially for novice telecommunicators, to make contact and practice
the file transfer procedures the first few weeks of November.
This short time frame makes it imperative that primary students get
their letters to Santa finished and sent before Thanksgiving.
Please see the remainder of this lesson for specific suggestions and
pre-writing activities to use with your students in completing this
activity.
GENERAL PROCEDURE
=================
Introduction
============
The "Letters to Santa Claus" activity is not a new one. Teachers and
parents have always helped children write to Santa.
This bearded, fat, jolly, red-suited folkloric old man sometimes
represents different things to different people. But coming as he does
in the dead of winter, he seems mostly to symbolize hope.
This lesson is based on the experiences of teachers who have used email
to send letters to and from Santa in projects over the last ten years.
It is a lesson that is especially well-designed for the newcomer to
educational telecomputing, yet one that more advanced teachers and their
students enjoy using every year.
The project concept is a simple one.
1) Elementary students write letters to Santa using a word processor.
2) Secondary students write back, pretending to be Santa.
3) The letters are exchanged as electronic mail.
Over the past few years this project has mushroomed. Scores of schools
exchanged hundreds of letters to and from Santa.
Included in the program have been:
- bilingual
- communicatively handicapped
- deaf and hard of hearing
- Gifted
- continuation
- opportunity
Both Spanish and English letters were exchanged.
PURPOSE
=======
Improve Student Skills
----------------------
Academically
------------
The exercise strengthens students writing. Elementary students want
their letter to Santa to be "just right", and secondary students feel
such a high degree of responsibility to the task that they also want
their work to be their best. Students gladly write, edit, revise and
perfect their letters.
They even get quite a bit of practice reading, because they want to read
each others letters and compare the contents.
Socially
-------
One of the most noteworthy results of this project is the cooperative
mode that the students seem automatically to slide into so effortlessly.
They want to help each other, to compare what they have written with
what others in the class have done. The desire to cooperate is obvious,
natural and strong.
Technically
----------
In video interviews taken after they have completed the project,
students state that they feel more comfortable using the computer
keyboard and the word-processing program. They are also intrigued and
interested in learning about electronic transfer of information. Some
students become quite knowledgeable in telecomputing.
Improve Teacher Skills
----------------------
Much has been said regarding the unfortunate isolation facing the
teacher of today. Only truly extraordinary teachers seem to be able to
fight the impossible obstacles that prevent them from sharing ideas with
colleagues.
For many teachers, participation in this project is their first step
into an electronic network. After experiencing this project, teachers
see the possibilities; of networking with other teachers, and hearing
about new approaches to old problems.
EQUIPMENT
=========
The letters must be composed in a relatively short time. This year,
because of the short time between Thanksgiving and Winter break, primary
classes must send their letters before Thanksgiving, and the secondary
classes have only one wee after Thanksgiving to compose and send their
replies. For that reason, it is advantageous if you have access to a lab
full of computers. That way, you can have your entire class working on
the project at the same time.
Whether you have your students working in pairs or by themselves is
sometimes more a question of how much equipment you have than anything
else. Therefore, the number of students per computers is flexible.
>From the Beginning to the End:
Step-by-Step Procedures
----------------------
REMEMBER: After you register with us, please send all questions,
comments, suggestions to and other correspondence to the entire mailing
list at santa-L@gsn.org. Send private correspondence to santa@gsn.org
1) OBTAIN A PARTNER SCHOOL
* send registration for this project to santa@gsn.org
or
* Pair with a teacher you already know.
or
* post a notice on your email service requesting a partner on your
own.
If you find your own partner, you may send a copy of these materials to
your partner. You may modify and use them for your own purposes as a
classroom teacher. However, "The Santa Letters" and all accompanying
files are copyrighted (c) 1997, and you may not adapt or utilize them
for any organized or commercial purposes. In all cases you must
attribute credit to Dennis Cowick and the Global SchoolNet Foundation.
IMPORTANT
---------
Do NOT announce the Santa Letter Project to your students until after
you have made contact with a partner teacher. It would be a good idea to
exchange several messages and perhaps even talk on the phone once or
twice to ensure an equal commitment to the project before you announce
it to your students. You will find that the key to a successful project
follows from a firm commitment from both sides to finish the project to
the end.
If you conduct this project on your own, the Global SchoolNet Foundation
would be very interested in receiving a summary of your project and a
critique of this lesson outline. If you are the older students, please
have them as a class or in small groups compose a summary and evaluation
of this project from their own perspective and send it to us. We'd be
thrilled to hear from your students.
2) LEARN HOW TO CONVERT WORD PROCESSOR FILES TO ASCII TEXT FILES
Unless your partner teachers uses the same word processing program,
and you can both send and receive attached word processing files, you
will need to learn how to prepare and send your letters as ASCII text
files. If you don't already know how to do this, please get some help
from people in your school, school district, or community who can help
you learn this skill.
3) PRACTICE SENDING AND RECEIVING FILES WITH YOUR PARTNER
One of your main tasks in this project is sending the letters back
and forth. It is imperative that you learn these procedures BEFORE
beginning this project with your class.
Write a practice letter to Santa, save it on disk, and send it via
email, first to yourself, then to your partner teacher. You should
expect your partner to reciprocate so that you both can feel confident
that the project won't fail due to lack of technical knowledge on your
partner's part.
Remember to ask someone nearby if you need technical help.
4) SET GUIDELINES WITH YOUR PARTNER CLASS
- Agree on a time line (you may modify the suggested time line...
but leave enough time for sending the last letters).
- Agree on the number of students participating (This is a popular
project. Take a tip from the secondary teacher that ended up
having
her students answer over 200 letters instead of the planned 30.
5) DO SOME PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR CLASS
After describing the lesson to your students, use one of the pre-writing
prompts below, one for primary students and one for secondary students.
Secondary teachers: do some pre-writing exercises with your students...
before you begin receiving your Santa Letters.
* In a group discussion, students should try to think like Santa.
They should agree on descriptions of the North Pole and Santa's
workshop, what it is like to work with reindeer, and other questions
likely to be asked by primary students. Each student should write a
favorite vignette of life at the North pole that they might like to
share with their primary partner. Read these together to avoid any
blatant discrepancies among the stories... remember, the primary
students within the same class will no doubt share their letters from
"Santa" and may spot any contradictions.
* Discuss how it is not fair to promise to bring everything the
child has listed... how to be encouraging and diplomatic without making
any specific promises.
* Discuss how to encourage young children to be good for the sake
of being good.
6) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WRITE TO SANTA
I have talked to primary teachers and there are different ways to have
your students actually write their letters
-> Have your children dictate their letters to you as you type.
-> Arrange to have older students or parent volunteers come in and
type the letters.
-> Have students dictate their letters to Santa to you. As they
dictate, you write their letter on paper. One teacher I know had her
students spell the words and she wrote them EXACTLY in the phonetic
way her students spelled. Then the children sat at the keyboard with
their letter at their elbow, and they slowly, painstakingly typed in
the letters.
Letters produced in the third way are the most challenging and
entertaining for the secondary students to answer, as you can imagine.
7) PRIMARY TEACHER SENDS THE LETTERS
It may save you time if you compile all of your student letters into one
large file. However, if you do this, include a page break between each
one of your students' letters.
8) SECONDARY TEACHERS RECEIVE THE LETTERS
Download, save, and print the messages containing the Santa Letters.
Pass out the letters to your class, have them write a letter FROM Santa
and save the letters. You can merge several letters "from" Santa into
one or more longer files. Be sure and include a page break between each
one of your students letters.
9) SECONDARY TEACHERS SEND THE LETTERS FROM SANTA
When you send your email containing Santa's letters to your partner
teacher, type a preamble "from" Santa. Example:
"Ho Ho Ho! It was so nice to get all those wonderful letters from Mrs.
Jones class down there in California! It warmed my heart to hear from so
many of you. Have a wonderful Holiday!
HO HO HO!
love,
Santa Claus "
Then upload the files of student writing.
10) SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS AND REMINDERS
a) Merge your class letters into one file, then send via email to
your partner teacher.
b) Allow plenty of time when planning the deadlines
c) Take pictures of your primary students as they work on the
letters and send captioned copies to your secondary partner. They
will enjoy seeing snapshots as they play the role of Santa.
d) Make a video of your primary students at the various stages. The
elementary students could send their video to your Santa partner
introducing themselves.
e) Post the letters to and from Santa on a bulletin board.
f) Staple both letters together and send them home with the primary
students.
g) Put up a display in a hall so the rest of the school can share
the excitement!
h) Don't try to do letters for everyone in the entire school!
i) Get the parents and administrators involved or at least make
sure they know about what the excitement is all about.
11) EVALUATION/FOLLOW-UP
Primary teachers: Send a letter to your partner class:
1. Thank them for contributing to your students
2. Describe the scene in your class when your primary students
read their own letters "from Santa."
3. Share any interesting or noteworthy vignettes about the
impact this had on your students, their comments and reaction,
parents' reactions, etc.
Secondary teachers: Have your students write, either as a class or
in several small groups, an evaluation of this project, including their
reactions and how they would improve the project. Send this evaluation
to santa@gsn.org, and also send a copy to your primary partner.
12) A VARIATION ON THE SANTA CLAUS LETTER EXCHANGE
- Santa, Inc
Steve Pinney, who ran "The Writing Network" for the Newport Mesa Unified
School District in California, added a twist to the project. Instead of
requiring his students to write a practice business letter, he had them
write to a corporation called, "Santa, Inc." A typical letter may
request the price for 7 cases of reindeer food and nibbles. The letters
are written on computer and saved on disk, then sent electronically to a
senior high class.
The students at the senior high class ARE Santa, Inc. They reply to the
letter and send their answer back over the wires. Both classes use the
proper business letter format.
-Letters to the Easter Bunny
Emily Shieh, a teacher at Poway, California, High School, was confronted
by some rather large and upset high school students after one of her
classes did the Santa letters. They wanted to know why they hadn't been
in on the Santa letter writing to the little kids. They informed here
they wanted to do am Easter bunny letter writing exchange. "You find us
some little kids, and we will be the bunnies!", they advised Emily. And
so, out of the Santa letter electronic exchange was spun the Easter
Bunny letters in which several other classes are now involved.
13) SANTA LETTER "SAMPLES"
Some of the letters that have been written to and from Santa by students
in past years are in the last section, below.
WRITING PROMPTS FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS
=====================================
"WHAT SHOULD I WRITE TO SANTA?"
Tell Santa what you do for fun.
Tell Santa what you would do if you had a reindeer?
Tell Santa what you do to help your mom?
Tell Santa about where you live.
Tell him about your favorite snacks.
Tell Santa what you might leave out for him.
Tell Santa how you wrote and sent this letter.
Tell why you would like to visit Santa.
Tell Santa what you might do during vacation.
Tell Santa about your family.
Tell Santa about your teacher.
Tell Santa about your pet or best friend.
Tell Santa about your favorite thing to do.
WRITING PROMPTS FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS
======================================
Duplicate and pass out this guide to your "Santa" team.
Thinking Like Santa
===================
The letters you will be receiving were written by elementary school
students who live in _____________, which is located about ______ miles
due ______________ of here. These students think they are writing to the
real Santa Claus. Your task is to write back to the students, as Santa
might.
They will be thrilled to get a personalized letter from Santa. So, be
sure to answer all their questions and tell them things about how you
think Santa lives. Some things you might want to mention in your letter
are:
- What the North Pole looks like.
- How you get along with the reindeer.
- How you named your reindeer.
- Why you use reindeer, instead of horses.
- How you go about hiring elves to work for you.
- Do the elves ever misbehave?
- What Mrs. Claus does on Christmas eve, while you're out delivering
toys.
- Where you like to vacation, after the Christmas season.
- What type cookies you like the best.
- How you know who has been good and who has been bad.
- What you do when a house does not have a chimney.
- How you find people when they move.
- What it feels like to fly through the sky.
- What happens if someone were to wait up all night to try and catch
you in the act.
Do not promise your children that they will definitely get any
particular present that they are asking for, as we do not want them to
be disappointed on Christmas morning. You might say that you need to
check with their mom or dad, first.
Your letters will be sent back to the children via the computer. This
method of communicating is called telecomputing.
SAMPLES OF STUDENT WRITING
==========================
This letter was written by an 8th grader, describing her impressions and
feelings after taking part in the Santa Letters.
LETTERS FROM SANTA
by Marriah King
Mark Twain Jr. High,
San Diego Unified School District
San Diego, California
December, 1987
During the holiday season, the classes of Twain Jr. High got a treat. We
got to be Santa for a week. Receiving letters from deaf and hard of
hearing K-3rd graders at Lafayette Elementary really brought back the
spirit of Christmas. We remembered our own days of excitement, awaiting
St. Nick bringing our presents.
The letters were exchanged through the FrEdMail Network Electronic
Bulletin boards, a way of sending letters through the computers. The
kids had very delightful and intelligent letters telling Santa what they
wanted for Christmas. There were a few sad ones of children who didn't
have such a good year. But all in all, we did our best to sound as jolly
as the old rosy man himself and to tell the kids we would do the best we
could to make their little Christmas the merriest ever!
=================================================================
These letters to Santa Claus were written by 1st graders and answered by
8th grade opportunity students. These students did all the typing
themselves.
=================================================================
Dear Santa:
I waet 7 letl poneyz. I waet 5 av the Roz Petl kolektion. I want 3 av
the Ranbo Brit kolektion. I want 4 av the Barbe kolektion. I am vere
good caz I lik to pla with mi frendz nic.
Stacey Main
Dear Stacey,
It warmed me and made me feel good all over to get your letter in the
mail. My, you are an excellent typist.
So you say you would like to have some ponies, the rose petal and
rainbow bright collections. Oh, and the Barbee collection. A big order
but I will see what I can do. This is my busiest time of the year, as
you can well imagine, but I try to do the best that I can.
And that reminds me, are you doing the best that you can in school and
at home. I see that you like to play nicely with your friends and that
is what made me especially notice your letter among all the many letters
that I receive.
Keep on doing your best!
Love,
Santa Claus
The North Pole
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Dear Santa
I wan a nu truc, transformar, a noo craon, a nu bik. I ben a gud boy.
Justin Smith
Dear Justin,
Well, HO HO HO and how are you Justin, my boy! So nice to hear from you.
I don't remember getting a letter from you last year, but my memory is
not as good as it used to be. I understand you have been a good boy.
Well that is just fantastic because when you are good, everyone around
you will be good to you too! Keep up the good work, Justin, and I will
be very proud of you and see if I can manage to squeeze that new truck,
transformer, crayons and a bike into my sleigh on Christmas Eve.
Love from the North Pole,
Santa
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DEAR SANTA CLAUS,
MOTHER , FATHER, BOY , GIRL WILL GIVE , YOU COOKIES AND MILK BOY, SISTER
GIRL SLEEP , WAKE UP SEE PRESENTS. SANTA WILL RIDE SLEIGH IN SKY , SNOW.
I WANT A SMALL YELLOW CAR I WANT A FRISBEE. GIRL WANTS RED DRESS. MOM
WANTS SOCKS AND SHOES. FATHER SEE BIG BLACK CAR. I AM GOOD AT SCHOOL.
LOVE,
DEMETRIO OROSCO
Dear Demetrio,
I have been watching to see if you are a good boy. You are right that I
will ride in my sleigh in the sky. But I can even come to San Diego if
there is not any snow so don't worry. That was nice of you to ask for
some presents for you whole family and I will see what I can do. Keep on
being good at school and I will see if I can bring you that yellow car
you
love, HO HO HO
Santa
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Dear Santa Claus,
How are you? Are you little or big? Do you buy toys or make toys? Do you
have long or short beard? Do you live in the north pole? Do you have
family? Do you have red nose reindeer? Do you have sleigh? Are you real or
fiction?
>From Betsy
10 years old
Hi Betsy,
I'm fine, how are you? I'm about 5ft. 7in. My elves and I make toys. Yes
I do have a long beard and I do live in the North pole, I have a family,
my wife, elves and reindeers. Rudolph is my red nose reindeer. I have a
big red sleigh. If I was fiction how can I write this letter, but I
can't tell you how old or young I am. Well I have to be on my way.
Bye Betsy, see you on Christmas eve.
Love Santa Claus
------------------------------------------------------------
December 12,1986
Dear Santa Claus,
How are you? How old are you?
Do you have many deer with red nose?
Did you buy toys? Where are you Live North pole or Colorado? Are you
happy or Sad?
Did you marry Mrs. Santa Claus? How do you make toy?
by Dana
10 years old
Hello Dana,
I am fine, thank you. I would like to tell you
how old I am, but I can't. No, I don't have a lot of deer with red noses
just 1, and you know who that is. No my elves and I make the toys. I
live in the North pole. I am very happy. Yes I did marry Mrs. Claus. I
can't tell you how I make toys or it won't be a secret any more. Have to
go now, but I will try to see you on Christmas eve.
Love, Santa Claus
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Santa Claus,
I like you very much. Where do you live? Do you come on the roof?
Yesterday afternoon on the bus I saw a hearing aid on
the floor. I picked it up and I asked the children, "Whose is this?" I
gave it to the bus driver. It fell on the floor. I stomped on it and
they broke. I took the pieces out and I showed them to the boy on my
bus. He stepped on the hearing aid too.
When I got home, I talked to my Mother and she got mad. She said they
cost $400. My father said Santa Claus won't give me any toys. I'm sorry,
Santa Claus because I broke the hearing aid. Next year I will be good
every day. Santa Claus will be happy with me.
Love,
Victor
6 years old
DEAR VICTOR,
How are you? Well I am fine here in my house in the north pole. Right
here is very cold and snowy.
Rudolph and I are working hard here. We are getting ready all the
reindeers for Christmas.
Now Victor, you are 6 years old and I have known you since you were a
little boy and I always have loved you. Well I heard about the hearing
aid. Well Victor, your mom is right that the hearing aid cost a lot of
money. And for that reason you are not going to receive any gifts from me
for Christmas just as your parents said. If you are good till Christmas,
maybe you will get some reward from your parents.
Victor, next time when you find something on the floor, pick it up an
give it to an adult.
And if an adult is not around, keep it in your hands until an adult
shows up.
Well Victor I hope you will be a good boy next year so I can give you
some gifts that you might like a lot. Well Victor I hope you have a
happy merry Christmas and a happy New Years day.
Love you always,
Santa Claus.
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