Friendly letter mailbox: a 30-minute 1st grade letter writing activity
What it is: a 1st grade writing activity where each student writes a friendly letter to a classmate and "mails" it in a class mailbox. Students learn the parts of a letter: date, greeting, body, closing and signature.
Time: about 30 minutes. Grade: 1st grade.
Materials: letter paper with a light outline of the 5 parts, pencils, envelopes or folded paper, a shoebox mailbox, and a class list for drawing names.
- Read a short letter you wrote to the class. Point out the date, greeting, body, closing and signature.
- Each student draws a classmate's name.
- Students write a letter with at least two sentences: one kind thing and one question.
- They fold the letter, write the classmate's name on the outside and drop it in the mailbox.
- A student mail carrier delivers the letters. Students read their letter and may write back the next day.
Differentiation: students who need support use the frame "Dear ___, I like how you ___. Do you ___?" Students who are ready add a P.S. English learners can draw a picture for the body and label it.
Quick check: hand a student a letter with its parts mixed up and ask them to point to the greeting and the closing.
For more ideas at this grade, browse the other free activities on the Hub.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades K–2
- Subject
- Writing
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.