Friendly Letters

1. Friendly Letters

2. We write friendly letters to people we know. We might write a friendly letter to our parents, grandparents, our friends, or to an acquaintance to introduce ourselves.

3. There are 5 parts of a friendly letter: • Heading • Greeting • Body • Closing • Signature

4. 7425 Louetta Spring, Texas 77379 August 30, 2013 heading The first part of a friendly letter is called the heading. The heading includes the writer’s address and the date. The heading is written in the upper right hand corner of the page.

5. 7425 Louetta Spring, Texas 77379 August 30, 2013 Greeting Dear Phil, • The second part of the friendly letter is the greeting. It is written under the heading at the left margin. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a comma. There is a blank line between the heading and the greeting. • Capitalize the 1st word and all nouns in the greeting!

6. 7425 Louetta Spring, Texas 77379 August 30, 2013 Dear Phil, Body This is the introductory paragraph. Use this paragraph to explain your purpose for writing. Try to include at least 3-4 sentences. Friendly letters are a form of causal correspondence, so the number of paragraphs and sentences per paragraph can vary greatly. Notice there are no spaces between paragraphs, but each new paragraph is indented. This is the traditional letter format. Also note that the heading and the closing will be aligned on a friendly letter. Most business letters use a block format. Sometimes friendly letters do not include the return address, but only have the date as the heading.

7. 7425 Louetta Spring, Texas 77379 August 30, 2013 Dear Phil, This is the introductory paragraph. Use this paragraph to explain your purpose for writing. Try to include at least 3-4 sentences. Friendly letters are a form of causal correspondence, so the number of paragraphs and sentences per paragraph can vary greatly. Notice there are no spaces between paragraphs, but each new paragraph is indented. This is the traditional letter format. Also note that the heading and the closing will be aligned on a friendly letter. Most business letters use a block format. Sometimes friendly letters do not include the return address, but only have the date as the heading. We put what we want to say in the body of our friendly letter. There is always an introductory paragraph, at least one body paragraph, and a concluding paragraph. Each paragraph is indented.

8. The closing and signature are the last 2 parts of the friendly letter. There are many ways to close a letter: Your friend, Yours truly, Sincerely, The closing is lined up directly under the heading. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a comma. Only the first word in the closing is capitalized. The signature is your name. It is written directly under the closing on one line.

9. 7425 Louetta Spring, Texas 77379 August 30, 2013 Dear Phil, This is the introductory paragraph. Use this paragraph to explain your purpose for writing. Try to include at least 3-4 sentences. Friendly letters are a form of causal correspondence, so the number of paragraphs and sentences per paragraph can vary greatly. Notice there are no spaces between paragraphs, but each new paragraph is indented. This is the traditional letter format. Also note that the heading and the closing will be aligned on a friendly letter. Most business letters use a block format. Sometimes friendly letters do not include the return address, but only have the date as the heading. Your friend, Mrs. Bishop Closing Signature

10. Friendly Letter Assignment Guidelines Major Grade Due: Thursday, September 5 Write a friendly letter to introduce yourself. Your audience is the students in the class and your teacher. Choose information from your Bubble Name Introduction to expand and explain. Do not include information in which you are uncomfortable sharing because you will be required to present the letter to your classmates as part of the major grade assignment. The letter of introduction should have five paragraphs: • Introductory paragraph that tells the purpose of the letter. • Three body paragraphs (one for your past, one for the present, and one for your future goals/plans/hopes). • Conclusion paragraph. The letter should be hand written neatly in the friendly letter format discussed in class. Your grade will be derived from the contents of the letter, originality (word choice, humor, creativity in your descriptions, etc.), mechanics (spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc.), proper use of friendly letter format, and presentation.