#4037. Pen Pals

Computer, level: Middle
Posted Sat Oct 20 09:05:36 PDT 2007 by Amy Johnson (johnsoam@friscoisd,org).
Fowler Middle School , Plano, Texas
Materials Required: Computer, MS Word
Activity Time: 15-20 minutes
Concepts Taught: Keyboarding, Internet Search, Grammar, Creative Wriiting and Geography

PEN PALS:

What is it?
"Pen Pals" is a warm-up we will do in Computer Lit throughout the year.

How does it work?
You will create an IMAGINARY pen pal to whom you will write letters back and forth. You will have to play both parts, writing as yourself at times and writing as your pen pal other times. I will let you know which "person" you will be writing in, just before we start each day.

On the first day, you will provide me with the name of your pen pal and where your pen pal lives. Your pen pal must be your same age and be in 6th grade. Your pen pal must also live in another country.

At times, you may need to do some research on the Internet about the place your pen pal lives, so you can write better, more interesting letters. Make sure you use a lot of detail in your letters and ALWAYS check for spelling errors.

Save your work OFTEN into your Computer Literacy/Warm-ups/Penpals folder. Each time we do a "Pen Pals" warm-up in class, you will save this file with that day's date (example: August 27.doc).

You will only have 15 or so minutes to write each time we do this warm-up, so stay focused and really get into it!

What will we get out of it?
We will practice our best typing skills and posture, while incorporating Internet research skills, creative writing, use of proper grammar and imagination. More importantly, we're going to have a blast doing it!