Reaching Out

Kia ora Class 4,

Very curious to see who managed to complete the formdrawing yesterday, I took me a few attempts to get it right- must remember to give myself that chocolate fish!

In this time of lock down, there are so many amazing people out there. Obviously our Prime Minister Jacinda is a great example of those people who contribute good things to the difficult situation we are in, but every supermarket worker, postie, nurse, doctor, rubbish collector, courier, cleaner, farmer, flight crew who come to pick up people who are stranded from the other side of the world, everybody who is out there instead of being cuddled up in their bubble is a hero.

Let's reach out to them and tell them we are appreciating them so much.

Your task today is to write a letter to someone you know who is out there making sure this lock down period is keeping people safe. Maybe you have one of these people in your family even, if so, make them a total priority for today's task.

Why a letter, not just a quick text or whatsapp message? This is why: a letter is a message which is wrapped like a present. You'll have to sit down and and write a draft, then you have to find some nice paper and write it out in your best handwriting, finally you have to get an envelope and take it to the post. That's very different than thumbing out a message on WhatsApp, lovely as these are as well. 

We are talking about people here who put their own lives at risk to make sure we are safe- that deserves a bit of effort from our part.

The other beautiful thing about letters is that people keep them, especially because they are quite rare these days. When I was with my Dad, I found all the letters that I had written to them before internet and cell phone times. My parents had kept them all together with a nice ribbon and they were carefully looked after in a drawer. I think, my letters were a bit of a bouncy castle for them when they missed me. Later, I messaged or videochatted with them, which was nice, but obviously they couldn't keep this in their drawer and look at them years later.

So let's get started. Firstly, think of who you want to write a letter to. Depending on who you write to, you might first have to introduce yourself. If you are writing to your Mum or Dad who is a nurse, you can skip this part obviously.

Next, tell them why you are writing to them. Make it meaningful, not: "I am writing to you because me teacher tells me I have to" but explain why you think they are doing an awesome job. Make your writing interesting, tell them why you admire them, give an example of what you really like about their effort and very importantly, say THANK YOU to them.

Then tell the person something about yourself. This is the part where a bit of thoughtfulness and sensitivity comes in, just like real life face to face communication. Imagine the person you are writing to receiving your letter. They probably would love to hear a little bit about you, who is in your bubble, how you are doing, what you really like doing at the moment, what are you missing msot. So if you just write "I am fine', you are not really giving them something interesting. On the other hand, if you have written: "Thank you for picking up our rubbish and recycling." and then you set out on a 3 page ramble about every little detail in your bubble, you've missed the plank as well. Try to balance your letter a bit between thanking them and explaining your appreciation and telling something friendly and interesting about yourself.

Remember the format of a letter, we did this in Class 3. Letters need to be in a strong format, it changes a quick hand written note to something special.Here's a reminder what needs to be in a handwritten letter and how this should be spaced.

If your letter is longer than one page, that's fine, just keep the same format going.

(By the way: this example is a letter written in the 1918 flu pandemic!)

You're not done yet- the next step is to find an envelope and address the letter. There's a lay out for that as well:

Space the name and address neatly in the middle of the envelope and leave space for the stamp in the right hand corner. At the back of the envelope, write your own name and address.

Hopefully you have stamp in your house, if not, just keep the letter on your mantel piece until the postshop is open again and enjoy looking at your beautiful letter.

Alternatively, you could deliver the letter yourself if the person lives in your neighbourhood.

If you do not have an envelope in your house, make one yourself.

When your letter is all done nicely, write a note in your journal about who you wrote a letter to and why you think this person deserved that.

Have fun Class 4, I am imagining 30 lovely letters being delivered to our heroes, it fills my bucket just thinking of their faces finding your letter in their letterbox!