United by Letters

Uniondale, N.Y. —Recently, students from Mrs. Sala’s and Ms. Nardi’s third grade class at the Uniondale Union Free School District’s Grand Avenue School received pen pal letters from a fellow third grade class in Wisconsin. The students are very excited to mail their first letters back to Wisconsin this week in class.

ELA and AIS teacher, Ms. Jessica Nardi was approached in September by a past colleague of hers who now teaches at Murray Park – Quest Elementary School in Wisconsin. This teacher was looking for a class to become pen pals with and Ms. Nardi thought it would be a great activity to do with her students. Ms. Nardi is a reading teacher at Grand Avenue and works with Mrs. Sala’s class every morning who also thought this would be a great opportunity for the students to connect with others in the U.S.

The Grand Avenue students received their first letter from the students in Wisconsin during the week of November 22nd and are mailing their responses this week. Both Ms. Nardi and Mrs. Sala are looking forward to also adding a video conferencing component for the students to have the opportunity to meet their pen pals face to face. It has been shown that students who have a pen pal program in place with other students have improved reading and writing skills in a relevant global context.

For more information about the Uniondale Union Free School District, please visit the District’s website at www.district.uniondaleschools.org. Happenings in the District can also be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/uniondalek12.