This document provides instructions for writing a friendly letter, including sections on preparation, structure, and content. A friendly letter should include information about topics that interest both the writer and recipient. It should have a heading with the writer's address and date, a salutation, an indented multi-paragraph body sharing news and responding to previous correspondence, a closing like "Your friend" followed by a signature on the last line. Proper preparation involves jotting ideas and information to include about oneself or others.
Influencing policy (training slides from Fast Track Impact)
Friendly letter
1. WRITING A
FRIE NDLY LE TTE R
In a friendly letter, write
about the things that
interes t you and the
pers on to whom you are
writing.
2. B E FORE WRITING
Jot down your ideas.
Are you replying to a
letter?
What questions or
comments do you need to
reply to?
What new information
about yourself or others
do you want to include?
3. 1645 Mayberry Lane
Plymouth, E ngland
J uly 3, 1621
The Heading
In the upper right corner of the
page, the address of the writer
(you), is placed on the first two
lines, and the date on which the
letter was written is placed on the
third.
4. The S alutation
The s alutation begins at the
left-hand margin and is
placed a s hort dis tance
below the heading. In a
friendly letter, it is followed
by a comma.
5. THE BODY
The body of a friendly letter
is the mes s age, what you
have to s ay. It may begin
directly below the
s alutation. Remember to
indent the firs t line of each
paragraph.
6. The C los ing
The clos ing for a friendly letter may
be Your friend, S incerely, S incerely
yours , or any s imilar phras e you like,
except Yours truly, or Very truly yours
which are us ed only in bus ines s
letters . It is placed jus t below the final
line of the body, beginning a little to
the right of the middle of the page,
and followed by a comma.
7. The S ignature
The s ignature of a friendly
letter need only be your firs t
name. C enter it under the
clos ing. A lways write the
s ignature by hand, even if
you have typed the res t of
the letter.
Instruct students what to write down and what to make a mental note of. First slide, copy heading only.
Pre-writing, have students copy bullets.
Remind students to put a comma between the city and state and the date of the month and the year. Have students copy this slide and use this heading on their letter.
If students ask how many lines a short distance is, remind them that most letters are written on stationary that does not contain lines. Salutation usually begins with Dear…, point out letter in text. Jimmy writes “Dear Old Pal:”. Tell students that they can use a name, nickname, or a pet-name, ie: Old Pal. If students question colon used in text, tell them that a comma is more appropriate for a friendly letter.
Remind students that even though it is a friendly letter, proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar are expected!
Point out to students that only the first word of the closing begins with a capital letter. If students question the position of the closing in the text, explain that this is just a result of the layout of the book. Show students other text and how it is done correctly in that one.
Answer questions and then have students begin brainstorming and writing their rough drafts. Final draft due tomorrow. Give students plain white paper for their final draft, which may be either typed or hand written. Tomorrow we will go over addressing the envelope.