Dear Families,
The Grade 1 and 2 Service Learning project swung into full gear today. After identifying our project back in October as The Apple Problem and learning basic facts about apple trees, today we moved to action. This afternoon, the children embarked on letter writing. First, we read Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s picture book The Jolly Postman. This got us thinking about letters and how we can use them to seek information from experts by asking them questions that may help us solve the Apple Problem. After identifying who these people may be, such as orchard farmers and arborists, we filled three sheets of chart paper with questions ranging from “What do you do with all the apples that fall to the ground, rot and get mushy?” to “How do you know if your apple trees are healthy or not?”
The children then worked with a partner to write a letter in which they had to:
*introduce themselves
*explain why they were writing
*pose 3-4 specific questions
*thank the experts for their time
Our next task will be to edit the letters, write final copies, sign them and address the envelopes.
We promise to keep you posted as we move closer to solving The Apple Problem!
All the best,
Kay