Friendly Letter A friendly letter is a letter you write to a relative or a friend. It s also a letter you write to someone you would like to get to know. Friendly letters can be written to a pen pal. They can also be written to a favorite author, actor, actress, or athlete. Friendly letters help you share news, stories, and thoughts. They help you start or continue friendships with people who live far away. The Parts of a Friendly Letter Heading The heading is your address and the date. The heading goes in the upper right corner of the friendly letter. Greeting The greeting tells who will receive the letter. Many greetings begin with Dear, but you can also use words like Hi. Put a comma after the person s name. Body The body is the main part of the letter. This is where you write the news, stories, and thoughts you want to tell. Closing The closing lets the person know you are ending the letter. Words like Love, Your friend, and Sincerely are often used as closings. Be sure to put a comma after the closing. Signature The signature is your name. 68 Friendly Letter Personal Writing
Take a Look Grace just moved to Montana. Her best friend Allie still lives in Kansas. Grace wrote a friendly letter to Allie. Heading Greeting Body Closing Signature 853 Mountain View Lane Glen Echo, Montana 20812 September 8, 2003 Dear Allie, Today was the first day of school. It s really hard to be the new kid in class. One girl named Mandy was really nice. She has red hair like you! You know what s weird? It already snowed! It didn t snow here in town, just on top of the mountains. Then it melted. I haven t seen any moose or grizzly bears yet. I hope I don t see a grizzly bear. Guess what! They have soccer here too! Dad said that I could play. I wish you could be on my team again. I miss you so much. Please write to me soon. Love, Grace Personal Writing Friendly Letter 69
FUN Addressing the Envelope F A C T Who has written the most friendly letters? Reverend Canon Bill Cook and his wife were apart for 4 1/2 years. During that time they wrote 6,000 letters to each other! There are three lines to each address. 1. The person s name is on the first line. Use the person s first and last names. Be sure to capitalize the first letter of each name. 2. The house number and street name go on the second line. If there is an apartment number, add it after the street name. Capitalize the first letter of each word in the street name. 3. The city, state, and zip code go on the third line. Capitalize the names of the city and the state. Put a comma between the city and the state. Put a space between the state and the zip code. Tips for Addressing an Envelope Put your address in the upper left corner of the envelope. Put the address of the person you are writing in the middle of the envelope. Put a stamp in the upper right corner of the envelope. Take a Look Here is the envelope Grace addressed to her friend Allie. Grace Anderson 853 Mountain View Lane Glen Echo, Montana 20812 Name Number, Street City, State, Zip Name Number, Street City, State, Zip Allie Jenkins 3458 Sunflower Street Salina, Kansas 67401 Stamp 70 Friendly Letter Personal Writing
Tips for Writing a Friendly Letter Prewriting Make a Plan List things you ve done since you last wrote to the person. Read your journal for writing ideas. Drafting Get Your Thoughts on Paper Write your letter. Use your list of new things. Write as if you were talking to the person. Write the body of your letter. Then add the other parts: heading, closing, and signature. Revising Be Sure It Makes Sense Organization Put all the sentences about the same thing in the same paragraph. Add a topic sentence at the beginning. Sentence Fluency Are sentences smooth and easy to read? Voice Read your letter out loud. Does it sound like you are talking to a friend? Editing/Proofreading Look Closely at the Details Conventions Look for spelling mistakes in your letter. Be sure your friend s name is spelled correctly! Make sure your friend s name and other proper nouns are capitalized. Check for correct punctuation. Publishing Get Your Letter Ready to Mail Presentation Type or write a neat final copy of your letter. Make sure it looks nice and is easy to read. Address the envelope. Put a stamp on it. Now, mail your letter! Personal Writing Friendly Letter 71
Verbs There are different types of verbs. An action verb tells about an action of something or someone in a sentence. Actions can be seen or unseen. Seen action: The dog ran all the way home. Unseen action: Alex forgot his library book. A state-of-being verb does not tell about an action. It tells about a condition or a state of being. Our friends were here for a visit. When a state-of-being verb connects the subject of a sentence with a word in the predicate, the verb is a linking verb. I am a student. My aunt is a teacher. You are a good cook. Josh was helpful with the baby. A verb phrase is one or more helping verbs followed by the main verb. Helping verbs help the main verb express an action or state of being. She has won the race. (helping verb+main verb) She could have won the race. (two helping verbs+main verb) 308 Verbs Grammar
Forms of Be and Have The verb be does not show the action of someone or something in a sentence. It is a state-of-being verb. It tells what someone or something is or is like. There are different forms of the verb be. am are is was were being been Forms of be can be used as linking verbs. The team is unbeaten. The dog was lost. The Carson twins were my friends. Forms of be can also be used as helping verbs and as main verbs. I am walking. (helping verb) They were writing. (helping verb) She has been here. (main verb) The verb have can be used as a main verb or as a helping verb. have has had She has a kitten. (main verb) The kittens have become playful. (helping verb) My mother has decided to keep them. (helping verb) Grammar Verbs 309