Letter Writing:Letter Writing:Friendly LettersFriendly Letters

Mrs. Davis’ 5Mrs. Davis’ 5thth Grade Language Arts Classes Grade Language Arts Classes

Council Traditional SchoolCouncil Traditional School

Friendly Letters:PURPOSE

• To whom would you write a FRIENDLY letter?…your grandmother?…your teacher?…your state senator?…your president?…your cousin?…a company from which you’d like some

information?

• There are 5 parts of a friendly letter:

1) heading (date), 2) greeting / salutation, 3) body, 4) closing, and 5) signature

Friendly Letters:PARTS

TheHEADING(the date)

goes at the upper,

right-handcorner

of your letter.

Friendly Letters:HEADING Format

HEADING

TheGREETING

(the person to whom you are

writing)goes at the left-hand

side, 2 lines belowthe heading.

Friendly Letters:GREETING Format

GREETING

All words in your greeting should be capitalized,

AND

you should add a comma after the greeting!

DO NOT indent the greeting!

TheBODY

is where you write your message.Be sure toindent all

paragraphs.

Friendly Letters:BODY Format

BODY

TheCLOSING

goes at the lower, right-

handcorner

of your letter, 2 lines below

your body.

Friendly Letters:CLOSING Format

CLOSING

ONLY the FIRST word in your closing should be

capitalized,

AND

you should add a comma after the closing!

TheSIGNATURE

goes 2 lines below

your closing. It

should be a CURSIVEsignature

Friendly Letters:SIGNATURE Format

SIGNATURE

Friendly Letters:SAMPLE Format

April 5, 2008

Dear Susan,

Thank you so much for coming to my party on Saturday . I had a great time, and I hope you did, too.

Next time you come over, we’ll swim in the pool some more.

Your friend,

Beth

Notice COMMA

placement!

Identify each numbered part of the

friendly letter!

POP QUIZ TIME!

3

5

2

4

1

Answers:1. Body2. Closing3. Heading4. Signature5. Greeting

POP QUIZ TIME!

3

5

2

4

1

6. What parts of the letter need a comma?7. How are the greeting and closing

capitalized differently?8. How many parts does a friendly letter

have?9. What is the last thing you write in a

friendly letter?10. What parts of the letter are indented?

POP QUIZ TIME!

Try this online resource:

www.abcya.com/friendly_letter_maker.htm

Need Practice?