Deborah Hopkinson’s book A Letter to my Teacher makes a great end of the year or first day of school read aloud. This heart-warming book describes the impact a teacher can have on their students, especially those students that might struggle academically and behaviourally. After reading this book, students will understand that their teachers are their to support, guide, and help them learn and grow. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
A woman about her start her first job, is writing a letter to her second grade teacher. She was the student that showed up on the first day grouchy and soaking wet. The girl did not like school because she had to sit still and was not good at reading or writing. Second grade was the girl’s favorite year in school thanks to her teacher. The teacher always gave her extra help and made learning fun for the students by planting a class garden. Even when the girl shouted out, made mistakes, and got into trouble, the teacher showed her kindness and care.
The story is told through the letter the woman is writing to her teacher, sharing all of her memories. At the end, the reader learns that the girl is about to start her first day as a teacher, inspired by her own second grade teacher.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
All of our book companions come with reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, grammar activities, and social emotional learning topics. Take a look at the list below to get an idea of some of the skills our lessons for A Letter to my Teacher includes.
- Discuss the main idea of the story and how it relates to the book’s title.
- Have students identify the point of view and discuss the benefits of the narrator.
- Encourage students to write their own letter to a previous teacher.
- Use this as an opportunity to learn about students' opinions of school through writing.
- Introduce students to abstract nouns.
- Teach a lesson on action verbs.
- Discuss the importance of patience when it comes to learning.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
If you don’t have A Letter to my Teacher in your classroom library, we highly recommend borrowing it from your school or public library. Once you read it, you will fall in love and be excited to use all of these activities with your students. If you are looking for a great mentor text, this is it!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Because I Had a Teacher by Kobi Yamada
- Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
- Lizzie and the Last Day of School by Trinka Hakes Noble
- The Night Before Summer Vacation by Natasha Wing
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
