The ease of texting and emailing has made these methods the preferred ways to communicate for many of the young generations. But, Martin Walker Elementary students are learning that there is still power in the pen â or at least the pencil â and they are developing not only writing skills, but lifelong friendships.
Third grade teacher Molly Goldschmeding is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her brother, Ben Sleeman, still lives in Michigan and is also a third grade teacher. The siblings decided to create pen pal partnership between their two classes.
âWe are writing a couple letters each month through the duration of the school year and held a Zoom meeting to celebrate Christmas together before the holiday break. This allowed the students to visually introduce themselves to their pen pals, so they could see who they are writing to,â Goldschmeding said. âWe sent pictures and video snippets of the students reading and writing the letters in class to create