The students in Mrs. Hurt’s first grade class have enjoyed participating in a special project this winter. They have been interacting with other first grade classes across the United States by sending and receiving mail.
This project began with learning some special facts about our own state of Vermont and putting the information together in a letter that we could share with schools in other states. To add some fun, a (crafted) snowman was also included in each envelope. Thus it has been named the “Snowman Exchange”.
Each FES first grader created three or four snowmen so one could be sent to each of the 35 other states that had joined the project. Creativity and personal touches had no boundaries! After a few days of Vermont research, letter writing, and snowman crafting, the envelopes were filled and brought to the post office. Then we had to wait…
When mail started to arrive at FES, we were so excited to see what was inside! Since mid-January we have been opening a few letters each week, learning about their state, and mapping the snowmen within the U.S. So far we have mapped 22 states, but have already received mail from 28 of the 35 states on our list! As we learn about other classroom experiences, our students have really enjoyed recognizing that many other first grade children across the country share similar interests!
