Crossing Generations

Here's a guest post from Justine Benoit, grade 1 and 2 teacher in Harmony House at the Allen Brook School. 

First and second grade students in Harmony House have become pen pals with some very special people. They are writing to residents of the Wake Robin community in Shelburne. What began as a fun way to connect with the community outside of our school has become much more. Students are learning through the whole group, the teacher-led writing, and small group shared writing experiences. More importantly, they are learning about exciting experiences the residents have had. Mrs. Benoit's classroom had been reading a biography of Helen Keller. The most exciting surprise was receiving a letter from a resident that had met Helen Keller!

We asked residents of Wake Robin what they thought about student pen pals:

“I just plain love kids. They are my forte. I love when they ask me questions that others might not think of asking.” 

“ I love this activity. It brings all of us closer as human beings.”

We asked students why they enjoyed having pen pals:

"It's fun to see what they've gotten to do."

"We get to know people that we don't actually know."

"I like knowing someone that knows someone we've been studying about ." ( Helen Keller)

"Because we can be nice."

"I think how they are smarter than us and have done stuff in the old fashioned days and I want to learn. I want to learn about how they played and stuff."

Harmony House applied for a grant and will be visiting our pen pals in the spring. Making slime together is the plan!

Valentines that students sent to Wake Robin residents.

Valentines that Wake Robin residents sent to students.