Letter Writing

In Learning to Give’s 9-12 unit entitled Dear Philanthropist, students study the life and work of a philanthropist from history, writing him/her a letter. Read the unit overview below:

Unit Overview:

In this unit, learners engage in a variety of research methods to create both oral and visual presentations outlining the life and work of a chosen philanthropist from history.

The unit begins with learners brainstorming a list of philanthropists (from history and present day). In this exercise, the difference between “celebrity” and “philanthropist” is discussed and clarified. Learners then:

1. write a letter to a chosen philanthropist from history, asking both required and student-generated questions of that person.
2. use both electronic and traditional research methods to learn the answers to the questions they have asked. Using the information they have collected, students write a letter back to themselves, as the philanthropist they have researched.
3. give an oral report to their classmates on the lives they have researched, and create a visual display featuring the two letters they have written, and visual highlights of the philanthropist’s life and work.

Upon listening to classmates’ reports, students write “Bio-Poems” on the lives of several other philanthropists’ lives and works. Once the individual is chosen and questions are formulated, the students are given guidelines for writing the letter.