Unsent Letter
Walk Two Moons
Purpose:
The purpose of this strategy is to engage students more fully with the text. They
will better understand a particular character and the character’s motives by writing a
letter from that character’s point of view. This activity also allows for creative writing
practice.
Directions:
In Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Sal’s mother sends Sal postcards from her
trip to Idaho. Students will write postcards from various settings in the book. If the
students have been engaged in a research project about one of the sites Sal and her
grandparents visit (like Yellowstone), they should write a postcard from that location.
Students will be given an unlined 5x7 index card. They will write and address the
postcard and will draw their own picture and stamp.
Students should write the postcard in the first person, acting as a character to
another character in the book. Possible characters include, but are not limited to, the
following.
•
•
•
Sal
Gram
Gramps
•
•
•
Phoebe
Ben
Mary Lou Finney
•
•
•
•
•
Mrs. Cadavar
Sal’s father
Mr. Birkway
Mr. or Mrs. Winterbottom
Sal’s mother
Assessment: Postcards will be assessed on the students’ ability to represent a character’s
voice and personality.
Erin Barker 2006
Sample Unsent Letter (Postcard)
Walk Two Moons
Dear Sal,
I wish you were still here in
Euclid. I am absolutely bored out
of my mind here this summer. I
almost wish we had summer
journals-just kidding. The lunatic
is actually pretty nice; he is
teaching me how to skateboard. I
can’t wait to come and visit you.
Your friend,
Phoebe
Photo from www.cityofeuclid.com
Erin Barker 2006
Salamanca Tree Hiddle
123 Maple Road
Bybanks, KY 00000