42. Still More Letter Writing
Written Exercise. 1. Write a letter for Valentine Day. Write it to one of your classmates. Have your letter tell about yourself, just as Tom's told about himself. Sign it Somebody, and let the receiver guess who wrote it. Better write the letter twice. Make the first one as good as you can, but write it rather rapidly. Then read it over carefully and make it better wherever you can. Let the second letter be the one you send.
2. If you would like to write more than one letter, as Tom did, do so; but it is better to write one very carefully than two or three carelessly.
Now all the letters should be taken to the class post-office. Each letter should be folded and should show on the outside the name of the person to whom it is to go. Perhaps the class postmaster will have a box for all this mail. In this the letters may be kept until Valentine Day. On that day the entire mail should be sorted by the postmaster. All the letters for each row may be placed in a separate pile. The letter carriers, one for each row, will deliver them.
43. Improving Letters
After the Valentine letters have been read, and the writer of each has been guessed, it will be time to copy some[51] of the letters on the board for the following exercise.
Group Exercise. 1. The first letter on the board should be read carefully by the class. You and your classmates should tell clearly what you like and what you do not like in it. The teacher will rewrite it on the board as the class tells how it can be made better. The following questions will help in this work:
1. Is the letter as good as it might be?
2. What do you like best in it?
3. Can you tell how it may be made better?
4. What bright thought might be put in the letter?
5. Are there any mistakes in the letter?