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Show Home And School You've just finished reading a story with your six-year-old, and you feel good about helping your child. But something's wrong. , Your daughter has a question about the story. Hold it! Don't make up an answer to that question. Chances are, you don't know the answer to that i question. You and Sue read that story together, and she probably got just as much information as yoU did. Why not have Sue write a letter to the author and ask that question? That's what Peggy Johnson's fifth-grade students have been doing for three years. The teacher is on the faculty of an elementary school in Virginia. Her students have written personal letters to dozens of authors. They ask questions or comment about a story written by the author. Peggy Johnson said that only once did they fail to get a reply. "I always read to my kids about 15 minutes or so at the beginning of class, and one time three years ago they kept pestering me with questions about the way the book ended and what would happen next," the teacher recalled. "So I suggested they write the author." She said it was exciting when the author replied to the students' letter. Since then, she's continued the practice of having her students write to authors after they have read and discussed a contemporary book. One author sent the class a folk singer's record of the book under discussion. Doris Smith, who wrote "A Taste of Blackberries," told the students she wept as she wrote the story. If students in a classroom can write authors, so can students who read books with their parents in the living room. Apparently, authors love to correspond with young readers. Even if one doesn't reply, there's something to be gained by your child. Writing a letter is a learning experience all young people should have often. |