Santa Claus

Letters to Santa

Project Overview

Introduction

The "Letters to Santa Claus" activity is not a new one. Teachers and parents have always helped children write to Santa.

This bearded, fat, jolly, red-suited folkloric old man sometimes represents different things to different people. But coming as he does in the dead of winter (in the northern hemisphere), he seems mostly to symbolize hope.

This lesson is based on the experiences of teachers who have used email to send letters to and from Santa in projects since 1985.

It is a lesson that is especially well-designed for the newcomer to Internet-working, yet one that more advanced teachers and their students enjoy using every year.

The project concept is a simple one:

This project suits a wide cross-section of students. Past participants have included:


Purpose

Improve Student Skills:
Improve Teacher Skills

Much has been said regarding the unfortunate isolation facing the teacher of today. Only truly extraordinary teachers seem to be able to fight the impossible obstacles that prevent them from sharing ideas with colleagues.

For many teachers, participation in this project is their first step into an electronic network. After experiencing this project, teachers see the possibilities of networking with other teachers, and hearing about new approaches to old problems.

Equipment

Letters must be composed in a relatively short time... the project must be completely wrapped up by the second week in December.  For that reason, you find it advantageous if you have access to a lab full of computers. That way, you can have your entire class working on the project at the same time.

Whether you have your students working in pairs or by themselves is sometimes more a question of how much equipment you have than anything else. Therefore, the number of students per computers is flexible.

Lesson Plans and Project Guides

You are welcome to use our teacher-tested project guide.  Use the menu at the top.