The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise

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The Love Letter

by Anika Aldamuy Denise

This adorable story about love and friendship stars four adorable forest animals who learn how a simple love letter can change their mood and spark friendships. Here are some activities to support concepts from this adorable story.

Vocabulary

The author uses rich vocabulary to show deeper sense of feelings and emotions such as frazzed, prickly, and delighted. Here are some vocabulary words to discuss, role play, or post on a word wall.

Retelling

Reread or retell the story using stick character puppets. Act out character feelings before and after they received the love letter.

Concepts of Before and After

This book shows the effect of a letter on the characters. You may discuss the concetps of before ("What happen before he found the letter" or "how did the character feel before...") I use a balloon to model the words. Starting with a deflated balloon and a helium filled balloon, I show the inflated balloon describing the attributes in present tense. Modeling and emphasizing the word, "before", I show a deflated balloon and tell my story of how it became inflated. Then I model and emphasize the word "after" (what will happen after I let go? did you ever lose a balloon? How did you feel after? etc.) Point to visuals throughout the discussion.

Or sequence the cards in order

Read the story. Look at how the characters act before the love letter and after.

Writing

Words have power to change someone's mood. Have student write words of love and friendship or just tell about someone / something that they love.

Write your own Poem about Love

Or, send a card with a love letter to someone you care about.

Feelings and Emotions

This book uses more descriptive feelings words other than than happy, sad, and mad. Talk about the feelings, play or act out these words and describe a related situation.