Epals- Communicating Another Way

The following letters were sent as emails to the teacher's mailboxes. This is a start towards a different kind of communication practice between students. They were written by students from our RAP partners- Gr. 6's in Roseville to to the Gr. 7.1's. Their teacher,Mrs. Becky Miglio, forwarded them to me to publish here so we could we could keep a digital record of our contacts made from our initial reading project connection.

Student Emails from Roseville

*Emails removed at request of teacher.

A Few Student Emails from Gr. 7.1

Dear Katie,

Hi! My name is Brandy. Amy moved to another class but I will tell her when I see her that you wrote an email. My teacher is going to print out the email for her.

I have 4 sisters and 4 brothers and I like hockey, well not playing it but I like watching it like on t.v or in the movies .
So what did you like about the story? Well, I like the part where the mommy wolf has the babies and I liked the names of the wolf pups- Zat, Zit, and Zing . What kind of personalities do you think these pups have with cute names like Zat or Zing have?

From Your New Pal,
Brandy McCallum


Dear Ryan,

Last week we had a winter festival in our community. A lot of people watched the winter festival and there were money prizes and a lot of people were dressing up like girls and boys in our talent show for the Mr. Macho and Mrs. Macho Contest.

I won first in jigging. Jigging is really fast dancing. I won fifteen dollars and I kept it for my hockey tournament in our community. The teams we are going to play against here are the teams from Prince Albert, Sask., Sandy Lake, Sask., Stanley Mission, Sask., and us Pelican Narrows, Sask., Red Earth , Sask., La Ronge, Sask., and there is one more La Ronge team.

I had a good time watching your class on the video during our meeting. You all did a good job in front of the camera. Were you nervous? Do you remember our Cree lesson?
We are now on Part 2 in the novel. What part did you like? I love everything about the wolves.

By Austin K grade 7.1



Dear Brittany,
Hi!
My name is Cesley Renee Merasty(:
I’m 12 years old. My birthday is on May 1st. I was born in Prince Albert but now I live in Pelican Narrows.
I have 2 brothers and 1 sister.
And I love my FAMILY, [&&] , and FRIENDS so much. I love to jig, sing, and swim.
This weekend we had a talent show we saw men dress up as women and woman dress up as men. It was a lot of fun and there was lots of other activities.

What part did you like in the novel?
What was the grossest part? I liked Miyax’s bravery and how she could look after herself.

Ikosi nitha oma cesley renee merasty.
Ikosi . Brittany

“See you later. I am Cesley Renee Merasty.”

“See You Later”,

Cesley


Dear Jarred
I will teach you a bit of Cree.
“Tansi” means “How are you ?”
There I’m done teaching you Cree! Are you happy? I’m happy I just taught you Cree. I will tell you about Pelican Narrows. It is so cool!
Even though it is covered in trees and rocks there are tons to do. Like for example, you could go swimming in the summer or spring. The water is cold but it feels great on a hot day.
Did you have a choice to read Julie of the Wolves or did you just have to do it for RAP?
I think there is a movie about this book. I’ll ask my teacher if we can watch it so see if it follows the novel or not. I liked the Alpha wolf the best. He was kind but strong and protective.

From your E-pal, David
“Peace Out”


Dear Jenna,
Hi!
I will start out by telling you some things about me. I like to watch movies that have vampires but I’m not Goth.
L O L .
I like to go fishing, swimming, walking around with my friends
when summer comes around. L O L. My friends like to laugh and talk and relax (couch potatoes!) L O L.
I like laughing, sleeping, going to West Edmonton Mall-It is like Mall of America. My teacher said that two brothers own both malls.
And lots more L O L I just can’t remember right now L O L.
I’m very forgetful at times especially when it comes to homework.
I don’t really like going to school at all. I hate getting up in the morning L O L.
My best friends are Jessica Lane, Lakeisha Rae, Tamika Faithand many more .
This winter someone put out a ice-worm out and whoever could find it would get $300 dollars. This is an activity for our Winter Festival. But, unfortunately I did not find it. L O L
Kyla M. found it by Rose’s house or behind the L.A.C halland won $300 dollars .
I love reading books about teenagers. I liked Miyax but not the part about being married or lost or cold. I don’t think I would do very well in the woods or tundra by myself. Have you ever been lost?

Your Friend,
Destiny.


Dear Justin,
Hi! My name is Jeremiah. I like playing soccer on my soccer team with Colby, Nicole, Summer, Alyssa, Brooke, Cherish, Keaston and there are much more soccer team mates.
I have a mom named Noreen, a dad named Franklin, a sister named Naomi and my mom is pregnant with her third child and I have a dog named Sadie.
This year or next year I might move away to Saskatoon, Sk. I can’t wait to move out of this town.
How did you like the novel? My favorite part of the book was when the wolves hunted the caribou. Some people eat caribou meat but I haven’t. My teacher says caribou eat berries and moss. They are vegetarians- no herbavores…lol. She said they are healthier to eat than cows because they don’t have any steroids or other chemicals put into them to make them grow fast.
Well that’s all I have to say! Bye- Bye

From,
Jeremiah




Dear Karan,
Hi! I’m KYRIE. I have 3 sisters 4 brothers and
I play hockey and soccer. I love to travel
to visit some friends and family. I
have a hockey tournament COMING UP SOON!
DO YOU LIKE WATCHING HOCKEY? ON TV, I ONLY WATCH CALGARY FLAMES PLAY.

I LIKE TO READ JULIE OF THE WOLVES ESPECIALLY THE PARTS WHERE JELLO TOOK JULIE’S FOOD BUT SHE NEVER GAVE UP , SHE JUST KEPT RIGHT ON GOING AND SHE CHOSE TO LIVE RATHER THAN DIE AND GIVEUP.
SOMETIMES OTHER PARTS WERE BORING!

NOW WHAT ABOUT YOU? DO YOU LIKE SPORTS OR READING OR BOTH? DO YOU
PLAY HOCKEY, SOCCER, OR FOOT BALL?
That`s all I have to say so bye-bye.

From,
Kyrie


Dear Raziya,
Hi, my name is Summer.
I like to jig. Last week we had a talent show with people jigging, singing, dancing and more.
How did you like the novel Julie of the Wolves? My favorite part was when the wolves hunted the caribou. What was your favorite part ?
How did you like the video conference? What was your favorite part ? My favorite part were the animal questions. What questions did you ask ? Did you know in Canada we have a one dollar coin named after our class’s favorite bird-the loon. It is called the Loonie. It looks like a piece of gold.

Well, bye for now!

From,
Summer



Dear Tessa,

What’s up Tessa ?
I like to walk around with my friends: Destiny, Doreen, Rhona, Melissa,
Jessica M, and Carissa. And I have 3 sisters: Brenda,
Sadie ,Clarissa and 2 brothers Neil, and John Bob. My mom’s name
is Jane and my dad’s name is Roderick.

Do you like school? I like parts of school like Math,Gym and Home-Ec. I love
to ski downhill and play soccer.

How did you like the video conference? I had fun during that hour. I never did anything like that before. It was kind of fun guessing your animals. Did you read about your favorite animal? It was hard guessing the charades. My classmates were good at acting in the classroom but they got kind of shy in front of the camera. It was okay though. We can’t wait to see your video. See Ya!

From,
Jessica


Dear Emily,
Hi! My name is Kerry .
I was born on October 18th in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
I love to jig, sing and swim.
My favorite hockey team is the Montreal Canadians
There the best! My dad likes them too!
♥
This weekend we had a Winter Festival.
It was cool and funny. There were guys dressing up like
women and women dressed up like men. It was funny 
How did you reading the novel about Julie?
We had wolves in our school yard. Some people said they
saw wolves on our lake too. My classmates heard a wolf
howling one morning. They were scared. Bye.

From,
Kerry



Hi Paige,
How are you doing? Well, as for me, I’m doing fine.

My name is Carissa Shyne Serene B.
And I was born in the month of February on the
25th. And I am 13. I love listening to music.
I was going to tell you that I was going to a Fine Arts Festival because I signed up for Square Dancing--- that’s what I love to do!
I live in Pelican Narrows. It’s fun. I like hanging out with my friends and their names are Destiny, Jessica.C, Jessica.M, Shania and lots more. I have a huge family that I love.
I was going to tell you there was a talent show on Friday
which was awesome. There were people who were dressing
up, singing, jigging, acting like a macho man, and all that kind of stuff.
And also there were ski-doo races. My brother’s girlfriend was
racing and she almost got hurt.
Well, I guess I should say Bye. Hey, are you almost done reading
the novel yet? I liked listening to the novel but not really reading it for
myself. We might watch a movie about it. Did you see the videos on
our blog about all of the wolves. I like YouTube because you can see
some really cool stuff.

From,
Carissa


Hi Robert,

Sup?
The skidoos races here r cool. Who is your best character in Julie of the wolves?
Pce Out!

From,
Monte


Sup Travis,
This weekend I was watching the ski doo races and a lady almost wiped out. I
play hockey and our hockey tournament is on Friday. Do you play hockey?
From,
Matthew

p.s. My teacher says next time I can’t use Sup. It means what is up?- how are you?



What up Dan?

What is up with me? I am just doing nothing, got nothing to say except “ pce out.”
This week I just went to P.A. (Prince Albert) that’s all. I got back, came back to school, maybe I’ll go home and just go do something.

From,
Christian


Dear Justin,
Thanks for the first email. I am fine.
I wasn't in school for the video conference. I was in La Ronge with my Auntie. She is learning how to become a teacher in a town that is about four hours away from Pelican Narrows.

I will check out the virtual field trip that our class made. My sister, Kyrie told me all about the tv meeting. She said it was fun but kind of scary at first because she didn't really know what it was going to like even though the class talked about it a few times.

My hobbies are drawing cartoon, animals and watching scary movies.
Write again. I like reading emails and letters.

Your Friend,

Kyler

**More emails will be on the way to Mrs. Miglio and they will also be posted here so please don't worry if your name is not yet listed.

Dear Mrs. Miglio,

Hi! Thank-you for the photos of your new beautiful horse and of you posing with your new horse. What name did you or your family give it? It looks like hard work jumping over the fence or do you call it something else ? I posted two of the photos in your bio so the students could see them also.
I have only ridden a trail horse in the Rocky Mountains near Banff, Alberta. I think it knew the whole trail by memory because it sure didn't listen to my voice or rein command to go faster or stay out of the berry bushes!
My students were happy and excited to write emails although they started them on Microsoft Word documents. Everyone did a great job!
It is still snowy and cold in Pelican Narrows. As a matter of fact it has been snowing since Friday, March 13th!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and your family for tomorrow. I remember that your job share partner is in class with your students till Wednesday so let them know we all shouted "HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!"

Thank-you for your comments to our blog and perhaps one day we will be able to comment on your blog.


Kindest Regards,

Cheryl Morin