Parts of a Friendly Letter

5 Parts of a Friendly Letter The Heading The Greeting The Body The Closing The Signature

1. Heading 72079 Maple Street Abita Springs, LA 70420 January 6, 2011 The heading of a letter has three lines: The return address, which includes the street address on the first line city, state and zip code on the next line The third line is the complete date The heading goes at the top right side of the page. The left (beginning) letters are lined up with each other. Notice where commas go in the address and in the date.

2. Greeting Dear Mrs. Molina, The Greeting means “hello.” It includes the word “Dear” followed by the name of the person who is receiving the letter. It begins on the far left margin. Skip one line after the heading, then write the greeting. All words in the greeting are capitalized. The greeting ends with a comma.

3. Body Things are going well for me at summer camp. My cabinmates are kind and funny, the food is plentiful and delicious, and the activities keep me so busy all day. May I return to camp next summer? It has been such a great experience! Please write back. The body of the letter contains the main text or message. Each paragraph should be indented. It should be written in your neatest handwriting, will all spelling, grammar, and punctuation correct. (Proofread!)

4. Closing The closing means “good-bye.” Line up the first letter of the closing with the first letters of the heading at the top of the page. The first word of the closing begins with a capital letter. Here are some common closings: Sincerely, Your friend, Until we meet again, Love, A comma follows the closing.

5. Signature Sincerely, Mrs. Molina The signature tells who wrote the letter. Write the first letter of the signature directly under the first letter of the closing: Sincerely, Mrs. Molina

Friendly Letter Example see also Language book p. 521 455 East Main Street Anytown, PA 44556 March 12, 2011 Dear Michael, Let me tell you some of the reasons I hope you will never smoke. ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ I hope you will consider these reasons as you grow older and are subject to peer pressure. This is the last paragraph. Sincerely, Jean Rogers