A unit on fiction for a grade 3 and 4 split class in Palmerston led to an unforgettable experience.

Palmerston Public School teacher Marian Stroeder said her class reads a lot of Robert Munsch books while learning about fiction, and many of her students wanted to tell the Canadian author how much they loved his books.

“So, we decided to sort of combine two units together, we are learning about letter writing, so what better way to learn about writing letters then to write a letter to one of our favourite authors,” Stroeder said.

Stroeder said the class took it one step further and took a socially distanced walk to the post office and mailed Mr. Munsch their letters.

She said Mr. Munsch wrote the class back in a timely manner.

“We received a poster of one his books that has already been published, he sent back some questions and answers that the kids really enjoyed reading, and he also included an unpublished story called, The Cowardly Dinosaur,” she said.

She says the unpublished story includes all of the names of the children in the class.

“They were so pumped, they felt very famous, and they are certainly hoping that one day, perhaps that story will be found on store shelves down the road,” Stroeder said.

Stroeder said her students were shocked and very excited when they received the story.

“It also showed that, you know you reach out and say something really kind to someone through a letter, and something great came back to us,” Stroeder said. “So, it was sort of full circle for the kids. It was very tangible, it was very special and again, it was really nice to connect them to a really great Canadian author who is very timeless.”

She adds that so many of her students’ parents and family members remember Robert Munsch books from when they were little.

Palmerston Public School teacher Marian Stroeder: