by Paulette Bourgeois

read aloud kindergarten, readability grade 3

Find out about the Canadian postal system through this book. Gordon sends his grandmother a birthday card and its journey is traced from the mail drop box all the way to his grandmother’s hands. Paulette Bourgeois has done an excellent job in presenting the ins and outs of mail delivery. There are so many details provided that I even learned some new things, such as the different clothes postal carriers wear in different seasons, how postal codes work, and the process of mail sorting. This is an excellent book to use to introduce the Canadian postal system to the young and old!

Put together a class stamp collection:

• Buy a scrap book
• Teach students how to take stamps off of envelopes without destroying them:
  1. Cut the stamp out of the envelope, making sure that the stamps edges are not cut. Part of the envelope should still be there (about 1/2 inch around the stamp).
  2. Get a wet sponge and dampen the area of the stamp from behind.
  3. Try peeling the stamp away from the envelope. If it’s too difficult, wet the back some more and try again.
• Encourage students to bring stamps from home and add to the scrap book. Underneath the stamp, label where it came from. At the end of the year, raffle the stamp collection off, or save it to add to next year.