Formal or Friendly Letter is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on writing one purpose as a formal letter and as a friendly one, aligned to Common Core standard W.5.4. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 19 of them with different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 19 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two students have the same paper in front of them.
Formal or Friendly Letter
W.5.4
NameDate
Write on the lines. Use the checklist.
1.An author visited your school. Write a formal thank-you letter to the author, then a friendly letter to a pen pal about the visit.
I put the date, greeting and closing in place
I matched my words to the reader
I said why I was writing
2.Your class wants a crossing guard outside school. Write a formal letter to the town council asking for one, then a friendly note to your cousin telling her about the campaign.
I put the date, greeting and closing in place
I matched my words to the reader
I said why I was writing
LessonPrint · W.5.4 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Formal or Friendly Letter
Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.
1.A formal thank-you to the author and a chatty pen pal letter describing the same visit.
2.A formal council letter requesting a crossing guard and a friendly cousin note about the campaign, each in its own register.
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to W.5.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.