Adult Basic Education inmates sincerely want to communicate with family and friends but are unable to read and write. Previous teaching strategies included child-like materials and activities that seem to remind the students of previous failures to learn to read and write. "The Letter" approach requires few materials, and reading is not taught in isolation but is built upon other aspects of language arts, with students immediately seeing their learning as functional. The steps are: (1) student dictates a short letter to the instructor, who writes exactly what the student says and reads each word as it is written; (2) the instructor rereads the entire letter several times; (3) the student now tries to read the letter with help and then alone; (4) the student copies the letter twice, one to mail and one for future help; (5) the student reads the copy to the instructor; (6) letters received from home then serve as further reading and writing material basis. If there is access to word processing facilities, the author feels that this would expedite the learning process by providing immediate visual feedback. 6 references (Author abstract modified)