Lesson Plan Nicole Hoffmann

Title: Letters to 5 Grade Teacher

Subject/Grade Level/ Date(s): ELA / 4th /
Time Requirements: 1 hour
Materials List:
th

Pencil
Elmo
Computer
Paper
Letter Format Poster
Crayons
Friendly Letter Checklist
Bell Work Worksheet
Graphic Organizer
Friendly Letter (it was too big of a file to put on D2L I can email it)

Type of Lesson: Whole Group, Independent

Why?: I am teaching this lesson because I want the students to practice their letter writing skills. We
have gone over letter writing before and this will be a great review for them. Additionally, I want the
students to introduce themselves to their new teacher so that way he or she can start getting to know their
future students. It will also be a good representation of their skills for the new teacher.
Who?: I am teaching this to my class of 26 students. I have 18 gate students and one ELL student. It is
a mainstream 4th grade classroom. My one student who is considered an ELL speaks Spanish as well.

Connection to Standards:
CC/ AZCCRS:
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 13 above.)
(4.W.4)
a. Produce clear and coherent functional writing (e.g., friendly and formal letters, recipes, experiments,
notes/messages, labels, graphs/tables, procedures, invitations, envelopes) in which the development and
organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (AZ.4.W.4)
ELP:

HI-6: writing a variety of functional text that address audience, stated purpose and context:
Letters Directions Procedures Graphs/Tables Brochures.
HI-6: using various subjects (common nouns, proper nouns, possessive nouns, pronouns, etc.) in
sentences in a variety of writing applications.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will be able write a friendly letter to their 5th grade teacher in a correct format.
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of proper grammar through writing
independently.
Students will review definitions of the terms of the different parts of the letter.
Students will write a letter with correct grammar at a 4 th grade appropriate level.

Vocabulary Words:
Friendly Letter carta amistosa
Header - encabezamiento
Body - cuerpo
Date - fecha
Greeting - saludo
Signature - firma
Preparation:

I will first have all of my handouts, crayons, and poster ready and displayed. I will also make sure
that the objectives are writing on the board.

Building Background:

The students will already have good background knowledge on this subject because I taught them
a previous lesson about letter writing. In that lesson we also reviewed the different parts of a letter
and wrote a letter to their friend who moved away. I will bring up that lesson and ask them what
they remember about that lesson. I will pick on random students to tell me the different parts of the
letter then have them point them out to me.

Comprehensible Input:
Since most of my students know the vocabulary I will make sure to use those words as frequently
as possible to have them continue to remember them. I also always write all of the directions on
the board for my students so they can reference them throughout any part of the lesson. I write the
directions down as I say them and have the students repeat them back to me. I will also have a
poster of a friendly letter for the students to use and a handout (attached below) that they can
reference and point to if they forget a vocabulary word or do not remember where that section
goes. This also has the definitions of the words.

Effective Strategies:

Language 1 support
Graphic Organizers
Check-list Organizer
Vocabulary words defined or clarified
Step-by-step instructions given orally, written on board, and modeled
Connection to students prior knowledge
Content and language objective displayed
Speech appropriately controlled
Opportunities to apply new knowledge
Modeling, demonstration of concepts
Handson activities
Opportunities for interaction
Clarification of key concepts
Gestures, facial expressions, and drama
Positive Feedback
Appropriate Wait Time
Visual support of white board and video
Authentic assessment

Interaction:
Students will be interacting with me throughout the lesson. I will ask them to talk about their prior

knowledge and give me their answers for the activities. Students will be encouraged to work
together for their first activity. They will work in groups so that way they can again refresh
themselves on the different parts of the letter.
I will also have appropriate wait time throughout each part of the lesson. I want to give the students
enough time to finish each part of the lesson to the best of their abilities.

Active Instructional Plan (Practice/Application & Lesson Delivery):

Anticipatory Set: I will ask the students if they can list the 5 important parts of a friendly letter to
me. I will call on students at random and write their answers on the board as the give them to me. I
will also write them in Spanish as I write them on the board. I will then show them the different parts
on the poster that I have of the letter. I will give the students a student appropriate letter. I will ask
them to go through and Use a red crayon or marker to draw a box around the date. Use an orange
crayon or marker to draw a box around the greeting/salutation. Use a yellow crayon or marker to
draw a box around the body. Use a green crayon or marker to draw a box around the closing. Use
a blue crayon or marker to draw a box around the signature. They will also have comprehension
questions to answer at the end. I will then go over the answers to the four questions with the whole
group. Then I will have the students turn in their work to me. 15 minutes
Modeling: I will start to write their 5th grade teacher a letter on the elmo or white board. I will
explain to them I want to them to write an introduction about themselves, what they hope to learn in
5th grade, how they feel about school, favorite subjects, and anything else they want their 5 th grade
teacher to know. I will go over the different parts of a letter that they will be expected to have date, greeting, body, closing, and signature. This should be somewhat of a review since they have
already gone over this the previous week. I will write either on the elmo or board what I would write
to my future class and answer these same questions as an example. I will then explain to the
Friendly Letter Checklist sheet I will ultimately give them. I will go through each part of the list of
my own friendly letter for them. 10 minutes
Guided Practice: I will then give the students the graphic organizer that I have printed out. I will
go through step by step what would be in each place. As I go through this I will have the students
write down what they tell me on the graphic organizer. They will then be able to use this for
reference as they write their own letter. 5 minutes
Independent Practice: Students will then be handed a blank piece of paper and the Friendly Letter
Checklist. Students will then write their own letters to their 4 th grade teacher talking about the
different topics listed above. I walk around the classroom answering questions on how to spell
words and checking over their work as they are going. I will refer them to their graphic organizer if
they are missing any information. They will be asked to 2/3 of a page. I will write the directions on
the board. They will be given 15-30 minutes for this.
Closure: Students will turn in their letters to me as they finish and I will check over them for
spelling. I will review them as they hand them to me. I will give them to their teacher to review so
they can write final copies. For their closure I will give them a half sheet of paper. I have them write
me a mini-letter telling me what they liked about the lesson and what they learned. - 5 minutes

Assessment/Evaluation:.
I will assess the students during the lesson by asking them review questions about the different parts of a
friendly letter. When I am walking around I will have the students justify what they are writing about as they
write it. I will also make sure that when I review their letters that their grammar and spelling is correct.

Modifications/Differentiation:
I will have those students write down their thoughts before putting it into letter form. I can give the students
who may need it a blank graphic organizer in the shape of a letter so they can just fill in the information as
needed. This way they can see the layout of a letter. I can also show them a model of a letter as well.
Students who need it I will sit with them and work with them about what they are thinking.

Date:
(When are you writing this letter?)

Greeting:
(Who will you be writing this letter to?)

Body:
(What will you be telling this person?) Use details, vivid verbs, adjectives to
describe nouns. Dont forget to indent.

Closing,
(How you want to say good-bye to your reader)

Signature:
(Your name)

Date:
Greeting:
Body:

Closing,
Signature:

Friendly Letter Checklist

___________Message considers what the reader might like to know.
___________Message has a friendly tone.
___________Ideas are written in a logical sequence.
___________Message includes interesting details.
___________The letter is written with good, interesting, complex
sentencesnot short choppy sentences.
___________The letter includes all five parts (heading,
greeting/salutation, body, closing, signature, and postscript
if desired.
___________The salutation (hi, dear) and the closing (your friend, love,
miss you) are informal.
___________The letter is checked for correct spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and legibility.

Name:_____________
Directions: Read through the letter than I am providing you. Please follow these directions then
answer the questions below.
Use a red crayon or marker to draw a box around the date.
Use an orange crayon or marker to draw a box around the greeting/salutation.
Use a yellow crayon or marker to draw a box around the body.
Use a green crayon or marker to draw a box around the closing.
Use a blue crayon or marker to draw a box around the signature.

1.

Who is writing the letter?

2.

When was the letter written?

3.

Who is receiving the letter?

4.

What is the letter about?