LESSON RATIONALE: Letter writing is a form of communication that students should know.

It provides them with a way

to communicate and helps them understand the ways people have communicated in the past. In this lesson, students will
learn about the different components of a letter. After I model the task, they will write a letter to someone of their
choosing explaining a choice that affected what happened next in their life. It is important that students understand how
to communicate their life stories. As they write a letter with the correct components, they will be reflecting on what
choices have affected their personal life.

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal: Students will write a friendly letter that has a beginning, middle, and end.
B. Objectives: Students will write a friendly letter explaining a choice that affected their life that includes a heading,
a greeting, a body, a closing, and a signature.
C. Standards:
 IAS: 2.W.3.3- Develop topics for friendly letters, stories, poems, and other narrative purposes that
o Include a beginning.
o Use temporal words to signal event order (e.g., first of all).
o Provide details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings.
o Provide an ending.

II. Management Plan

a. Materials: Elmo projector, paper, anchor chart, markers, rubrics for my grading, checklists for students
b. Time: 40 minutes
c. Space: During the anticipatory set, students will be at their assigned location on the carpet. During the
lesson presentation on the components of the friendly letter, students will remain on the carpet. They
will move back to their assigned desk/flexible seating location to complete their letter.
d. Behavior: Students are expected to be active learners throughout the lesson. They will be encouraged to
participate, answer questions, and ask questions during the whole group activity. Students are expected
to respect others, the teacher, themselves, and follow all classroom rules. Students who do not follow
directions will receive a verbal warning. If the behavior continues, they will get their number written on
the board. If the behavior continues further, they will receive check marks next to their number.
III. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners—
 Zeke will be allowed to stand at his desk during the large group time on the carpet.
 Students who have difficulties with writing will be given sentence starters.
 Addison, Alayna, and Der’Ryah have difficulties reading. They will be given checklists that include pictures
for each step, in addition to words.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Anticipatory Set: Show a picture of my sister and I. “This is my sister and I. Two summers ago, my sister decided to
spend the summer working in Alaska. She was so far away from home, and her phone didn’t work in Alaska. She has such
a good time there, but her choice to go to Alaska affected how I talked to her. Since I couldn’t talk to her on the phone,
does anyone think they know how I talked with her?” Call on a student who is quietly raising their hand. When they say
by writing letters, say “That’s right! We wrote letters to communicate with each other.”

V. Purpose: “Today, we are going to learn how to write letters correctly, so that if you are ever in a situation like I was, you
have a way to communicate to your family and friends.”

VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 “Yesterday, we practiced writing to people spreading the power of kind words. Today, we’re going to learn the
different parts of the letter so we can write friendly letters correctly to our friends and family.”
 “The very first thing we need in a friendly letter is a heading. Everyone touch your head and say ‘A heading
comes first.’ A heading must include the month, day, a comma, then the year. It looks like this’” Write the
heading on lined paper under the Elmo projector.
 “Next, we must have a greeting. Everyone smile, point to it, and say ‘a greeting comes next’. A greeting is the
hello of the letter. It can say ‘Dear Friend,’ or ‘Hello Friend,’. Every word must be capitalized and there has to
be a comma after the whole phrase.” Write a greeting on the paper under the Elmo projector.
 “Next is the body! Point to your body. The body is everything you want to say in the letter. You can ask
questions, write a thank you, or tell them something.” Write a short body on the paper under the Elmo
projector.
  “After the body comes the closing. The closing is how you say goodbye. You can say ‘Sincerely,” or “Your
Friend”. Like the greeting, every word must be capitalized and there has to be a comma after the last word.”
Model a closing on the example letter.
 “Finally, there has to be a signature. The person reading it needs to know who wrote them the letter!” I will
write my name for the signature on the example letter.
 “Let’s review what the parts of a friendly letter are. I will ask questions to the students asking them which part
of the letter fits with my description. If you think you know which part I am describing, touch your nose. I will
give everyone time to think.” I will describe a part of the friendly letter and students will touch their nose if
they know which part I am describing.

VII. Check for understanding.

 “Now, let’s think of choices that have affected you. Choices that are made help write the stories of our lives. You
could think a choice that you made, or a choice that someone else made that had an impact on you. Here are
some examples: maybe your parents chose to move houses. Maybe you chose to be kind to someone you didn’t
know very well. Maybe you chose to work hard at a school subject that is difficult for you.” Write these
examples on the board. Ask students to share examples in their own lives. Call on a few to respond and put
their answers on the board.
 “If you have a choice in your mind, think about how that choice affected you. What came next after the choice
was made? Would anyone like to share an example of what they are going to write about?” Call on one student
to respond who is raising a quiet hand.
 “We are going to write letters to someone you choose to tell them about this choice. I am going to give you a
checklist of things your letter must include. It looks like this.” Put checklist under the Elmo projector. It will
include check boxes for heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. In addition, it will include check
boxes asking if students described what the choice was and how it affected them.
 “You will have 15 minutes to complete your letter. I will come around and pass out letter paper to people who
are quietly at their seat. When I say one, stand up. When I say two, walk to your desk. When I say three, sit
down. Ready—1, 2, 3.”

VII. Review learning outcomes / Closure –

 Transition back to the carpet. Ask two students to share their letters with the class. Ask them, “What was
your favorite part of today’s lesson?” Call on two students who are quietly raising their hand to share a
response.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

A. Formative:.
 Observe and take notes on students who are responding to the questions throughout the lesson.
 During the questions I ask about the different parts of the letter, I will observe and take note of students
who are confidently answering, and those who are hesitant.
 Students will write a friendly letter about a choice in their life and how that choice affected them. They will
be evaluated with a rubric I create.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
7. Was each student able to write a letter with the correct components?
8. How could I have made my instructions simpler?
9. What was the most common error students made in letter writing? How will I reteach this error?