Friendly Letter Writing Unit

Friendly Letter Writing Unit

GRADE LEVEL:      5^th Grade

DATE and TIME ALLOTMENT:  April 9, 11 and 30, 1 hour each day

SUBJECT AREA(S):          Language Arts: Friendly Letter Writing

GOALS (in relation to MA ELA Curriculum Frameworks)

• Students will write with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail. (Composition Strand, Standard 19:Writing)
• Students will organize ideas in writing in a way that makes sense for their purpose. (Composition Strand, Standard 23: Organizing Ideas in Writing)
• Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in their compositions after revising them. (Composition Strand, Standard 21: Revising)
• Write formal letters to correspondents such as authors, newspapers, businesses, or government officials (19.18)

WHERETO

E- Equip, Experience, and Explore

·         By looking at problems within their own community they will explore and experience it in a new way

H-Hook and Hold

·         Before writing, students will brainstorm the meaning of social change and as a class we will come up with a definition and examples.

R-Rethink and Revise

·         Students will revise their drafts and make sure their solution is appropriate to their problem.

T-Tailored

·         Students are able to pick their own problem within their community that is meaningful to them.

WHEELOCK COLLEGE TEACHING STANDARDS

• Observe and listen to children as they work, learn, and play in a variety of settings to gain insights into what their students know, how they think, what they value, who they are, where they come from, and what motivates them. WCS2
• Educators should be adept at using and teaching the fundamentals of the English Language Arts. They should model effective use of English, including its syntax and lexicon, history and varieties, literary and oral traditions, and written composing process. WCS3

UNDERSTANDING

Facet 1: Explanation and Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge-Students will be able to explain and recognize the parts of a friendly letter.

Facet 2: Interpretation and Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension- Students will be able to understand and describe several instances of social change within history.

Facet 4: Perspective and Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation- Students will be able to apply  their knowledge of what social change is to finding a meaningful problem within their own community to write about.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• How can I advocate for change?
• What are ways I can impact my community?
• What needs to be changed in my community?
• What is a friendly letter?

 ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

• Class Discussion. I plan on beginning the lesson by asking the students what they believe social change is and developing a definition so everyone has an understanding of the concept.
• Past Lessons. I will focus first on the peaceful ways Martin Luther King advocated for social change and how it is possible for the students to use these methods because they have already learned this information during the school year.

 OBJECTIVES

1.            Students will write with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail.

Students will identify a problem and write a friendly letter to advocate for change. They will describe their problem using a specific location and other details as well as formulate a solution to their problem.

I know the parts of a friendly letter.

I can identify a problem and generate a solution.

2.            Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in their compositions after revising them.

                Students will begin with a template and be able to peer edit their drafts to create a final draft that shows improvement from their earlier draft(s).

                I know how to re-read and edit my own paper, and my peers.

3.            Write formal letters to correspondents such as authors, newspapers, businesses, or government officials

Student’s final drafts of their friendly letters will be given to their State Senator or State Representative.

                I know who my State Senator and State Representative are.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

• For ELL students: They will have a friendly letter template and rubric translated into Spanish with instructions.
• For students who need more assistance I will have friendly letter templates for them to brainstorm on and use as a rough draft.
• Students can also request to look back at the PowerPoint for directions if necessary.

 ASSESSMENT

• I will know if my objectives have been achieved by the final copies of the friendly letters.
• See attached rubric for assessing student work.
• I will be looking to see if students meet the criteria in the rubric.
• They should be able to have a clear introduction that describes who they are and relates to their problem. Their second paragraph should clearly state their problem with an exact location and description. Their third paragraph should have a plausible solution that is clearly described.

 IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES

Materials:

• The Progressive Movement: Advocating Social Change By: Tim McNeese
• Black Ants and Buddhists By: Mary Cowhey
• PowerPoint
• Computer
• Whiteboard
• Markers
• Rubric
• Friendly Letter Template (Spanish and English)
• Chart Paper

 Procedure:

Wednesday, April 4

• The classroom teacher will introduce the topic on so that over the weekend students can look around their neighborhoods for things they would like to see change in. (5 min)
• Teacher will lead  a class discussion on what could be a possible thing changed in their neighborhood.

 Monday, April 9

• Teacher will begin the lesson by having a conversation with the students about what they believe social change is.
• The teacher will then ask what students remember about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he advocated social change through peaceful ways. (5-7 min)
• Teacher will then share another example from The Progressive Movement: Advocating Social Change to show how people have created social change movements throughout history, focusing primarily on the Women’s Sufferage Movement. (7-10 min)
• Teacher will share the example from Black Ants and Buddhists when a student from Mary Cowhey’s class wrote a letter to the Mayor about removing a shopping cart from a stream. Teacher will have a conversation with the class about how writing a letter can be an effective way to create change within their communities. (7-10 min)
• Teacher will have class generate a list of changes they would like to make in their community on the chart paper for future reference later on so that everyone has a meaningful topic to write about. (15 min)
• Teacher will introduce the Friendly Letter Template and explain all parts of a Friendly Letter: address, salutation, three body paragraphs (background, problem, solution), and conclusion. (20 min)
• Students will begin drafting Friendly Letters and if time allows begin editing process. (Time that is left)

Wednesday, April 11

• Teacher will reintroduce topic by asking what they remember about Representative Jeff Sanchez and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (Classroom teacher will have had a lesson on this information on the previous day, Tuesday, April 10) (5-7 min)
• Students will continue the editing process and finish letters for Representative Jeff Sanchez and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz. (45 min)

 Monday, April 30

• Representative Jeff Sanchez and Senator Chang-Diaz will visit the fifth grade to talk about their backgrounds, how they became a State Representative and State Senator, and any current projects they is working on in the student’s district. They will receive the student’s letter and answer their questions. (1 hour)