Writing a Friendly Letter

Name: Megan Taylor

Date: 3/2/16 Subject/Grade: Language Arts/1st Grade

I. Integration of Learning Outcomes

a. Students will be able to brainstorm ideas about Dr. Seuss week.
b. Students will be able to write a friendly letter of their own to Dr. Seuss following the
requirements given by the teacher and including the five parts of a friendly letter.
II. Standards
a. CC.1.4.1.B: Identify and write about one specific topic.
III. Anticipatory Set
a. Have students come up to the front and sit in front of the smart board
b. Ask students if they have ever written or received a letter and what the letter was about
c. Tell students that today they are going to learn how to write a friendly letter
d. Tell them that people usually write friendly letters to share news about themselves
IV. Procedures
a. Bring up the friendly letter projectable on the smart board
b. Tell students that there are five parts of a friendly letter: the date, the greeting, the
body, the closing, and the name
c. Point to the date section of the letter and tell students that the date tells when the
letter was written
d. Point to the greeting section of the letter and tell students that the greeting tells who
the letter is for
e. Point to the body section of the letter and tell students that the body of the letter gives
details that tell what happen in order
f. Point to the closing section of the letter and tell students that the closing ends the letter
g. Point to the name section of the letter and tell students that the name tells who wrote
the letter
h. Tell students that in our example, Ling is writing a letter to their friend Lana asking what
she had for dinner the night before and telling her what she ate for her own dinner
i. Ask students which words in the letter begin with a capital letter
i. The month, the first word in the greeting, the names, the first letter of the first
word in each sentence, and the first word in the closing
j. Ask students where commas are used in the letter
i. In the date, after the greeting, and after the closing
k. Tell students that they are going to write a friendly letter to Dr. Seuss telling him about
what they are doing during Dr. Seuss week at school
l. Write “First Sentence” on the board
m. Ask students what we are celebrating today
i. Dr. Seuss’s birthday
n. Tell students that our first sentence should wish Dr. Seuss a happy birthday, write that
on the board
o. Write “Body” on the board
p. Ask students to brainstorm some ideas about what we have been doing and will be
doing for Dr. Seuss week
i. Silly sock Monday
ii. Twin Tuesday
iii. Crazy/Favorite hat Wednesday
iv. Green Thursday
v. Wear red, white, and black for the Cat in the Hat
vi. Reading Dr. Seuss books
vii. Having readers come and read to us
viii. Getting Seuss bucks
ix. Making hats
x. Dr. Seuss packets
q. Write “Closing” on the board
r. Ask students for ideas about how we can close the letter
i. Sincerely,
ii. Your friend,
iii. Love,
s. Tell students that now they are going to use the ideas that they just came up with to
write their own letter to Dr. Seuss
t. Tell students that they have to write at least three sentences in their letter
u. Ask students to go back to their seats and pass out the draft paper
v. Tell students that we are going to write a first draft before we write the real thing on
our good copy
w. Pull up the writing paper on the smart board
x. Ask students what they first part of our letter is
i. The date
y. Ask students what the date is today
z. Write the date in the correct section on the smartboard
aa. Ask students what the next part of the letter is
i. The greeting
bb. Ask students how they think we should greet Dr. Seuss
i. Dear Dr. Seuss,
cc. Remind students about commas and capital letters
dd. Write this up on the smart board
ee. Tell students that they are now going to write the body of their letter using the ideas we
brainstormed up on the board
ff. Remind them to use sentences and correct punctuation
gg. Tell students to look up at the board if they don’t know what to write for each section
 hh. Tell students that when they are finished, they should circle any words that they don’t
think are spelled correctly and bring their paper up to you to get checked and given a
good copy
ii. Walk around and observe as students write
jj. When students bring their paper up to you, circle any mistakes and ask students to use
their word books to find correct spelling
kk. Give students the good copy sheet and tell them to do their best handwriting
ll. Allow time for students to write draft and good copy
V. Differentiation
a. Students who struggle with writing can just write one sentence instead of three.
b. More advanced students can write more than just the three sentences and include a
question for Dr. Seuss
VI. Closure
a. When students have finished writing, call them back up to the front with their letters
b. Ask for volunteers to share their letters to the rest of the group
c. Once volunteers have shared, collect student papers
VII. Formative/Summative Assessment
a. Students will be formatively assessed as they answer questions about a friendly letter
and as they write.
b. Students will be summatively assessed through the collection of the letter.
VIII. Materials/Equipment
a. Smart board
b. Friendly letter projectable
c. Draft paper
d. Good copy paper
e. Pencils
IX. Technology
a. The smart board is used in this lesson to teach students about friendly letters.