Letters to Friends

Second Grade

Essential Question

What are fall activities that you can identify?

What are the important components of a letter?

Standard(s)
Standard - CC.1.4.2. J
 Create an organizational structure that includes reasons and includes a
concluding statement.

Objectives
SWBAT: Identify different fall activities
SWBAT: Write a letter to a friend in the class

Materials and Equipment

-Notebook paper (for each student)
-Pencils (for each student)
-Fall Freeze Dance Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMogy1dhApQ

Procedures

Introduction
 “Hello friends, today we will be learning how to write a letter to one of our
friends. We are going to be writing about different fall activities that you
guys like to do during Autumn.”

Anticipatory Set/Activating Learning Strategies

Ask:
-What are some activities that you guys do during Fall?
-What are some words to describe Fall?
-Share with classmates
-How many of you have written a letter before?
-Who can we send letters to?
Sequence of Lesson
 Have all the students sit at their desks and clean them off
 Once they are all sitting use the clap and response method to get their
attention *two claps* *five claps*
 Give a chance for the students to share a Fall activity with each other
 Ask for a helper to help pass out notebook paper and pencils to their
classmates
 Once everything is passed out, have the students write their name in
the top right corner of the paper
 Then have them write the date underneath their name *Write the date
on the board if students are having trouble
 Ask if they know how to start a letter *answer Dear Friend…
 Have them write the intro and address it to their friend’s name
 Next explain that they will write 2-3 sentences or more based on
ability about their favorite fall activities
 Help with structure as needed
 Once they have all completed the body of their letters, have them
skip over to the teacher’s desk and get their letters checked
 After they get it checked, they will walk back to their seat and wait
to learn how to write the conclusion
 Ask if they know how to conclude a letter, *answer Sincerely Friend
 Have them write their conclusion
 When everyone is done with their letters, they will *mail* their
letters to their friends
 Ask the students to grab their letters, and walk or “mail” them to
their friend that the letter is to
 After they mail them, have the students skip back to their desks
 Ask them to keep standing as I will put on the “Fall Freeze Dance”
video
 I will say they are getting a brain break and can dance along to this
video
 After the video is over, Ask the students to sit back down
 Explain that the kids can now read their letters
 After they read their letters, I will call on some students to give me
some of the Fall activities that were in their letters

Closure/Summarizing Strategy
 Ask- “What are some examples of Fall activities that you wrote in your
letter? Tell a neighbor and I will ask some new students to answer.

Assessment/Evaluation
 The students get their letters checked by the teachers’ multiple times during
the writing process to ensure correctness. This proves that the students
could complete the assignment to the best of their ability.
Special Considerations

Early Finishers
I will tell any students that finishes early to draw their friend a picture to go along
with their Fall activity. This will keep them occupied and not disturbing other
students who are taking longer to finish their letter.

Remediation
I will try to give individual help to any student that can not grasp the concept as
quickly as others. I could give them some ideas for Fall activities or help with
their sentence structure. Then I will check their papers more often to make sure
they are on the right track.

Enrichment
If a student has extra time or wants to be challenged have them write another
letter to a different friend. If there is not enough time have them add sentences
using their weekly vocabulary words to help them practice. This will give them a
challenge while also staying on task.

Special Accommodations
If a student has a learning or physical disability, then I will try to change the
lesson accordingly. If they have trouble with writing, then maybe have them
draw pictures of the activities instead. If they can not spell some words and need
assistance help them find another word or show them how to write the word they
want. If they do not want to write to a friend in the class because of a social
qualm, then they can write to a teacher or friend in another class.