Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 37054
Friendly Writing
At the start of this lesson, students will review the friendly letter format as the teacher reads I Wanna Iguana and I Wanna New Room by Karen
Kaufman Orloff to the students. These books are told in a friendly letter format between the boy and his parents. With teacher modeling and
support, students will then generate a topic and practice writing a friendly letter as a class. Next, students will apply the friendly letter format to
create a writing piece in which they write to a reader of their choice on a topic they have chosen. Students will receive practice at editing their writing
for proper conventions (independently, through peer review, and in teacher-student mini conferences). A graphic organizer, a letter writing frame,
and a guide for revision are provided in the lesson. A closing activity has students writing a letter to their teacher asking for something they would
like for their class.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 2
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Computer for Presenter, LCD
Projector
Instructional Time: 3 Hour(s)
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: friendly letter, persuade, convince, organize
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
Letter graphic organizer.docx
Rainbow Editing.docx
Friendly letter frame.docx
Letter Sample.docx
rubric friendly letter.docx
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Using pre-writing strategies, students will be able to write a friendly letter that follows the correct format and contains the five main parts of a letter.
Students will be able to revise their written letter using proper conventions of writing.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Students should:
be familiar with the friendly letter format
be able to write in response to a prompt
be able to use proper conventions of grammar
be familiar with the different stages of the writing process: planning, drafting, sharing, revising, and editing
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
Why do people write letters to each other?
Why do they write letters to their friends and family?
page 1 of 4 Who will you be writing to?
What is it that you want to say to this person?
How will you be closing your letter? (Sincerely, Love, Your friend, Bye, etc.)
During the read read-alouds:
The teacher will stop and ask students to summarize what message Alex is trying to convey to his parents when writing these notes and letters.
The teacher will ask students how Alex is closing these letters written to his parents.
The teacher will also ask, "Why did Alex write all of these letters instead of just asking them for what he wants?"
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
1. The teacher will begin the lesson by telling the students that they will be a writing a friendly letter to someone of their choice with the purpose of telling them
something about themselves (a story of something that has happened, something they want or would like to do, how their day has gone, what they plan to do
on vacation, how special this person in to him/her etc.).
2. Read aloud I Wanna Iguana (ATOS 2.7) by Karen Kaufman Orloff. This is a story about a boy who is trying to convince his parents to let him have an iguana as
a pet. The entire story is told in a friendly letter format back and forth between the boy and his parents allowing the opportunity for teacher and students to
review the friendly letter format.
Note: This story does not have page numbers and all text is written in friendly letter format, therefore, the teacher (after having pre-read the book) will
stop on preselected pages and ask students to identify the parts of each friendly letter as she/he reads it aloud.
The teacher will ask questions such as, "How did Alex close the letter to his parents" and "How did his parents greet him in each letter?" depending on the
pages selected.
3. A class discussion will follow. The teacher will use a friendly letter graphic organizer on the board to record and highlight the five main parts of the friendly
letter format (heading, greeting, body, closing, signature) found throughout the story.
4. The teacher will also guide students in working as a whole group to identify and review the story elements such as main characters, setting, problem, sequence
of events, and solution. (Though this is not part of the actual lesson, it serves as a good review. It can be omitted without consequence)
Day Two
1. The teacher will read aloud I Wanna New Room (ATOS 2.7) also by Karen Kaufmann Orloff. This story follows the same friendly letter format using the same
characters only this time the boy wants a new room. During the read aloud, the teacher should stop periodically to assess students' recall of the previous day's
skills.
Questions should include:
What is the date on this letter?
How can you find it?
To whom is it addressed?
What greeting is used?
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
6. The teacher will hold a brainstorming session to help the class choose who to write to and what to write about. After the session the class will vote on who they
want to write about and the subject of their letter.
7. The teacher will model writing the letter on the board. Volunteers will state the date, greeting, and closing. Volunteers will also contribute sample sentences to use
in the body of the letter by writing them on the board.
8. The teacher will introduce the rainbow editing chart at this time. The teacher will edit the letter using the poster sized chart with the help of the students.
9. Once the letter is edited, the class will read the friendly letter aloud and identify and review the five main parts of the letter.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
Day Three
10. The students will complete a friendly letter graphic organizer as a pre-writing activity for their friendly letter.
11. The students will continue to go through the stages of the writing process by sharing, revising, and editing.
There will be partner sessions for peer editing using a teacher-made chart in order to check for proper conventions of writing, supporting details, five main
parts of the friendly letter, etc.
12. The teacher will continue to hold writing conferences with small groups of students during these stages.
The teacher will have students edit and revise their letter by asking them to highlight the five main parts of their friendly letter.
The teacher will also ask students to refer back to the copy of the original letter introduced at the beginning of the lesson to use as a reference when identifying
the main parts of their letter. At this point the teacher will assist them in writing any missing parts they may have.
The teacher will ask the students the date of their letter, who they are addressing the letter to, and how they want to close their letter. The teacher will also
have them read the body of their letter and add any details they may want to add or have forgotten.
The teacher will provide each student with a copy of the rainbow chart and model how to use it during the writing conference.
13. Once individual friendly letters have been edited a final draft will be written to be shared and displayed in the classroom.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
Students will also brainstorm ideas such as (getting a class pet, going on a field trip, extra recess time, the best day of school so far, how they felt on the first day of
school, etc.) to write a friendly letter to the teacher asking for something they would like for their class.
The teacher will display samples of student letters in the writing center for students to use as a guide when writing future friendly letters at the writing center.
Students will use the information learned in this lesson when writing a proper friendly letter.
Students will also use graphic organizers during the pre-writing stage of the writing process to organize thoughts and ideas.
Students will use editing skills to edit a final writing piece.
Summative Assessment
A rubric will be used to grade the final draft of the friendly letter. rubric friendly letter.docx
Formative Assessment
The teacher will begin the lesson by having students choose another student's name from a basket and write them a short friendly letter. The students will also
page 2 of 4 choose a topic such as what I did over the weekend, the best part of their day, what they would like for Christmas or birthday, etc. from a second basket. The teacher
will then collect the letters the students have written and check for the five main parts of the friendly letter format in order to assess how much of the friendly letter
format the student is familiar with.
The teacher will provide the students with a copy of a friendly letter piece of writing and have students read this sample letter on their own (see attached sample
letter). Students will be asked to highlight the five parts of the friendly letter. The teacher will also collect these to assess prior knowledge on the friendly letter format.
Feedback to Students
The teacher will provide mini writing conferences throughout the lesson as the students work on their own. Here the teacher will give feedback on graphic organizers
used in the pre-writing stage. The teacher will give suggestions on how to enhance their writing using greater details, proper conventions of writing, vivid verbs, etc.
The teacher will use a copy of the "rainbow editing" sheet (found online and adapted for my assignment) to guide the students the teacher is conferencing with in
editing the writing. The teacher will also ask students questions such as, "Where can we use more descriptive words?" "Did you tell the reader everything you wanted
to tell them in your letter?", etc. These mini writing conferences should take about 3-5 minutes. This is not a conference to correct all of their writing. The teacher will
guide students through the "rainbow editing" and read the letter to see if it follows the correct format.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
The teacher could provide individual copies of read aloud books for students who may need to read it on their own to review the five main parts of the friendly letter
and how the writer stays on topic in each letter.
The teacher will also provide a friendly letter frame and copies of proper student-written friendly letters at the writing center.
Extensions:
Students can brainstorm ideas on how to help the community or school. For example: a school recycling program, collecting items for the homeless, starting a new
club, etc. and write letters to the principal, assistant principal, or other teachers with the purpose of having them join in their project.
The ReadWriteThink.org website provides a helpful tool called the Letter Generator Interactive Activity where students can visit and review the parts of the friendly
letter as well as create one of their own and print it.
Suggested Technology: Computer for Presenter, LCD Projector
Special Materials Needed:
Story books:
I Wanna Iguana (460L) and I Wanna New Room (540L) both written by Karen Kauffman Orloff
Graphic Organizer
Friendly Letter Sample
Rainbow Editing Sheet
Further Recommendations:
This lesson should develop over a course of 3 days or perhaps 4 depending on the student population. It is up to the teacher's discretion.
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Janet Botero
Name of Author/Source: Janet Botero
District/Organization of Contributor(s): Miami-Dade
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
LAFS.2.L.1.2:
LAFS.2.W.2.5:
Description
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.
b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
c. Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.
d. Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage badge; boy boil).
e. Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and
editing.
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