Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan Letter Writing

Pre-service Teacher: Grade(s): School/Mentor Teacher (if applicable):

Karson McElroy 2nd Parkview Elementary/Trista Ketcham

Subject area(s): Unit Topic/Theme: Lesson Title:

English Language Arts Letter Writing Lillys Friendly Letter
Relevant TEKS: 19(B) Relevant ELPS: 5(B) Relevant TX CCRS: 1.A.(1) Determine effect
write short letters that put write using newly approaches, forms, and rhetorical techniques th
ideas in a chronological or acquired basic demonstrate understanding of the writers purp
logical sequence and use vocabulary and content- and audience.
appropriate conventions (e.g., based grade-level
date, salutation, closing) vocabulary
Lesson Objective(s)/Performance Outcomes

The students will brainstorm and write a letter to a friend that correctly includes a header, date, body, closing
and signature with 100% accuracy.
Assessment (Description/Criteria)

Each student will write their own friendly letter as a summative assessment. They will be graded based on a
rubric to ensure that each letter has a header, body, closing, and signature. Additionally, the letters must cont
complete sentences and be formatted correctly.
Materials and Resources

Lillys Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, Lillys Letter chart, lined paper, letter graphic organizer,
students writing/drawing utensils, markers
Management of the Instructional Environment

The first 5 portions of this lesson will be taught as a whole group at the carpet where the teacher can easily s
and interact with all students and intervene when necessary. During the independent practice portion of the
lesson, the students will be seated at their tables with all materials in the middle of their table in their caddy
The teacher will walk around and monitor the students while they work and ask students questions, help
struggling writers, and ensure that students are all following instructions/behaving.
Technology Integration

Not applicable.
Diversity and Equity (Accommodations, Modifications, Adaptations)

Students will use a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts. There will be additional graphic
organizers with sentence frames for any writers that may need it. This will also benefit English language
learners. Additionally, students may use the letter anchor chart as a reference to remember the format of the
letter. For the student in the class that is unable to write, I will have him draw what he wants his letter to be
about and then will write for him while he shows me where each letter element should go.

Activities/Procedures
Anticipatory Set (activate prior knowledge, (List specific statements or activities you will use to focus
students on the lesson for the day. This should activate student knowledge related to the objectives.) (1
Mins): Recall the lessons from the week that involved letter writing. Ask students Why would we write a
letter to someone? and allow time for thinking and answering. Then ask What are some important parts th
you need to have in a letter? and allow time for thinking and answering. Pull out Lilys Purple Plastic Purs
and explain to students that we are going to read the book and while we are reading students should be looki
for anything that has to do with a letter. Read the book. Ask Where did you see a letter in this story? and c
on students for answers. Then ask Why did Lily write a letter? and give students time to think and then tur
and talk to a partner about their thoughts. Then call on student groups for a few answers.

Objective/Purpose (For the student's benefit, explain what students will be able to do by the end of th
lesson and why these objectives are important to accomplish.) (2 Mins): Tell students Today we will le
how to write a short letter that puts ideas in logical order and where the different elements of a letter: header
date, body, closing, signature. By the end of the today you will have written a letter to a friend using all of th
elements. This is important because people all over the world write and send letter and you need to know ho
to do it too.

Instructional Input (direct teach, (What information is essential for the student to know before beginn
and how will this skill be communicated to students?) (5 Mins): Share with students the words header, b
closing, and signature as vocabulary words. Pull out the Lillys Letter Chart and Velcro on the elements as y
discuss them. Tell students I need to start my letter with a header which is where I address the person I am
sending the letter to so that right away you know who the letter is for. For the header I will use Dear _____.
also need to include the date of my letter so the person I send it to knows what day I wrote it, in case it got l
in the mail or something. Next I write my letter in the body which is the main part of the letter. This is where
talk to the person I am sending the letter to. I want to make sure that this makes sense and goes in order, so t
dont get confused. After the body, I need to close my letter so they know I am finished. I can use sincerely
which means that I really meant what I wrote, love, or best wishes to name a few. Finally, I put my
signature, which is where I write my name, so the person who receives the letter knows who it is from.

Modeling (I do, (If you will be demonstrating the skill or competence, how will this be done? This is w
the TEACHER shows the STUDENTS) (8 Mins): Say First I need to brainstorm about my letter, so I am
going to fill out my graphic organizer. I need to decide who my letter is to, so I want to write that I am sendi
my letter to Mrs. Ketcham. Next, I have to add the date (add date). Now, I have to decide what 3 things I wa
my letter to be about. I want to tell her that I am glad to be in her classroom, that all of her students are so w
behaved and smart, and that I am going to be very sad to leave. Next, I have to pick which of the closings I
want to use, so I will choose Love, and then I have to write my name. Now that I have my brainstorming
done, I am going to get out my blank sheet of paper and write my letter. Do a think aloud as you convert you
brainstorming sheet into a letter.

Checking for Understanding (Identify strategies to be used to determine if students have learned the
objectives.) (3 Mins): Ask students to think about the elements of a letter and where they go. Then, ask them
turn to their neighbor and give one element and its location and get one element and its location (Give One,
One). Call on a few students to share.

Guided Practice (We do, (List activities which will be used to guide student practice and provide a tim
frame for completing this practice. This is what the TEACHER does WITH the STUDENTS.) (10 Min
Using the same procedure from Modeling, brainstorm and write a shared letter with the students that include
all of the elements of a letter. Allow students to give input, but correct terminology and placement when
necessary. Leave the shared letter up on the board as an example while students are working.

Independent Practice (You do, (List homework/seatwork assignment to be given to students to ensure
they have mastered the skill without teacher guidance. This is what the STUDENT does ALONE to sh
the TEACHER what s/he has learned.) (20 Mins): Tell students that now they will go back to their
Lightbulb Lab at their desks and brainstorm using the graphic organizer. When that is finished they will th
turn that into a friendly letter to anyone they want to write to. Remind them that it must contain all of the
elements in the correct location.

Closure (What method of review and evaluation will be used to complete the lesson?) (3 Mins):
After students have written their letters have them bring them back to the carpet and ask a few students wha
they thought was easiest about writing a letter. Then, pass out envelopes and have students put their letter in
envelope and write the recipients name on the front of the envelope. Tell them that after you look at the lette
you will give them back so they can give it to whoever they wrote it to.
Reflections and Documentation/Evidence of Lesson Effectiveness

Both my mentor teacher and I felt that this lesson went really well. During the independent writing portion,
kids were so quiet, we had to turn on some quiet music because it was so unusual. The students really enjoy
the activity and were so excited to actually give the letters to the person they wrote it to. Overall, the lesson
successful and the students really learned about the 5 elements of a letter and their placements. There were a
few things that I probably would change in hindsight, however. One thing that I really did not like about this
lesson, was that I had already made it so scripted in what I wanted to write and say due to the lesson plan
format, that I was much more nervous and focused on using my lesson plan that I normally am when I just
come up with the outline of the lesson. Also, part of the Madeline Hunter lesson plan is that it is so repetitiv
but I really had to work hard during the guided portion of the lesson because they were losing interest and fe
that they were just ready to skip to the independent work. The final thing that I would change about the lesso
plan, is that I would adjust it so that the closure was done before the independent practice. I liked the idea of
closing the lesson all together after everyone had finished, but the students finished at such varying rates it w
a little bit difficult. I ended up just telling the students that finished that they could either add more sentence
draw a picture on the back, or color in the picture of the mailbox and flowers at the top of their letter page, b
some students finished that before others even finished their letter, so I had them read at their desk until we
were all finished and ready for the closure.

My favorite part of this lesson was the graphic organizer that I created. It was my first attempt at creating m
own graphic organizer, so I was a bit worried about how the students would like it. They all completed the
graphic organizer with ease and several students told me that it helped them a lot and asked if they could pu
in their folder to take home. They wanted to be able to use it for their weekly letter writing assignment that t
teacher assigns as homework over the weekend.

Lillys Letter Chart

 Strengths and Needs Chart Pre-Lesson

Student Name: Sully Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.22.16

Strengths Needs

Complete sentences When to appropriately use inner-

Detailed body monologue
High vocabulary Broaden focus

Strengths and Needs Chart Post-Lesson

Student Name: Sully Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.23.16

Strengths Needs

Complete sentences When to appropriately use inner-

Detailed letter body monologue
Wrote about a whole story, Picking proper closing
and not just a piece of it
 Strengths and Needs Chart Pre-Lesson

Student Name: Ryann Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.22.16

Strengths Needs
 Details Date placement
Transition words Signature placement
Capitalization Spelling
Punctuation

Strengths and Needs Chart Post-Lesson

Student Name: Ryann Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.23.16

Strengths Needs

Details Spelling
Capitalization Adding more sentences
Date
Signature
Punctuation
 Strengths and Needs Chart Pre-Lesson

Student Name: Joeseph Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.22.16

Strengths Needs

Complete thoughts Parts of a letter

Logical sequence Capitalization
Run-0n sentences

Strengths and Needs Chart Post-Lesson

Student Name: Joeseph Grade Level: 2 Date: 9.23.16

Strengths Needs

Complete thoughts Adding more details

Parts of a letter Including his higher vocabulary
Capitalization