#4465. Main Character Advice Letter

Reading/Writing, level: 1-2
Posted Wed Oct 20 19:44:43 PDT 2010 by Karyn Smith (Karyn Smith).
Activity Time: 30 minutes

Objectives:

Students will be able to:
1. Correctly draft a letter using the 5 components (date, greeting, body, closing, and signature).
2. Evaluate a text and suggest a solution to the main character's problem.

Resources and Materials:
• Copy of Dragon Gets By by Dav Pilkey
• Letter templates/writing paper
• Pencils
• Crayons/colored pencils

Teaching the Lesson:
1. Review with students the format of a letter. Let them know that today they will be writing a letter to the main character in their story.
2. Read the story Dragon Gets By up to the point Dragon cannot fit his food in the car.
3. Pass out letter template/writing paper.
4. Ask students to write a letter to Dragon suggesting what he can do to solve his problem and why they think this is a good solution.
5. Give students time (about 10-15 minutes) to complete their letters.
6. Let students share their letters with a partner. Invite 3-5 students to read their letters to the class.
7. Finish the story to see if Dragon took any of the students' suggestions.

Assessment:
Students will be assessed based on the content of their letters. Letters will be assessed based on the feasibility of their suggestions and the extent to which they support/defend their solution in their letters.

Note: This lesson assumes students are already familiar with letter writing. Therefore no instruction in this area is needed.