#4222. Writing a Friendly Letter

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Sun Sep 7 16:40:55 PDT 2008 by Bonita Reynolds (Bonita Reynolds).
Campbell Court, Bassett
Materials Required: Red Riding Hood by James Marshall
Activity Time: 2 hrs.
Concepts Taught: learning the parts of a letter, terms body of a letter, signature, closing, greeting

Bonita G. Reynolds
Campbell Court School

Writing a Letter
SOL. 2.11 The student will write stories, letters, and simple explanations.

Know

The children will know the parts of a letter.

Understand

Communication through writing is an essential part of conveying ones feeling
and ideas to others in our society.

Do

The children will write a friendly letter

In this lesson, the children will practice writing a letter. After reading the folktale Red Riding Hood by James Marshall, the children were encouraged to choose a character from the story to write to or pretend to be certain people who write to characters in the story.
This DI lesson is in the form of a RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic). It is based on student interest and readiness.

Procedure:

Read Red Riding Hood orally. Model writing a friendly letter to someone and label the parts. I did it on my smart board before hand so all I had to do was label the parts. Keep the model on the board during in entire lesson in case you have to refer to it while the children are writing their letters. Explain the roles and topics to the class. Have them choose the character they want to write to and the character they want to pretend to be. During the discussion, one of my students wanted to be the wolf. I thought it was a great idea so I added it to the lesson (see letter #6). Once you feel confident they understand their roles and topics, the children can begin writing their letters. Circulate the classroom providing any assistance necessary. A word bank on the board may be used for any words that the children have trouble spelling.

Make copies of each letter on colored paper to help with management.

Role Audience Format Topic

Yourself Red Riding
Hood
Letter Give advice about talking to strangers.

Red Riding
Hood
Mother
Letter Apologizing to your mother for forgetting to go straight to Granny's house

Grandmother

Hunter

Letter Thank the Hunter for rescuing you and Red Riding Hood

Cafeteria
Worker

Wolf

Letter A list of healthy foods for a better diet than Grannies and little girls

Hunter

His Friend

Letter Tell about your adventure rescuing Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother
*Student suggestion

Wolf

Cafeteria Ladies

Letter Tell that little girls & grannies are very tasty. Tell how much you enjoy your diet.

#1 The wolf was stranger to Red Riding Hood. Write a letter to Red Riding Hood. Give her some good advice about talking to strangers. Write at least three sentences in the body of your letter.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

#2 Pretend you are Red Riding Hood. Write a letter to your mother explaining why you (remember you are pretending to be Red Riding Hood) didn't go straight to Grandmother's house. Apologize to your mother. Write at least three sentences in the body of your letter.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

#3 Pretend that you are Grandmother. Write a letter to the Hunter that saved you(remember you are pretending to be Grandmother) and Red Riding Hood from the wolf. Thank him for his bravery. Write at least three sentences in the body of your letter.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

#4 Pretend that you are a dietician. Write a letter to the wolf and give him a list of healthy foods for a better diet than Grannies and little girls. Write at least three sentences in the body of your letter.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

#5 Pretend to be the Hunter. Write a letter to your friend telling him or her about your adventure rescuing Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother. Write at least three sentences in the body of your letter.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

#6 Pretend you are the Wolf. Write a letter to cafeteria worker telling them that you really enjoy eating grannies and little girls. Describe how tasty they are.

_______________________,

__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

______________________

______________________

Writing a Friendly Letter
A Differentiated Lesson

Bonita G. Reynolds