#917. Morning Letter

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Fri Mar 26 19:29:37 PST 1999 by Susan Straley (ses163@psu.edu).
Bellefonte Elementary School, Bellefonte, PA 16823
Materials Required: Chart paper and Markers
Activity Time: 25 minutes
Concepts Taught: Reading, Decoding, English Skills

Objectives:
Students will use decoding skills to read the letter.
Students will identify two syllable words.
Students will add and justify appropriate punctuation marks.

Preparation: Write a letter to the class on chart paper. The content of the letter can include special activities, current areas of study, and/or new classroom procedures.

Activity:
Gather the children around the letter.
Read each sentence using the following procedure.
Read the sentence silently.
Work on decoding difficult words.
Read the sentence together.
Discuss the content of the letter. This is a good time to highlight special activites in the day.
Ask for volunteers to come up and circle two (or one or three) syllable words.
Ask for volunteers to come up and add punctuation. Ask the child why he or she added a specific punctuation mark.
Reread the letter together.

Summary: Ask the children questions about the content and the specific skills in the day's letter.

Evaluation: Keep a checklist to keep track of which children demonstrate specific skills each day. Work with children needing reinforcement on skills in small groups and evaluate them again using a letter a few days later.