Miranda Prince

Professor Saladino
Education 201
Portfolio Project 10 Lesson Planning
November 18, 2015

1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)

Pen Pals
Fourth Grade Lesson
Whole group
Subject: Writing Composition
Standards:
CEF: (4)5.3 Write organized friendly letters, formal letters, thank you letters, and
invitations in an appropriate format for a specific audience and purpose [NS/PS 5.4.2]
Common Core: Writing Standards; Grade 4; 1. Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,
supporting a point of view with reasons and information. A. Introduce a topic or text
clearly, state an opinion and create an organized structure in which related ideas are
grouped to support the writers purpose.
6.) Objective: I want the class to learn the appropriate way to write a letter and how to
address an envelope. The class will also experience a friendly response from someone
they dont know who is in the same grade as them, learning the same topic. I would hope
that it will be an exciting and fun activity. We will do a rough draft and then a formal
revised draft of our letters. The class will also be learning how to use correct punctuation
in writing mechanics, so we will be covering a few standards with this project. I hope that
the students would find this to be a fun and exciting experience to learn about someone
else and also the proper way to address and write a letter.
7.) Materials needed to facilitate this lesson: I would reach out to a fellow teacher through
the internet to join up with for this project. My first choice would be to find a class in
another country who knows English, so we could share experiences with them and make
it a more memorable experience for both classes. I would need paper and envelopes and
lots of stamps. I would find or create a sample letter to show the class the proper
placements in a letter.
8.) Procedures:
A. I will invite my students to sit down in circle time in front of our smart board.
B. I would explain to the class this wonderful writing assignment were going to
experience as a class and the exciting news that its with another class in Japan.
C. I would then put my sample letter on display on the smart board.
D. We would discuss as a whole group the proper placement of everything in the letter,
and the envelope and how the need to use proper punctuation for everything.
E. We would also discuss different topics they can write about, things they are interested
in, hobbies, games, books they like to read, places they like to go to, or would like to
see in the future for the first time.

F. Once I feel everyone is knowledgeable about our purpose and project I will have the
class take their seats and hand out a piece of paper and envelope and have them start
their first draft of both the envelope and letter.
G. I will walk around the class checking on everyone, answering questions, looking for
any mistakes that I can help with or that could be corrected on their first draft.
H. Everyone will turn in their letter and envelope.
I. Once I have looked for mistakes on their rough drafts, I will return them and we will
start our final copy for the letter and envelope.
J. I will do one last check of everything and the class will then place their letter in their
envelope and give to me. I will then let the class know we will be sending them off to
Japan and in a few weeks we will receive our letters back from the class in Japan.
K. When we receive the letters back the class will be very excited to read about their
new friend and hopefully will want to continue a Pen Pal friendship.
9.) Assessment: I would assess the students progress based on the rough draft and then the
final draft for their letter. I would look to see if they placed everything in the right format
for a letter, and if they used the correct punctuations where needed. I would pay attention
to what areas they might need more practice in and what they did great in. I would give it
a score of 20 points possible for each assignment and mark 1 point off for each mistake.