Yourname:SamanthaCarraro

ElementaryInclusivePreserviceProgramLessonPlan

LessonTitle:WritingThankyouLetters
Grade/ageLevel:1stGrade
Date(intendedteachingdate):November23,2015

LearningObjective(s)
Whatdoyouwant
studentstoknow,
understand,orbeableto
doasaresultofthis
lesson?

Evidencefor
assessment

Where
willyoulook
(product,performance,
documentationyou
create,etc.)forsignsof
studentlearning?
What
willyoulook
for
?
Whatareyour
criteria
?
(examplesofstatements
oractionsthatwould
showtheparticularkinds
ofunderstandings,
learnings,&/orskillsyou
areafter?)

SWunderstandpartsofathankyouletter.
SWwritetheirownthankyouletters.
SWrecallrelevantdetailsaboutthelocationtheywritethe
thankyouletterto.

SWcrafttheirownthankyouletterstoalocalbusinessorservice
wevisitedduringourneighborhoodstudy.
SWemployavarietyofthankyouletterparts:
Date
Greeting:Dear[Name],
Body:Thankyoufor______.
Body:Aminimumoftwodetailsfromthevisit
Thestudentsfavoritepartofthefieldtrip
Onethingthestudentlearned
Closing:Sincerely,[StudentsName]

Rationale
Whyareyouteachingthis
lesson?What
connectionsdoesithave
tostandards?Doesit
connecttostudents
interests,strengths,and
needs?Howdoesitfit
withinthecurriculum?

Theabilitytocraftameaningfulthankyouletterisanimportant
skill.
SinceSeptember,thestudentshavebeenparticipatinginan
ongoingneighborhoodstudy.Thethankyouletterlessonwill
serveasacapstonepiecetothestudy.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.L.1.1
:Demonstratecommandofthe
conventionsofstandardEnglishgrammarandusagewhen
writingorspeaking.

 CCSS.ELALITERACY.L.1.2
:Demonstratecommandofthe
conventionsofstandardEnglishcapitalization,punctuation,and
spellingwhenwriting.

Prerequisite
Knowledge
Whatpriorknowledgeare
youcountingon?Will
thisbeaproblemforany
ofyourstudentsandifso,
whatwillyoudo?

Priortothislesson,studentswillhavegoneonnumerousfield
tripstolocalbusinessesandservices,whichshouldprovide
contentforthethankyouletters.Ifrecallingcontentisanissue,
therenumerouschartsintheclassroomthatshouldgenerate
contentaboutthefieldtripsforthestudents.
Alsopriortothislesson,studentswillhavebeenintroducedtoa
numberofwritingconventions:
Fillingthelinefromthebeginningofthelinetotheend
Writingwithfingerspacesbetweenthewords
Usingthehandwritinglinestomaketheirlettersneater
Usingthewordwalltospellsightwordscorrectly
Assessment

LearningExperience
Ineachsectionbelow,specifythesequenceofinstructional
activities.Considerhowyouwillmanagematerials,bodies,and
time.Usesmallboxestoindicatetime.

StartingIt
Howwillyouinvite
studentsintothelearning
experience?

TWremindstudentsofall
thefieldtripstheytookand
howmuchfuntheyhad,and
thatsayingthankyouina
letterisanicewaytolet
peopleknowthatyou
appreciatewhattheyhave
doneandthattheyhave
taughtyousomethingabout
whatisaneighborhood.
Introducetheideaofwriting
thankyouletters.
TWtellthestudentsthatshe
haswrittenathankyou
lettertothelibrarianatthe
localBrooklynlibrary(this

Whatwillyoulook/listento/for?Howare
youfiguringoutwhatstudentsare
learning?

Areanystudentsfamiliar
withthankyouletters?
Arestudentsableto
successfullynameparts
fromtheteachersmodel
thankyouletter?

locationwasspecifically
chosenbecauseitisaplace
theclassdid
not
visitand
thuscannotcopyfromin
theirownthankyouletters).
Priortoreadingthemodel
thankyouletter,TWprime
thestudentsbyaskingthem
tolistenforspecificways
thispieceofwritingis
differentfromthestudents
smallmomentstoriesand
neighborhoodchapters.
TWreadthankyouletter
aloudoffapieceofchart
paper.
Asagroup,SWturnand
talkandgeneratealistofthe
waysthethankyouletteris
differentfromtheother
typesofwritingtheyhave
done.
SWcomebacktogetherasa
groupandlisttheways
thankyoulettersare
different.TWmarkupthe
modelletterusinglarge
postits,highlightingthe
partsofathankyouletter
(i.e.Date,Greeting,
Body,Closing.)
Afterthemodelthankyou
letterismarkedup,TWtell
thestudentsthattheyshould
eachhavethesepartsintheir
letterstoo.TWalso
highlightthefactthatthe
twodetailsshouldbe

DoingIt
Outlineyoursequenceof
instructionalmoves
includingparticipation
structures,materials,
intellectualresources,
andtimeallotted.Isthere
aproductorperformance

specifictofieldtriplocation.
Therewillbechartsinthe
classroomwithquestions
thatweregeneratedbefore
thefieldtripsthatwillhelp
thestudentsrecallcontent.
TW,withthestudents,
generateaquicklistof
sentencestartsforthe
bodyportionoftheletter
(i.e.Myfavoritepartwas
when,Ilearned
that.,Ididnotknow
that,Ilikedthe)
Remindstudentsthatthey
arewriting
for
someoneelse
toreadandthewordsmust
beneatandspelled
correctly.
TWtellstudentsthatitis
importanttousethepersons
namewhenwritinga
thankyouletterandthat
eachtablewillhaveapiece
ofpaperlistingthelocations
ofthefieldtripsandthe
namesofpeoplewholed
them.TWwritealistof
sentencestartsforthe
bodyofthethankyouletter.
10minutes

SWbegiventemplates(with
varyingdegreesof
scaffolding).
TWpullasmallgroupfor
extrasupportontherug.

Dostudentsexplicitlywrite
thankyouatanypointin
theletter?
Arethepartsofathankyou
letterpresent?

youwillbeexpecting
studentstocreate?

Arethedetailslocation
specific?
Arethestudentsableto
recalldetailsaboutthefield
trips?

SWhave2530minutesto
writetheirownthankyou
letters.

FinishingIt

Usingtheprojector,TW
showthreeexamplesof
thankyoulettersfromthe
students.Eachhighlightinga
differentelement(i.e.the
detailschosen,thankyou
letterpartspresent).1015

Howwillyoubring
studentstoclosurewith
thislearningexperience
andconnectittofuture
learning?

Accessibility

Arethestudentsableto
namepartsofathankyou
letterfromtheirpeer
examples?

Ascaffoldtemplatewillbeprovidedforthosestudentswhomay
needmoresupport:
OnewiththewordsDearandSincerelyalready
writtenonit.
TWpullthreetargetedstudentsforextrasupportontherug
duringtheworkshopportion.Twoofthesethreestudentsare
pulledforreadingintervention.Oneofthestudentshasdifficulty
differentiatingbetweenlettersounds,onehastroublewithletter
formation,andoneislessindependentwithwriting.

Whataccessibilityand
participationchallenges
haveyoutakeninto
accountandhowhave
youaddressedthem?
(materialandhuman
resources,sequenceof
instruction)

MaterialsNeeded

Onepieceofchartpaper:
1.Prewrittenthankyoulettertothelibrarian
Large,colorfulpostitstomarkupmodelthankyouletterfor
eachelement
Listofbusinessandserviceswiththenameoftheindividualwho
ledtheclasstour(5xcopiesforeachtable).
Scaffoldtemplateswithvaryinghandwritinglinesandprompts
(DearandSincerely).
Pencilsandflarepens