9-3 includes Writing a Letter to the President

Title – Lesson Plan 9: Mini-Lessons On Final Project: Letter to the President
By – Alex Johnson-Jimenez
Subject – Social Studies, Language Arts 
Grade Level – 5th -6th grade
NOTE: This is lesson 9, which is separated into 5 mini-lessons, of the Colonization of Mars Thematic Unit. This is part 3.
Here’s the Letter To The President Handout .

Objective:
Student group will identify the strategies needed to create a business letter, practice writing a business letter, and develop appropriate assessment skills in deciding which sections of the NASA research project to include in their packet of information.

Materials Needed:
Microsoft Word or similar word processing program
Letter guidelines

Estimated Time: 10 minutes of instruction and 50 minutes of project research

Procedure:
1.Sit with the students at a table away from the other students.

2.Re-read the directions in the guidelines sheet that was given to them.

3.Check for understanding by having students explain in their own words what they are to do.

4.Demonstrate how a business letter is addressed, how the greeting is made, and how to close the letter.

5.Have students practice these skills, pass their practice work one to the left, and have each student asses their peers’ work. Look for legibility, spelling, and accuracy against the teacher’s sample.

6.Hand students a sample letter of what a complete business letter looks like. Tell them that the sample is only a guide and that you do not want to see the same words being used in their project.

7.Take students to a computer to demonstrate how to type a business letter from a written sample. Take students through the process of opening the program, creating a new document, and saving their work.

8.Inform students that what they need to look for when assessing which NASA research project to use, is accuracy of answers (they don’t want to send the wrong information-so they may need to double check some of the answers), use of complete sentences, proper spelling and grammar, and the best possible answers. That is, look for the most creative answers.

9.Have students write a business letter to their favorite athlete as a means to practice. Tell them that they have 15 minutes to write the letter and that it should be in their best handwriting.

10.Answer any last questions, tell them to help each other, and raise their hands if they get stuck.

11.Inform them that once they are done with their practice letter and have been approved by the teacher, that they may begin their project.

Evaluation:
The teacher will assess the accuracy of their work, compliance with the directions, and taking an active role in the project.

Homework:
None.

Here’s the Letter To The President Handout .

E-Mail Alex !