Writing to a Character
Understanding the Structural Features of Letter Writing (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 2: Consolidation / FluencyStage 3: Literacy for Growth
Ages:
8-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary:
Text Structures & Genres
Transcript
Throughout the year, the students work on a variety of pieces of writing. Their writing is then posted on the writing wall behind me. Each student has a spot for them to show off their writing that were working on. Just recently the students worked on letter writing. We went through what a letter would look like and the format of writing a letter, and also talked about and discussed what they should include in their letter. For this task, they wrote a letter to a character from a book they were reading. In this case, the books were from the medieval times, or pioneer times. They were asked to write a letter to a character from the book describing how their life would be different from the life of that child in medieval times or pioneer times. As part of their letter, they also included a few questions that they would be interested in asking the people who were in those books at that time. As part of our letter writing wall, we also have some samples on display that the children can refer to, to look at a variety of letters that would have been written for different purposes.
Related References
Activity Objective
The goal of Writing to a Character: Understanding the Structural Features of Letter Writing (Virtual Tour) is to help students develop their understanding of the structural features of a formal letter and to encourage them to write for a specific purpose and audience.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Model the process of letter writing through a shared writing activity. Include labels on the letter showing the different components of a letter, including the greeting. This will provide students with an exemplary sample of a letter. Display this letter in the classroom and refer to it during letter writing tasks.
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