LESSON ONE Letters of Inquiry

							LESSON ONE: Letters of Inquiry

LESSON DESCRIPTION
Students write memos or letters explaining a career choice and answer reflective questions.

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
W2F In composing text, use a variety of sentence structures and cohesive devices.
W3E Compose texts for various audiences and purposes, selecting and applying appropriate format, style, tone and
   point of view.

LESSON MATERIALS
 Sources of literature

   Supplies
    o Writer’s notebook

   Handouts provided
    o Letter Template
    o Sample Parent Letter
    o Sample Student Letter
    o Sentence Structure Letter
    o Letter Instructions and Scoring Guide

   Words to know
    o cohesive devices
    o style
    o tone
    o point of view

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Students write a letter of inquiry to the Washington D.C. Chamber of Commerce. Scoring Guide provided

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

    1.   Discuss travel with students. Students share stories about vacations they have taken. Students explain
         necessary planning for taking a vacation.

          Questions         Why do people ask questions?
            for             What is the difference between formal and informal questions?
          Students          How and why are the formats of formal and informal questions different?
                            What are some formal ways to ask questions, and why is this sometimes
                            necessary?

    2.   Demonstrate format, style, tone, and point of view using two sample letters:
             parent letter requesting allowance to travel
             letter to students informing them of upcoming field trip

          Questions         What role do the following serve in letters?
            for                 format
          Students              style
                                tone
                                point of view
3.   Divide students into groups. Students read three letters of inquiry regarding visiting a certain place in
     Washington D.C. independently, students rank letter in order of best writing, second best, and least
     appealing. Groups explain his reasoning for their ranking of each letter.

4.   Preview sentence structure with students. Use a lesson from writing/grammar text. Complete a sentence
     combining activity with students in class.