LESSON ONE: Friendly letter writing and sentence structure
LESSON DESCRIPTION
This lesson includes a review of friendly letter format and construction of compound sentences and well as instruction in strategies for eliminating sentence fragments in writing. This lesson will introduce the unit’s theme of influential American women. The formative assessment involves writing a friendly letter to a teacher using at least one compound sentence and editing to eliminate sentence fragments; the content will relate to the unit’s theme.
GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
W2F Write compound sentences
W2F Identify and eliminate fragments in writing
W3E Write well-organized communications in a selected form appropriate to a specific audience (e.g. parents, friend, younger child) and purpose
§ Sources of literature
o None
§ Supplies
o Chart paper
o Overhead
o Smart Board
o NotePad
o Lesson One formative assessment scoring guide
§ Handouts provided
o Example of a friendly letter
o Sentence-combining practice worksheet
o Writing compound sentences practice worksheet
o Sentence fragments for modeling (for teacher’s use)
o Eliminating sentence fragments practice worksheet
o Lesson One formative assessment
§ Words to know
o letter
o business letter
o friendly letter
o compound sentence
o simple sentence
o fragment
The student writes a friendly letter to the teacher explaining which famous American woman he/she would like to know more about and why. The letter uses at least one compound sentence and editing to eliminate sentence fragments. Scoring guide provided.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. Ask the students if any of them have ever received or written a letter. Ask students to whom they might write letters and for what purposes as well as whom they have received letters from and why. Lead students in discussing how various letters might be alike and different.
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Strategy
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It may be advisable to provide examples of several letters, real or teacher-created, so that students can be exposed to a variety of those. Though fifth-graders aren’t expected to construct business letters, they should be aware that letters sometimes have different formats depending on the audience and purpose for which they are written. Letter examples could be passed around the classroom or displayed on an overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. to facilitate discussion. |
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Questions for Students
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Have you ever received or written a letter? From/to whom? Why? How would writing a letter to a first-grader differ from writing to your parents? Why is it important to know to whom you’re writing? In what ways are various letters alike and different? Explain. Name the five parts of a friendly letter and explain where each is placed in the letter. |
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Idea
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It may be advisable to use an overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. to display examples of various letters. |
2. Model the friendly letter by writing one on chart paper, the black/white board, overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc., to the class to introduce this unit involving U.S. women who made a difference. While composing the letter, ask students to identify the different parts of the letter. The body of the letter should contain information about what the students will be learning and what is expected in the course of the unit (see example of a friendly letter provided). In writing the friendly letter, be certain to include a variety of compound sentences and to draw students’ attention to those and how they are constructed, including appropriate punctuation (comma with appropriate coordinating conjunction or semi-colon). To introduce the concept of editing to eliminate sentence fragments, intentionally include in the letter a sentence fragment but do NOT draw students’ attention to that. Then, while reading and discussing the letter with the class, make certain (by inviting students to look for any possible problems or errors, if necessary) that students identify the sentence fragment. Then use the think-aloud technique to model correcting the sentence construction to eliminate the fragment.
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Strategy
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A sample friendly letter is provided to model the example letter after (though that sample doesn’t include the prescribed sentence fragment). Be certain to use the appropriate terms (heading, greeting/salutation, body, closing and signature) when writing the letter and leading students in discussing it. Since the grade level expectation deals with writing to a particular audience, now is also an appropriate time to discuss using a greeting/salutation and closing appropriate to the audience to whom you are writing. When writing the model letter, try to include several compound sentences using a variety of coordinating conjunctions (a review of the seven coordinating conjunctions will soon follow as a part of the lesson) as well as the semi-colon. Identifying and writing compound sentences is introduced in fourth grade, but students likely have not been exposed to or had adequate practice in the use of a semi-colon when writing a compound sentence. Often an easy way to eliminate a sentence fragment is to tie that thought to one in the sentence before or after, creating a complex sentence, but fifth-graders aren’t expected to write complex sentences. Thus, this should technique should only be used with advanced students. |
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Ideas |
For information on the think-aloud strategy, see Marzano, 2001. |
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Technology Connections |
It may be advisable to use an overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. to display the letter as it is written. |
3. After drawing students’ attention to the compound sentences used in the letter, lead students in a review of what makes a compound sentence – two complete thoughts, each with a subject, verb and whatever might be necessary to complete the thought (direct object or subject complement), joined by a comma after the first thought and followed by an appropriate coordinating conjunction or joined by a semi-colon after the first complete thought. It would also be useful to review what makes a simple sentence and how that is similar to and different from a compound sentence.
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Strategy
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Students should have been introduced to coordinating conjunctions when they were introduced to compound sentences in fourth grade, but it’s best to review those and be certain that students are familiar with and practice using ALL coordinating conjunctions – and, but, or, for, so, nor, yet. (Coordinating conjunctions are usually listed and discussed in most grammar or language textbooks.) The meanings of the conjunctions could be reviewed by choosing two students from the class, highlighting two features or characteristics of those people, and then asking the class which of the seven coordinating conjunctions would be used to correctly show the relationship between the two characteristics. (For example, John is a boy, but Susie is a girl. – This is a good opportunity to discuss the fact that sometimes “and” might be an appropriate conjunction in this compound sentence depending upon the context in which the sentence appears.) Due to the nature of the sentences’ content and the fact that some coordinating conjunctions – but and yet, for example – are similar in meaning, the teacher needs to be certain that students understand that sometimes there may be more than one way to combine two separate sentences into a single compound sentence. Be certain students understand that though a comma is used with a coordinating conjunction when creating a compound sentence, the semi-colon is used alone between the two complete thoughts when making a compound sentence. |
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Questions for Students
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What is a compound sentence? What is a simple sentence? How are a simple and compound sentence alike? Different? Why is it important to be able to write a variety of sentences? What kind of relationship does each of the coordinating conjunctions suggest? How do we decide which coordinating conjunction is appropriate to use in a particular compound sentence? Is it possible to have more than one way to join two thoughts into a single compound sentence? When might a semi-colon be used rather than a comma and a coordinating conjunction to create a compound sentence? |
4. Provide several pairs of sentences (see Sentence-Combining Practice Worksheet) with a variety of relationships (similar thoughts, cause-and-effect, contrasting or contradicting ideas, etc.) and use the think-aloud technique to model choosing the appropriate conjunction and then combining two simple sentences into a single compound sentence. Students can then complete the rest of the worksheet as independent practice.
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Strategy
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Each student will need a copy of the worksheet, but the sentence being modeled should be displayed on the black/white board, overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. Make sure students consider all the possible ways to make a compound sentence from two provided simple sentences. |
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Idea
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Use an overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. to display the Sentence-Combining Practice Worksheet while modeling the skill. |
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Questions for Students
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What is the relationship between these two thoughts? What is an appropriate conjunction to use to express that relationship? Is there any other conjunction that would be appropriate to use here? Where does the comma go when writing the compound sentence using a coordinating conjunction? |
(Day 2?)
5. Students need to know not only how to combine two simple sentences into a single compound sentence, as in editing writing, but also how to write a compound sentence as they record their ideas. Provide students with a simple sentence and use the think-aloud technique to model adding to that to create an appropriate compound sentence. After modeling, invite students to use the same simple sentence as a starter and create their own compound sentences, being certain each is punctuated correctly and that an appropriate coordinating conjunction or the semi-colon is used each time.
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Strategy
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Model connecting a separate simple sentence both before and after the one provided, so that students understand there are a variety of ways to construct compound sentences. For example, use the simple sentence, “We’re going on a picnic.” Possible compound sentences would be “It’s the first day of summer vacation, so we’re going on a picnic.” OR “We’re going on a picnic, and I’m bringing the lemonade for everyone!” OR “The weather forecast is for rain, but we’re going on a picnic.” The teacher should make certain students are aware of the variety of compound sentences that can be generated. It might be useful to post or have students write their own sentences on the black/white board, overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. to facilitate class discussion and allow students to see the variety of compound sentences that can be made from a single idea. |
6. Distribute copies of the Writing Compound Sentences Practice Worksheet for students to complete as practice. When all students have finished, lead the class in discussing the various compound sentences constructed.
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Strategy
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When discussing the students’ work, be certain to correct any poorly-chosen coordinating conjunctions, discussing why a different one is a better choice. Also be certain that students’ compound sentences are correctly punctuated. |
(Day 3?)
7. Return students’ attention to the letter originally written to introduce the unit as well as the sentence fragment(s) contained in the first draft and corrected using the think-aloud strategy. (Note: It may be useful to actually re-create the original rough draft of the letter, display that and use the same think-aloud technique to again model eliminating the sentence fragment. – This is easily done if using a Smart Board or NotePad.) Review what is necessary for a sentence – subject, verb, and whatever might be needed to complete the thought (direct object or subject complement).
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Questions for Students |
What is needed to make a sentence? How is a fragment different from a sentence? |
8. Provide several other examples of sentence fragments/incomplete thoughts and model eliminating those by creating complete sentences from them (see Sentence Fragments for Modeling). After modeling a few, invite students to offer suggestions of other ways to edit to eliminate some of the same fragments, again noting that there are usually multiple ways to do so. After practicing editing to eliminate sentence fragments when they occur in isolation, use the paragraph at the bottom of the page to discuss and then model editing to eliminate fragments in a context. Make it clear that what a fragment is tied to when it is in context has to also fit in the scope of the larger piece of writing.
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Idea
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It may be advisable to model the skill on an overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. |
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Questions for Students
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What might we add to this sentence fragment/incomplete thought to make it a complete sentence? Where should we put what we add (before what’s already here or after it)? How does the context, or sentences before and after the fragment, influence how you correct the fragment? |
9. Distribute the Eliminating Sentence Fragments Practice Worksheet for students to complete as practice. Discuss possible responses when all are finished.
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Strategy
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When all students have completed the practice worksheet, the teacher may want to have students to work in pairs to compare their responses, checking for appropriateness and correctness. Each pair may also choose one of their two responses to share with the class. |
(Day 4 or homework?)
10. Distribute the Lesson One Formative Assessment Prompt and Scoring Guide. Discuss that and answer, as appropriate, students’ questions. Students should then complete the assessment independently and turn it in for evaluation.
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Assessment
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For the formative assessment, each student will write a friendly letter to the teacher explaining what famous American woman he/she would like to know more about and why. In writing the letter, the student should use at least one compound sentence and edit to eliminate sentence fragments. |
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Strategy
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If a student isn’t comfortable using his/her home address in the letter’s heading (some parents may instruct students not to give out their home address, phone number, etc.), the student can use the school’s mailing address as his/her own. This will need to be supplied to the student. |