Lesson plan highlighting a reading and writing connection

Date: November 30, 2010

Subject: English

Subject Focus: Writing a Business Letter

Theme: “A taste of the Caribbean”

Grade: Grade 8 Form 2 (12-13 years)

Duration: 80 minutes

Language Strands: reading, writing, speaking, listening

Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

Ø read an article about the Caribbean islands in order to write a business letter to a tourist bureau from one of the Caribbean islands to seek information.

Ø determine the purpose of the letter, that is, to seek information about a Caribbean island and one of its towns

Ø show an awareness of audience by the way they address their letters

Ø become familiar with business letter format: the return address, inside address, greeting, body and complimentary closing

Ø write a formal business letter, using the standard block- style format that is accepted by most businesses

Pre - requisites:

Students should already know:

The format of a friendly letter

How to use capitalization and punctuation appropriately

Lesson Context:

At some point in the students’ lives, they almost certainly are going to have to write business letters. One’s ability to write a business letter is one of the most important aspects of any business. Even now, writing remains the number one method of communication in the world. Written communication demands a lot of attention and care. It is therefore vital for students to keep their writing free of spelling and grammatical errors. One way to ensure that this happens is by engaging in reading and reading widely. Even though most computers come with a spell and grammar check, it is necessary to not let your skills in writing lapse. Each writer needs to understand that today’s readers demand clear and concise information. Good business letters should use a plain English style of writing. It is a flexible and efficient writing practice that enables readers to understand everything in one reading. This style blends in clear expressions and efficient structures. The ability for one to put down words onto paper that not only communicate, but also motivate, is a valuable skill in writing business letters. Students need to see that reading and writing are essential at all levels, and in almost every role imaginable. As they read and write, it is hoped that they will also learn to appreciate the Caribbean even more.

Content:

The most commonly used form of written communication is the letter. For both social and business purposes, the ability to write letters is an important accomplishment. For effective communication you need to know the essentials of letter writing. These include certain definite principles laid down by convention and certain innovations that have been made to conform to changes in society and in business organizations.

The three general principles on which business letters are based are:

Clarity: this ensures that the content is clearly expressed and that there is no ambiguity.

Conciseness: all irrelevant and uninteresting details which interfere with effective communication must be excluded

Courtesy: in all business letters, you must be polite and courteous in tone. Abusive language, irony and sarcasm, are objectionable.

Strategies:

Group work

Think- Pair- Share

Materials:

Caribbean Islands book (includes addresses)

Computers

Paper

Overhead projector

Introduction:

Students will individually brainstorm and read the article “Caribbean islands: Caribbean people” in order to decide which Caribbean country and more particularly which town in that country they would like to find information about. Students could also refer to a map of the Caribbean after reading or they can choose to discuss with a friend to decide. After each student has made a decision, the teacher will pick a town to demonstrate to the whole class how to look up its address in the book they will be provided with - alphabetical order. There will be four of the books available so that the students can find the addresses and the email addresses of the corresponding tourist bureau so that their letters could be emailed to them. The students will divide into four groups and each student will have a chance to find the address of their chosen town.

Development:

Instructional Procedures

The students will then meet again as a whole class. At this time the students will review by giving the teacher the parts of the friendly letter format. The students will list these one by one on the board. After reviewing what they already know about this format, students will be told how to write a business letter. This will be done on the board beside the friendly letter format. The students will be shown that the return address stays the same, but in the business letter, before the greeting they must put the address of the person they are writing to. Students will also be shown that the body and the complimentary closing are the same. As we establish the business letter format on the board, the students should take notes to refer to when doing their writing. Additionally, students will be given a checklist to use when writing their letters, to make sure they have all the parts.

A class discussion will ensue in order for the students to identify the audience they we will be writing to and the purpose. Since students have already written friendly letters, students and teacher will discuss that we are writing to a different audience (a tourist bureau of a town in a Caribbean country) so students must use a more formal style of communication. In this letter students will be asking the tourist bureau to send them information on their town and they will need to give reasons why they want the information. This will all need to be done in a formal way. The closings used in a friendly letter format will be listed and the class will then come up with closings from a business letter together.

Students will pay attention while the teacher demonstrates on the overhead how to write a business letter. Teacher will use a town that no one else has picked just to show them how it should be done. The students will share their ideas as the teacher demonstrates. The role of the teacher is to model how to express their ideas in a formal way. We will stop to a point where a Daily Oral Language (DOL) can be done, such as in the case of writing an address. The teacher will put it on the board and the class will work together to find capitalization and punctuation in it. As the class finds where to apply each capital letter or punctuation mark, the rule for each will be written on the board. The students should also take notes on the rules to refer to when writing.

After the demonstration, the students will individually begin by brainstorming what they will write. They will then write their own business letter to a tourist bureau of their chosen town to request information about the country after they have decided. They will go back to the article to read about their selected country so that they will be better able to seek relevant information from the tourist bureau.

Lesson and Activities:

Students will be guided on how to find the address of the bureau and the respective email address. After the students have found these addresses the class will assist the teacher in demonstrating the format of a business letter compared to a friendly letter. The students will draft their letter paper to begin with. It will be folded in squares like a book. On each section, the students will write a part of the letter. After students have written their first draft, the students will work in pairs to edit each other’s work using the checklist and their notes. Students will then type their letters using the computer so that they could be emailed to the tourist bureau of the selected town.

Note: If the students know the letters will be emailed, they will put much more effort in it. They know it is being read by someone other than the teacher for something other than a grade.

Adaptions and Extensions:

The slower learners will be given a sheet of paper that has the letter format marked on it so as to guide them to know where to put what. Extra time will be set aside for students who type slowly. During this extra time, the faster students can go to the reading learning corner in the resource room and read books and magazines that will be available about the Caribbean island and their towns. Reading is never considered a waste of time. Some advanced students may choose to write to two towns or to write to the mayor of a town instead of the tourist bureau.

Conclusion:

At least two students will volunteer to read their letters to the class before they are e-mailed and students will be given the opportunity to ask questions about any misconceptions or problems they encountered whiles writing the letter. Afterwards students will volunteer to list the various parts of the business letter and its format.

Evaluation and Assessment:

The students letters will be evaluated by using a checklist of the parts of a letter as well as for the DOL’s which were discussed in class dealing with grammar and punctuation. The checklist will be given to the students before they write so they know what is expected of them. The evaluations and the comments will be given on a comment sheet in the students writing folder. The teacher will do evaluation of the letter by checking off what the students know about on the checklist From this same checklist, the teacher will be able to evaluate herself. The teacher will use this after the lesson has been completed to determine whether each demonstration was appropriate. The teacher will then be able to see how she got through to the students with this lesson by looking over their checklist as a whole class. If the majority got points taken off in a similar place, the teacher should try a new lesson style here next time or even reteach that skill next class time. The checklist will be the key for both evaluations.

Checklist for evaluating students’ letters

CATEGORY	YES	NO
The purpose of the letter is present
The letter is addressed to the correct person
The student has requested a date that he/she wants a response for the desired information
spellings, capitalization and punctuations checked
The content is clearly expressed
Irrelevant and uninteresting details are excluded
The student is polite and courteous in tone
The student used the correct format

Reading and Writing Connection

When I read about the reading and writing connection a number of new ideas were presented about the importance of reading in the writing process. I was not aware that understanding the relationship between reading and writing is important for one to become a better reader and writer. Individuals must therefore be aware reading and writing are inextricably linked and they must also be aware of how one's reading would influence their writing and vice versa. Furthermore, reading involves constructing meaning, and writing involves constructing meaning. Reading and writing are therefore thinking processes. Also, reading and writing are not solitary acts. Sometime by sharing individuals can process a text better or they can right a text better. I was also made aware in my reading that a variety of writing tools can help individuals process a reading. Theses include: reading logs, learning logs ( response journals), graphic organizers, note taking and summarizing.

Most of the information presented caught my attention. However, what stood out me about the reading and writing connection was that writing is an opportunity for students to analyze and explore the meaning of texts read, writing can be used to discover meaning and to understand and communicate meaning to others, better writers tend to be better readers, writing can be seen as a scaffold for processing a text and it can also be seen as a scaffold for writing, it is important that individuals read while they write and write while they read.

Many teachers do not understand the reading and writing connection and would therefore find it difficult to get students to see the like and in turn to help them become better readers and writers. These teachers would simply teach reading and writing as separate entities and it would be more difficult for students to make the link and use reading to help them improve their writing or use writing to help them improve their reading. Another obstacle to the implementation of reading and writing as one entity is that teachers do not make use of the variety of writing tools which can be useful in helping students with their reading or to help them process a text better. Teachers need to ensure that students are exposed to those writing tools, ensure that they are aware of the purpose of those writing tools and provide them with many opportunities to use those writing tools that they are exposed to to help them in the reading process. When this is done a reading and writing connection is established. Students will therefore appreciate both entities and the will realize that one entity supports the other. It is important also that teachers do not teach reading and writing as separate entities and should ensure that they make a reading and writing connection in their lessons.

Planning for writing

Upon my reading of the articles in unit four, two of these articles stood out to me which I believed was necessary to reflect on. The first article which stood out for me was "Strategies for effective Brainstorming." The article presents teachers with techniques for helping children brainstorm effectively. Sloane (2010) states that brainstorming is a valuable skill for problem solving and presents ten steps to better brainstorming:

1) Practice- the more children brainstorm, the better they will be at it. Teachers should take advantage of little opportunities as they arise before expecting their class to think of ideas on a difficult topic. Sloane (2010) believes that that the quickest way o hamper the flow of ideas is to start discussing their merits in a brainstorming session.

2) Be enthusiastic- if the teacher is excited about each new ides as it comes along, the children will be too. If teachers comment on the breadth and depth of their thinking, they'll be encouraged to work even harder.

3) Choose topic well- choose topics that offer real opportunities for generating a large number of varied ideas.

4) Encourage divergent thinking- good brainstorming is more than coming up wit lots of ideas. How unique and different they are is as important as how many there are.

5) Reread ideas often- it reinforces the importance of the ideas. Hearing suggestions others have made may also spark new ideas to add to the list.

6) Count the ideas- Teachers should pause for a few minutes and go along and count the ideas that the children have generated.

7) Categorize big lists- it helps organize ideas when working on a topic that has several different parts.

8) Keep ideas around- teachers should allow the students to write suggestions on paper before erasing the chalkboard.

9) Generate diverse ideas

10) Teachers need to structure students's experiences with brainstorming so that they receive enough direction to keep them on track.

After reading the article i began to reflect on how I taught English to my students. I also made comparisons to how I taught Social Studies. Brainstorming was a strategy that was employed frequently in my social studies classroom. Students would brainstorm as a class to give the meaning of key concepts which were being taught. Their ideas would be discussed to further develop their understanding of the concept which was being taught. I never realized that this strategy could be employed in the English classroom. As an inexperienced teacher I did not employ the brainstorming strategy in the language classroom. Students would be given a wide range of topics to choose from to write about but I made no attempt them generate ideas through brainstorming in the classroom. I would encourage my students to research on the topic they would write about. They would also be provided with a variety of strategies to make their writing effective. I gave my students to work in groups to discuss their topics and exchange ideas in an effort to improve their writing. However, their grades did not improve and the students would become frustrated and give up quickly. By reading about effective brainstorming strategies it has impacted on my believes about writing. My initial thoughts about writing is that once individuals were given a topic that they were interesting in writing about and they were provided with opportunities to research on that topic before they write, they would be able to produce good work. After reading the article, I have realized that writing is a process and a number of strategies can be employed to develop students's ability to write. Brainstorming is an effective strategy which can be employed to help students develop their writing. I hope to employ this strategy in my English classroom to ensure that my students become better writers.

Another article which stood out to me was " Pre-writing Strategies" Gatz (2004) states that there are many things that a teacher can do to aid in the progression of the writing process. Pre-writing is the key in the development of a "good essay" and the evolution of good writing skills. The Webster's Dictionary defines pre-writing as the formulation and organization of ideas preparatory to writing. Pre-writing shows how students have reached their topic and came upon their main ideas and conclusion. He further states that students can be inspired to write. He believes that students can use a diverse amount of media, personal experiences, dreams, visual arts and research to create a topic. He presents the following pre-writing strategies that can be employed in the classroom:

1) Making a list- to generate topics they might write about

2) Free writing- which is a form of brainstorming that can help students to find a focus in writing their essays. They can write about why they chose that particular topic and what about the topic that interests or inspires them.

3) Blind writing- it is a form of free writing which emphasizes that the thoughts behind the paper are important, not the facial mistakes. It allows the process of developing words and thoughts while contributing to the flow of the writing process.

4) Use of graphic organizers- allows students to generate lots of ideas with a logical structure- they help the students to organize their thoughts into illustrations; they are visual diagrams of written ideas.

5) Questioning- it helps students to generate and focus on specific ideas while writing. In answering the questions it will help the students to discover information and focus on students' thinking of their topics.

After reading this article I realized that the pre-writing could be used along side brainstorming to help my students improve their writing. I never provided my students with opportunities to use the pre-writing strategies discussed in the classroom. The students were not given an opportunity to go through the writing process but were simply required to produce the final product after they were given a topic to write about or after they selected a topic the were interested in writing about from a list given. I was familiar with the questioning technique but I did not see the need to employ it in my teaching. The use of graphic organizers in helping students to generate their ideas stood out to me in the article. I believe it would develop students interest in writing essays since they are given an opportunity to present their ideas in diagrams before they write the essay. Students can show their creativity through the use of graphic organizers. I will therefore employ this strategy in classroom. The free writing strategy also stood out to me in the article. I realized that I did not allow my student to find their focus in writing their essays. Students will now be given an opportunities to write about why the particular topic was chosen and what them about the topic before the begin to write the essay. I hope to give students more opportunities to select their topics to write about. Students are more enthusiastic when they are given an opportunity to write about what interests them.

I recommend that inexperienced teachers be informed or presented with strategies for effective writing for students before they begin to teach. This will be beneficial to both teachers and students. Students will be equipped with the strategies to ensure that student become good writers.

Writing for different purposes

Strategies used by the writer in the descriptive essay to communicate to his/her audience

Writing is a process in which the writer tries to communicate to another who responds in some way to the message being conveyed. In the writer's description of Lou's cafe the audience is hooked in the opening sentence. The writer uses the flashback technique as well as inner thoughts where she recounts her visit. She begins the piece by stating " It is at least twenty years later and I can still remember my visit to Lou's cafe." By using this sentence at the beginning of the piece the audience would want to read further to find out what made the visit to this particular cafe so memorable. By doing so the writer sets up expectations for the purpose, style and mood of the piece. Throughout the piece, the writer makes use of comparisons to help the audience imagine the picture that he wants to create. The readers therefore imagines themselves in the scene. For example in the piece the writer uses the line: " It seemed as if we had opened the door to the decades: a place where generations came and went, a place where time stood still and passed by at the same time." The writer uses vivid words that appeal to the readers five senses ( sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) and they explain the general running or organisation of the restaurant that the readers can picture. A wide variety of adjectives are used and information is provided that appeals to sensory facilities and descriptive sequence.

Strategies used by the writer in the expository essay to communicate to his/her audience

In the expository piece entitled " The faceless Teacher" the writer seeks to explain the role that the internet plays in global culture. the writer does so by using deductive reasoning. The writer begins the piece by using a general statement about the internet. The purpose is to make the idea clear. The writer is also analyzing a situation in the piece. The piece explains how the internet works and the functions that in performs. The writer uses cause and effect as well as comparison and contrast to bring his point across to the readers. Information is conveyed to the reader so that a level of understanding is achieved. The writer is engaging and reflective of the writer's underlying commitment to the piece.

Strategies used by the writer in the narrative essay to communicate to his/her audience

In the piece entitled " Alina" the writer recounts a personal experience or tells a story. He describes his encounter with Alina- a character in the story. The writer seeks to present an event to the reader in a temporal sequence. The writer uses a variety of action or dynamic verbs. The voice is that of the first person narrator to convey a particular mood and to make incidents in the story come alive. The piece includes conventions such as plot, setting, characters, climax and resolution. In the piece, the writer recreates his experience with other characters in the story rather than simply telling the the reader about it. The events in the story are organized in a sequential manner.

The writer's purpose in the Expository Piece ( The Fearless Teacher) and how he accomplishes his

purpose

The writer's purpose in the piece is to inform the reader of the importance placed on the internet in today's society. The writer also explains the role that the internet ( computers) plays in the lives of many individuals. The writer seeks to explain the impacts that it has had on many aspects of society paying particular attention to its role in education. The writer accomplishes his purpose in a number of ways. Firstly, he begins the piece by making a general statement about the internet and then narrowing it down to specific examples that the reader can relate to. The writer's tone is persuasive to ensure that the reader understands the explanations given for his or her point of view.

The writer also uses compare and contrast. For example, he compares and contrasts the role of the computer and the teacher in the classroom ( education). Another technique that the writer uses in this piece is definition to develop his position on the role that the internet ( computers) plays in education. The writer also uses analogy as well as authentic examples to explain the role of the internet in education. To achieve his purpose the writer coveys information to the reader/ audience so that a level of understanding can be achieved.

Evaluation of expository piece

The piece will be evaluated using the the following attributes: Ideas/Content, Organisation, Voice, Word Choice/ Vocabulary, Sentence Fluency and Conventions/ Mechanics.

Ideas/Content

In the piece the writer developed his ideas clearly and fully. The main points were developed with interesting examples of ample detail. The ideas which the writer expressed were relevant to the topic.

Organisation

The writer showed a definite organizational pattern in the piece. Details in the piece are in proper sequence. The writer uses some signal words to indicate organisation. The piece has an adequate conclusion. However, it lacks natural flow.

Voice

The writing in the piece is distinctive and bears the writer's stamp. The reader is pulled into the piece.

Word Choice/ Vocabulary

The piece has the correct word forms. Word choice is appropriate and varied. The writer used vivid words and words were used effectively. Advanced vocabulary was used in the piece.

Sentence Fluency/ Language Use

The writer used varied sentence structure. The piece included complex and compound as well as simple sentences. Sentences in the piece were grammatically correct. The writer used correct verb tense, word order, agreement articles and negatives.

Conventions/Mechanics

The writer had very few errors in his use of basic mechanics: mastery of spelling, use of appropriate capiatl letters and punctuation.

Rhetorical Modes

" There are four modes of discourse which writers may use individually or a combination depending on the purpose they want to achieve." Simmons-McDonald ( 1997)

These rhetorical modes are as follows: description, narration, exposition and argument. These modes can be differentiated in terms of purpose, content, style, voice and organisation.

PURPOSE

Description

Descriptive prose is used to express what a thing looks like, smells like or tastes like. In short, it portrays how we perceive the world through our five senses (sight, hearing, touch smell and taste)

Narration

It recounts a personal or fictional experience or tells a story. Narration is concerned with actions in a temporal sequence, with life in motion. It seeks to present an event to the reader, a sense of witnessing an action.

Exposition

This discourse is concerned with making an idea clear, analysing a situation, defining a term, giving instructions and the like. Its primary function is to inform and explain.

Argument

An argument is an attempt to convince or persuade an audience that a claim is true by means of appeals to reason or to emotion.

CONTENT

Description

It answers the question ‘what’. For example: What is it like? What is he/she like?

Narration

This mode answers the question of what. For example: what happened?

Exposition

This mode has the types of questions that a piece of expository may answer. Some of these are: Hoe does it work? What are the constituent parts? What is its importance?

Argument

Answers the question why is this so?

STYLE

Description

Explicit use of adjectives, data that appeals to sensory faculties and descriptive sequence

Narration

Apparent use of action or dynamic verbs, dialogue. The point of view if the narrator is usually first or third person narrator. It should include story conventions such as plot, setting, characters, climax and resolution.

Exposition

The distinguishing features and style of exposition incorporates the following functions: analysis, classification, definition, illustration, cause and effect, comparison and contrast and analogy.

Argument

For the presentation of evidence, arguments use facts, authoritative opinion, and personal experience for its development whilst the rebuttal or refuting side uses persuasion in the form of repetition, rhetorical questions and emotional appeals.

AUDIENCE

Description

Reader- to help create a mental picture of what is being written about.

Narration

Reader- to recreate an incident for readers rather than to simply tell them about it.

Exposition
Reader- conveys information to the reader so that a level of understanding can be achieved.

Argument

Reader- It moves the readers to take an action or to form or change an opinion.

VOICE

Description

Description uses details that appeals to the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch).

Narration

To convey a particular mood (feeling) or to make an incident come alive, narratives employ the use of the first person or “I” narration and the third person or he/she/it persona.

Exposition

In exposition, the writing is engaging and reflective of the writer’s underlying commitment to the topic.

Argument

The voice of argument has a strong and definite position on an issue from the beginning of the piece and has enthusiasm from start to finish.

ORGANIZATION

Description

The organizing principle of description is spatial as it creates a virtual image in the minds of readers.

Narration

The organisation principle of narration is temporal in nature meaning that its events are sequential.

Exposition

There is not one single method of organizing exposition but rather a variety, with majority being based on logic: analysis, clarification, definition, illustration, cause and effect, comparison and contrast and sometimes analogy. The method chosen dictates the organisation of the piece as each method has its own distinguishing characteristics.

Argument

Argument is organised by way of formal elements and logic. The formal elements include at least two claims, the first of which being the conclusion and the other, the remaining claim or claims that are the grounds which support or justify the conclusion.