Overview and Background: Unit: You've Got Mail

Peggy Jones : Cheney USD 268

Language Arts. : autobiography : Communications

Cheney : Grades 6 - 6 : Aug. - Jun.

Title:	You've Got Mail
Topics:	Letter Writing
Time Frame:
Start Date:	-

Other Designers:

Summary:
This unit will address communication skills via letter writing.

Print Materials Needed:
Short story: “Southpaw” by Judith Viorst and non-fiction essay ”How To Write A Letter” by Garrison Keillor found in Timeless Themes, Timeless Voices: Copper Level, Prentice Hall. Novel: Letters From Rifka, pub. by Prentice Hall. Write Source 2000. Variety of children’s books written in letter format.

Resources:
Video clip from Prentice Hall Interest Grabber Video on “How To Write A Letter”.

Resource Attachments:

Internet Resource Links:

Notes:

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

State:	KS
Title:	Writing
Standard(s):	2:1:1 - A proficient writer uses ideas that are well developed, clear and interesting and will understand and use strategies, which may include brainstorming, listing, webbing, working in pairs or cooperative groups, and gleaning information from print sources for generating ideas. 2:2:1 - The proficient writer uses authentic and appropriate voice and uses language that brings the topic to life through originality, liveliness, humor, or suspense. 2:2:2 - and write in a way that the reader senses the person behind the words. 2:4:1 - The proficient writer uses effective word choice. They choose words and phrases appropriate for purpose and such audiences as peers, teachers, and community. 2:6:1,2,3 The proficient writer uses Standard English conventions: uses complete sentences, uses appropriate paragraphing, correctly uses a wide range of conventions.

Understandings:
user	Miscommunication is easy; communication can be a challenge.

Essential Questions:
user	Overarching How is culture reflected in our communication through letters? How can you be sure to make yourself understood? Unit How are letters used for various types of communication? Why do authors use letters as a literary device? What are the characteristics, conventions, and benefits of letters in fiction and in real world situations?

Knowledge and Skills:

Knowledge:
Reading strategies: KWL, QAR. Letters as fiction. Letter format. Short story terminology. Novel terminology. Russian & Jewish terminology.

Skills:
Make inferences from text. Review letter writing format and strategies. Reading a longer piece of fiction (novel). Answer written study questions on a novel. Appreciate cultural contributions in literature. Identify plot and theme in short stories & a novel. Comprehend vocabulary in context.

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

Assessment Summary:
Taking on the role of a pen pal, the student will write a friendly letter to one of his/her friends, explaining the many different uses of letters. The letter should reveal the student’s understanding of the characteristics, conventions, and benefits of letters in fiction and in real life.

Task/Prompt: Pen Pals

Type: Performance Task

Topics: Letter Writing

Summary:

Print Materials Needed:

Resources:

Resource Attachments:

Internet Resource Links:
Link 1:
Link 2:

Notes:

Student Directions:
As a pen pal, you will write a friendly letter explaining to your friend the many different uses of letters. Include examples from our readings, which show how we benefit from communicating by letter. You should include some factors that make communicating difficult and ways to overcome them. You should write in the voice that you would normally use with a friend. Use language and wording that sounds like the true “you”. Your writing should have a conversation-like quality.

Rubric(s)

Rubric: You've Got Mail

Summary:
http://www.cheney268.com/MSCom/Jones/YouveGotMailRubic.htm

Other assessment evidence to be collected:
Selected Response/Short-answer test/quiz
	Oral discussions of story, essay, and novel. Quizzes on novel. Final test on novel. Vocabulary activities. Graphic organizers. Thank you letter. Journal response.

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

Learning Activities:

1. Ask: “How many of you enjoy getting mail?” After a brief discussion on the satisfaction one feels when they get mail, lead into a sharing of a few children’s books written in the letter format. Follow this with a brief discussion of similarities between real mail and letter fiction.

Students will be informed of the following information to be presented in the unit. This will be given to students as a handout, along with rubrics for the two letter writing assignments. Students should be able to recognize the conventions and characteristics of letters in both letter writing and in letter fiction. They will become familiar with a variety of fiction written as letters. They will write be able to compose a thank you letter. They will be able to reflect on and express in a letter to a friend what they understand about the variety of ways of communicating through letters.

2. Post essential questions on the board. Discuss.
3. Review vocabulary from story.
4. Read and discuss “The Southpaw” by Judith Viorst. Focus on two narrators, inferring narrator’s perspective, conversation-like qualities of letters, letter attributes in story, purpose for reading.
5. Take a quiz over story.
6. Begin novel, Letters From Rifka by Karen Hesse. Discuss letter format of novel.
7. Do KWL chart on Russia in WWI.
8. Discuss pertinent background related to the novel, including: anti-Semitism, sensitive issues found in the novel, the Pushkin poetry accompanying each letter, and unfamiliar Russian and Jewish vocabulary.
9. Read the novel in class. Discuss as we read. Answer study guide questions as we read. Do cooperative learning activities as we read. Do personal reflective journal entries as we read. Discuss characterization, plot, setting, conflict, and theme as we read. Take quizzes over sections of the novel as we read. Take a final test over the novel.

10. Read the essay “How To Write A Letter” by Garrison Keillor. Discuss.
11. Review summarizing strategies.
12. Quiz on story.
13. Write thank-you letters for class subscription for newspapers. These will be mailed.
14. Students fill in a graphic organizer on all selections we’ve read throughout the unit. Areas to be covered include: What the letter writer is trying to accomplish? How important is a response to a letter? How do people use the letters they write? What can letters help you do? How can we tell when the writer of a letter is being sincere or honest? What happens when we only know one side of the correspondence?
15. Students use journal writing to self-reflect on what they’ve learned about communication through and letter fiction.