Lesson #11

Wednesday December 5th

Grade: 1/2 Lesson Title: Letter Writing Lesson Duration: 30 minutes

Overview of lesson

Throughout this lesson, the students will review and brainstorm all the people who are helpers in the school.
They will then pick one person to write a letter to. This letter will be about how they think that person helps
around the school and how they make our school community a better place. The students can choose to write
about another student, however if they do it must be a student in the class. I will let the students know I would
prefer them writing to a staff member, however if they do not want to and have good reasons to write to a
student then they can do so.

Alberta Program of Study:

GLO /GLE SLO/SLE

GLO 1: SLO 1.1.2 value the groups and communities to

- Students will demonstrate an
understanding and appreciation of how
identity and self-esteem are enhanced by
their sense of belonging in their world and
how active members in a community
contribute to the well-being, growth and
vitality of their groups and communities.
which they belong:
 appreciate how their actions might affect
other people and how the actions of others
might affect them
SLO1.1.4 determine what makes their
communities thrive by exploring and reflecting
upon the following questions for inquiry:
 in what ways do people help one another at
home, at school and in groups to ensure the
vitality of their community?
 How do our actions and decisions contribute
to the well-being of groups and communities?

Critical Questions

Lesson Inquiry Question: Who is a helper in our school community and how do they make our school a better
place?

Lesson Guiding Questions:

1. Who is a part of our school?

2. How do the people in our school help make our school community better?
3. Who is a helper in our school and what do they do?

Learning Objectives

Students will…
 1. Be able to identify and appreciate people within the school.
2. Be able to identify people in the school and their roles that help to enhance our school community.

Assessment

Formative:
 Class discussion
 Think/pair/share

Summative Assessment: Letter

Learning Resources

Resource #1: SMART board lesson

Material and Equipment

 SMART board
 SMART board markers
 Lined Paper
 Pencils

Lesson Procedures

Introduction ( 5 min.):

Ask the students to recall some of the people who help out around the school to make our school
community better.

I will then ask them if they have ever thought to thank someone for just doing the things that they do to
help make our school community such a great place.

I will then tell the students that today we are going to be writing letters to someone in the school that you
think is a good helper and who makes our school community a better place for you. Remind the students
that they should not all be writing to the same person, as everyone may be different.
 The students should also try to write to a staff member, but if they really want to write to a student
then it must be to a student in our class.
I will also tell the students to make sure they are using their neatest printing and finger spaces as I would
like to give these to the people they write it for, after marking them.

I will then show them the rubric I will be using to mark it up on the SMART board.

This will take about 5 minutes.

Body ( 23 min.):

I will then explain to the students that I thought I would write a letter to! I thought that I would write my
letter to the class because I have felt that everyone has done such a good job and making me feel welcome
and at home in this school community!

I will then read the letter that I wrote.

This will take about 5 minutes.

I will then ask the students to please close their eyes and think of someone they want to write their letter
to and what they are going to write. Remember, you will be writing about and thanking this person for
being a good school helper and how they do that.

I will then tell the students that if they know who and what they are going to write about, to open their
eyes and come get a paper. I will do this until everyone has their eyes open and a paper.

The students will then receive 15 minutes to write their letters.

 They should take this whole 15 minutes and write as much as they can, but for my still early
finishers then they will be allowed to draw a picture on a blank piece of paper to attach to their
letter. Their picture must be of the person they are writing the letter to and how they help around
the school community, or how they help them.

Closure (2 min.):

Ask the students to please carefully hand in their letters to the yellow Socials bin and to clean up their
area.

I will then dismiss the students for break once the bell goes.
 Rubric

Name: ______________

I used finger spaces and neat writing

C F S R

I used capitalization and punctuation

C F S R

I wrote about how their actions affect myself

and others (SLO 1.1.2)

C F S R

I wrote about how they help others at school

(SLO 1.1.4)

C F S R
 Letter Template:

Dear __________________________________________________,

Thank you for being such a great school helper! You have helped me by:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Sincerely,

___________________________________________
Student Work: