Angela Massey

Candi Williams

ECED 4300 B

Dr. Tonja Root

Spring 2010

4th grade:

Simulated Letters

Candi Williams: PrewritingGPS

English and Language Arts

ELA4W1. The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context, and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. The student employs the following strategies:

b. Writes texts of length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.

GPS SOCIAL STUDIES

SS4H3: The student will explain the factors that shape British colonial America.

b. Describe colonial life in America as experience by various people, including large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, indentured servants, slaves, and Native Americans.

PLO:

A. Students will complete a simulated letter graphic organizer before writing a simulated letter,

written from a slave’s point of view.

Form of Writing Simulated letter

•Use background knowledge•Pretend to be someone else•Become the character•Write in 1st person•Include important facts and opinions

Example: •Become Harriet Tubman or a slave.•Tell a family member how you felt during that time.

Prewriting Stage

-Gather Ideas-Place ideas on Simulated Letter Graphic Organizer -Determine topic-Set purpose-Establish audience-Sentence fragments-Punctuation not needed-Correct spelling not necessary

Prewriting Stage

Topic: slave rescued by Harriet Tubman

Form: stimulated letter

Audience: a family member

Purpose: to inform and entertain

Who am I?Who is my audience?Where did I live?How old am I? What is today’s date (in history)?What is my purpose? (Include at least 2 details)1. 2.3.What do I want my audience to know? (goals, hardships, experiences, etc.)1.2.3.

Simulated Letter Graphic Organizer

APABarr, E. G. (1951). Witness to History in the United States. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library.

HARRIET TUBMAN REMEMBERS

Dear sister,

I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty ordeath; if I could not have one, I would have the other…. I had crossed the line. I was free;but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land…. When I found I had crossed the [Mason-Dixon] line, I looked at my hands to see if I were the same person…the sun came like gold through the tree over the field and I felt like I was in heaven.

Sincerely,Harriet Tubman

APA

Adler, A. D. (1992). A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman. New York, NY: Library of Congress.

Dear cousin,

I work hard all day as a slave, but I wasn’t paid. Harriet hated slavery. She was wild and often beaten, but she help me a lot.

Sincerely,Your cousin

PRACTICE ACTIVITY

Students will help the teacher complete a graphic organizer of the simulated letter form to write how they felt as a slave rescued by Harriet Tubman.

You are writing a simulated letter, and actually becoming that person.

ASSESSMENTStudents will complete their own

graphic organizer individually as evidence of prewriting stage for a simulated letter.

The students will be the character Harriet Tubman.

Angela Massey: Drafting

GPSEnglish and Language Arts

ELA4W1. SS4H7 The student will examine the main ideas of the abolitionist and suffrage movements.

a. Discuss the biographies of Harriet Tubman and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

GPSEnglish and Language Arts

ELA4W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres. The student produces informational writing (e.g., report, procedures, correspondence) that:

c. creates an organizing structure appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, and context.

A.Students will draft a simulated letter, from their graphic organizer, as Harriet Tubman or a slave.

PLO:

SIMULATED LETTERSYou become a character.Use your background knowledge.Write using 1st person voice.

Drafting:Use ideas from graphic organizerDo not focus on grammar/spelling.Please skip linesPlace a “X” on skipped lines.

STAGES OF WRITING•First you create a heading•Then you form a greeting.

In this case you can use “Dear …”, with a comma following.

•Next comes the body of the letter. •Now add a closure statement at the end.

This can be addressed as: Sincerely, Yours Truly, Your Friend, etc.•Finally, sign your name.

PRACTICE:

As a class, using the pen share method, create a simulated letter draft from the graphic organizer previously created by the class.

ASSESSMENTNOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Now it is your turn. Use the graphic organizer you

created during the prewriting stage, write your own simulated letter.

Remember this is only a draft, your focus should be on the content, not grammar or spelling errors.