Title – Writing a letter to Sami.

Subject – Language Arts, Social Studies

Grade Level – ESL mixed, grades 5-6 intermediate

Organization: Individual and small group

Objectives: The children will be able to:

• Enhance listening skills during a read-aloud.
  
• Enhance writing skills by writing skills by a letter to a character in a related literature, in
  this case Sami from the book “Sami and the Time of the Troubles.”
  
• Participate in small group discussion by orally presenting their letter to the people in their group.

Materials:

• Book: Sami and the Time of the Troubles.
  
• Final Draft Stationary
  
• Pencil and Paper
  

Introduction/Motivation:

1. Read Sami and the Time of the Troubles. (A ten year old boy who lives in Baghdad, Iraq.)
   
2. Discuss with the children that they are going to write a letter to Sami to tell about us
   and ask him how he is doing. Write their responses on the board.
   

Developmental Activities:

1. Pass out paper (used for rough draft).
   
2. Explain and model how to write a letter on he board.
   
3. Have the children write a rough draft of their letter, using the ideas listed on the board.
   
4. Have students swap letters with a partner and proofread each other’s letters.
   
5. Pass out final draft stationary.
   
6. Have the children rewrite their revised letters.

Closure:

1. Divide children into groups of four and read their letter to one another.
   
2. Display letters on unit bulletin board.

Evaluation:

• Did students participate in discussion?
• Did they work well with each other during the revision process and group share?
• Review letters. Check for grammatical and spelling mistakes and for proper sentence
  structure. Review parts of speech and verb tenses if necessary.
  

E-Mail

Elaine

!