Unit 3: Letters Written for a Range of Purposes

Transcription

1 Unit 3 Overview Unit 3: Letters Written for a Range of Purposes Key Text Title: The Jolly Postman or Other People s Letters Authors: Janet and Allan Ahlberg Publisher: Puffin ISBN: Key Writing Outcomes T20...To write letters, notes and messages linked to work in other subjects; to communicate within school; to write letters to authors about books, selecting style and vocabulary appropriate to the intended reader T23...To organise letters into simple paragraphs Additional Activities Set up pen friends with a school in a contrasting UK locality. Set up accounts for the class. Use a secure service like designed for use in schools. Read a range of books that use letters as a narrative device, e.g. Dear Greenpeace by Simon James, Walker, ISBN , What Can I Write? by Martin Selway, Little Fox, ISBN

2 Unit 3 Overview Word Level W12...To continue the collection of new words from reading, and make use of them in reading and writing W18...To ensure consistency in size and proportions of letters and the spacing between letters and words Sentence Level S7...To become aware of the use of commas in marking grammatical boundaries within sentences Text Level T16...To read examples of letters written for a range of purposes, e.g. to recount, explain, enquire, complain, congratulate, comment; understand form and layout including use of paragraphs, ways of starting, ending etc. and ways of addressing different audiences formal/informal etc. T20...To write letters, notes and messages linked to work in other subjects; to communicate within school; to write letters to authors about books, selecting style and vocabulary appropriate to the intended reader T21...To use IT to bring to a published form discuss relevance of layout and font to an audience T23...To organise letters into simple paragraphs Speaking and Listening 1a...To use vocabulary and syntax that enables them to communicate more complex meanings 2d...To identify features of language used for a specific purpose, e.g. to persuade, instruct or entertain 3

3 Lessons 1 & 2 Introduction Introduce the unit to the class. Explain that you will be reading, discussing, analysing and writing a wide range of letters for different purposes and audiences. Show the children The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Read the book all the way through without stopping to look at or read any of the letters. Read the text again, this time stopping to show the children the illustrations. How many of the stories within the story and how many of the characters visited by the postman, can the children identify? Make a class list. How many cups or thimbles of tea had the postman drunk in one day? Which cup of tea did the postman refuse to drink and why? Main Activity Return to the letter addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Bear. What do the children remember of the story of The Three Bears? Who were the main characters? Recap the story for the children. Look at the illustration of Mr. and Mrs. Bear reading the letter. Why doesn t Baby Bear read it too? What is the postman doing? What has Mr. Bear been doing? Ask the children who they think the letter might be from. Agree that it is probably from Goldilocks but why has she written? What does Goldilocks have to say to the bears? Read the letter written by Goldilocks. Make sure that the children can see the text and encourage them to read with you. What do they think of Goldilocks spelling? Can any of the children give her a helping hand? Tell the children that they will write a letter in reply to Goldilocks, in role, as Mr. and Mrs. Bear. Make a list of the things they need to include. For example: Will they forgive Goldilocks for breaking into their house, eating their food, breaking their furniture and sleeping in their beds? Would they like Goldilocks daddy to repair the little chair? Will they allow Baby Bear to go to Goldilocks party? Will Baby Bear send Goldilocks a message? Will they include a P.S.? Ask the children why Goldilocks ate Baby Bear s porridge when she wouldn t eat porridge cooked by her mummy. 4

4 Give the children time to draft and edit their letters. When they have completed a first draft, read and discuss some of their work. Take this opportunity to offer some advice on how they might improve their letters. Show them the envelope with the Three Bears address on it. Does anyone know Goldilocks address? If not how will they be able to send the letter? Point out that it is very important to write your address in the top right hand corner of any letter you write so that people know your address and can reply if they want or need to. Show the class a letter that you have written to Goldilocks, in role as Mr. and Mrs. Bear and discuss the content and layout. Compose an imaginary address for Goldilocks. What would be appropriate? You know that she lives in the woods. Give the children some special paper and an envelope. Ask them to write their letter and to address the envelope. They should do this in their most careful and precise handwriting. They can illustrate their letters if they want to. However, Mr. and Mrs. Bear would, in all probability, ask Baby Bear to do the drawings, because adults don t do that kind of thing. Give the children time to show their letters and envelopes to each other. Plenary Tell the children about the kinds of post and, in particular, the kinds of letters that you receive in the post. If possible show them some examples. Ask them to talk to their parents/carers about the kinds of post that they receive in an average week. Lessons 3 & 4 Introduction Ask the children to report on the conversation they had at home about post. What kinds of post do people receive? Make a list that might include: postcards, junk mail, catalogues, bills, invitations, letters from friends and family, official forms and lots more. Show the class the envelope addressed to: The Occupier Gingerbread Bungalow To whom is this envelope addressed? Show the children the reverse side of the envelope. This contains the address of the company that posted the letter. What is the significance of the owl? Point out that this envelope doesn t have a stamp but a postage paid notice. What does that tell us? 5

5 Main Activity Remove the contents of the envelope and examine what s inside. Show the children an enlarged copy of the text, in colour if possible. Ask the children to scan the text in order to answer the following questions: How many colours is the Halloween Boot available in? How do you turn frog powder into a frog? Is the cauldron set guaranteed for 100 years? What do the Rejuvenating Pills guarantee to do for witches? What happens if you buy four newts? What is the title of the book recommended for holiday reading? Where is the Big Broom advertised? Decide on a number of fairytale characters, e.g. a fairy, a princess, a frog, a wizard, a giant. Ask the children, working in groups, to select a character and collectively design a flyer, offering tempting but appropriate purchases. They will have to: use language appropriately give careful consideration to design and layout name the company and provide contact details provide the company s address vary the size of print and use capitalisation make their flyer interesting, catchy and entertaining Give the children a realistic amount of time in which to complete this task. Have a range of fairy tale anthologies available so that they can consult them for inspiration. Encourage the children to use dictionaries and thesauruses to locate the most appropriate vocabulary. Plenary Ask each group to share their flyer with the class pointing out one or two items they particularly like. Have they applied the agreed success criteria to their flyers? Conclude these lessons by taking one last look at the illustration depicting the witch. Ask the children the following questions: What time is it? What is the name of the newspaper? Who is doing the washing up? Does the witch have a cauldron? Where does the witch live? Would they like to eat a spoonful of the jam? 6

6 Lessons 5 & 6 Introduction Show the children the illustration of Grandma/Wolf reading a letter. If possible give the children one copy of the illustration between two. Ask the children to annotate the illustration with questions. Model a couple of questions for them. For example: Why is the cat hiding? Why is the postman about to spill his tea? Main Activity Ask the children to select one question that they would most like to put to the rest of the class. They should then nominate the person they would like to answer the question. The same person cannot be chosen more than once. Ask the children whether this activity has enabled them to notice things about the illustration that they might otherwise have missed. Look at the envelope addressed to B.B. Wolf Esq. What can the children tell you about this envelope? Is this letter formal or is it informal? How can they tell? What evidence can they use to answer the question? Naming the solicitor Mr. Harold Meeny is a good example of the Ahlbergs humour. Why is this funny? The name of the solicitor s company is another example of the Ahlbergs sense of humour. Read the letter together and annotate it as you examine the following features: The address: what is a solicitor? The salutation: to whom is the letter addressed? Vocabulary: what do these words mean: occupying, harassment, cease, resolved and damages? The content of the letter: why is Miss Riding Hood angry? What might happen to the wolf if he doesn t change his ways? Why has the wolf offered shares in a turnip business? Who is Harold Meeny? The typeface: how was the letter written? The paragraphs: how is the letter organised? How does each paragraph begin? What is the job of each paragraph? Signing off: is this formal or informal? The signature: how is this written? 7