Exploring literature through letter writing groups
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=397
A lesson plan for grades 9–12 English Language Arts
In this lesson, students discuss literature through a series of letter exchanges in the form of handwritten letters, typed letters, electronic documents, e-mail, online discussion posts, and even Weblog posts. After the teacher models the format and process of letter writing, students are challenged to write their own letters and to support their responses with direct references to the text. The ideas and issues raised in the letters should be incorporated into class discussions for further literary analysis. Readwritethink provides assignment guidelines, content rubrics, and several other resources for completing this activity.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 9
- Goal 1: The learner will express reflections and reactions to print and non-print text and personal experiences.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:
- an understanding of the student's personal reaction to the text.
- a sense of how the reaction results from a careful consideration of the text.
- an awareness of how personal and cultural influences affect the response.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:
Grade 10
- Goal 1: The learner will react to and reflect upon print and non-print text and personal experiences by examining situations from both subjective and objective perspectives.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
- relating personal knowledge to textual information or class discussion.
- showing an awareness of one's own culture as well as the cultures of others.
- exhibiting an awareness of culture in which text is set or in which text was written.
- explaining how culture affects personal responses.
- demonstrating an understanding of media's impact on personal responses and cultural analyses.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
Grade 11
- Goal 1: The learner will demonstrate increasing insight and reflection to print and non-print text through personal expression.
- Objective 1.02: Reflect and respond expressively to texts so that the audience will:
- discover multiple perspectives.
- investigate connections between life and literature.
- explore how the student's life experiences influence his or her response to the selection.
- recognize how the responses of others may be different.
- articulate insightful connections between life and literature.
-consider cultural or historical significance.
- Objective 1.02: Reflect and respond expressively to texts so that the audience will:
Grade 12
- Goal 1: The learner will express reflections and reactions to print and non-print text as well as to personal experience.
- Objective 1.02: Respond to texts so that the audience will:
- empathize with the voice of the text.
- make connections between the learner's life and the text.
- reflect on how cultural or historical perspectives may have influenced these responses.
- examine the learner's own response in light of peers' responses.
-recognize features of the author's use of language and how the learner relates these features to his/her own writing.
- Objective 1.02: Respond to texts so that the audience will:
