LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Letters Home

Students will write letters "home" taking on the role of one of the sons of the "Gold Star Mothers" from Union County, NC.

A lesson plan for grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Meg Millard and Pamela Webb

About the authors

We both teach at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. This lesson plan was created as part of a LEARN NC workshop in cooperation with NC Echo and Newspapers in Education May 2004

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • discover that soldiers from a small community have fought in conflicts for the U.S. throughout the world.
  • explore the wide range of places our soldiers have traveled and fought to protect our country.
  • make personal connections with some of the people who fought in WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 days

Materials/resources

  • World maps
  • NC map
  • push pins, tape, and paper to make labels for maps
  • Airmail paper, pencils, pens
  • Envelopes
  • Typewriter (for historical significance)

Technology resources

Computers with internet access

Printers (colored would be nice, but not required)

Pre-activities

This activity would best follow study of WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War.

Have a background discussion and KWL of the U.S. involvement in the above mentioned conflicts.

Activities

  1. Introduce the students to the “Gold Star Mothers” website.http://www.ncecho.org (go to Online Collection-Subject on left hand side of page, then click on “G” from there select “Gold Star Mothers” and then click on “Heroic Sons of Gold Star Mothers Scrapbook”) If you can’t get there through NC Echo, then try the next link below. http://www.union.lib.nc.us/GoldStarMothers/goldstar.htm (Scroll down to contents and select a soldier.) The following link provides background and pictures of the locations in which these soldiers found themselves. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html (”American Memory” website)
  2. As a class, locate Union County on a NC map.
  3. Have each student choose a soldier to “become” and print out the page. The picture from this page will be mounted for the final product.
  4. Have each student locate where the soldier fought on the world map and place a push pin labeled with the soldier’s name on it at the correct location.
  5. Find an image and information about the location on the Internet and print out to be mounted for final product.
  6. Write a creative letter home that includes information about the location related to the picture/soldier’s experience.
  7. Students will plan, draft, revise, edit, and create a final draft of their letter. (See the following website for information on how to write a friendly letter: http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000144.htm and http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000143.htm)
  8. Address the envelope, mount the portrait of the soldier with the letter and location picture as the final product.

Assessment

Rubric:
doc | rtf

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

1. http://www.ncecho.org (go to Online Collection-Subject on left hand side of page, then click on “G” from there select “Gold Star Mothers” and then click on “Heroic Sons of Gold Star Mothers Scrapbook”) If you can’t get there through NC Echo, then try the next link #2.
2. http://www.union.lib.nc.us/GoldStarMothers/goldstar.htm (Scroll down to contents and select a soldier.)
The following two links are to provide background and pictures of the locations in which these soldiers found themselves.
3. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html (”American Memory” website)
4. http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q= (Google image search engine to look for pictures)
5. http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000144.htm and
6. http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000143.htm (friendly letter format and explanation of each part)

Comments

None

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: The learner will trace key developments in United States history and describe their impact on the land and people of the nation and its neighboring countries.
    • Objective 4.05: Describe the impact of wars and conflicts on United States citizens, including but not limited to, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and the twenty-first century war on terrorism.

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.06: Compose a draft that elaborates on major ideas and adheres to the topic by using an appropriate organizational pattern that accomplishes the purpose of the writing task and effectively communicates its content.
    • Objective 4.08: Focus revision on target elements by:
      • improving word choice.
      • rearranging text for clarity.
      • creating simple and/or complex sentences for clarity or impact.
      • developing a lead, characters, or mood.
    • Objective 4.09: Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g., clarification, essay, feature story, business letter).