Name: Brittney Tuttle

Lesson Title: A Letter to the World Around Us

READINESS
I.

Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A.

Goal(s)
1. The students will be able to identify the concept of how the element of voice
varies depending on the audience.
2. The students will be able to recognize the importance of unity around the world,
and that writing serves as a communication tool to reach this desired unity.

B.

Objective(s)
1. After the lesson, students will be able to identify the appropriate tone of voice to
use when addressing a man in the military by creating and writing a letter to a
U.S. military man serving in Italy.
2. Upon completion of the lesson, students will be able to verbally describe two
varying point-of-views over the same topic and how they relate to voice by
participating in class discussion.
3. After completing the lesson, students will be able to recognize and verbally
describe Americas connections across the world through class discussion and
manipulation of Google Earth.

C.

Standard(s)
2.SL.1 Listen actively and adjust the use of spoken language (e.g., conventions,
vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different
purposes.
2.W.3.3 Develop topics for friendly letters, stories, poems, and other narrative
purposes that
Include a beginning.
Use temporal words to signal event order (e.g., first of all).
Provide details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings.
Provide an ending.

II.

Materials
Anticipatory Set:
o Google Earth
http://www.google.com/earth/
Mini-lesson:
o Pencils and paper
o Examples of notes written to the president, teacher, and friend
o Three large circles taped around the room (president, teacher, friend)
o Vocaroo access

 http://vocaroo.com/
o Writing prompt sheet example
http://readwritethink.org
Writing Time/Conferencing:
o Paper and pencil
o Display of directions
Sharing Time:
o Student writings
III.

Management
a.

Time: Total: approximately 60 minutes

Anticipator Set: 5 minutes
Mini-lesson: 20 minutes
Writing Time/Conferencing: 30 minutes
Sharing Time: 5 minutes
Closure: 5 minutes

b.

Materials: (listed above)

c.

Space:

During the lesson, the teacher will utilize different areas in the classroom. The
students will be seated at their individual desks, the reading carpet, the kidney table, the
yellow table, and any other area that is student-chosen during writing time. During the
anticipatory set and mini-lesson, students will be seated at their individual desks. For
writing time and conferencing, the students will be seated according to personal choice
for writing. The teacher will walk around the room to conference with individual
students. During sharing time, the students will be seated at the reading carpet, and the
student sharing may sit on the couch with the teacher while the other students are
gathered on the floor. For closure, the students will return to their individual desks as the
teacher provides the benediction.
d.

Students:

Whole-group instruction will be implemented during the anticipatory set, mini-lesson,

and closure. For independent work during writing time, the students will be seated around
the room working on their letter. For behavior management, the teacher will utilize
classroom dollars as positive and negative reinforcements. The teacher will gain the
attention of all students by using the clapping method, and allow one minute for
transitions between writing time and whole-group instruction at the desks. During writing
and conferencing time, the teacher will communicate with students by prompting them
with gestures and closing space proximity if students are misbehaving.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV.

Adaptation to Diverse Students

The teacher will adapt the lesson to accommodate for individual learning needs of all students.
For kinesthetic learners, the teacher will incorporate an activity that requires the students to
move around the room sorting large voice clues into the correct category. For interpersonal
learners, they will be able to participate in class discussion and work with a partner to sort the
voice clues. For visual learners, the teacher will provide written examples of voice clues, as
well as a picture to correlate to the writing element. For auditory learners, the teacher will
incorporate vocaroo recordings into her lesson, allowing the students to process voice through
listening skills. For students that are logical and analytical, the teacher will include time to allow
the students to brainstorm before writing.
For students that are behind grade level, the teacher will provide a writing prompt to help them
begin writing. She will also be intentional with conferencing with them during the designated
time. For students that struggle with auditory processing skills, she will incorporate designated
times for the students to collaborate with a partner, allowing them to process more than once and
in a variety of ways.
V.

Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

Anticipatory Set:
For the anticipatory set, the teacher will pull up Google Earth and show the students the world
from differing points of views. After the students watch the Earth move according to different
perspectives, the teacher will zoom in on America asking the following questions:
1. What country is this? Right! This is where we live.
2. This is what America looks like when you look at it from outer space. How is it
different from what you can see here on ground?
3. What are Americas surroundings?
After asking those questions, she will move across the globe and zoom in on Italy, asking the
following questions:
1. Can anyone tell me what country this is? (wait for response) This country is Italy.
2. Some Americans actually live over here in Italy. Why might they be there? (wait for
response) They are over there because they serve in the military and fight for our
country in Italy.
After introducing Italy to the students, the teacher will briefly explain what they will be doing in
the lesson today, preluding the purpose. I showed you Italy today because we are going to
write a letter to a man that is in the military serving in Italy! Writing to someone in the
military is a big task! When writing to a military man, we have to address him
appropriately because he does a lot for our country. The person we are writing to today is

actually one of my good friends I went to school with; his name is John. We will write a
letter to John today!
Purpose:
The teacher will state the purpose of the lesson to the students. We are going to write John a
letter today because we have to learn how to address certain people appropriately. What I
mean by this is the way we would talk to our friend, is not the same way we would talk to
John who is in the military. When writing a letter to John, you must sound like yourself,
but sound respectful. We have to learn how to use our voice appropriately while writing so
that when we write a letter to our boss, your boss does not think you are talking to him like
a friend. The way you talk to your friend and the way you talk to your boss is different, and
we must learn how to write that way to help us get some jobs. Who we are writing to
matters; surroundings matter!
Mini-lesson:
The teacher will begin the mini-lesson by explicitly introducing the trait voice. When we talk
to someone, we use our own words. When I say Hi Berkley!, Berkley might say, Hi, Ms.
Tuttle! How are you? But when I say hi to Kalef, Kalef might say, Hi, Ms. Tuttle, whats
up? Berkley and Kalef both said hi to me and asked how I was doing, but in different
ways. The way Berkley said it, he was using his own voice, or own words. The way Kalef
said it, he was using his own voice, or own words, as well. Today we will be using our own
words when writing a letter to John. Someones own words is called voice. When writing a
letter to John, everybody will be practicing voice, or their own words, in writing. The
teacher will write the definition of voice on the board and ask the students to repeat the definition
back row by row.
After the students repeat the definition of voice and demonstrate understanding of how voice
correlates to a persons own words or ideas, the teacher will explain that a persons voice can
change according to who they are talking to. Sometimes when we use our own words, we
change them depending on who we are talking to. For example, if I asked Naomi how are
you she may say, good thank you, how are you? But if one of Naomis friends asked her
how she was doing, she may say oh my goodness, I am so tired because of what we did at
recess. Why do we talk to a teacher differently than when we talk to one of our friends?
The students and teacher will discuss why a voice changes according to the audience.
The teacher will move forward in the lesson by having a series of vocaroos analyzed by the
students. She will present three vocaroos that she created herself: one of her speaking in the
context of speaking to another friend, one speaking in the context of a teacher, and another in the
context of ababy. After each vocaroo, she will ask the students who they think the person is
talking to and write the suggestions on the board in three categories. At the end, she will present
the answers and begin instruction on voice. Okay now I am going to play a message, and you
are to listen and try to figure out, using your detective minds, whether I am talking to the
baby, a friend, or a teacher based on how I sound. Are you ready? (the teacher will play the

first vocaroo) Who was I talking to, my friend, a teacher, or the baby? Why do you think
that? The teacher will play each vocaroo and have students explain their reasoning for each
one.
After the students analyze and categorize the vocaroos, the teacher will provide an example of
what a letter may sound like when addressing a president, a teacher, and a friend. You guys did
a great job trying to figure out who I was talking to! You are great detectives! Now, I am
going to read you three letters of what talking to a president, a teacher, or a friend sounds
like! While you are listening, try to figure out what makes them different from each other.
How does the voice change? The teacher will read a letter at a time and ask the following
questions after each:
1. This letter was addressed to (the president/friend/teacher). What did the voice sound
like? What were some words they used that helped you realize that this letter was
addressed to who it was?
After reading and discussing letters written to the president, a friend, and a teacher, the teacher
will then read a letter to a military man using appropriate voice. She will ask the following
questions:
1. This was addressed to a military man. What did the voice sound like? How should
we use voice when writing a letter to John? Good! Respectful and honorable
because he fights for our country.
After modeling each voice of president, teacher, and friend, the teacher will have the students
break up into partners (with the person sitting next to them) and hand out envelopes to each
couple consisting of 6 phrases. 2 phrases will be what a person might say to a friend, another 2 of
phrases a person may say to an army man, and the last 2 regarding what a person may say to a
president. The students are to read the phrase and place the phrase in the corresponding circle
placed around the room. Okay now I am going to give you pieces of paper with sentences on
them. You have to figure out whether the sentence uses voice that means you are talking the
president, a friend, or an army man. For example, if my sentence said, hey, whats up? Did
you see what happened at lunch bro? If I read this sentence, I would think that it meant I
was talking to a friend, so I would take it and put the sentence card in this circle over here
labeled friend. You and the person sitting next to you are going to be partners. Together,
you will have six sentences that you will have to figure out whether it is talking to a friend,
a president, or an army man. You must put it in the correct circle. When you and your
partner are finished putting them in the right circle, sit back down at your seats. The
teacher will guide students as they are walking around the room.
After the students have categorized the phrases the teacher will ask the following questions:
1. What are some sentence that you put in the circle army man? Why did you put
them there?
2. What voice should we use when writing a letter to John?
After the teacher has established how to use appropriate voice in a letter to John, she will give
the requirements for the writing. Okay good! When we talk to an army man we use a
respectful and honorable voice. We talk to him using our own words, but in a nice way.

Now we are going to write a letter to John. The letter must be at least six sentences long and
have Dear John, at the top, six sentences for the body, and the your signature sincerely,
________ at the bottom. You may get a piece of paper and pencil and write your letter
anywhere in the room, as long as you are writing. The teacher will write the format of a letter
on the board for students to reference.
The teacher will assess learning by observing student answers during discussion. She will also
collect assessment on students and their thought processes as they are sorting the voice activity
into different categories.
Writing:
After the mini-lesson the teacher will dismiss the students for independent writing time. She will
allow the students to write in any spot of the room that they choose, as long as they are working
productively. Now we are going to write our letter. Remember your letter must have an
address, middle, and signature. Write your letter using your own words for voice.
Remember our voice and words when writing a letter to a military man should be
respectful and nice. When writing, you can sit anywhere in the room as long as you are
writing. I will be walking around the room to help you as you are writing. Can someone
please tell me what you should be doing during this time?
For conferencing the teacher will walk around the room as students are working. She will meet
with the students at his or her chosen writing spot and review the work that they have completed
thus far. She will conference with the students in Tier 3 first, prompting with writing cloze
sentences as needed. Next, she will conference will students in Tier 2, providing verbal prompts.
If time allows, the teacher will conference with students in Tier 1. She will meet with each
student for approximately one to two minutes. While conferencing, she will ask the following
questions:
1. How are you beginning your letter?
2. What are you writing about to John? Here are some ideas
3. How are you using voice in your letter? Voice is.
Sharing:
After the students are given time to complete their letters, the teacher will have the students
gather at the reading carpet to share some of their writings. The students will be seated on the
carpet, with the student that is sharing sitting on the couch with the teacher. Depending on time,
the teacher will allow three to five students to sit on the couch and share their writings. After
individual students share with the class, the teacher will wrap up sharing time by having the
students share to their partner beside them what they wrote. After pair-and-share, the teacher
will direct the students back to their individual desks and she will close the lesson.
VII. Check for understanding

To check for understanding throughout the lesson, the teacher will ask comprehension
questions and analyze student answers. She will observe the students interactions with each
other during the mini-lesson and sharing time, as well as their thought processes during activities
provided at writing time. The teacher will observe behavior as students are individually writing.
She will conference with the students in Tier 3 first, prompting them and asking them questions.
If time allows, she will move on to students in Tier 2. The teacher will use the written letters and
discussion answers of each student to determine each students ability level regarding the
concept of manipulating voice in writing and applying text to real-life situations.
Based on checklist data and observation: If 80% of the students show mastery of content,
move forward in the lesson and unit. Address the 20% in a small group setting for reinforcement
and re-teaching, scheduled for a meeting time sometime throughout that week. If less than 80%
show mastery, then the teacher will re-teach the lesson to the whole class, using different
instructional strategies.
VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
After three to five students are able to share their letters with the class, and the others are
able to share with a partner, the teacher will have the students re-gather at their individual desks
for closure of the lesson. The teacher will review the concept of voice and how surroundings
matter, while asking the following questions:
1. What is voice?
2. How does voice change when you are talking to someone like a teacher versus
someone like a friend? Why?
3. What kind of voice should we use when writing letters to people from the U.S.
military? Why?
4. How do our surroundings around the world change our writing? Do surroundings
matter?
After the students and teacher participate in a class discussion, the teacher will conclude the
lesson. Thank you for writing letters today! I know that it will be really special. Please put
your letters inside of your detective files and I will dismiss you by row to turn them into the
tray.
PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT
Formative:
For formative assessment, the teacher will utilize informal observation of student answers during
class discussion. She will also use leveled questioning techniques during conferencing that
address higher-order critical thinking skills. Lastly, the teacher will use the letters written by the
students during the time provided to determine competency of student mastery regarding the
concept of manipulating voice within writing.

Summative:
For summative assessment, the teacher will have the students collect their written letter samples
within their portfolio to be examined at the end of the unit.
Extension:
For an extension activity, the teacher will have the students mail their letters to the military man
in Italy and await an answer. The students will also be asked to conduct research on Italy and the
organization of U.S. military components.
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1.

How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why
not?

2.

What were my strengths and weaknesses?

3.

How should I alter this lesson?

4.

How would I pace it differently?

5.

Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?

6.

What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a.

Blooms Taxonomy

b.

Gardners Multiple Intelligences