LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Your Name: Mackenzie Ventrone

Title of Lesson: Letter To The Mayor
Grade: 5th Grade

STANDARDS
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and
information. (5.W.1)
Concept 4: PO 1. Communicate verbally or in writing the results of an inquiry.

LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIEW
I think that it is important for students to understand why they are learning something and be
able to look deeper into it by themselves. In this lesson, students will be able to explain why
think that solar energy is important and demonstrate what they have learned. Students will be
writing to the mayor of their city and explaining the reasons that they find solar energy to be
important and why it should be used in their city. The class will be able to explain what solar
energy is to their mayor and will give their own detail in a well thought out letter.
OBJECTIVES
The students will be able to evaluate information about solar energy and develop a persuasive
letter to the mayor articulating their points using facts.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Teachers will be able to look at each students letter to the mayor and will be able to look at their
reasons and explanation of solar energy to check for understanding. There will be a rubric for the
teacher to follow in order to make sure that the letter is graded for writing (conventions) and for
understanding of solar energy.
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
Students will need to know what solar energy is in order to do this lesson. Students will also
need to know how to write a letter and what each part of the letter is in order to write one to the
mayor.
MATERIALS
Students will need minimal materials in order to do this lesson. The students will need paper, a
writing utensil, a computer and printer, an envelope, and an address for the mayor.

VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS
Solar Energy- Solar energy is the solar heat that reaches the earth because of the sun.
Solar Panels- Solar Panels turn the sun into electricity.
Salutation- A salutation is that way that a letter is ended by the writer.
Signature- The signature of a letter is where the author signs what they have written.
Heading- The heading of a letter is the greeting to the reader.
TEACHING PROCEDURES

1. The teacher will go over the parts of a letter with the whole class. The students will come
up to the board and write down the parts of a letter because this should be a review.
2. The students will explain what solar energy and solar panels are to the class by raise of
hand.
3. Students will write down three different reasons that solar energy is important and would
be important to use in a city on a sheet of paper.
4. The teacher will go over what an opinion is and that it is important to explain your
opinion and support it.
5. The students will then be asked to write a letter to the mayor using all of the parts of a
letter, and the reasons that solar energy is important.
6. The teacher will have the students type of their letter to the mayor.
7. The next day, the teacher will have the students research facts about solar energy, and
include it in their paper.
RESOURCES
I came up with this idea based off of the fact that I think that it is important for students to write
while learning about science. Students are able to explain their ideas in their writing, and are able
to make connections on their own. The students will later look at their work and look at what
scientists have said about the same topic in order for the students to gather their own ideas.
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION
I chose to focus on values thinking in my lesson plan. I want the students to focus on the
importance of solar energy in their letter and why it is important to a city. Throughout the entire
unit students will be learning why it is important to use energy that is renewable for the earth.
The students will know why solar energy is important and is sustainable. With that, the students
will be coming up with their reasons within their values, as to why they think solar is important.
Students will be able to explain their values to others such as their parents. This will help other
people understand solar energy, and will give students the opportunity to explain what their
values are. Students spend most of their time before eighteen in school, and teachers are able to
give their students new sustainable ideas in an unbiased way.