Persuasive Writing Unit Day 4

The Professional/Business Letter Differentiated Lesson Plan (Product) 7th Grade Language Arts Rationale:
Creating a letter in business format is a skill that students will need to know in the real-world (e.g. job interviews, college applications, etc.)

Resources:
Elmo Computer lab or class set of laptops (internet) Projector Business Letter Format Handout (see attached)

Objectives:
Students will be able to: Describe the proper professional/business letter format. Create a letter using business letter format or Create a graphic organizer detailing how to create a letter in business format or Create a reflection detailing how, why, and when one would use business letter format.

Sequencing:
Instructional Input: There will be a brief PowerPoint presentation detailing business letter format and the rationale behind using business letter format when drafting formal, persuasive letters. This content has several real-world applications and these will be made clear at the beginning of the presentation to show students that this content is important (e.g. job interviews, college applications, etc.) Students will be given the business letter format example handout (see attached) and together, we will through how to create a letter using this format. (5 min) Modeling:

On the Elmo, I will use lined paper (so students can see where I am skipping lines) to create a letter to our principal. I will pick a topic out of a hat in the same way that students did yesterday when learning how to structure their body paragraph(s). The letter will be abridged because students already understand the content that needs to go in their letters but not the format. (10 min) Check for Understanding: This will be done through signaled responses: thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs sideways. (2 min) Guided/Collaborative Practice: We will move to the computer lab or use our classroom set of laptops to complete the rest of this lesson. Students will work in groups of 3 creating a Google Doc That shows their ability to create letters in business format. Each member of the group will be assigned a portion of the letter. This will be a skeletal letter, just meaning that there wont be a true opening, closing, and body paragraph (mock sentences for each will be provided) because we are working on formatting for this lesson. I will remain active during this time to provide support where it is needed. (10 min) Independent Practice: Student will have multiple products they can choose from to demonstrate their learning for this lesson. Using the computer, students have the choice of creating a letter in business format using their topic from yesterday (they will only have to create a body paragraph; which they already outlined last class), writing a reflection describing how and why one would use business format, or creating a graphic organizer that details how and why one would use business format. It is here that I attempt to differentiate for product why giving students 3 choices as to how I will assess their learning. (25 min)

Closing/Assessment:
I will use the last two minute of class to stress that students must come to class tomorrow with a topic and audience for our summative assignment. They were asked to start brainstorming ideas at home over the last two days so this will give students 3 evening to come up with a topic. During this week I will detail student topic and audience ideas and give feedback as to how well I think their topic would work for this assignment. We begin pre-writing and our first drafts tomorrow so every student must have a topic by then. Assessment for todays lesson will be looking over and providing feedback to student creations during independent practice. (2 min)