KUTZTOWN

UNIVERSITY
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER PROGRAM
LESSON PLAN FORMAT

* The Social Studies Black History Month Unit authentic assessment will take place during
the Writers Workshop period to allow more time for students to work on their assessment.

Teacher Candidate: Paige Halligan



Cooperating Teacher: Claire Kempes



Group Size: 21 Students Allotted Time: 45 minutes

Subject or Topic: Language Arts Writers Workshop Letters to Ruby

Date: 02/24/15
Coop. Initials: ________________
Grade Level: 1st
Section: EEU 390-045

STANDARD: (PA Common Core):

CC.1.4.1.L: Demonstrate a grade appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
spelling.
1.5.1.A: Identify and write about one specific topic.

I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes)

Students will construct a friendly letter, including the correct order of the five components, by completing a
rough and then final draft of a friendly letter to Ruby Bridges.




II. Instructional Materials
Friendly Letter poster
Rough draft letter paper
Red teacher/editing pencils
Pencils
Erasers
Overhead projector
Screen
Transparency
o Ruby Bridges character traits and supporting evidence
o Letter to Ruby concept map
Dry erase markers
Final draft letter paper
Tool kits (one per student)
Letter to Ruby concept map (one per student)
Illustration paper (one per student)

III. Subject Matter/ Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea)

Prerequisite Skills
Parts of a friendly letter
Knowledge of character traits and events of Ruby Bridges and how she changed history
Write in complete sentences
Understanding of self-correction/proof-reading
Ability to edit peers work
Ability to work independently on a project with appropriate amount of scaffolding


Key Vocabulary
Concept Map A web of information to writing about in the body of a friendly letter


Big Idea
Construct a friendly letter to Ruby Bridges.


IV. Implementation


A. Introduction
1. The teacher will review the components of the prior lesson on friendly letters by having
students participate in the movements to refresh their memories of the order the component
belong in.
2. The teacher will instruct students to have a seat and ask students to review what and whom
they learned about in yesterdays lesson in Social Studies.
3. After the teacher calls on a few students to respond, the teacher will inform students that
they will be practicing and then writing a final draft friendly letter to Ruby Bridges.


B. Development
1. The teacher will gain students attention to the overhead projector screen where the Ruby
Traits transparency will be displayed. After reviewing this, the teacher will project the Letter
to Ruby Concept Map transparency with the bubbles covered up. The teacher will ask
students about what important information we should include when writing a letter to Ruby
Bridges. As students respond, the teacher will begin to uncover different parts of the concept
map that the students will mention (character traits, events, questions).
2. The teacher will uncover all the bubbles and tell students that they will have to make sure
their letter contains all the information they talked about on the concept map.
3. The teacher will have paper passers and teacher helpers pass out the Letter to Ruby
Concept Map paper copies to each student.
4. The teacher will also distribute the rough draft letter paper to the students and remind
students that their letter needs the five components of a friendly letter, information from the
concept map in the body of the letter, and to write in complete sentences with their best
handwriting. The teacher will tell students that once they are done their rough draft, they
must proof-read it to themselves and read it to a friend before coming to the teacher for
editing.
5. The teacher will tell students to put their rough draft paper in front of them and watch the
teacher model the sentence framing for the rough drafts.
6. The teacher will ask students where to start and wait for a response saying Heading and
Thats where the date goes. The teacher will instruct students to put the date in the top,
right hand corner.
7. The teacher will ask whats next and instruct students to choral whisper the answer
(Greeting). The teacher will ask for someone to raise their hand if they know who their
writing to. When a student responses with Ruby the teacher will instruct students to write
Dear Ruby, on the Greeting line on the rough draft.
8. The teacher will ask students to turn-&-talk what will go in this next section and what its
called. After a few seconds, the teacher will call on a group to responds with saying Body
and thats where the sentences will go. The teacher will explain to follow along with the
writing on the overhead and it will be their responsibility to fill in the blanks with their own
thoughts and ideas.
9. The teacher will repeat this process until the body of the letter is complete.
10. At the end of the Body, the teacher will ask what is the next section and to slowly say it aloud
as a choral response. The students will respond Closing and the teacher will instruct
students to write Your Friend.
11. After the Closing, the teacher will ask someone to raise his or her hand and say what the last
part of the letter is. A student will raise their hand and respond by saying the Signature is
the final part of the letter.
12. The teacher will instruct students to write their name.
13. The teacher will allow the entire remaining class period for students to engage in the
Writers Workshop process.
14. As students begin to finish proof-read, peer-read, and revise, the teacher will edit the rough
drafts of students friendly letters.
15. Once the student makes all final revisions, the teacher will give students the final letter
writing paper for them to begin writing their final draft.


* This Letters to Ruby assignment will be completed over the course of a few days *

C. Closure
1. After students finish completing their final draft and have proof-read, peer-read, and have
had a teachers approval, they will turn in their final draft for evaluation.
2. After students complete the final drafts, the teacher will approve students to complete a
detailed illustration of Ruby doing something that she would do at school during this time or
draw Ruby in a scene of the story we read.
D. Accommodations / Differentiation -
v For students with visual impairments, I would provided an enlarged version of the Ruby
Bridges Concept Map and ensure student has access to assistive technology to enlarge lines
and writing during the lesson.

v For students who need more direction about where the parts of letter goes, a modified letter
writing handout will be provided (with highlighted spaces) for the rough draft for the
student(s) to keep track of where each of the components of the friendly letter belongs prior
to writing their final copy. Also, a check-list would be provided to ensure student stays on
track with the tasks necessary to complete this assignment.

E. Assessment/Evaluation plan


1. Authentic Assessment



Letters to Ruby




Students will be instructed to create their own friendly letter to




Ruby Bridges. This letter will consist the five components of a




friendly letter, character traits of Ruby, supporting evidence to




those traits, and a way that they relate to Ruby. For this authentic




assessment, students will be evaluated through a rubric.

Name: _____________
Needs More
(1)

Almost
(2)

Just Right
(3)

Excellent
(4)

Student
capitalized, used
punctuation,
spacing between
words, and had
clear handwriting.

Student mentioned
two character
traits and two
supporting pieces
of evidence.

Students work
contained the 5
components of a
friendly letter
(Date, Greeting,
Body, Ending,
Signature).

Student made
personal
connection and
related to Ruby in
the letter.

Comments:

Score:

V. Reflective Response

A. Report of Students Performance in Terms of States Objectives

16 out of 20 students received +16/16 = 100% according to the rubric I created for this assignment. 4 out of 20
students received +15/16 = 94%. Three out of these four students were placed in the Almost section for not
using correct punctuation and not using clear handwriting on their final drafts. One person out of these four did
not give a second piece of supporting evidence for the character trait she identified.

B. Personal Reflection
Will this lesson take longer than a day? Yes. This lesson took a total of three days. The first day was
constructing the rough draft. That night, I edited the rough drafts myself, making corrections to
errors. The second day, students received their rough drafts back with correction marks made and
were instructed to continue on to the final copy. On the third day, some people were finishing up and
others were aloud to complete an illustration of Ruby doing something at school. After three Writers
Workshop periods, the final copies are now hanging up in the hallway, final copies are officially
graded, and students will see their final products hanging up in the hallways on Monday.

Reflection:
This was an excellent lesson for the students and for myself. Ive realized that I have to be mindful of
the margins and certain types of paper I give this grade level. Students in first grade might not be
able to use certain type of paper without specific directions. Next time, I might choose a rough draft
paper that goes vertically with bolder lines than horizontally with thinner lines. Also, I really had to
sentence frame some parts of the body for the students. This was very helpful for students to use as
a guide and then fill in their thoughts, feelings, questions, and comments to Ruby Bridges. Overall, I
was extremely pleased with the end product that every student created. All students met the
objective of the lesson and created a wonderful, authentic assessment.

VI. Resources

Parts&of&a&Letter&
Date!
Greeting!
Body!
Closing!
Signature!!

Rubys&Traits&
Brave&
Caring&
Determined!&
Kind&
Dedicated!&

Letter!to!
Ruby!Bridges!
Personal&
Connection:!
Both!are!
brave!
&
Both!1st!
graders&

Evidence&
Went!to!school!
alone!
!
Went!to!school!
when!crowds!
were!yelling!at!
her!not!to!
!
Prayed!for!the!
angry!people!to!
be!forgiven!!