Pen Pals Technology Lesson

Pen Pals Lesson Plan 2

I. RATIONALE:

The reason for this lesson is to practice the curriculum/standard of letter writing as well as widening the students worldviews by exposing them to different parts of the world through letter writing and pen pals to international students.

II. OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 2

Subject(s): ELA & Social Studies

Topic of Study: Letter Writing

Time Allotment: 1 school week (5 days)

Standards:

Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters. (2.L.2)

Strand 4: Geography: PO 4. Describe elements of culture (e.g., food, clothing, housing, sports, customs, beliefs) in a community of areas studied.

Objectives:

Students will be able to write a friendly letter to an international pen pal using commas in their greeting and closing. They will include basic details about their personal culture in their letter to their international pen pal.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

Procedure:

This lesson will be done over a course of 1 school week (5 school days).

Day 1: Discussion about students lives in the US and how they are different and similar to other students internationally, focusing on the area of the international pen pals (ex. Dublin, Ireland)

Day 2: Centers:

Reading Center: Information about Arizona and about international pen pal place will be available for students to read to give them ideas about what they want to say to their pen pals to introduce them to their lives.

Map center: Students will use maps to identify where their international pen pals are located as well as seeing where Arizona is in relation to that place. They will then use Google Earth with teacher or aide guidance on iPads to see where their pen pals go to school.

Pre Writing Center: Students will outline what they want to tell their pen pal, including basic details about themselves and where they live.

Day 3: Students will be given a penpal to write to with their name, age and gender. They will then handwrite letters on practice paper and conference with teacher and aides to get their papers edited. If the students have time they will draw a picture to include with their letter.

Day 4: In the computer lab, students will use Microsoft Word to type and print their letters.

Day 5: In whole group, teacher will include all letters in an envelope and show the students how to address an envelope on the document camera and get it completely ready to send to pen pals at the Sacred Heart BNS in Dublin Ireland.

Technology Integration:

The teacher will assist students in using Google Earth on iPads during the map center. Students will use computers with Microsoft Word to type up their letters in order to print them and send them to wherever their pen pals are located. The teacher will also use a document camera to project the addressing of the envelope so that it is easier for the students to read.

Differentiated Instruction:

• Cognitive delay: Students with cognitive delay can dictate a letter to an aide who can type it for them and can help them to edit it.
• Gifted: Gifted students can be challenged in the kind of vocabulary that they use and in the length and amount of details in their letter.
• ELL: ELL students can use sheltered language in their letters as well as including only whatever information that they wanted to include.

IV. ASSESSMENT

Procedure:

To assess I will read their letters before we send them and use a checklist to make sure that they have all the components of a friendly letter.

Instruments:

Assessment Checklist:

• Greeting
• Closing
• Correct use of commas
• Correct use of capitalization
• Basic personal details are included

IIV. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Example of letter:

Dear Alan,

Thank you so much for working with my class to be our international pen pals. We are at DeMiguel elementary school in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff is a small town located at 7,000 feet elevation so we get all of the seasons, sometimes even when we are not supposed to! It snowed yesterday even though it is spring! We have a class of 23 students, all second graders. We are so excited to be your pen pals and we look forward to talking with you more and we also look forward to hearing all about Ireland.

Best,

Laura

Materials:

• iPads
• Computers
• 1 large envelope
• International postage