Title: Formal letter

Lesson plan elaborated by: Magdalena Trysińska

Topic:

Formal letter. How to write it?

Target group

6th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

II. Language education.

2. Diversity of language. Student:

3) uses a style appropriate to the communication situation;

7) adjusts the way of expressing himself/herself to the intended purpose of the utterance;

9) knows and applies the principles of formal and semantic consistency of the text.

3. Communication language and culture of the language. Student:

2) identifies the sender and recipient of an utterance;.

3) defines the communication situation and understands its influence on the form of the utterance;

7) understands what a language etiquette is all about and applies its principles.

4. Spelling and punctuation. Student:

1) correctly uses spelling rules in writing;

2) properly uses punctuation marks: dot, coma, question mark, inverted commas, colon, bracket, exclamation mark.

III. Creation of utterances.

1. Elements of the rhetoric. Student:

3) creates a logical, semantically complete and ordered utterance, using composition and graphic layout appropriate to a given genre form (...);

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

1) produces consistent utterances - a letter;

The general aim of education

Student practices the spelling of regular elements of the letter and gets to know its composition..

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• social and civic competences;

Learning outcomes

Student:

• recognizes the style of formal letter;

• highlights the arguments used in the formal letter;

• distinguishes between phrases used in formal and informal letters;

• writes a formal letter.

Methods / techniques

• exposing: information provided by the teacher or read from the e‑textbook;

• programmed: using the computer, using an e‑textbook;

• practical: exercises concerned.

Forms of work

• uniform individual activity;

• uniform collective activity;

• activity in pairs.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher defines the purpose of the course, which is to develop the skill of writing a formal letter. Gives students the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students which regular elements can be indicated in informal letter. The students shall name: date, greeting phrase, signature and the content of the letter itself. The teacher asks to whom and about what can an informal letter be written. Students give any examples they like.

Realization

1. Analysis of the composition of official letters contained in the abstract (exercises 1 and 2). Discussion of examples.

2. Paying attention to the role of polite forms. Indication of the difference between phrases and expressions used in private and official correspondence. The teacher checks if the students understand all the official phrases, for example, asks who we turn to as „Excellency” (Exercise 3).

3. Students practice the correct layout of the official letter (exercise 4), and then analyze the content of the letter, searching for arguments (exercise 5).

4. Work in pairs: creating a response to a Marietta's letter. Students can choose whether to write a positive or negative answer. They must remember to keep the composition of the letter and arguments. Then they put the letters into the envelopes and address them. Nauczyciel sprawdza i ocenia pracę uczniów.

Summary

1. The lecturer asks questions to summarize, e.g.

• Who can write an official letter? For what purpose?

• What should you remember when writing an official letter?

• Why is it important to give arguments?

2. The students write down the most important features of a formal letter in points in their notebooks.

Homework

On A4 sheet of paper (you can use the computer as well) write a formal letter to the selected addressee:

• to the headmaster (e.g. with the request to postpone the school disco);

• to the Ministry of National Education (e.g. with a request for an extra day off from school);

• to the Town/City Council (e.g. to ask for funding for the construction of a swimming pool in your school).

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Formal letter

The most important rules for writing a formal letter:

• Use the fixed elements of the letter: sender's and recipient's data, headline and date, signature;

• Emphasise the introduction, development and ending;

• Submit a request / problem;

• Write down the arguments that will justify your request;

• Use polite forms;

• Write briefly and concisely;

• Take care of spelling and aesthetics;

• Use paragraphs.

Remember to write the date in the top right corner, write down your data in the left (name, surname, address). Do not forget to sign. Enclose the appropriate attachments to make your letter credible.