Standard Lesson
Dear Librarian: Writing a Persuasive Letter
Grades
3 - 5
Lesson Plan Type
Standard Lesson
Estimated Time
Four 50-minute sessions
Publisher
NCTE
- Preview |
- Standards |
- Resources & Preparation |
- Instructional Plan |
- Related Resources |
- Comments
Overview
In Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary, the character of Mama writes to the State Librarian, asking for help starting a library in their town. Inspired by the actions in Cleary's book, students write to their school librarian, requesting that a specific text be added to the school library collection. Students use persuasive writing skills as well as online tools to write letters stating their cases. Students then have an opportunity to share their letters with the librarian.
Featured Resources
- Persuasion Map Printout: This printable sheet guides students in mapping out their thesis, main reasons, examples, and conclusion for a persuasive writing assignment.
- Persuasion Rubric: Use this rubric to assess students' persuasive letters.
- Letter Generator: This online tool allows students to read about the parts of a letter. They can then write and print their own friendly or business letter.
From Theory to Practice
In her book, Family Message Journals: Teaching Writing through Family Involvement, Julie Wollman-Bonilla states the importance of students becoming comfortable as readers and writers. Wollman-Bonilla outlines the effect that reading and writing, including persuasive writing, have on students. She says, "Writing is a powerful tool for influencing others, getting what you want, and problem-solving. In order to write in ways that meet their needs, children must think about how to get their readers' attention and be persuasive and clear. Learning to write persuasively is a valuable, life-long skill. In addition, children need to write for real purposes and audiences if they are to learn that writing is personally meaningful and a powerful communication tool." Here, students are writing to a real audience (the librarian) and for a real purpose (to convince the librarian to add their selected book to the library collection).
Further Reading
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
- 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
- 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
- 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Materials and Technology
- Emily's Runaway Imagination or another selected text
Printouts
Preparation
- This lesson plan can be implemented after a class reading of the Beverly Cleary book Emily's Runaway Imagination, or the lesson can be taught alone.
- Coordinate this activity with the school librarian, setting up time for a class visit. If desired, the librarian might talk to the class before they work on their letters to discuss how decisions are made on purchasing for the library.
- Make appropriate number of copies of the Persuasion Map Printout and Persuasion Rubric.
- Test the Persuasion Map and Letter Generator on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.
Student Objectives
Students will:
- develop and support a position on a particular book by writing a persuasive letter about their chosen title.
- use a guide to help them organize their persuasive ideas into written form.
- outline a persuasive piece that expresses points in a clear, logical sequence so the reader can follow their reasoning.
- publish their persuasive piece as a letter.
Session One
- Invite the students to share about a favorite book, using the following questions to guide the discussion:
- What makes it your favorite book?
- How did you first hear about that book?
- Have you recommended that book to others?
- What makes it your favorite book?
- Playing off the last discussion question, ask the students whether they have ever read a book that was recommended to them by others. If you have read Emily's Runaway Imagination as a class, remind students that Muriel recommended a book for Emily. Use the following questions to guide discussion:
- Did you enjoy the book?
- Did it live up to your expectations?
- What did Emily think of Black Beauty, after she was finally able to read it?
- Did you enjoy the book?
- Ask students if they have ever looked for a book at the library and found that it was checked out or that the library did not own a copy. Ask student volunteers to share how such an experience made them feel.
- Invite students to problem solve, focusing on the question, “If there is a book that you really want for the library, what can you do?” Students’ responses will vary. If someone does not volunteer that you could write a letter to the librarian asking for a copy to be purchased for the library, ask some leading questions to lead them to the response. If you have read Emily's Runaway Imagination as a class, remind students that Emily’s mother does: she writes a letter to the State Librarian requesting books for their new library.
- Explain that students will write a similar persuasive letter to their librarian, requesting that a book they are interested in be added to the library collection.
- Introduce the idea of persuasive writing by discussing the Persuasion Map Printout, which walks through the components of a persuasive piece of writing.
- After students have been introduced to the Persuasion Map Printout, share the Persuasion Rubric so they understand the target for the project and what is expected of them.
- Answer any questions that the students have about persuasive writing or their persuasive writing project.
Session Two
- Demonstrate the Persuasion Map, the online graphic organizer students will use to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay. Be sure that you demonstrate how to complete each of the following tasks in the interactive:
- Type your name and topic on the opening screen.
- Read through the prompts, showing the connection between the questions on screen and those on the Persuasion Map Printout.
- Show how to use the small map in the upper right corner to navigate among the prompts.
- Demonstrate how to print the finished maps before exiting, stressing that students cannot save their work online.
- Type your name and topic on the opening screen.
- Answer any questions that students have about the online tool and their assignment.
- Allow students the rest of the session to organize their ideas, and create finished copies of their work using the Persuasion Map.
- Explain that students will use these notes during the next session to create their letters.
Session Three
- Post the name and address of the librarian(s) that students will write to on the board for use during the session.
- Using their printed Persuasion Map as a guide, ask students to write their persuasive letters, requesting that a book they are interested in be added to the library collection.
- Demonstrate the Letter Generator, using the introductory information to discuss the parts of a letter and to help students decide whether to write business or friendly letters.
- Be sure that you demonstrate how to work through the different parts of the online tool, especially how to return to sections to edit them once you reach the preview stage.
- Answer any questions that students have about the online tool and their assignment.
- Allow students the rest of the session to organize their ideas, and create finished copies of their work using the Letter Generator.
- Keep the Persuasion Rubric posted so students can make sure that they include all necessary components.
- Explain that students will share their letters with the class during the next session.
Session Four
- When students have completed their letters, invite them to share with the class.
- The teacher should assess the final letter using the Persuasion Rubric.
- Arrange for a visit to the library to deliver the letters to the librarian.
- Students should be prepared to answer any questions the librarian may have.
Extensions
- If the librarian is persuaded, like in Emily's Runaway Imagination, arrange for a party to celebrate the new books.
- Choose from one of the activities to further explore the Beverly Cleary book, Emily's Runaway Imagination.
- Do an author study on Beverly Cleary. Visit The World of Beverly Cleary for details on the author and her books, as well as character profiles, online games, and teaching resources.
- Explore the library further by visiting this ReadWriteThink Calendar Entry on National Library Card Month, which provides additional activities related to libraries and library cards.
Student Assessment / Reflections
- Assess students’ persuasive writing piece using the rubric.
- Respond to the content and quality of students’ arguments and reasons as they share their project with the librarian. Look for indications that the student provides supporting evidence for the reflections, thus applying the lessons learned from the work with the Persuasion Map.
Add new comment